Financial education is important to me because I see it as the social contract that we have with our communities as community bankers. Financial education is important to First Financial. We want to build lifelong multi-generational relationships with our customers and the community. The difference that we see in our community when we provide financial education is a better informed customer base. When you can teach someone or a group of people about how to purchase your first home, how to plan to purchase your first home, how to build your credit, how to build a budget, all those things create a mutual understanding that what's good for me is good for you, and in essence, they reward us with their loyalty. First Financial Bank gives us lots of training and support when it comes to building programs and curriculum around financial education.
One of our biggest initiatives is to create home ownership paths so folks can live the American dream and purchase their homes, us being a good partner and a good advocate to all groups and all communities.
Rebuild ABI Infill Development Program incepted in October 2024. We began a program that offered an incentive to build homes at an affordable cost in our historical neighborhoods.
The partnership with the city allowed this to happen because not only did they give incentives to the builders to build these houses, but it also allowed the bank to provide a higher level of quality product for the loan that we provided the builders, and in the end, that impacted our community and the development in these areas that we were serving.
We needed to offer a way to make sure builders didn't have a barrier, a financial barrier, to be part of this program. First Financial stepped up and rose it to the next level and doing great things.
It's just so meaningful for me to see some of the projects that we do every year, to see some of the nonprofits that we partner with. We got to see neighborhoods that previously had either a dilapidated structure that was torn down and rebuilt, or possibly it was just a piece of dirt for the last 30 or 40 years. Now these neighborhoods have become vibrant, and it's just so important for us to be able to do that as a bank.
To me, community banking is about relationships, and it's not just with the community and your customers, it's also with fellow employees. You really have an opportunity to make an impact in reinvesting into communities. I love learning. I enjoy figuring out how it all works, and by doing that, I get to have conversations with people that know a lot about what they do. I think in the end, it creates relationships, it creates trust, and ultimately helps me become a better leader and person. One day I would love to become a CFO. I recently achieved a goal of becoming the Chief Accounting Officer, which is a huge milestone in my career. First Financial has provided me with several learning opportunities. I'd say [Sigsbee] was probably the biggest milestone since joining the company.
I'm currently participating in First Financial University, which is an internal senior leadership training program. A lot of the women leaders in my life poured a lot of time and energy into me to help make me who I am today, and I hope that I'm able to do the same for all those around me.
Our first customer, our first deposit, recorded by our very first teller, 17-year-old Henry James. Our first branch, which quickly became a first for many, many Texans. When crisis first hit, we put our neighbors first, a promise we've kept through our first acquisition, first expansion, first new name in nearly 70 years. Before our first blue chip stock, we backed blue ribbon steers and laid the blueprints for Texans to afford their first homes. Not to mention one of the first banks to promote women in precedent-setting first. All this in our first 100 years, earning our first award. First of many, that is. After more than 135 years of first loans, first accounts, and first time for everything, we at First Financial are proud to be your banker. We'll always be your neighbor first.
When you walk in, whether you're a customer or an employee, it just feels different.
Every day is a new learning experience. Every time I think I've got it figured out, there's something new.
I never would've guessed I would've had a career in banking.
23 years ago, I walked through the doors of this company, not as CEO, but as a teller at our grocery store branch here in Abilene. What stood out to me from the moment I walked through was the ways that this company invested in me. I was learning how to balance drawers, learning how to talk to customers, just learning how to be a banker. What this company was doing to me at that time was far beyond the function of that role. They were investing in me. They were teaching me. They were mentoring me. Throughout my career, that has stayed with me, and they've continued to mold me into the banker that I am today. My story is not unique. This company has invested in so many people just like me, and that is what makes First Financial Bank so special.
At First Financial, we have training as a line of business.
It's not just a, "Let's throw you out there and hope for the best." They really put all of their resources towards our training department.
The bank really wants you to succeed, and so they're always encouraging us to do our best.
You never know what's behind that door. The bank had a program where they would pay for those two accounting courses. That opens up, you know, more opportunities in the future.
In my previous line of work, I was a supervisor, and I would describe myself as a boss only. Showed up, told people what to do, went home. Here, I am able to actually lift people up, help encourage them, build them, make them better, and they are able to accomplish so much more.
They see that leadership in you. I mean, they know that you're not perfect, but I think when you do fail, they know that you're gonna get back up and continue pressing onward.
The value that First Financial sees in me expands well beyond my career in banking and with the bank. You know, it does expand when I'm out in the community, when I'm with my family and my friends. I mean, it's just a ever-continuing growth pattern.
