Hilltop Holdings Inc.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Hilltop Holdings Second Quarter 2025 earnings conference call and webcast. At this time, note that all participant lines are in listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. And if at any time during this call you require needed assistance, please press star zero for the operator. Also note that this call is being recorded on Friday, July 25th, 2025. And I would like to turn the conference over to Matt Dunn. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Before we get started, please note that certain statements during today's presentation that are not statements of historical fact, including statements concerning such items as our outlook, business strategy, future plans, financial condition, credit risks and trends in credit, allowance for credit losses, liquidity and sources of funding, funding costs, evidence, stock repurchases, subsequent events and impacts of interest rate changes, as well as such other items referenced in the preface of our presentation, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations concerning future events that by their nature are subject to risks and uncertainties. Our actual results, capital, liquidity and financial condition may differ materially from these statements due to a variety of factors, including the precautionary statements referenced in the preference of our presentation and those included in our most recent annual and quarterly reports filed with the SEC. Please note that the information presented is preliminary and based upon data available at this time, except to the extent required by law. We expressly disclaim any obligation to update earlier statements as a result of new information. Additionally, this presentation includes certain non-GAAP measures, including tangible common equity and tangible book value per share. A reconciliation of these measures to the nearest GAAP measure may be found in the appendix to this presentation, which is posted on our website at .Hilltop.com. Thank you. I'll now turn the presentation over to Jeremy Ford.

Thank you, Matt, and good morning. For the second quarter, Hilltop reported net income of approximately $36 million, or $0.57 per diluted share. Return on average assets for the period was 1% and return on average equity was 6.6%. During the quarter, Plains Capital Bank realized a meaningful increase in net interest margin and was able to further grow its loan pipeline as customer demand remained strong in Texas. The broker dealer continued to see a strong issuance market in its foundational public finance business and was benefited from a healthy market for its wealth management business. Time lending's results continue to be negatively impacted by a highly competitive and challenging mortgage origination market. From a capital management perspective, Hilltop was able to return over $46 million to stockholders through dividends and share repurchases. In the second quarter, Plains Capital Bank generated $55 million of pre-tax income on $12.7 billion of average assets, which resulted in a return on average assets of 1.35%. Net interest margin at the bank increased by 19 basis points, as the blended cost of deposits declined during the quarter by 9 basis points, due to expected outflows primarily in our highest yielding products. Loan yields increased by 5 basis points due to repricing of the loan portfolio into a higher rate environment. Further, the bank's balance sheet realized a mixed shift out of cash and into higher earnings assets, as seasonal mortgage-related loan balances increased throughout the quarter. The bank generated positive growth in its loan portfolio and pipeline. However, we expect stiff competition within our markets to have a dampening effect on near-term loan growth. Average total deposit balances at Plains Capital declined during the quarter as certain large balance customers reallocated their surplus liquidity. We do expect to recapture a material portion of these deposits through the remainder of the year, as seasonal inflows occurred during the second half of 2025. Core deposits within our markets did continue the trend of strong -over-year growth by ending the period approximately $275 million higher. Results in the quarter included a $7.3 million reversal of credit losses. This was primarily driven by an improvement in the underlying asset quality within the collective portfolio. And further impacted by a change in the economic scenario utilized in our Cecil modeling assumptions. Will is going to provide further commentary on credit in his prepared remarks. Overall, the bank benefited from actively managing deposit costs and expanding lending activity, which resulted from our talented bankers' efforts. Moving to prime lending, where the company reported a free tax gain of $3 million during the quarter. Notably, prime lending's results include a non-recurring legal settlement of $9.5 million that positively impacted results. While the second quarter typically starts the seasonal uptrend in home buying volumes, which somewhat materialized with an increase in origination volume on a link quarter and -over-year basis, the industry-wide headwinds of elevated home prices, persistently high interest rates, and overall affordability challenges have not alleviated. Accordingly, competition within the mortgage origination market for muted volumes continue to put pressure on overall margins. The market has experienced some relief for home buyers as existing home listings have increased across the country. However, this has not coincided with improvement in the market's affordability. Regarding margins, prime lending's reported gain on sale of 228 basis points was up four basis points versus the prior quarter and flat on a -over-year basis. However, industry competition continues to put pressure on mortgage origination fees and other related income, where the margin decreased by 11 basis points on a link quarter basis. Prime lending's management team continues to focus on reducing expenses in order to ensure efficient operations within the context of the overall mortgage market. For the second quarter, fixed expenses were reduced by 11% on a -over-year basis. We will continue to look for ways to achieve efficiencies while providing value-enhancing services to our customers. During the quarter, Hilltop Securities generated pre-tax income of $6 million on net revenues of $110 million, or a pre-tax margin of 6%. Speaking to the business lines at Hilltop Securities, public finance services produced a 36% -over-year increase in net revenues as the business line realized strong increases in both advisory and underwriting fees. Structured finance net revenues declined by $1 million from the second quarter of 2024, primarily due to softer market demand for call-protected mortgage products. In wealth management, net revenues increased by $2.5 million to $47.3 million when compared to the second quarter of 2024. This increase in performance is primarily due to an increase in advisory fees on improved asset balances and strong market conditions within the securities lending business. Finally, fixed income showed a 43% increase in net revenues on a link quarter basis, in part due to an increase in demand for municipal bond products. Overall, Hilltop Securities continues to see strong results from public finance and wealth management. However, material interest rate volatility negatively impacted other parts of the business and weighed on the firm's blended pre-tax margin. Moving to page 4. Hilltop maintains strong capital levels with a common equity tier 1 capital ratio of 20.8%. Additionally, our tangible book value per share increased over the prior quarter's level by $0.54 to $30.56. During the period, we returned $12 million to stockholders through dividends and repurchased $35 million in shares. Thank you. I will now turn the presentation over to Will to discuss our financials in more detail.