Good afternoon and welcome to the WesBanco Fourth Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to John Iannone, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good afternoon, and welcome to WesBanco, Inc’s fourth quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Leading the call today are Jeff Jackson, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Dan Weiss, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Today’s call, an archive of which will be available on our website for one year, contains forward-looking information. Cautionary statements about this information and reconciliations of non-GAAP measures are included in our earnings related materials issued yesterday afternoon, as well as our other SEC filings and investor materials. These materials are available on the Investor Relations section of our website, wesbanco.com. All statements speak only as of January 23, 2025, and WesBanco undertakes no obligation to update them. I would now like to turn the call over to Jeff. Jeff?

Thanks, John, and good afternoon. On today's call, we will review our strong fourth quarter and full year 2024 results and provide an update on our operations and initial outlook for 2025. Key takeaways from the call today are strong loan growth that has been fully funded through deposit growth; improved net interest margin which is expected to meaningfully improve through 2025. We remain focused on organic growth and efficiency gains to achieve positive operating leverage. Our transformative acquisition of Premier Financial Corp. remains on track, pending Fed and FDIC regulatory approvals. 2024 was an excellent year for WesBanco. We delivered strong loan growth of $1 billion, which was fully funded by deposit growth. We also announced our transformative merger with Premier Financial and continued to earn national recognitions for stability, trustworthiness, and workplace excellence. We have achieved a compound annual loan growth rate of 9% over the past three years, raised $200 million of common equity, and paid down higher cost borrowings, key successes in our strategy to strengthen our balance sheet and net interest margin. Additionally, we continued to focus on cost control while enhancing our wealth and treasury management businesses to deepen client relationships and drive positive operating leverage. With the pending Premier Financial merger and the strength of our proven strategies and balance sheet, we are well-positioned to build on our momentum and continue delivering value for our customers and stakeholders. For the quarter ending December 31, 2024, we reported net income excluding merger and restructuring expenses, available to common shareholders of $47.6 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.71, which increased 29% year-over-year. On a similar basis, we reported full year net income of $146.4 million and diluted earnings per share of $2.34. Furthermore, the strength of our financial performance during the past year was reflected in our fourth quarter return on tangible common equity of 13%. Nonperforming assets to total assets of just 0.22%, and a capital position that continues to provide financial and operational flexibility, as demonstrated by our tangible common equity ratio of 8.7%. Throughout the past year, we accomplished several milestones and continued to receive numerous national accolades that resulted from our strong performance, operational strengths, and focus on our communities, customers, and employees. These accolades, which recognize our commitment to sustainability and excellence, are also a testament to the hard work and dedication of our employees, so I extend a heartfelt thank you to them. Just to highlight a few of our accomplishments, we launched a renewed Mission, Vision, and Pledge which defines our purpose, aspirations, and the values that guide our business, which include respect, exceptional customer experiences, soundness and stability, accountability, and stewards of our communities. Our MVP unites us in a shared sense of purpose and guides our strategy towards sustained success. In conjunction with the announcement of the pending acquisition of Premier Financial, we successfully raised $200 million of common equity that further strengthened our capital levels and positioned us for future growth. We retooled our treasury management function and developed new products and services to make it a key component of our relationship banking philosophy and help drive our fee income to a larger percentage