Regions Financial Corporation

Good morning, and welcome to the Region's Financial Corporation's quarterly earnings call. My name is Christine, 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, Christine. Welcome to region's third quarter 2024 earnings call. John and David will provide high-level commentary regarding our results. Earnings documents, which include our forward-looking statement disclaimer and non-GAAP information, 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 good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining our call today. This morning, we reported strong third quarter earnings of $446 million, resulting in earnings per share of 49 cents. For the third quarter, total revenue grew on a reported and adjusted basis as both net interest income and fee revenue improved quarter over quarter. In fact, almost every category within fee revenue experienced growth. compared to the second quarter. In line with the growth in revenue, adjusted non-interest expense increased modestly quarter over quarter. Average loans remained stable, while ending loans declined slightly quarter over quarter, reflecting modest customer demand, continued focused on client selectivity, as well as further pay downs and credit resolutions in the portfolio. In general, sentiment among corporate customers remains cautiously optimistic. Despite recent interest rate cuts and the possibility of more, customers are hesitant to make capital expenditures until the resolution of the election along with the greater economic and geopolitical certainty. Our focus remains on understanding our customers' evolving needs and providing tailored solutions to ensure we are well positioned to support them when the time is right. Average deposits declined slightly while ending deposits remained stable during the quarter. As deposit remixing trends have stabilized. Although certain portfolios within the corporate bank continue to experience stress, overall, our corporate and consumer customers remain healthy and our credit metrics have stabilized. Before wrapping up, I want to take a moment to speak about the recent hurricanes Helene and Milton. They were incredibly powerful storms, and the impacted communities across our footprint face difficult challenges as they begin the recovery process. I'm extremely proud of the way our teams are responding to meet the needs of our customers, fellow associates, and communities affected. Regence has a long history of helping communities through challenging times. including natural disasters, and will continue to support the recovery efforts. In summary, we're proud of our third quarter results driven by the successful execution of our strategic plan. Our highly desirable footprint, along with the investments we're making in talent, in technology, and in products and services, are positioning us to benefit as macroeconomic conditions improve. We have a great plan and a leadership team with a proven track record of successful execution. We're on track for a strong finish to 2024 and are well positioned to continue generating top quartile results in 2025 and beyond. Now David will provide some highlights regarding the quarter.