Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the Equity Bankshare's second 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 1 to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star 1 again. I will now hand the conference over to Luke Pfeiffer. Luke, please go ahead.

Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining the Equity Bankshare second quarter earnings call. A quick note before we begin. Today's call is being recorded and is available via webcast at investor.equitybank.com, along with our earnings release and presentation materials. Today's presentation contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed. After the presentation, we'll open the floor up for questions and discussion, the conversation we look forward to. With that, let me turn the call over to our Chairman and CEO, Brad Elliot.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Today's results are what we've been working towards since we announced the NBC and Frontier transactions. We knew what the numbers would look like once the merger noise was muted, and we could see the earnings power of the combined companies with Equity Bank. Our teams worked hard to get the Frontier transaction closed on January 1st and merged in the first quarter with a desire to keep as much of the M&A noise in the first quarter to let everyone see a more normalized number this quarter. For the first time since closing, we're clearly showing investors what this franchise earns without the noise of merger charges, day two provisions, and integration costs overshadowing the combined earnings of equity. GAP EPS was $1.27 per diluted share, and ROATCE was 16.6%. percent. Core EPS was $1.41 and ROATCE was 17.2. Our efficiency ratio for the quarter was 53.4 percent. Those are exciting numbers that we want to talk about today. When you have worked hard to negotiate and structure these transactions and you can see firsthand the power of what happens when two complementary companies come together, or in this case, three. It means something special. It is exciting to see that the hard work shows up in the operating metrics. Margin was 4.36%, up three basis points from last quarter, driven by a more favorable earning asset mix we talked about on previous calls, and a higher bond discount accretion. As I said, the core conversion is complete and behind us. Now our teams are locked in on what we have been focused on, and that is organic growth. We have exciting things to talk about in this area. It always looks muted as we work to reset portfolios, but organic growth is our priority. Let me take a moment on a topic I'm genuinely excited about and one that Equity Bank is leaning into aggressively. AI and automation. This is not new for us. It has been core to how we built this company. When you build an organization around entrepreneurship, it naturally adapts to new technologies and new ways of thinking as they come along. We have always believed the banks that win will be the ones that grow the balance sheet and deepen relationships without growing the cost structure at the same pace. And technology is exactly how we do that. We are not talking about this, we're actually doing it. Today, 15% of our staff are actively using Anthropic AI products, and 75% have Microsoft Co-Pilot installed. I want to be clear, we do not plan to reach 100% with Co-Pilot or Anthropic in our organization as some roles in our company can't use it or benefit from it. So we're not adding the expense. We currently have six bots running in production and AI is actively supporting functions like loan review and M&A due diligence along with many other practical improvements across the bank. We have moved from theory or it being cool to the implementation phase. We are putting these tools to work across our operations, streamlining back office processes, speeding up onboarding and credit workflows, and giving time back to our bankers so they can spend it with what matters most, our customers. We have not yet fully tapped the expense reduction opportunity, and that is intentional. Phase one is implementation, stabilization, and proof of concept. Phase two is where the efficiency gains show up in the numbers. Honestly, this area excites me more than anything I've seen in my career since the adoption of personal computers. That era took us from assets per employee from under $1 million per employee to around $5 million per employee in a few short years. I believe we are on the front end of a similar shift and Equity Bank is positioned to lead it. Let me turn it over to Rick, our bank CEO, to walk you through the bank operations.

