First Commonwealth Financial Corporation

I will now hand today's call over to Ryan Thomas. Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Tamika. And good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to discuss First Commonwealth Financial Corporation's second quarter financial results. Participating on today's call will be Mike Price, President and CEO, Jim Reske, Chief Financial Officer, Jane Grabemps, Bank President and Chief Revenue Officer, Brian Sahaki, Chief Credit Officer, and Mike McKeown, Chief Lending Officer. As a reminder, a copy of yesterday's earnings release can be accessed by logging on to fcbanking.com and selecting the investor relations link at the top of the page. We've also included a slide presentation on our investor relations website with supplemental information that will be referenced during today's call. Before we begin, I need to caution listeners that this call will contain forward-looking statements. Please refer to our forward-looking statements disclaimer on page three of the slide presentation for a description of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statement. Today's call will also include non-GAAP financial measures. Non-GAAP financial measures should be viewed in addition to and not as an alternative for our reported results prepared in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliation of these measures can be found in the appendix of today's slide presentation. With that, I will turn the call over to Mike.

Thank you, Ryan. We are generally pleased with our performance this quarter. Our core earnings per share of 38 cents surpasses consensus estimates by 3 cents and was an improvement from the 32 cents reported in the first quarter. Headline financial metrics were robust with core return on assets of 1.31%, a core pre-tax, pre-provision ROA of 1.95%, and a core efficiency ratio of 54.1%. We've consistently worked towards building a high-performing franchise. This quarter's results reflect those efforts and occurred just one year after absorbing a $13 million downdraft in annualized debit card interchange income due to the Durbin Amendment as we crossed $10 billion in assets. Let me highlight a few key drivers this quarter, many of which build on the trends we've discussed in past calls. First, our net interest margin expanded significantly from 3.62% in the first quarter to 3.83% In the second quarter, a 21 basis point increase. This was driven primarily by improved loan yields and lower deposit costs and aided by the center bank acquisition and the roll off of the macro hedges. This margin expansion, coupled with strong loan growth of 8.1% annualized, fueled a $10.7 million increase in net interest income over last quarter to $106.2 million. We've said before that our focus on optimizing our balance sheet and driving high-quality loan growth would position us well in a dynamic rate environment, and we're seeing those efforts bear fruit. Loan growth was broad-based with standout performance and equipment finance alongside meaningful contributions from small business, commercial, indirect, and branch lending. Perhaps even more importantly, we grew both deposits and loans in four of our six geographic markets. On the fee income side, we saw a $2.1 million increase in non-interest income to $24.7 million with strong contributions from mortgage, SBA, interchange, wealth, and other service charges. The growth reflects our ongoing efforts to deepen customer relationships and expand our non-interest income streams. Our deposit franchise remains a cornerstone of our bank. Total deposits grew 9% year-to-date, reaching $10.1 billion. Notably, our community Pennsylvania region, which accounts for 37% of our deposit funding, continues to perform exceptionally well. And we're pleased with our continual progress in Ohio where organic growth and small but strategic acquisitions have built a $4 billion bank. Ohio also accounts for the bulk of our new loan growth. The integration of Center Bank, which closed on May 1st and converted in early June, is progressing smoothly. Center added $295 million in loans and $278 million in deposits, bolstering our presence in Cincinnati. We're confident the long-term value of this acquisition will enhance our Ohio franchise as we've seen with prior integrations. On the credit front, we experienced the continuation of positive trends in charge-offs and delinquency. Our second quarter provision expense was $12.6 million, with $3.8 million tied to day one CECL provision for Center Bank, which we've excluded from our core income metrics. Of the remaining $8.8 million in provision expense, $2.6 million can be attributed to a net increase in specific reserves, which was driven by a $4.2 million specific reserve for a single commercial floor plan loan that was moved to non-accrual and reserved for in the quarter. With respect to the floor plan credit, we are operating under a forbearance agreement. And as it remains an active workout, we appreciate your understanding that we'll not be able to provide a lot of further detail on today's call. The impact of this single credit in the inclusion of center caused non-performing loans to increase by $40.1 million from the prior quarter. Absent these two events, our core credit metrics were criticized, classified, and non-performing loans were all neutral quarter over quarter. Looking ahead, we remain optimistic about our trajectory. The momentum we've built through disciplined execution, strategic acquisitions, a regional business model, and a customer-centric approach positions us well for the second half of 2025 and beyond. As we've said before, our goal is to be the leading community bank in our markets, delivering value to our stakeholders while staying true to our mission of improving the financial lives of our customers and communities. I'll now turn it over to Jim Reske for a more detailed review of our financials. Jim?