Ameris Bancorp

Good day and welcome to the Ameris Bancorp third quarter conference call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the Start key followed by 0. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press Start, then 1 on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press Start, then 2. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Nicole Stokes, CFO. Please go ahead.

Great. Thank you, Valentina. 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 results of our financials 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 SEC 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 to our presentation. With that, I'll turn it over to Palmer for comments.

Thank you, Nicole, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you taking the time to join our earnings call today. Third quarter results, again, beat expectations with above-peer performance across the board, including return on assets, PPNR, ROA, return on tangible common equity, net interest margin, and efficiency ratio. Two of our top focuses have long been growing our core deposit base and tangible book value per share. I'm proud to see our deposit growth at 5% annualized and tangible book value per share growth at over 15% annualized, both very strong metrics. We remain focused on generating revenue growth and positive operating leverage. This is evidenced by our 18% annualized revenue growth in the quarter. And when coupled with a modest decline in expenses and slight increase in margin, pushed our efficiency ratio below 50%. Our margin continued to expand during the quarter while we grew loans 4% annualized, which is within our mid-single-digit guidance. Our 380 NIM remains above most peer levels, particularly thanks to our strong 30% level of non-interest-bearing deposits. Capital ratios grew again in the quarter, which positions us well for future growth opportunities. Our third quarter earnings and capital generation increased our common equity Tier 1 to 13.2% and TCE to 11.3%. Asset quality remained stable with net charge-offs and NPAs excluding government-guaranteed mortgages at low levels. We grew tangible book value this quarter by over 15% annualized, almost $43 per share, and were active in repurchasing stock, buying back $8.5 million. Our CRE and construction concentrations remain low at 261 and 42% respectively. Our 4% annualized loan growth was driven mostly by a good mix of CNI and CRE. Our loan portfolio production also topped $2 billion in the quarter, the best level we've seen since 2022, and deposits grew at a similar pace at 5% annualized with non-interest-bearing deposits remaining over 30%. Our bankers are well positioned to take advantage of growth opportunities and disruption within our attractive southeastern markets. Overall, we continue to stay focused on what we can control on a lookout at the end of 2025 and toward 2026. I'm very encouraged as we continue to benefit from a history of notable tangible book value growth as good stewards of shareholder value, a granular deposit base, a robust margin and diversified revenue stream, strong capital and liquidity, a healthy allowance and asset quality, and a proven culture of expense control and positive operating leverage, and a notable scarcity value given our size and scale in the Southeast's top markets, which really allows us to take advantage of the banking disruption the Southeast continues to experience. So overall, I'm very optimistic and confident about our franchise as we near the end of 2025 and look forward to 2026 and beyond. I'll stop there and turn over to Nicole now to discuss our financial results in more detail.