Thanks, Brad. Our transformative year continued in the second quarter as we worked with intention to position our teams across both the Oklahoma City and Nebraska footprints to best serve our customers and grow our franchise. In the quarter, we added a team in Lincoln led by Russ Seebeck and saw immediate benefit. We also added experienced bankers in each of our new Metro footprints, individuals with large bank and complex customer backgrounds to position each market for growth. Notably, our Omaha team, under the leadership of Kevin McRodin and Travis Clodine, has already begun optimizing the inherited portfolio and attracting new customers. As we look to the back half of the year, I'm excited about the contributions each of our markets is now positioned to make to our organic growth efforts. The former NBC markets should approach an inflection point over the next two quarters, and while the Frontier portfolio will likely experience continued pruning, the addition of the Lincoln and Omaha teams should help us absorb some of that attrition. During the quarter, loan and deposit balances in total continue to face headwinds from normal runoff and optimization efforts surrounding the acquired portfolios. Importantly, our legacy markets absorbed the majority of that loan pressure, resulting in effectively flat balances period over period. Production, however, began to reflect the scale of our now larger franchise. We closed 315 million in loans, our largest quarterly production level ever, at an average rate of 6.56%. That represents 119 million or 60% increase compared to the same period in 2025. Key contributors were Kansas City, Des Moines, and Western Kansas. I want to specifically recognize the work Levi Getz, our Western Market President, has done. That team has demonstrated the power of a disciplined, customer-focused calling culture, and Levi will now be expanding his oversight to include central Kansas as well. Loan balances in non-acquired markets grew at an annualized rate exceeding 10% and are up 3% compared to quarter two 2025. The underlining sales discipline, customer experience, prioritization, and operational strength are clearly there. Our current pipeline, which stands at $1.6 billion, a 23% increase over last quarter, and our 75% pipeline, which is now at $475 million, show the trajectory that we are on. As the more pronounced J-curve from our recent acquisitions worked through the balance sheet, we will be well positioned to accelerate growth. Throughout the balance sheet transition, we have maintained discipline on pricing and structure. Newer originations continue to come on at a level accretive to coupon loan yields, and we have not chased production that would erode margin or diminish returns on deployed capital. Total deposits were flat for the quarter, while non-brokered balances declined modestly. Quarter two is a seasonal period of outflows as customers meet tax obligations and service debt. This quarter was no exception. The decline in core balances were concentrated in existing customer relations, which we view as transitory rather than structural. Cost of deposits declined modestly as utilization of lower-cost accounts offset continued optimization of higher-cost acquired funds. Looking forward, the groundwork being laid by our retail team will position the bank to deepen existing relationships and expand our customer base. Our legacy markets never lost focus during the M&A activity, and that discipline shows. On a same-store basis, we generated checking accounts at our highest level ever, up 24% versus Q2 2025, and achieved net checking account growth in legacy markets at a rate this company has not previously seen. The second half of 2026 is about expanding existing relationships and winning new ones, and this team is well positioned to do exactly that. In addition, our focus on customer service in the branches is taking hold as our customer satisfaction scores continue to rise. Within fee income, we continue to see momentum. Trust and wealth management is growing revenue. Mortgage banking is benefiting from the addition of the Nebraska footprint, and debit and credit card results are expanding with added value. Investments and our treasury functions will enhance our ability to fully serve commercial customers across a comprehensive product suite. To that end, we have brought in Melissa Mooring to lead that strategic initiative to grow treasury management, mirroring our commercial lending expertise with a full product suite designed to meet the complete scope of our customers' banking needs. On credit quality, non-performing assets moved from 76 basis points to 86 basis points of total assets. A portion of that increase is attributed to credits inherited from Frontier, which we are actively working through. Net charge-offs were 1.7 million or 12 basis points annualized. Classified assets to regulatory capital improved modestly at 11.9%. We remain comfortable with the overall credit posture of this portfolio. We now operate in six states and seven major metros, all growing markets. Behind the merger-driven noise, our organic growth engine is evident and strong. Our leaders understand our value proposition, and I look forward to what they will accomplish through the remainder of 2026 and beyond. I'll turn it to Chris to cover the financials in detail. Thanks, Rick.

Good morning. Net income for the quarter was $26.4 million, or $1.27 per share. Excluding M&A expenses, intangible amortization, and losses on securities, core net income was $29.4 million, or $1.41 per share. Pre-tax, pre-provisioned net revenue adjusted for merger expenses and losses on securities was $36.4 million, up $2.4 million quarter over quarter. Net interest income was $73.9 million. This reflects declining purchase accounting accretion and lower average earning assets offset by higher security yields and a lower cost of funds. Net interest margin expanded three basis points to 4.36%. Loan purchase accounting accretion contributed 2.9 million or approximately 17 basis points in line with our expectations. For the second half of 2026, the margin may decrease modestly as we look for expansion of average earning assets to $6.85 to $6.95 billion. The compression reflects the expected mixed shift and continued accretion burndown. Non-interest income was $8.1 million, excluding $2.2 million in losses realized on securities and the write-down of a fund investment. Core non-interest income was $10.3 million, up $0.7 million link quarter. We are encouraged by the growth in fee income from debit and credit card activity, mortgage, and trust and wealth management. We are guiding to non-interest income of $18 to $22 million for the second half. Non-interest expense was $46.9 million, down from $55 million in the previous quarter. Excluding merger costs in both periods, expenses declined $2.5 million to $46.8 million. Non-interest expense also benefited from gain on sale of assets of $850,000 in the quarter. The efficiency ratio improved to 53.4%, an improvement of over 10 percentage points compared to the same quarter last year. Our second half guidance for non-interest expense is $94 to $98 million. As Brad and Rick have noted, we remain committed to delivering on operational efficiency. Capital remained strong. TCE closed the quarter at 9.07%, CET1 was 11.84%, and total risk-based capital was 14.66%. Tangible book value per share grew to $33.45 from $32.58. We returned capital to shareholders through an $0.18 per share dividend and the repurchase of an additional 211,000 shares of our stock. Total shares repurchased year-to-date are 711,000 shares at 4,484 per share. I'll turn it back to Brad for closing remarks.