of our total revenue. Through the strength of our wealth management teams and our services, we realize record levels of trust and investment services assets under management of $6 billion and broker-dealer security account values of $1.9 billion, all through organic growth and market appreciation. Lastly, we continue to receive top rankings the past year, reflecting our strength and stability and efforts of our employees every day to serve our customers and communities with excellence. We were recognized for Soundness, Safety, and Profitability; Employer of Choice and a great workplace; and positively impacting our communities, and recently we were named one of Forbes' Most Trusted Companies based on customer, investor, and employee trust. The key story for both the fourth quarter and full year remains strong deposit and loan growth, as deposit growth fully funded loan growth on both a year-over-year and sequential quarter basis. Further, our total and commercial loan growth and deposit growth continued to significantly outperform the monthly H.8 data for all domestically chartered commercial banks on both a year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter basis, again demonstrating the success of our strategies and teams. Our total deposits increased $1 billion year-over-year and $300 million quarter-over-quarter to more than $14 billion. Importantly, this growth was mainly driven by deposit categories other than certificates of deposits, as total demand deposits continue to represent 54% of total deposits, with the non-interest bearing component representing 27%, reflecting our team's focus on deepening existing and new customer relationships. Our underwriting and credit standards are a 155-year legacy of our company, and we are achieving our strong loan growth without sacrificing credit quality, as confirmed by key metrics that are favorable to the average of all banks with assets between $10 billion and $25 billion. Since year-end 2021, we have achieved a strong compound annual loan growth rate of 9%, which has been achieved with roughly the same number of bankers, thanks to the success of our recruitment and go-to-market strategies, combined with the products and services of a large bank, but with the customer focus and support of a community bank. Fourth quarter growth was 9% year-over-year and nearly 7% quarter-over-quarter annualized, driven by a strong performance of our banking teams across our markets. Further, total commercial loans increased 11% year-over-year and almost 9% sequentially on an annualized basis driven by commercial real estate. Our four newest loan production offices accounted for nearly 30% of the commercial loan growth year-to-date, led by our Chattanooga and Indianapolis offices. Our commercial loan pipeline as of December 31 was approximately $763 million, up roughly 11% from a year ago, but down 8% from September 30, as our teams converted the pipeline into another quarter of solid loan growth. However, in the three weeks since year-end, the pipeline has grown approximately $80 million. Based on the current pipeline and the strength of our teams and markets, we expect mid-single-digit loan growth during 2025. Our Louisville, Southern Indiana commercial banker and credit team recently celebrated successfully winning a unique opportunity with a customer in a specialized industry, a $45 million construction loan and over $350,000 in relationship-based fee income. While the opportunity presented many challenges, the team persevered through complex negotiations to secure this resounding win, which was made possible by our deep understanding of the client's needs and our team living our values of accountability and soundness and stability in support of the bank's day-to-day and long-term performance. Turning to our pending acquisition of Premier Financial, we have received approval from the shareholders of both companies, as well as the State of West Virginia. We previously filed all necessary bank regulatory applications and remain on track for a first-quarter closing, pending Fed and FDIC approvals. Through this transformative acquisition, we expect to accelerate our positive momentum, build on Premier's legacy of community engagement and support, and together bring the resources of a larger and stronger financial services organization to benefit all our communities. I would now like to turn the call over to Dan Weiss, our CFO, for an update on our fourth quarter financial results and a current outlook for 2025. Dan?

