Bank of Hawaii Corporation

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Bank of Hawaii Corporation 4th Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 1-1 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 1-1 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Chang Park, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning and good afternoon. Thank you for joining us today for our fourth quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Joining me today is our Chairman and CEO, Peter Ho. President and Chief Banking Officer Jim Polk, CFO Dean Shigemura, Chief Risk Officer Brad Shearson, and our Deputy CFO Brad Sattenberg. Before we get started, let me remind you that today's conference call will contain some forward-looking statements. And while we believe our assumptions are reasonable, there are a variety of reasons that actual results may differ materially from those projected. During the call today, We'll be referencing a slide presentation as well as the earnings release. Both of these are available on our website, boh.com, under the investor relations link. And now I'll turn the call over to Peter.

Thanks, Chang. Good morning or good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining the call. Bank of Hawaii posted yet another solid quarter to end 2024. Net interest income and net interest margin both improved, this for the third consecutive quarter. That interest income grew just over 2% on a linked basis to $120.2 million. Non-interest income, excluding an adjustment to our Visa Class B shares, was up modestly on a linked basis. Expenses were controlled quarter over quarter. Average deposits and average loans grew 1.3% and 1.1% on a linked basis to $20.8 billion and $14 billion, respectively. Average non-interest-bearing deposits were up modestly in the quarter. Credit quality remained pristine in the quarter, with net charge-offs and NPAs improving to 9 basis points and 14 basis points, respectively. Criticized loans improved from 2.42% last quarter to 2.1% this quarter. Capital levels have improved substantially from a year ago. I'll now take a moment to discuss the franchise and market conditions. Brad will then briefly touch on credit conditions, which, as I mentioned, look quite strong. And finally, Dean will dig a little deeper into the financials, and then we'd be happy to take your questions. The Bank of Hawaii brand continues to perform well in our unique Hawaii market, holding the number one position in market share as shown in the latest FDIC Annual Summary of Deposits as of June 2024. Bank Foy leads in the deposit market share growth on both a short-term and long-term basis. Deposit growth remained measured in the quarter. Importantly, non-interest-bearing demand plus other low-yield deposits stabilized nicely, trending positively in December on a rolling three-month average basis for the first time since June of 2022. Deposit funding costs fell for the first time this rate cycle on both an interest-bearing and total deposit cost basis. Economic conditions remain stable in Hawaii. Unemployment remains well below the national average. The visitor market remains stable but continues to be impacted somewhat by the Maui market. Residential Oahu real estate friends remain positive. Now let me turn the call over to Brad.