David P. Della Camera
Analyst · D.A. Davidson
Thank you, Jim. I will start with our second quarter results. For the second quarter of the year, the company reported net income of $71.7 million or $0.69 per diluted share compared to $50.2 million or $0.49 per diluted share in the first quarter. Net interest income was $207.2 million in the second quarter, an increase of $2.2 million over the prior period. This increase is primarily driven by a reduction in interest expense from reduced other borrowed funds balances, partially offset by lower interest income on earning assets resulting from a decrease in average loan balances. Our net interest margin was 3.32% on a fully tax equivalent basis, and excluding purchase accounting accretion, our net interest margin was 3.26%, an increase of 12 basis points from the prior quarter. Other borrowed funds ended the second quarter at $250 million, a decline of $2.2 billion from a year ago and $710 million from the end of the prior quarter. Yield on average loans increased 6 basis points from the previous quarter to 5.65% in the second quarter, driven by continued repricing and payoffs of lower-yielding loans. Interest-bearing deposit costs declined 1 basis point in the second quarter compared to the first quarter, and total funding costs declined 9 basis points due to improving mix shift driven by the reduction in other borrowed funds. Noninterest income was $41.1 million, a decrease of $0.9 million from the prior quarter. Results this quarter include a $7.3 million valuation allowance related to movement of Arizona and Kansas loans that are included in the branch transaction to held for sale. This was partially offset by a $4.3 million gain on sale related to the outsourcing of our consumer credit card product. Results were generally in line with our expectations, excluding these items. Noninterest expense declined in the second quarter by $5.5 million to $155.1 million. This decline compared to the prior quarter was due to lower seasonal payroll taxes and reductions in incentive-based compensation estimates. Results include roughly $1.5 million in property valuation adjustments and lease termination fees associated with properties in Arizona and Kansas. We continue to exhibit expense discipline related to our staffing levels driving results favorable to our prior expectations. As part of that discipline, we are thoughtfully developing efficiencies as we move forward, which includes our ongoing analysis related to the branch network and are carefully controlling staffing levels and other marginal spend. Turning to credit. Net charge-offs totaled $5.8 million representing 14 basis points of average loans on an annualized basis. We recorded a reduction to provision expense for the current quarter of $0.3 million, driven by lower loans held for investment. Our total funded provision increased to 1.28% of loans held for investment from 1.24% at the end of the first quarter. Classified loans declined $24.4 million or 5.1% and nonperforming loans also declined modestly. Criticized loans increased $176.9 million or 17.2% from the first quarter of 2025, driven mostly by some of our larger multifamily loans, generally reflective of slower lease-up. Broadly, we are comfortable with the underlying value of the properties and guarantor's ability to support in these circumstances, but lease-up time lines are slower than initially anticipated at underwriting, driving movement into the criticized bucket. Turning to the balance sheet. Loans held for investment declined $1 billion, which included the impact from the strategic moves we have discussed. The decline was influenced by $338 million in loans related to the Arizona and Kansas transaction that moved to held- for-sale, $74 million of loans sold with the consumer credit card outsourcing and $73 million from the continued amortization of the indirect lending portfolio. The remaining reduction was influenced by higher larger loan payoffs, including loans we strategically exited. We are remaining diligent in adhering to our pricing and credit discipline. And while competition is always strong for great clients, we are seeing initial indications of increasing pipeline activity. We do believe that loans will decline in the near term but remain optimistic that we will stabilize and return balances to growth in the medium term. Deposits declined $102.2 million in the second quarter and are approximately flat compared to the prior year, adjusted for a larger temporary deposit on our balance sheet at the end of the second quarter of 2024. Finally, in the second quarter, we declared a dividend of $0.47 per share or a yield of 7.0%. Our common equity Tier 1 capital ratio improved 90 basis points to 13.43%. Moving to our guidance. Our guidance as displayed includes the impact of the consumer credit card outsourcing and excludes the impact of the branch transaction, which we anticipate closing in the fourth quarter. Broadly, the consumer credit card outsourcing reduces the major lines of the income statement and is mostly neutral to forward net income. We have updated our guidance to reflect our current assumption of 125 basis point rate cut for the remainder of 2025. As of the end of the second quarter, our balance sheet has shifted from slightly liability sensitive to mostly neutral, and we do not believe the rate cut included in our guidance is meaningful to the net interest income forecast we have presented for 2025. Our net interest income guidance reflects an anticipation of continued margin improvement with an expectation of fourth quarter net interest margin, excluding purchase accounting accretion, to approximate 3.4% compared to the 3.26% figure reported in the second quarter. Compared to the prior quarter's forecast, in addition to the impact from the outsourcing of consumer credit cards, the net interest income forecast was modestly impacted by lower risk-weighted density. Our guidance now assumes a more meaningful near-term asset allocation into the investment portfolio versus loan balances as loans have declined more than previously anticipated. We anticipate beginning to reinvest into the investment portfolio in this quarter. We have added commentary in our guidance, noting that we anticipate net interest income to increase in the high single digits in 2026 compared to 2025, supported by our expectation for continued margin improvement, assuming generally flat loan balances in 2026. We're sharing this to highlight what we believe is the impact of our disciplined approach to repricing maturing assets and continue to believe we will grow loan balances over the long term. To provide additional detail, we've included the slide in our investor presentation detailing near-term fixed asset maturity and adjustable rate loan repricing expectations. Note that loan balances represent maturities in the case of fixed rate loans and maturities or repricing events in the case of adjustable-rate loans. These figures displayed do not include contractual cash flow or any prepayment expectations. We expect loan yields to continue to benefit from the tailwinds of fixed rate repricing, a key component of our expectation for continued net interest margin and net interest income improvement. The investment security figures displayed represent current market expectations for total principal cash flows during each period which provides another source of anticipated net interest income expansion. Noninterest income guidance is modestly lower than the prior quarter, impacted by the outsourcing of our consumer credit card. Finally, we reduced our noninterest expense guidance from an expectation in the prior quarter for a 2% to 4% full year increase to 0% to 1% for the full year of 2025, compared to the reported 2024 number. In addition to favorability in the second quarter expense levels to prior expectations, we are carefully controlling staffing levels and other expense levers while continuing to invest in production-driven areas as we look to drive our balance sheet growth. These areas of continued focus have reduced our forward expectation of expenses in the near term. While near-term loan levels are lower than previously anticipated, leading to some modest pressure in net interest income in the near term, we are carefully controlling the expense base as we look to drive an efficient return profile for our shareholders. Turning to the Arizona and Kansas branch transaction. We stated in our previous earnings call that we anticipate tangible book value accretion of roughly 2% at the close of the branch transaction, an improvement in our common equity Tier 1 ratio of approximately 30 to 40 basis points. As noted, we modestly increased loans associated with the transaction since the prior quarter. Together with the anticipated recognition of the deposit premium in the fourth quarter, which would occur concurrent with close, we continue to anticipate total tangible book value accretion of approximately 2% from the transaction, which would include the impact of the held- for-sale valuation allowance recognized this quarter. We now anticipate our CET1 ratio to increase at the high end of the noted range given the additional loans included. With that, I will hand the call back to Jim. Jim?