Thanks, Jeff, and good afternoon. For the quarter ending December 31, 2024, we reported GAAP net income available to common shareholders of $47.1 million or $0.70 per share. And when excluding after-tax restructuring and merger-related expenses, net income was $47.6 million or $0.71 per share, representing an increase of 47% from $32.4 million or $0.55 per share in the prior year period. On a full-year basis, 2024 net income available to common shareholders, excluding after-tax restructuring, and merger-related expenses was $146.4 million or $2.34 per share as compared to $151.9 million or $2.56 per share, reflecting the impact of the common stock rates during the third quarter of 2024. To highlight a few of the fourth quarter's accomplishments, we generated strong year-over-year pre-tax, pre-provision earnings growth of 29% that was built upon loan growth of $1 billion that was fully funded by deposit growth, an improving net interest margin, strong fee income growth of 21%, and continued management of operating expenses, with fourth quarter expenses increasing just 1% over the linked third quarter, as well as the prior year period. These positives combined with a slight negative provision for credit losses, a pension benefit that's not expected to recur, and a positive fair value adjustment on swaps resulted in a $0.15 increase in earnings per share, despite the increase in the share count from the third quarter's capital raise. As of December 31, total assets of $18.7 billion included total portfolio loans of $12.7 billion and total securities of $3.4 billion. And as Jeff mentioned, loan growth remained robust over the last three years and has been driven by the success of our strategies and the strong performance by our banking teams across our markets. We remain optimistic about future loan growth with our strong loan pipelines, banking teams and markets combined with roughly $1 billion in unfunded land construction and development commitments that are expected to fund over the next 12 to 18 months and relatively low CRE payoffs. Commercial real estate payoffs totaled approximately $350 million for the year as compared to an annual level in the $500 million range in a more normal operating environment, and we anticipate that the pace of payoffs may increase over time as more CRE projects move into the secondary market for permanent financing or are sold, particularly if rates decline. Deposits of $14.1 billion were up 7.3% versus the prior year, and 8.6% annualized linked-quarter, reflecting our efforts on deposit gathering and retention. The composition of total deposits continue to have some mixed shift. However, total demand deposits as well as non-interest bearing deposits as a percentage of total deposits, remain consistent with the range prior to the pandemic. As is typical during a higher rate environment, we've experienced strong growth in CDs during 2024. However, when excluding them, we realized deposit growth of 3.9% year-over-year and 7.7% quarter-over-quarter annualized. Furthermore, we anticipate roughly 70% of our CD book to mature or reprice lower over the next six months mainly in the March to May timeframe. Turning to credit quality, credit quality continues to remain stable as key metrics have remained low from a historical perspective and within a consistent range over the last three-plus years. The allowance for credit losses to total portfolio loans at the end of the quarter decreased slightly to 1.10% of total loans due to improvements in the macroeconomic forecast related to lower unemployment assumptions and a more normalized yield curve, offsetting loan portfolio growth and office portfolio reserves. The fourth quarter margin of 3.03% improved both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year through a combination of higher loan and securities yields and lower funding costs as we continue to execute upon our strategies to strengthen our balance sheet. Also benefiting the margin was the $175 million paydown of federal home loan bank borrowings from deposit growth which exceeded loan growth, bringing total paydowns since June 30 to $475 million. And as a reminder, the majority of our federal home loan bank borrowings are short-term borrowings such that approximately 80% will mature during the first quarter of 2025 and should continue to reprice lower from additional Fed fund rate cuts. Our interest bearing deposit beta on the September and November rate cuts of 75 basis points was 19%. And our total deposit funding cost of 197 basis points declined 8 basis points from the third quarter, reflecting the higher mix of non-interest bearing deposits and the recent rate cuts. For the fourth quarter, non-interest income totaled $36.4 million, a 23% linked quarter increase and a 21% increase over the prior year period due to higher swap fee income and valuation income, service charges on deposits and trust fees. The increase in the swap fees and valuation income reflected fair value adjustments of $1.9 million, which were $2.5 million loss in last year period, and gross swap fees of $1.3 million. Service charges on deposits increased due to fee income from new products and services, increased general consumer spending, and treasury management, which is continuing to gain traction from our strategic repositioning of this business line in late 2023. It's also important to note that other income included a $2.3 million gain from the transfer of certain liabilities for future pension payments to a third-party insurance company, which is not expected to repeat. Turning to expenses. Non-interest expense excluding restructuring and merger-related costs for the three months ended December 31, 2024 were $100.5 million, an increase of just 1% year-over-year, which benefited from company-wide efficiency efforts as we've remained focused on achieving positive operating leverage. The primary driver of this increase was the $1 million increase in equipment and software expenses, which reflect the impact of the prior year ATM upgrades. Salaries and wages also increased primarily due to our standard mid-year merit increases offset somewhat by lower staffing levels associated with the efficiency improvements in the mortgage and branch staffing models in the prior year. Our regulatory capital ratios have remained above the applicable well-capitalized standards, and reflecting our strong capital position and net income, our Board of Directors approved a $0.01 dividend increasing to $0.37 during the fourth quarter. Turning to our current outlook for 2025, which is for WesBanco standalone and does not include any potential benefit from our acquisition of Premier Financial. We are currently modeling two additional Fed Fund rate cuts in March and September. And given our relatively neutral rate-sensitive position, we do not expect a significant difference between one or two cuts on our net interest margin. We anticipate approximately 4 to 6 basis points of continued improvement in the first quarter's net interest margin from the fourth quarter, as our spot margin for the month of December was 3.08%. And we expect more meaningful improvement during the second quarter as more than $1 billion in CDs mature during that March through May period and reprice lower. And then we anticipate more modest margin improvement during the second half of 2025. Trust fees should benefit modestly from organic growth, but will be impacted by equity and fixed income market trends. And as a reminder, first quarter trust fees are seasonally higher due to the tax preparation fees. Securities brokerage revenues anticipated to grow slightly from the range over the last few quarters due to modest organic growth, but also will be dependent upon the economy and equity and fixed income markets. Electronic banking fees, which are subject to overall consumer spending behaviors are expected to be in the same quarterly range in 2024. Service charges on deposits are expected to remain consistent with the amounts that we've earned in the second half of 2024, as they are dependent on general consumer spending, but could benefit slightly from continued growth in treasury management. Mortgage banking should remain in the range of the second half of 2024, but will continue to be impacted by the overall residential housing market trends and interest rates. And then gross commercial swap fee income, excluding market adjustments, should be in the range of $5 million to $7 million. And then we continue to anticipate some modest benefit during 2025 from our new purchasing card, integrated payables and receivables, treasury management products. Turning to expenses. As we stated in the past, we remain focused on disciplined expense management to drive positive operating leverage and will continue our efforts throughout 2025. As we previously disclosed, we successfully consolidated 11 branches into nearby locations during the fourth quarter and anticipate annual savings of approximately $4 million, which will begin to be realized during the first quarter of 2025 to help offset general inflationary pressures. Equipment and software is expected to continue to increase at a faster pace than overall expenses as we continue to invest in products, services, and technology to improve the customer experience and drive revenue growth. Marketing and FDIC expenses will increase slightly in support of our loan and deposit growth. And based on what we know today, we believe our expense run rate during the first half of 2025 to be roughly consistent with the fourth quarter's reported $101 million and then grow modestly due to the annual mid-year merit increases and higher health care and software costs during the back half of the year. The provision for credit losses will depend upon changes to the macroeconomic forecast as well as qualitative factors, credit quality metrics including potential charge-offs, criticized and classified loan balances, delinquencies, changes in prepayment speeds, and future loan growth. And lastly, we currently anticipate our full year effective tax rate to be between 17.5% and 18.5% subject to changes in tax regulations and taxable income levels.

