First Bank (NASDAQ: FRBA) is a community bank founded in 2007 and headquartered in Hamilton, New Jersey. It provides a comprehensive suite of financial services, including deposit products like checking, savings, money market accounts, and CDs, as well as lending solutions such as commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate ...First Bank (NASDAQ: FRBA) is a community bank founded in 2007 and headquartered in Hamilton, New Jersey. It provides a comprehensive suite of financial services, including deposit products like checking, savings, money market accounts, and CDs, as well as lending solutions such as commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, residential mortgages, home equity lines, and consumer loans. The bank also supports digital banking with mobile and online platforms, bill payment, wire transfers, and cash management services. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 18 full-service branches in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The bank went public in October 2010 and trades on the NASDAQ Global Market. With over 300 employees, it focuses on personalized service and community engagement. Financially, the bank has shown profitability with a return on equity of 9.6% and a net profit margin of 17.3%. It also pays dividends to shareholders. Under the leadership of CEO Patrick L. Ryan, the bank aims to expand its footprint and enhance digital offerings to meet evolving customer needs. However, it's important to note that there is a transition plan for First Bank customers to move to PNC in summer 2026, which may impact its future operations.
Operator: Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us and welcome to the FirstBank Second Quarter 26 Earnings Call. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press *1 to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press *1 again. I will now hand the conference over to Patrick L. Ryan, president and CEO. Patrick, please go ahead.
Patrick L. Ryan: Thank you. I would like to welcome everyone today to First Bank's second quarter 26 earnings call. I am joined by Andrew L. Hibshman, our Chief Financial Officer and Peter J. Cahill, our chief lending officer. Before we begin, Andrew will read the safe harbor statement.
Andrew L. Hibshman: The following discussion may contain forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and business of FirstBank. We caution that such statements are subject to a number of uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially. And therefore, you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements we make. We may not update any forward-looking statements we make today for future events or developments. Information about risks and uncertainties are described under Item 1A Risk Factors, in our annual report on Form 10 k for the year ended December 31, 2025 filed with the FDIC. That back to you.
Patrick L. Ryan: Thank you, Andrew. I will share some high level thoughts on the quarter and then turn it over to Andrew and Peter to provide a little more detail. I think in summary, Q2 was a much better quarter. We saw a return of solid asset growth. Our loans grew $68 million during the quarter. And with year to date growth of $79 million we are getting close to being back on pace for our annual loan growth goal of $200 million for the year. Our deposits grew $96 million during the quarter, which actually pushed us ahead of our deposit growth plan for the year. Our margin held in at 3.68% We realized a small decline in loan yields that were largely offset by a modest decline in deposit costs. Our provision for credit losses came down significantly, to more normalized levels as the profile within our small business portfolio showed signs of improvement. Our noninterest expense came in at $20.1 million down from an artificially high level in the first quarter. We are making progress with our goal to get our noninterest expense to average assets down below 2.0%, and eventually back closer to our longer term average of 1.90%. Our pre provision return on average assets came in at 1.69%, an increase of 10 basis points compared to the prior quarter. A few important points about the results. Regarding the asset growth, the return of stronger asset growth feels sustainable. Pipelines are strong. As we have discussed, the new production engine has been very busy, and Peter will provide some more details on that later. Absent abnormal payoff activity between now and the end of the year, we believe we should be …