Guild Holdings Company

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Guild Holdings Company first quarter 2024 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session with instructions to follow at that time. As a reminder, this call will be recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to investor relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you and good afternoon, everyone. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that comments on this conference call may contain certain forward-looking statements regarding the company's expected operating and financial performance for future periods and industry trends. These statements are based on the company's current expectations. Actual results for future periods may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements due to a number of risks or other factors that are described in detail under the section titled Risk Factors in Guild's most recently filed annual report on Form 10-K and in other reports subsequently filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, today's remarks will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the corresponding GAAP measures can be found in our earnings release furnished today with the SEC and are also available on Guild's Investor Relations website. I'd now like to turn the call over to Chief Executive Officer Terry Schmidt. Terry?

Thank you, Nikki. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss our first quarter results and strategic update. I am joined by our President, David Nalen, as well as our Chief Financial Officer, Amber Kramer. I'm pleased to share that we are continuing to effectively execute on our strategy and gaining market share as we leverage our platform to take advantage of market dynamics. At the same time, we are demonstrating the benefit of our balanced business model, which is focused on retail mortgage originations and complemented by our servicing platform. By staying focused on this strategy, we have again achieved attractive market share gains. In the first quarter, total originations were 3.9 billion, up by 300 million sequentially from the fourth quarter, and up 40% year over year. This compares to an increase of 13% for the first quarter of 2024 as compared to the same period of the prior year as reported by the NBA, a clear indicator of our share gain. We also delivered positive adjusted net income and return on equity. Our mission remains unwavering, to deliver on the promise of homeownership through our leading product offerings and localized relationship-driven approach. This compelling strategy continues to resonate with customers and drive results, even in a challenging environment. A key highlight of the quarter was the successful completion of the strategic acquisition of Academy Mortgage, which represents a 25% increase to our origination volume based on 2023 data. We onboarded approximately 1,000 new employees in just two weeks and are very excited to welcome this group of like-minded individuals to the Guild family. As we have anticipated, their corporate culture and values are closely aligned with our own. Consistent with our mission, we have expanded our offerings to help more families attain home ownership. This includes enhancing our down payment assistance grant program and launching our special purpose credit program. or SPCP, which are specifically designed to make loan qualification more accessible for underserved populations. We believe these initiatives will open doors for even more deserving homebuyers. Our balanced originations and servicing model continues to be a cornerstone of our success, providing earning stability across market cycles. This allows us to effectively navigate challenges and capitalize on opportunities. We are executing judiciously across all our capital priorities, investing in our organic growth, selectively pursuing accretive acquisitions, and enhancing technology and servicing capabilities, while also returning capital to stockholders. I'm pleased to announce the board has declared a 50 cent per share dividend. This is in addition to our ongoing share repurchase program that has been extended to May of 2025. Our prudent balance sheet management with low leverage is allowing us to continue to create value for our shareholders. We believe that our focus on purchase market originations, coupled with our strategy of retaining servicing rights, allows us to generate more reliable cash flow. Moreover, our commitment to maintaining strong customer relationships underpins our customers for life philosophy, positioning us as the leader of choice for our customers future transactions. While still a challenging environment for origination, the current backdrop also presents an opportunity for us to further strengthen our position as the cycle turns. We have maintained a disciplined approach to capital management, enabling us to selectively pursue growth opportunities. We firmly believe that Guild is well positioned to navigate the current landscape and emerge even stronger. We are confident in our strategy, our execution, and our ability to deliver long-term value for our shareholders. I'll now turn the call over to David.