We're now ready to take questions. Would you please review the instructions?

Hey, good afternoon, guys.

Hey, good afternoon, Russell.

Hey, Russell.

Hey, Jeff. Hey, Dan. I wanted to start on the margin and appreciate all the color with regard to legacy WesBanco. A bunch of tailwinds, it sounds like, on both sides of the balance sheet to the NIM. So, Dan, as we think about moving into the second quarter with the CD benefit, could you just share where those are repricing off of what you would expect to reprice them into and then what the duration of the offerings are?

Yes, Russell. In the second quarter, we're looking at around $1.2 billion in certificates of deposit with an average rate of about 4.75%. We expect those to reprice downward by 75 to 100 basis points. This is where we anticipate a notable increase in margin for the second quarter. Currently, we plan for them to remain part of the 7-month CD special.

Okay. I appreciate it. Okay. And then switching gears as we think about sort of the pro forma margin with Premier given the rate backdrop we sit in today, also your two Fed cut expectations, does that put us in a pro forma range of call it, I don't know, 345 to 350? Or given your kind of legacy outlook and improvement with the WesBanco margin as you layer in Premier, is there any change to how we should be thinking about that margin upon deal close?

Yes, Russell, I think you're quite close to our current model. One thing to note is that when we announced the deal in July, we had a pro forma margin of around 346. Since then, obviously, the rate environment has shifted, and that 346 was based on the analyst consensus forecast for the first quarter of 2025 for WesBanco on a standalone basis. Since the first quarter of 2024, that consensus estimate has improved due to some of the tailwinds we've discussed, and it now seems likely that we could be 10 to 15 basis points better than that estimate today.

Very helpful, guys. Thanks for taking my question.

350 to 355 range.

I appreciate it. I'll step back. Thanks very much, guys.

Hey, good afternoon, guys.

Hey, good afternoon, Karl.

Hey, Karl.

I wanted to pick up on deposits a little bit more. A lot of opportunity in 2Q, but could you just sketch out the whole year a little bit and what you think an appropriate deposit growth rate is and if some of the stabilization and mix we saw this quarter can continue? Thanks.

Yes. One of the main assumptions we're working with is that loan growth will be entirely supported by deposit growth. While we might see some fluctuations in deposit growth from quarter to quarter, we anticipate that, for the year, deposits will fully cover loans. With that in mind, we've clearly communicated our annual expectations for loan growth, aiming for mid to upper single-digit increases. This translates to roughly $800 million to $850 million in loan growth, which can guide our expectations for deposit growth.

Okay. And then just on the mix piece of it, do you think we'll see a little less CD growth or is that still area you see a kind of similar composition?

I think we could see probably a little less concentration in CD growth than what we saw this year, like 2024. In 2025, I think it could be a little bit more evenly mixed.

Yes, good afternoon, gentlemen.

Hey, good afternoon, Dave.

Hello, Dave.

Hey, Jeff, quick question. You mentioned the success in revamping some of your treasury management products on the commercial side. I’m curious if you’ve disclosed the percentage increase in new commercial accounts added this year. Are you able to win larger commercial accounts and what is the average size? Also, any insights on commercial deposit growth would be appreciated.

Yes, we are experiencing some significant wins with larger accounts and are continuing to increase our efforts. I can share that our treasury management fees have grown year-over-year, and we implemented about 40 new multi-cards around the middle to end of last year. The spending related to these will carry over into this year, and we are aiming to add at least that many more or even more this year. We are just beginning to see the revenue growth from this, and our commercial teams are incorporating it into their offerings, which is enabling us to secure additional commercial and industrial business. In the fourth quarter, we saw a growth of approximately $70 million in commercial and industrial loans, which is a major positive for us. Additionally, we have seen substantial growth in deposits as well. Overall, things are ramping up, and it has significantly impacted our ability to increase both deposit and commercial loan balances.

Great. And then a follow-up question, I think, in the preamble. It sounds like you're still confident of a first quarter close to the Premier acquisition. Just curious, is the patent DC reviewing this? Just curious, we're going to have to get final regulatory approval. Thanks.

Yes. So we are very confident that we'll close in the first quarter and it is in DC. The Fed and the FDIC are both in DC. We have had correspondence with both answering some questions and going back and forth on a few minor items that they've asked about. At this point, I see no issues that have arisen and we still feel very comfortable about closing in the first quarter.

Great. Thank you.

Thank you. Good afternoon, guys.

Hey, good afternoon.

Maybe first, just a clarification, the loan growth guidance that you talked about, I know you mentioned expecting an increase in payoffs in 2025. Does that assume an increase in payoffs in 2025 in terms of what you gave us in the mid-single-digit loan growth?

That would be a net. That's a net number.

Okay.

So with payoffs, yes, still in that mid to upper single digits.

So you're suggesting that the payoffs are expected to rise within the net loan growth figure you've mentioned?

Yes, that's right.

Okay. If payoffs were to exceed expectations and loan growth were to be slightly lower, similar to the fourth quarter scenario where deposit growth outpaced loan growth, would you consider paying down FHLB borrowings again? I'm interested in how that situation would unfold if it happened.

