SouthState Bank Corporation

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us and welcome to the South State Bank Corporation third quarter 2026 earnings conference call. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. I would now like to hand the conference over to Will Matthews, Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Matthews, please go ahead.

Good morning and welcome to South State's third quarter 2026 earnings call. This is Will Matthews and I'm here with John Corbett, Steve Young, and Jeremy Lucas. We'll follow our typical pattern of brief remarks followed by Q&A. I'll refer you to the earnings release and investor presentation under the investor relations tab of our website. Before we begin our remarks, I want to remind you that the comments we make may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws and regulations. Any such forward-looking statements we may make are subject to the safe harbor rules. Please review the forward-looking disclaimer and safe harbor language in the press release and presentation for more information about our forward-looking statements and risks and uncertainties which may affect us.

Now I'll turn the call over to you, John. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. South State delivered another quarter of healthy growth, strong profitability and stable credit. There's an ongoing debate about the tradeoffs between growing the balance sheet versus protecting the margin. And I'm pleased to report that in the third quarter, South State did both. Loans grew 9% annualized with growth broad-based across our footprint and led by CNI of 12%. The Southeast and Texas are among the most vibrant markets in the country and we're benefiting from strong underlying market growth. As planned, we've grown our commercial relationship bankers by 10% over the last year. These bankers have already originated about a billion dollars in new loans and have a healthy pipeline. Deposits also grew 9%. and without sacrificing margin, which held flat with the second quarter at 3.78%. That net interest margin stability reflects a deliberate shift over the last couple years towards more floating rate loans. When we announced the independent financial deal in 2024, the percentage of floating rate loans in the combined portfolio was only 28%. Today, we've moved the floating rate loan percentage up to 39% of the portfolio. And recently, about 55% to 60% of new loans are being originated with a floating rate. This strategy will help provide net interest margin stability, assuming the Fed continues its rate hiking path. Credit continues to remain solid, with net charge-offs of only nine basis points. Capital markets activity, however, pulled back as Treasury rates moved higher during the quarter. Steve will give you an update on that business going forward. Growing loans, growing core relationship deposits, deepening client relationships, and staying disciplined on credit. Will?