Thank you, Chris. We are proud of the progress this quarter and the trajectory of the equity bank franchise. A year and a half ago, we told you we were building something. You trusted us by investing new capital in equity so that we could execute on what we saw in the marketplace, accretive M&A targets. We thank you for the trust. We are now $7.7 billion in assets, reflecting a 19.4% total compounded annual growth rate since 2010, and a franchise that is generating returns that are among the best in our peer group. Our core ROTC of 17.2% is evidence that the strategy is working. The second half of 2026 is about executing on what is right in front of us. Organic growth, deepening relationships across Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, and Arkansas. Driving efficiency across the franchise. and continuing to build tangible book value for our shareholders. That is where the majority of our energy and attention is concentrated. And we are seeing real momentum on all fronts. This team has done that every single year, and we plan to keep doing it. That said, M&A has always been part of how we have built this company, and that has not changed. We remain active in evaluating opportunities, and our pipeline reflects that. When something fits our strategy, meets our return standards, and genuinely makes equity a better company, we move on it. When it does not clear the bar, we stay disciplined and keep our attention on the growth we are already generating. We are not chasing deals for the sake of activity. We are focused on the right deals, and right now, we like what we're seeing in the marketplace and the opportunities in front of us. I want to thank you for joining our call today, and we're happy to take any questions at this time.

We will now begin the question and answer session. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Damon Del Monte with KPW. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Hey, good morning, guys. Hope everybody's doing well. First question, just on loan growth. You know, good to hear the color on the pipeline and kind of the trends in the legacy portfolio. As we kind of think about, you know, the ongoing attrition and kind of right-sizing of the acquired portfolios, how do we kind of think about, like, net growth for the next few quarters until you kind of work through that? Do you think it's kind of flattish, or do you think there's, you know, on a net basis, it could be kind of low single digits?

Hey, David, thanks. This is Rick. Yeah, we think we're going to have loan growth in total. So how are you? We're believing and seeing that we will have loan growth with what's happening in the legacy markets, strong pipeline, strong growth there. And you just start having that flowing as you get into a year past NBC. We think we're getting close to that. And then same thing as we get later into the frontier deal. So we're looking at low single digits or mid-single digits growth for the second half of the year.

Got it. Okay, that's helpful. And are there any, like, industries where you're seeing, you know, a good flow of opportunities, or is it kind of broad-based?

Yeah, I think it's more broad-based. I mean, I don't think we're seeing that.

Yeah, we're seeing good – we're honestly seeing really good originations out of everywhere, places we haven't gotten it before like one of our better credits cni credits last quarter was booked out of southeast kansas and 10 million dollar plus credit we've never had a 10 million dollar plus credit out of that area we got the right banker down there doing the right things and so we're seeing we're seeing credits across the footprint rick's done a really good job of building out the team, encouraging its people to, uh, our regional CEOs are doing a good job on getting their people doing the right things. And we're getting the business out of that. So it's kind of coming from Western Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas city's doing great. Wichita team is doing really well. So it's kind of across the entire footprint.

Got it. Okay, great. Um, and then I appreciate the, uh, the guidance on the, on the margin, Chris and the outlook there. You know, how would you characterize the positioning of the margin kind of given a higher for longer interest rate environment and potentially, you know, a rate hike either later this year or in the early part of, or sometime in 2027?