Yes, we would. So all our deposit growth is that we're bringing in less than what we're paying to FHLB. So we would, if we weren't able to grow loans at the same rate of deposits, we would pay down the FHLB borrowings, which would have a positive impact, I believe, on our net interest margin.

Yes, we really experienced this in the fourth quarter. The deposit growth occurred early in the fourth quarter, allowing us to pay down our Federal Home Loan Bank borrowings sooner. As a result, we actually gained a few basis points in margin.

Yes. We finished December at 3.08%.

Okay. Terrific. And then maybe just switching gears here to credit, certainly it's been strong for you guys, but there was an uptick in MPLs and criticized and classified. Just curious if you have any more color on kind of what is driving the uptick in those categories.

The quarterly fluctuations are fairly typical. I believe one credit increased it slightly. We expect to resolve that issue by the end of this quarter or the beginning of the next. Historically, we remain within our usual patterns and perform at least at the average level of our peer groups, often exceeding it. Therefore, I wouldn't attach too much significance to those numbers. They tend to vary from quarter to quarter, and currently, we aren't observing any notable trends.

Okay. So we should still be kind of comfortable with where net charge-offs have been historically looking for, is what – sounds like what you're saying.

Yes.

Got it. All right. I'll step back. Thanks for all the color guys.

Yes. Thank you.

Thanks. Good afternoon.

Hey, good afternoon, Catherine.

Hey, Catherine.

I want to circle back just to kind of move in rates and your comment here on the margin. It feels like the move in rates have been good for WesBanco on a standalone basis and then it looked like Premier also had a higher margin this quarter. So it feels like the margin trajectory is better just kind of net so far. On the flip of that, as we think about pro forma capital ratios at close, I guess question one is what's the best rate to follow? If you look at the 10-year, it looks like the 10-year has moved up a little bit since we announced the deal. And so how do we think about that impact? It's good for the margin, I would imagine, because higher credible yield, but also kind of a negative to capital. And so as you think about pro forma capital ratios and commercial real estate, the capital ratios at close, does that move in rates kind of push you to need to sell more loans? Or is there something that you're kind of solving for, for where you want ratios to be at close that we should just think about as we get nearer to the close date? Thanks.

Yes, I appreciate your insightful questions. From our viewpoint, we revalued the entire commercial interest loan mark as of December 31, 2024, to compare it with our original assumptions. It actually decreased slightly. I would emphasize focusing more on the 5-year than the 10-year rate. At the time of evaluation, the 5-year rate was approximately 4.5%, and by the end of the year, it remained in that general range. The standalone interest mark decreased from about $325 million to around $250 million, a reduction of $75 million. This indicates an increase of roughly 5% in the interest mark associated with a 4% mark based on the rates at year-end. This outcome aligns differently from our previous discussion. In this context, we experience slightly reduced tangible book value dilution and lower interest mark accretion. With the diminished TBB dilution, it decreases overall dilution from about 13% to just under 10%, which we view favorably. The CRE ratio is a critical area of focus for us, and we are committed to keeping our ratios below the 300% guideline. Additionally, the growth in capital we observed in the fourth quarter, along with Premier's strong performance and the decreased interest mark, all suggest improved capital ratios, assuming rates remain stable as of December 31, 2024. Furthermore, our capital ratios have improved across the board by approximately 50 basis points based on this updated analysis.

And it's really interesting. It's so helpful. So now this looks like since deal announcement, we're getting less book dilution and then less accretable yield, but our core margins are coming in higher. So actually kind of probably net neutral may be a little bit better to the margin, all in. Is that a fair way to think about it?

Yes.

Yes.

That's great. Okay. And then on expenses, can you just remind us just kind of the timing of cost savings and if there's any kind of upside to those cost savings that you might see now that you're a few months in from announcing the deal?

