Ameris Bancorp

Good morning, and welcome to the Mayor of Spain Court's second quarter conference call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference by vote by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on a touch-tone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Nicole Stokes, CFO. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Wyatt. And thank you to all who have joined our call today. During the call, we will be referencing the press release and the financial highlights that are available on the investor relations section of our website at amerisbank.com. I'm joined today by Palmer Proctor, our CEO, and Doug Strange, our Chief Credit Officer. Palmer will begin with some opening comments, and then I will discuss the details of our financial results before we open up for Q&A. Before we begin... I'll remind you that our comments may include forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. The actual results could vary materially. We list some of the factors that might cause results to differ in our press release and in our FDC filings, which are available on our website. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, early developments, or otherwise, except as required by law. Also, during the call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures in reference to the company's performance. You can see our reconciliation of these measures and GAAP financial measures in the appendix for our presentation. And with that, I'll turn it over to Palmer.

Thank you, Nicole. Good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining our call today. I am very proud of our second quarter results, which, again, beat expectations and resulted in an increase in our return on assets, PPNR, ROA, return on tangible common equity, and an improved efficiency ratio. As you can see, we remain focused on enhancing revenue generation and positive operating leverage. This is evidenced by our 20-plus percent annualized revenue growth in the quarter, which was almost double our expense growth, which pushed our efficiency ratio to below 52%. Our margin continued to expand during the quarter, while we grew alone 6.5% annualized, which is within our mid-single-digit guidance. Our 377 NIM remains well above most peer levels, particularly thanks to our strong 31% level of non-interest-bearing deposits. Capital ratios grew again in the quarter, which positions us well for future growth opportunities. Our strong second quarter earnings and capital generation increased our common equity tier 1 to 13% and TCE to over 11%. We also saw improvement across the board in all aspects of asset quality. We grew tangible book value this quarter by 15.5% annualized, passing through the $40 level for the first time to finish the quarter over $41 per share. We now have $50 of tangible book value on our site. We were active in repurchasing stock, buying back $12.8 million in the quarter. Our CRE and construction concentrations remain low at 261 and 45% respectively. Our strong loan growth is driven mostly by CNI. Deposits grew as well, but at a smaller pace. Non-interest-bearing deposits remained our core focus, with those balances growing over 3% annualized. Our bankers are well-positioned to take advantage of growth opportunities and disruption within our attractive southeastern markets. In fact, production increased 29% from the first quarter, with this quarter having the highest loan production since 2022. Overall, we continue to stay focused on what we can control. When I look out for the back half of 2025, I'm encouraged as we continue to benefit from a robust margin, a solid non-interest-bearing deposit base, a diversified revenue stream, strong capital and liquidity, a healthy allowance and asset quality, a proven culture of expense control and positive operating leverage, experienced local bankers in Southeast markets, and obviously notable scarcity value given our size and scale in those markets, which allows us to take advantage of the banking disruption the Southeast continues to experience. Overall, I'm extremely optimistic for the remainder of 2025 and into 2026. I'll stop there and turn over to Nicole to discuss our financial results in more detail.