Central Pacific Financial Corp New

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. And welcome to the Central Pacific Financial Corp. Third Quarter 2024 Conference Call. During today's presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, the conference will be open for questions. This call is being recorded and will be available for replay shortly after its completion in the company's website at www.cpb.bank. I'd like to turn the call over to Ms. Dana Matsumoto, Group SVP, Director, Finance and Accounting. Please go ahead.

Thank you, John, and thank you all for joining us as we review the financial results of the third quarter of 2024 for Central Pacific Financial Corp. With me this morning are Arnold Martinez, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, David Morimoto, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Anna Hu, Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer, and Ralph Misik, who recently joined us as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer. We have prepared a supplemental slide presentation that provides additional details on our release and is available in the investor relations section of our website at cpb.bank. During the course of today's call, management may make forward-looking statements. While we believe these statements are based on reasonable assumptions, they involve risk, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. For a complete discussion of the risks related to our forward-looking statements, please refer to slide two of our presentation. And now, I'll turn the call over to our Chairman, President, and CEO, Arnold Martinez.

Thank you, Dana, and aloha, everyone. We appreciate your interest in Central Pacific Financial Corp., and we are pleased to share our latest updates and results with you. Let me start by introducing Ralph Misik, who joined our executive team as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer. With nearly 40 years of broad experience in the financial services industry here in Hawaii, Ralph's expertise will be invaluable in managing the risk and regulatory environment as we continue to grow into the future. Shifting now to the third quarter. We continue to achieve improvement in key areas of our balance sheet with meaningful NIM expansion and core deposit growth, as well as continued strong liquidity, asset quality, and capital positions. Given the broader economic and rate environment, loan growth remains challenged, but with rates starting to move down, we see positive trends developing. Our results this quarter included $3.1 million in pre-tax expenses related to our evaluation and assessment of a strategic opportunity. While the parties are no longer currently engaged in discussions, we remain interested in the opportunity under the right terms and conditions. Overall, our CAR trends are favorable, and we remain confident in future growth opportunities and our ability to successfully navigate and capitalize on the changing economic landscape. During the quarter, we also opened a new state-of-the-art branch in Kahului, Maui. The branch is well equipped to serve the consumer and business needs of the Maui community and will create ongoing opportunities for growth in this key market as we look to expand our presence on the neighbor islands. We continue to monitor the market conditions in Hawaii and remain optimistic about the resilience of our local economy. Hawaii is expected to have stable growth with continued strength in the construction industry, offsetting slight weakness in the tourism sector. The Hawaii construction industry generated $11.8 billion in 2023, a 10% increase from the prior year. In the first seven months of 2024, the value of private building permits increased 19% and the number of residential units authorized were up over 50% compared to the prior year. On the visitor front, year to date through August, total statewide visitor arrivals were down 2.2% from the prior year and were about 92% of pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Visitors from Japan were up 38% from a year ago, yet remained about 45% of the first eight months in 2019. For the island of Maui, total visitors year-to-date through August were about 83% of the prior year. Hawaii's statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained very low at 2.9% in September and continues to outperform the national unemployment rate of 4.1%. Hawaii real estate values remain strong. The Oahu median single-family home price was $1.1 million in September, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 6%. Home sales volumes year-to-date were up 5.8% for single-family homes, but down 5.6% for condos compared to the prior year. With home inventories increasing, combined with a gradual decline in mortgage rates, more buyers who are on the sidelines may be encouraged to re-enter the housing market. Overall, Hawaii's economy is robust and well-positioned for stronger growth in the coming years. I'll now turn the call over to David Morimoto, our Chief Financial Officer. David?