Regions Financial Corporation

Good morning, and welcome to the Regions Financial Corporation's quarterly earnings call. My name is Shelby, and I'll be your operator for today's call. I would like to remind everyone that all participant phone lines have been placed on listen only. At the end of the call, there will be a question and answer session. If you wish to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. I will now turn the call over to Dana Nolan to begin.

Thank you, Shelby. Welcome to the region's first quarter 2021 earnings call. John and David will provide high-level commentary regarding the quarter. Earnings documents, which include our forward-looking statement disclaimer, are available in the investor relations section of our website. These disclosures cover our presentation materials, prepared comments, and Q&A. I will now turn the call over to John.

Thank you, Dana, and thank you all for joining our call today. We kicked off 2021 on a solid note. Earlier this morning, we reported earnings of $614 million, resulting in earnings per share of 63 cents. Our ability to continue to deliver value this quarter is a testament to both the investments we've made, as well as our associates' unwavering commitment to our customers and communities. Our credit metrics continue to improve and reflect the good work we've done with our clients. coupled with the expected benefits from government stimulus. Based on this quarter's credit performance and the improving economic outlook, we reduced our allowance for credit losses by $142 million more than net charge-offs, while still maintaining one of the strongest allowance-to-loan ratios in the industry at 2.44%. Although we continue to deal with the effects of the pandemic, Our ongoing conversations with customers reflect optimism about further economic recovery and growth. Vaccine distribution is improving in our footprint, and businesses, for the most part, have reopened. A majority of our largest deposit states are experiencing unemployment rates significantly below those of the U.S. as a whole, and our loan pipelines are improving as we are seeing more activity in the marketplace. We're increasingly optimistic this momentum will continue. Throughout this recovery and beyond, we will maintain our focus on deepening relationships with our customers by providing personalized financial guidance combined with excellent technology solutions that continue to make banking easier. Now, David will provide you with some details regarding the quarter.