Yeah, Damon, what I'd point to in terms of a rising interest rate environment is really the last cycle we went through. The balance sheet hasn't changed meaningfully from a posturing perspective for rising interest rates so i think we're positioned to do well in that world you know there's always the caveat of what happens in liability pricing and how how everybody behaves through that environment but in an upward rate scenario i think we're well positioned to to execute similarly to the last iteration okay great um that's all that i had thank you your next question comes from the line of brendan nosel with huvdi group your line is open please go ahead hey good morning folks hope you're doing well um let me just start off on um hey good

morning uh just starting off here on on expenses um you know nice to see the run rate come down so much this quarter as well as the improved guide for the back half of the year um just kind of curious is there anything specific that's driving that improvement uh whether it be some of the ai automation initiatives you spoke to or cost savings from frontier or is it more just kind of blocking and tackling uh as you work through 2026. it's heavily the back to there uh brendan so the first thing and we emphasized it on the prepared comments is it was really important to us to get frontier clothes and converted in q1 so we could create some of this uh visibility to where expenses really should be so a lot of the benefit is coming from getting through that conversion

in process, realizing the reduction in their technological costs, the people costs associated with managing those systems, etc. So that's a lot of where you're seeing the benefit. There's obviously still focused internally on where we can find other opportunities to reduce costs over time. So you're seeing a little bit of that come through. As you think about AI technology, automation, as Brad mentioned, we're leaning into it. We're working hard on figuring out how it moves the needle for us over time. But there's not tangible benefit to it today where we'd say, as you look at expenses this quarter versus last, it's due to X artificial intelligence benefits. So that's still too early stage, but we're excited about where it can go.

Okay, that's helpful, Collar. Maybe circling back to the margin for a moment, can you just talk about the puts and takes in that back-up margin outlook that would get you toward either the high end or the low end of the range as you look ahead?

Yeah, the high-end execution to me really lives in the liability side of the balance sheet. So to the extent that we can maintain and decline liability costs over time, and we've talked about in the past the frontier accounts that came on board, relatively high costs, so there is some tailwind there. If we can execute on declining that liability position, our opportunity on the asset side that we've talked about, Rick's talking about loans, we can hit the high end of that margin. on the low end it's really the the alternative right so if liability costs creep up we talked about yield curve kind of moving the other direction on us at the moment that's the potential to uh to deteriorate a little bit margin over time so it's really that brandon thanks chris i appreciate you taking my questions your next question comes from the line of nathan race with piper sandler your line is open please go ahead hey guys good morning thanks for taking

the questions um curious maybe rick if you can kind of speak to kind of what you're seeing in terms of pricing on new loan production relative to you know roughly the 650 kind of core loan portfolio yield and you know curious if you're seeing you know any kind of degradation and new loan yield productions uh just given that you guys seem to be going up market in terms of clients all these days to some degree yeah so i think on the loan pricing team, we're continuing to see it stay fairly strong.

We're really disciplined on that. So as a result, that is something that the team takes to heart and goes after. So, you know, I'd actually say that, you know, maybe we're seeing a little bit of stress there in certain markets. Every once in a while, you get an irrational player. And in those markets, we choose not to play at that level and kind of decide to go wider. So we're not really seeing a lot of downward movement in that I get, you know, I look at every as we run it through the pricing model and those are not accelerating. So it tends to be that we're about the same as we've been over the last two years and those types of exceptions. So, you know, I think pricing has continued for us to, you know, to hold firm.

Okay, great. That's really helpful. And then changing gears. I believe you You guys have just over 100,000 shares left on the remaining buyback authorization. So just curious if you can kind of speak to the aptitude, just given the valuation relative to peers these days, which seems quite low to that end. And just considering you guys are building capital and pretty strong clips and even have existing access capital currently to maybe pursue some additional acquisition opportunities as well.

Yeah, so we always balance the use of capital between, you know, share buyback, making sure we have enough for M&A transactions. We are in conversations with people on the M&A side, so we always want to have enough there to be able to perform those transactions. And then we use a, you know, a model very similar to what we use on the acquisition side for the buybacks so when we're in range to do buybacks we think those are no-brainers there's no integration risk so we'll deploy the capital to do buy backs and so you know it all just depends on you know what's the earn back on that and you know does that fit our model or will hold the capital looking for m a opportunities and we balance those three things at the board meeting we talk about it at every board meeting uh set our target price and so we'll we'll always be active in the buyback when it makes sense and we'll be out of it just like we are in the m a side when it doesn't make sense so i hope you answered that question you can't really figure it out yeah no i appreciate the various dynamics there brad but if i could just follow up um so it sounds like you know we shouldn't be surprised if there's an increased authorization at some point maybe later this year yeah uh i think we already have an operation the the board's authorized and we're waiting on formal approval through the regular bodies but we plan to maintain we will always have an open we always plan to maintain a buyback uh um approval from the board uh we've the board's actually already approved that and we're just waiting for standard regulatory approval to up that we haven't been in a big rush for that because we still have shares available to buy back okay great i appreciate all the color thanks guys as a reminder if you would like to ask a question please press star one to raise your hand your next question comes from the line of matt only with Stevens.

Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Hey, thanks, guys. Appreciate you taking the question. I want to circle back on the loan growth discussion and with the paydowns we've seen so far this year. It sounds like most of this is from the recent acquisitions.

Any color you can provide as far as customer retention, employee retention from those deals and how that compared to your internal expectations yeah so i i think when we look at both of these transactions uh you know uh the my expectation is it's exactly kind of what happened uh in nebraska it's actually better than what department did a great job of pre-hiring for that market we already had opened an LPO office there, so we already had boots on the ground, but also we had a lot of color on other people in the marketplace that we might want to talk to. And so I would say that, you know, the Nebraska market is in better shape than actually when we acquired it by quite a bit. The team that we have in Lincoln is very exciting. They all came from larger institutions and are excited to be back with a company like ours that's big enough to do the deals that they like to do without the complication of working for a $30 billion bank. So we're really excited about the team in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska and how that team is shaping out. we've kept a core group in Omaha with us and we've added to that. We've probably started with 18 bankers on acquisition day and we are up to 22 bankers. So from a ability to produce we actually have lots of ability to produce in that market which is what attracted us to that market to begin with and I think it's playing out exactly as we anticipated. Oklahoma City is kind of the same way um we're uh continuing to hire bankers in oklahoma city it gives us you know the reason to enter these markets which is what i wanted to do with acquisitions is it gives us a really core base to build off of so there's core customers there we can expand uh and it gives us a footprint then to go hire people into people don't want to work for a loan production office because they don't know if you're truly committed to that market or not so it's hard to get people to work for you uh in those environments uh long term without having something to build around and man we've got scale in both of those markets now uh great reputations in both of those markets uh and so hiring people into those is is an exciting venture so i'm i'm as excited about our organic growth piece as as possible even more so because of the legacy markets are uh, I don't know, 25, 30% better than they were a year ago, uh, today, and you add these new markets on top of it, uh, with, with the acquisitions, it's great. I'll turn it over.

Yeah, I was just going to add, Matt, on the, uh, on the customer side of it, one of the things you, you find in these is there's, there's always these really good core blue chip customers, and what we're then able to do is really expand with them, and so that's, you know, you don't see that, you know, quarter one, quarter too I mean but that happens over time so then you've got some really good customers we spend a lot of time with them those are the ones then that allow you to expand you know from a you know they've got stuff with numerous other banks those are the ones we really are able to go after and and and you see that in in year two and year three as that expansion really comes into play and both of these banks both NBC and frontier had some really good core customers that we're looking for significant expansion over time with. So the customer, the retention piece of that is on the core customers is really, really strong.

Okay, great. I appreciate the color on that topic. And I guess switching back towards the margin outlook, Chris, you already provide some great color for us for the back half of the year. Any more color on when you think those near-term headwinds are going to moderate? And as you think about the margin for 27, any puts and takes we should be mindful of for that? Thanks.

Near-term headwinds moderating, I think there's puts and takes on both sides where I'd say we have both tailwinds and headwinds operating right now to where that range, 425 to 435, is reasonable. And I think you could hit either end. I'm more optimistic about the 435 side of it, but I don't know that there's a specific indicator of challenge today that I'm worried about alleviating. As we look into 2027 to, as we get this organic growth engine going, I think you're going to see over time maintenance of where we are on a larger earning asset base, and I'm optimistic we'll be able to accomplish that as we look out further into uh 2027 2028 kind of and beyond okay thanks guys your next question comes from the line of brett rabatton with stone x group your line is open please go ahead hey guys good morning um wanted to ask on the fee income guidance i know at the investor day you seem pretty excited about the despite where rates are that mortgage banking could be a bigger contributor can we can we talk maybe about the low end of the high end of the fee income guide and just what what drives it to the high end could that be mortgage would that be other things like trust wealth um you know any thoughts on on on that yeah good question right the um the high end of that's driven by continued uh continued growth and really all the business lines right so as we look to continue to integrate frontier customers mvc customers and looking to at the cost sales cycle on the commercial out on the side looking at treasury opportunities. There's going to be means by which we continue to expand that particular line item. Mortgage banking, I'm sorry, Frontier brought a good practice in that in that world. The interest rates are a challenge today, you know, as you noted with the rising yield curve is becoming the challenge of that, you know, the opportunity to have to expand versus day um is a little bit muted um but trusted wealth management continues to grow and provide opportunities uh debit card and credit card income are expanding as we continue to deepen relationships with those customers so the the high end of that range is just continued trajectory of what we've been doing um and the low end is a function of it could be seasonality it could be you know mortgage banking going going down somewhat with the uh with the changing the interest rate environment. Tell us what I would point to. I don't know, Rick, do you have anything else?

