Synovus Financial Corp.

Good morning and welcome to the Synovus third quarter 2024 earnings call. All participants will be in 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 your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I'll now turn the call over to Jennifer Denver, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

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. Kevin Blair, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer will begin the call. He will be followed by Jamie Gregory, Chief Financial Officer, and we will be available to answer your questions at the end of the call. Our comments include forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risk 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 and welcome to our third quarter 2024 earnings call. Before I begin our call, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the profound impact of hurricanes Helene and Milton on our community. The devastation has been immense, affecting countless lives and businesses. However, in the face of such adversity, we have witnessed incredible resilience and solidarity. Our communities are coming together, determined to recover and rebuild stronger than ever. At Synovus, we are committed to supporting these efforts and playing an active role in the recovery process. Together, we will overcome these challenges and build a brighter future. Now let's review third quarter results. Synovus reported gap earnings per share of $1.18. which included an $8.7 million visa valuation adjustment. We reported adjusted diluted EPS of $1.23, which increased 6% sequentially, primarily driven by stronger net interest income, coupled with lower provision for credit losses and stable adjusted non-interest expense. The most notable financial headlines for the quarter included a sequentially higher net interest margin, Year-over-year adjusted revenue growth of over 2%, driven by a 15% jump in adjusted non-interest revenue, coupled with an adjusted non-interest expense decline of 1%. Finally, our net charge-offs improved again in the third quarter, down to 25 basis points, and our liquidity and capital positions remain quite strong. Synovus continues to demonstrate progress in various key initiatives. We are steadily attracting talent in various client-facing and corporate services roles. Non-interest revenue growth remains strong, and lending pipelines and production are returning to more elevated levels. Lastly, I'm extremely pleased with the continued progress we are delivering and strengthening our balance sheet, which positions us well as we close out 2024 and pivot towards a more constructive growth environment in 2025. Now let's turn to slides three, four, and five for some more specifics on the financial highlights for the quarter. Net interest income increased 1% from the second quarter as the net interest margin expanded two basis points to 3.22%. Funded loan production rose 8% sequentially, and period-end loans were up $27 million. We continue to generate healthy and consistent loan growth in the middle market, CIB, and specialty commercial units. while line utilization was stable. However, loan pay down and payoff activity and strategic rationalization and non-relationship credit provided a headwind to third quarter outstanding growth. Core deposit growth of 1% was attributable to increases in money market and operating deposits. Non-interest-bearing deposits were more stable in the third quarter with a decline of $94 million sequentially. Furthermore, we reduced broker deposits for the fifth consecutive quarter. Our team remains very focused on accelerating core funding generation through sales activities and product expansion, while continuing to manage through an overall diminishment cycle. Adjusted non-interest revenue declined 4% from the prior quarter, primarily from lower capital markets income. On a year-over-year basis, adjusted non-interest revenue increased significantly, up 15% as there was sharp growth in commercial sponsorship income from expansion of the card sponsorship business and our partnership with Green Sky. Capital markets and treasury and payment solutions fees also contributed to a strong year-over-year growth. Adjusted non-interest expense was relatively flat quarter-over-quarter and down 1% on a year-over-year basis. Our 2023 cost initiatives, as well as ongoing diligence, have contained overall expense growth year-over-year. We have also maintained a level of strategic investment that positions Synovus well from a competitive standpoint in order to drive long-term shareholder value. On the asset quality front, as expected, net charge-offs were 25 basis points compared to 32 basis points in the second quarter, while the allowance for credit losses were relatively stable at 1.24%. Lastly, we further bolstered our common equity tier one ratio in the third quarter through solid earnings accretion while still completing about $100 million of opportunistic share repurchases. Common equity tier one levels are at their highest in nine years at 10.65% and currently set just above our stated range of 10 to 10.5%. Our successes are anchored by our team members and their dedication and passion for delivering the Synovus purpose on a daily basis. Financially, this was a strong quarter of execution where we posted an adjusted return on average assets of 1.3% and an adjusted return on tangible common equity of 17.1%, while managing down our adjusted tangible efficiency ratio to 53%. Moreover, we continue to deliver in areas that have presented broader risk concerns surrounding the industry by lowering credit costs, limiting fraud losses, reducing wholesale funding, and delivering deposit betas during the easing cycle, all while maintaining elevated levels of capital. We are demonstrating great progress and momentum that will continue into the fourth quarter and beyond. And now I'll turn it over to Jamie to cover the third quarter results in greater detail.