With First Financial promoting education, it's actually really great because here they actually want you to succeed. They push for it. They provided the resources. They weren't hesitant about it. They're like, "Here you go."
Here it's like, "Is this beneficial? Can this person handle it? Can we do something to assist them?" Because we wanna see them be successful so we're successful.
We had a big flood in San Angelo, and whenever we did Day of Service, we really were doing drywall and insulation. What I love about First Financial is just how heavily involved we are with the community.
The main advice I would give to anybody new starting at the bank is take notice of how many people at the top of this company came from the very bottom. People that started as tellers, people that started in the mail room are now running this organization, and know that is possible.
Learn the education that's provided. The bank will never stop you. They're always gonna push you forward, that's an amazing place to be.
First Financial to me is growth in community and growth in the future of our employees.
This belief has defined us for generations. It is special that in the past 70 years we have only had three CEOs of First Financial Bankshares. We are so fortunate to continue to have F. Scott Dueser serving as our Executive Chairman and helping to guide us and mentor us into the future. The future of First Financial is built by the people that make it happen every day, our employees. We truly believe that because of them, excellence does come from within. Welcome to the 2026 annual meeting of shareholders. We're glad you are here. Would you please join me in welcoming our Executive Chairman, Scott Dueser, to the stage at this time?
Good morning and welcome. What a great group. We are excited that we have so many people here. Just wanna tell you that it means a lot to us for you to be here. I think it's very important that you do come to these meetings. It's a time to learn about the bank, to know what we're doing, where we're going, and what we're gonna be in the future. You as our owners, we work for you, and we want you to know about the company. This happens to be our 53rd annual meeting since the company was organized as a bank holding company in 1973. We're so happy to have all of you here. I'm looking forward to getting around at the luncheon and visiting with each of you personally.
We also welcome those of you viewing livestream, which we have a number of doing that. They couldn't come. They're watching the meeting right now. They're also going to be able to see the luncheon. We're sorry that they couldn't attend. We appreciate them listening in and their interest in our company. I'm F. Scott Dueser. As Executive Chairman, it's my pleasure to preside at today's meeting. Your interest and dedication to our company are very gratifying to us. Your continuous support is greatly appreciated. All shareholders of record as of close of business on March 2nd, 2026 are entitled to vote at this meeting. The secretary has delivered an affidavit of mailing establishing that notice of this meeting was duly given, which will be incorporated into the minutes of this meeting.
As set out in the proxy statement dated March 20th, 2026, our directors, Murray Edwards and David Copeland, are serving as our proxies and are authorized to vote in accordance with the proxy card, which was completed and returned by mail, phone, online, or in person. If you intend to vote at this meeting, please mark your ballot and raise your hand, and we will collect your ballots at this time to submit them to Mr. Copeland or Mr. Edwards to tabulate these votes with the proxies previously received. Is there anyone who is voting today? I don't see anybody. Great. You've already done it. That's what we like. All proxies received prior to the meeting will be voted in accordance with instructions contained in these proxies, and as provided in the proxy statement in the absence of instructions.
Our first item of business is to determine the existence of a quorum at this meeting. Mr. Copeland. There you are. Okay. Will you please give us the number of shares that are presented by proxy and in person?
Total outstanding shares of 143 million, and of those, 89% are represented today by proxy or in person.
Thank you, David. Thanks to all of you. A high voting record is very important to us because it does mean that you're interested in the company. When you get that proxy, don't forget to vote. All right. The number of shares presented constitutes a quorum, therefore, this meeting is properly and duly convened. I would like to introduce our senior management, who are truly the ones that make this company great. I'd also ask each one of them to stand and remain standing so we can recognize you as a group. We are very fortunate to have this level of experience and expertise in our company.
They're the Executive Management Team. Scott Dueser, Executive Chairman. David Bailey, President and CEO. Ronald Butler, Vice Chairman of the Executive Management Committee and Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer. Michelle Hickox, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of First Financial Bankshares. Lon Biebighauser, President, First Financial Trust and Asset Management Company. Tim Brown, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer. Brian Goodrich, Executive Vice President and General Counsel. Luke Longhofer, Executive Vice President, Chief Credit Officer. Kyle McVey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of First Financial Bank. Randy Roewe, Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer. John Ruzicka, Executive Vice President and Chief Banking Officer.
