Synovus Financial Corp.

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Thank you and good morning. During today's call, we will reference the slides and press release that are available within the investor relations section of our website, synovus.com. Chairman, CEO, and President Kevin Blair will begin the call. He will be followed by Jamie Gregory, Chief Financial Officer, and they will be available to answer your questions at the end of the call. Our comments include forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and the actual results could vary materially. We list these factors that might cause results to differ materially in our press release and in our SEC filings, which are available on our website. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements because of new information, early developments, or otherwise, except as may be required by law. During the call, we will reference non-GAAP financial measures related to the company's performance. You may see the reconciliation of these measures in the appendix to our presentation. And now, Kevin Blair will provide an overview of the quarter.

Thank you, Jennifer. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our third quarter 2023 earnings call. Over the past three months, Synovus has taken several actions to better position the bank for a more challenging, higher-for-longer interest rate environment, while continuing to build and expand our diversified business model in order to deliver long-term sustainable growth. As previously announced, we completed two loan sale transactions during the third quarter, which strengthened the balance sheet and freed up capital for the bank to make more profitable, relationship-oriented loans. The proceeds from the third-party indirect auto and medical office building loan sales allowed us to reduce our level of wholesale funding while accelerating the path to our greater than 10% CET1 targets. Also, on September 30th, we further simplified our business mix by selling our asset management firm, GloBalt, to its management team. The divestiture will be immaterial to earnings and allow the bank to reallocate capital to higher returning fee income lines of business while continuing to meet our wealth clients' needs. We believe GloBalt has a bright future as an independent investment advisor enabled to explore a wide range of additional partners and potential client relationships. To that end, we are in discussions to continue and expand our longstanding held for sale partnership with GreenSky. Given our ongoing discussions, any potential revenue benefits are not currently included in our 2023 guidance. There will be more details forthcoming over the next two to three months. We are navigating the short-term headwinds presented by higher interest rates by making the tough decisions around business mix, balance sheet optimization, and operating expenses. all of which will generate better financial performance in the quarters and years to come. Now let's move to slide three for the quarterly financial highlights. Synovus reported third quarter diluted EPS of $0.60 and adjusted EPS of $0.84. There were year-over-year and linked quarter revenue and PPNR headwinds as a result of continued higher deposit costs, leading to further but more moderate net interest margin contractions. As expected, loan growth outside the medical office building sale was less than 1% in the third quarter. This core loan growth was primarily attributable to multifamily construction draws, while middle market commercial, corporate and investment banking, and specialty lines activity contributed to CNI loan growth. There continues to be an increased emphasis on stronger returns and more deposit relationship-based lending, which has translated into higher yields on new production. Core deposits increased 1% or $432 million from the second quarter. Importantly, the shift from consumer money market accounts to higher rate time deposits slowed during the third quarter. Non-interest-bearing deposits declined less than in the first and second quarter, but clients continued to use their excess operating and personal funds. Net interest margin contraction was not as significant as expected due to modestly better asset yields and funding costs. Also, our deposit generation strategies are demonstrating continued success as production remains strong with third quarter levels approximately 70% higher compared to the same period in 2022. Given the pressures on the margin, our operating expense discipline was quite evident as adjusted non-interest expense increased 2% from the second quarter and rose just 4% from the prior year. cost containment remains a very high priority. In fact, we expect adjusted non-interest expense should be relatively flat year over year in 2024 as we implement more cost reduction initiatives in a variety of areas. As expected, credit costs increased as we continue to move off historically low levels. However, excluding the third quarter loan sales, net charge-offs remain manageable at 40 basis points, which includes a 21 basis point impact from a commercial industrial credit discussed in our recent AK filing. Along with other banks in the syndicate, we are in the process of evaluating and assessing all avenues of recovery to include legal recourse related to that specific transaction. Finally, we continue to focus on maintaining a strong capital position as we navigate through a more volatile economic environment. And with our CET1 position ending the quarter at 10.13%, we are now slightly above our targeted capital levels. Over the near term, we expect to continue to preserve capital in excess of our target levels given the continued amount of economic uncertainty. Now I'll turn it over to Jamie to cover the third quarter results in greater detail. Jamie?