Stellar Bancorp, Inc.

over to Courtney Trio. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator, and thank you to all who have joined our call today. Good morning. Our team would like to welcome you to our earnings call for the fourth quarter of 2024. This morning's earnings call will be led by our CEO, Bob Franklin, and CFO, Paul Ecke. Also in attendance today are Steve Redsloff, Executive Chairman of the company, Ray Vitulli, President of the company and CEO of the bank, and Joe West, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer of the Bank. Before we begin, I need to remind everyone that some of the remarks made today constitute forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 as amended. We intend all such statements to be covered by the safe harbor provision for forward-looking statements contained in the Act. Also note that if we give guidance about future results, that guidance is only a reflection of management's belief at the time the statement is made and such beliefs are subject to change. We disclaim any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, especially if it is required by law. Please see the last page of the text in this morning's earnings release, which is available on our website at ir.sellerbanklookinc.com for additional information about the risk factors associated with forward-looking statements. At the conclusion of our remarks, we will open the line and allow time for questions. I will now turn the call over to our CEO, Paul Franklin.

Thank you, Courtney, and good morning to everyone. Thank you for joining us for the Stellar Bank Corp fourth quarter earnings call. I want to start by expressing my gratitude to the outstanding team at Stellar Bank. Their relentless efforts have laid a solid foundation that will support our journey as we grow into the future. As we move forward, our focus will be on growth. Our robust capital base and strong balance sheet, coupled with the vibrant markets we serve, paved the way for a promising future for Stellar Bank. With the election now behind us and interest rates stabilizing, we look ahead with optimism. Although we may not see significant relief in interest rates, the business environment remains favorable. We remain vigilant about inflation, but continue to witness positive trends in job growth, population increasing, limited housing inventories, and an increased push for oil and gas production for both domestic use and export. These factors will serve as tailwinds as we enter 2025. Our strategy remains clear. We will expand our relationship-generated, low-cost core funding base while broadening our loan offerings, our commercial real estate, portfolio remains well within regulatory guidelines, allowing us to provide a full spectrum of loans to our customers. The capital we have built up over the past few years will support our organic growth, assist in potential partnerships, and provide the flexibility for share repurchases or increased dividends. For Stellar Bank, 2025 is the year of the customer, internal, existing, and future. We will maintain a straightforward approach, grow our existing relationships, and cultivate new ones. We are eager to embark on this journey and excited for the year ahead. I'll now turn this call over to Paul Egge, our CFO, for more details on the quarter and the year.