Yes. So, cost savings, typically, we would anticipate to begin after core conversion, and typically that's a good month or two after core conversion. And so, right now we've got a tentative date of the middle of May for that core conversion to occur. And then there's certainly cleanup for a month or two thereafter where we're still kind of running parallel. And so after that period of time that's when we would expect to really begin to realize the full kind of 26% cost saves. We're still obviously evaluating, but we do feel very good about that assumption. We feel that was a nice conservative assumption at announcement and still feel that we are well on track to meet that.

Okay. Great. Thank you very much.

Hey, good afternoon.

Hey, good afternoon.

Hey, Manuel.

To follow up on that capital question, the change in rates has likely enhanced the CRE concentration at close and is no longer a barrier to your legacy growth prospects. Is that a stronger takeaway?

Yes, it really is. I didn't explicitly state that, but I intended to imply it. It definitely enhances the CRE concentration ratio from the outset. Additionally, if there were any limitations on growth, this certainly assists in alleviating them.

Just remind me, are there any other updates to Premier targets, accretion, or have we covered most things? Is there anything else noteworthy about the pending transaction?

I would like to add that Catherine mentioned the CRE sale of approximately $100 million. We will adjust our plans based on what we have and see by the time the deal closes and the state of our CRE concentrations. Regarding the securities portfolio, we are still evaluating it. Recently, there have been opportunities related to the long-term rates that could allow us to sell more and reinvest, potentially taking on a bit more duration. This presents an opportunity to restructure our securities portfolio according to our preferences. Currently, we have a securities book valued at $1.2 billion and we plan to reduce that by a couple of hundred million dollars. Additionally, we aim to restructure the remaining portfolio to align with our investment profile and capture extra yield where possible. This should positively impact our margins and future growth.

That's great. Just on margin on the legacy basis, when you talk about a little bit more expansion in the first quarter, is that off of the full quarter number?

It's off of the full quarter number.

Okay. And then just there might have been some crosstalk. You're kind of almost expecting at close you could have them in be 10 to 15 basis points above where you previously expected it for the deal?

That's correct. When I refer to that, I go back to the 346 that we disclosed when we announced the deal. At that time, WesBanco's standalone margin projection for 2025 was around 310. That was based on the first quarter consensus number that we used. Since then, we have observed real progress. We expect to exceed the 310 that was included in the 346 guidance by 10 to 15 basis points. Yes.

That's a great update. One last question is about which regions you are most excited about and where you are looking to add new lending teams, particularly in relation to the legacy WesBanco commercial lending team.

Sure. Yes. So, we grew last year a $1 billion in loans, a $1 billion in deposits, which is if you think about our acquisition of Your Community Bank, that's basically we built organically a Your Community Bank last year. And so when we look at future growth, obviously the LPOs have driven a good portion of that. So what I would tell you is looking to fill out more in Nashville and then also looking to add more in Knoxville and Indianapolis. I should say start Knoxville and then add more to Indianapolis. Those would be the markets I would say we're looking at. Of course, we're always looking for great talented bankers that fit in with our processes and how we do things in our culture, but I would go Nashville, Knoxville and Indianapolis.

That's great. Thank you for the commentary. I'll step back into the queue.

Thank you.

And our last question today will be from Russell Gunther with Stephens. Please go ahead.

Thank you for the follow-up, Dan. I want to clarify the pro forma NIM of 350 to 355 with Premier. First, is that based on the updated mark you mentioned receiving on December 31? Second, does that take into account the potential securities restructuring?

It is based off of the updated mark, and it does not contemplate fully the restructure of securities. So there's …

Got it. Okay, great. I appreciate it. Thanks, guys.

Thanks, Russell.

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Jeff Jackson for any closing remarks.

Thank you. During the past year, we delivered strong loan growth of a $1 billion that was matched by deposit growth of a $1 billion, while maintaining strong capital levels and credit quality. Our successful balance sheet strategies have and should continue to improve our net interest margin. We remain focused on organic growth and efficiency gains to achieve positive operating leverage and position us well to deliver shareholder value. Thank you for joining us today, and we look forward to speaking with you at one of our upcoming investor events. Have a great day.

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.