Stellar Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:STEL) Q2 2023 Earnings Conference Call July 28, 2023 9:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Courtney Theriot - Chief Accounting Officer

Robert Franklin - CEO

Paul Egge - SEVP, CFO

Ramon Vitulli - President

Joe West - SEVP, Chief Credit Officer

Conference Call Participants

David Feaster - Raymond James

Matt Olney - Stephens

William Jones - KBW

Graham Dick - Piper Sandler

John Rodis - Janney

Operator

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Stellar Bancorp Inc. reports Second Quarter 2023 Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speakers’ presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised today's conference is being recorded.

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Courtney Theriot, Chief Accounting Officer. Please go ahead.

Courtney Theriot

Good morning. Our team would like to welcome you to our earnings call for the second quarter of 2023. This morning's earnings call will be led by our CEO, Bob Franklin; and CFO, Paul Egge. Also in attendance today are Steve Retzloff, 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 provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the end. Also note that if we give guidance about future results, that guidance is only a reflection of management's beliefs at the time the statement is made, and such beliefs are subject to change.

We disclaim any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, except as may be 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.stellrbancorpinc.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, Bob Franklin.

Robert Franklin

Thank you, Courtney, and good morning. Welcome to the Stellar Bancorp's Second Quarter Earnings Call. I'll begin by thanking the great team at Stellar Bank for their continued and tireless efforts to build Stellar Bank into the premier local bank in our markets. Our team has been busy refining processes post conversion and will continue in their work as we move through the year. We will be concentrating on efficiencies through technology and expense control as we better define our needs as a combined organization.