No, I think that's right. I mean, we've added the people. We've added the strategy on there. I mean, we're seeing, you know, on the TM side, for instance, there's just a lot more calls and a lot more opportunities for winning TM business, and there's just a sort of change in attitude. So we're looking at, you know, things like waivers and stuff like this. So it's just, you know, I think that piece will be coming. And Chris is absolutely right on the mortgage side. We've got a bigger mortgage production team than we did before. But, again, that's one obviously heavily rate-driven.

Okay. That's helpful. And then, Brad, you seem really excited about AI and deploying technology. And I'm looking at slide 16 specifically. And I wanted just to hear maybe what inning you think you're in in adopting AI, you know, in terms of what it can do. And then just aside from, you know, I think there's obvious benefits on loan review, getting things done faster and credit review, you know, kind of maybe some of the other things that might be coming down the road in terms of efficiency from that perspective.

I think anybody that says we're not in the first inning or even at bat doesn't realize how much this is going to change the world. so I think anybody that says they're on second base probably doesn't realize what the power of this technology trend or change is going to be so I look at this as you know and I said in some of my prepared comments you know I think it has a lot to do with when I started banking the bank I started at we had one pc in the whole institution it had two floppy drives in it um and within four years everyone had one on their desk and they were all connected through uh novell network and you could communicate with one another and share files and all of a sudden we dropped from you know eight or nine hundred thousand dollars per employee to a couple billion a couple million dollars per employee to within five six years it was five million dollars per employee now we're at ten million dollars per employee is kind of the benchmark so i think we're in a trend where we're going to be doing this same thing over the next three to five years and so i think we're all in the beginning phases and i think you're going to see costs coming out of all organizations because of this trend, and so as a growth company, it's very exciting to me because we've got great people that work for us. It allows us to continue to leverage their abilities as we continue to grow. It probably means we don't need to add as many people as we continue to grow as an organization, and our efficiency ratio continues to get better and better as we continue to grow, So, you know, I think we listed some things that we actually are using today and because they're easy to use on the loan review side, M&A review, headhunter placements, those types of things. But, you know, I think we're all in the very beginning phases.

That's great cover. Thanks so much, guys.

Your next question comes from the line of Jeff Rulis with DA Davidson. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Good morning. wanted to ask about the added non-accrual loans from Frontier. You know, I guess just the question of, you know, why weren't those added at the jump in one queue?

And just kind of speaking to more of the migration, and Rick, I think you talked about, you know, the Nebraska optimization of loans there just just trying to track you know anything that developed kind of as when you closed and and from then until now if of just pointing to that migration piece yeah you know what happens jeff is you know there are credits that are paying as agreed we we tell the customer we're not going to renew under the current terms um and so there's a little battle ground that that starts with that we use that as leverage to start working them out of the bank sometimes that flips them to non-accrual during that that process of getting them out of the bank we have them appropriately marked as part of the acquisition but they come across as accrual because they are making payments and accruing but when we don't renew them then they they're not current any longer so it just is something that happens regularly as we work through portfolios and collecting so it's a it's a modest uptick there's nothing systemic in it you know there's a house under construction that we don't think is going the right direction and so we wanted to find another bank find another opportunity or we're going to work out of the thing so I mean there's appreciate it yeah through that process there's a divorce on it yeah there's a divorce there's a divorce on an ag deal that causes a problem and you know there's a whole host of issues that happen uh uh in the lending business and that's what we do um you kind of answered the follow-up it's it's if those were marked at least on the frontier side so appreciate it and sounds like the lost content and the forward guide on provisioning unimpacted.

So just a quick follow-up is on the – so it sounds like the opportunity on the Frontier side to decrease some of those deposit costs, is there further there? Has that largely been worked through? Just wanted to get an update on how that's progressed.

Yeah, there will continue to be some opportunity there, Jeff, over time. so that frontier had a healthy level called maturing deposits that had laddered maturity so we'll continue to see some of that um over the next two three four quarters um so it's there a lot of it has been worked through but there is still some opportunity okay we have reached the end of the question and answer session this concludes today's call thank you for attending You may now disconnect.