Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited (The)

Good morning. My name is Michael and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings call for the Bank of N.T. Butterfield and Sun Limited. At this time, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on a touchtone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Noah Fields, Butterfield's Head of Investor Relations.

Noah Fields Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Today, we will be reviewing Butterfield's fourth quarter and full year 2024 financial results. On the call, I'm joined by Michael Collins, Butterfield's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Craig Bridgewater, Group Chief Financial Officer, and Michael Scrum, President and Group Chief Risk Officer. Following their prepared remarks, we will open the call up for a question and answer session. Yesterday afternoon, we issued a press release announcing our fourth quarter and full year 2024 results. The press release, along with a slide presentation that we will refer to during our remarks on this call, are available on the investor relations section of our website. at www.butterfieldgroup.com. Before I turn the call over to Michael Collins, I would like to remind everyone that today's discussions will refer to certain non-GAAP measures which we believe are important in evaluating the company's performance. For reconciliation of these measures to US GAAP, please refer to the earnings press release and slide presentation. Today's call and associated materials may also contain certain forward-looking statements which are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors that made Collin's actual results different materially from those contemplated by these statements. Additional information regarding these risks can be found in our SEC filings. I will now turn the call over to Michael Collins. Thank you, Noah, and thanks to everyone joining the call today.

Butterfield had strong financial and operating performance in 2024 as we improved our customer propositions and increased shareholder value through our diversified fee income low risk density balance sheet, and effective capital management. We finished the year with excellent fourth quarter results that were supported by higher non-interest income, lower funding costs, and a stable net interest margin. Butterfield benefits from its longstanding market-leading banking businesses in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, with a growing retail banking presence in the Channel Islands. Our comprehensive wealth management offerings include trust services, private banking, asset management, and custody in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and the Channel Islands. The bank also provides specialized financial services in the Bahamas, Switzerland, Singapore, and the U.K., where we cater to high net worth clients with mortgages on properties in prime central London. I will now turn to the full year highlights on page five. Waterfield's strong performance in 2024 produced net income of $216 million, and core net income of $218.9 million. This resulted in a core return on average tangible common equity of 24% for 2024. During the year, net interest margin decreased to 2.64% from 2.80% in 2023, with the cost of deposits rising to 183 basis points from 140 basis points in 2023. However, on a quarterly basis, we've recently seen net interest margin stabilize as market rates and deposit costs decrease. Tangible book value per common share grew, increasing 12.5% to end the year at $21.70. Active capital management remains a priority, with total quarterly cash dividends declared representing 37% of earnings for the year, in addition to the repurchase of approximately 4.5 million shares at a total value of $155.3 million. On December 9th, the Board approved a new share repurchase authorization for 2025 of up to 2.7 million common shares. Bermuda and Cayman have experienced improved visitor numbers as travelers continue to see both locations as premier destinations. Bermuda's tourism high season finished in October and will recommence in May, while Cayman is busiest during the winter and spring months. In addition, international financial services business, primarily reinsurance in Bermuda and asset management in Cayman, continued to grow in 2024 as measured by incorporations, jobs created, and assets under management. Tourism and international financial services continue to drive economic development for both jurisdictions, and we expect growth to continue in 2025 and beyond. I will now turn the call over to Craig for details on the fourth quarter.