Our senior leadership. James Alexander, Executive Vice President, Commercial Banking. Chris Evatt, Senior Banking Executive, Southern Regions. Rett Everett, Executive Vice President, Credit Administration in the DFW area. Javier Jurado, Executive Vice President and Chief Audit Executive. Keith Morton, Executive Vice President, Credit Administration in Greater Houston and Southeast Texas. Mike Parker, Executive Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer. Jeff Vorhees, Executive Vice President, Treasurer. Sarah Bacon, Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer. Eric Bonnell, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Risk Management. James Hinton.
These are our lines of business. These are the people that run this line of business throughout the whole company. James Hinton, President, First Financial Mortgage. Josh Brown, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources. Frank Gioia, Executive Vice President, Customer Care Center. Lori Hill, Executive Vice President, Retail Banking. Chris Schjetnan, Executive Vice President, Community Lending & Outreach. Andrea Smiddy-Schlagel, Executive Vice President, Treasury Management. Dan Summerford, Executive Vice President, Director of Middle Market Lending. Mike Wolverton, Executive Vice President, Consumer Lending. Violet Watson Griggs, Senior Vice President, Marketing. Brandon Harris, Senior Vice President, Appraisal Services. Gary Milliron, Senior Vice President, Property Manager.
Our regional management teams. Abilene Region, Marelyn Shedd, CEO. Marshall Morris, President. Bryan/College Station Region, Nora Thompson, CEO. Austin Bryan, President. Chisholm Trail region, which is Fort Worth and Cleburne. Marcus Morris, CEO. Austin Elsner, President. Cross Timbers region, which is Eastland, Stephenville, and Weatherford. Justin Hooper, CEO and Chairman. Trent Swearengin, President. Candi Kanady, Eastland Division President. Greater Houston region, which is Kingwood and Conroe. Rodney Nabors, CEO. Southeast Texas region, Blaine Caillier, President and CEO. Southlake region, Shelby Bruhn, Chairman, President, and CEO. West Texas region, which is San Angelo, Sweetwater, and Hereford. Rick Vaughan, Chairman and CEO. Rodney Foster, President. Robert De La Cruz, Executive Vice President.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is your management team who make this bank one of the top banks in the country. For the past 21 years, the accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP has performed the audit of our company. We appreciate their professionalism, and we are pleased to have representatives from the firm join us at today's meeting.
Jacob Cooper and Drew Tucker. Jacob Cooper is partner. Drew Tucker is manager. These guys right here. They are here to answer all the hard questions. You know where they are, and you can find them. I told them we're gonna send all of them to them. They gotta earn their money, I can guarantee you. Each of our banks' regions, as well as our trust and technology companies, are guided by very capable boards. All together, we have over 120 business and professional leaders, other than bank presidents and company representatives, who serve our eight regions and our trust and technology companies. As we say, our boards are made up of the movers and shakers of the communities we serve. Their guidance and counsel are greatly appreciated, and their influence in the markets we serve is vital to the ongoing success of the organization.
We thank them for their time, direction, and dedication. Now that I've had the opportunity to introduce our management team and auditors, we can move along with today's official business. It is our standard procedure not to read the minutes of last year's meeting. Mr. Brian Goodrich has those in hand. The meeting was on April 29th, 2025. That meeting had three official items of business, those being the election of directors, the ratification and appointment of independent auditors, the advisory vote on compensation of our named executives. All three items were approved by the shareholders. In accordance with the annual meeting notice and the proxy materials, there are three items that require official vote of shareholders. These were covered in detail in the proxy materials.
However, as we present these items, if any of you have a question, please raise your hand and let us recognize you so that you may ask your question. Our first item is the election of directors to serve on the corporate board of the coming year. The Nominating Corporate Governance Committee and the board of directors have recommended that 13 directors be elected, 12 of whom are currently serving on your board of directors, and one proposed new director. As I introduce the nominees, would each of you stand and remain standing until I have introduced the entire proposed group? All nominees and their primary business are as follows. Vianei Lopez Braun of Fort Worth, Shareholder and Chief Development Officer of Decker Jones, P.C. Sally Pope Davis of New York City, retired Goldman Sachs Managing Director and Portfolio Manager.
David Copeland of Abilene, president of SIPCO, Inc. and Shelton Family Foundation. Mike Denny of Abilene, president, Batjer & Associates, Inc. F. Scott Dueser of Abilene, Executive Chairman, First Financial Bankshares. Murray Edwards, principal, The Edwards Group. Jeff Haney of Abilene, Agriculture Investments and former CEO and partner of Cape & Son. Dr. Eli Jones of Montgomery, professor of marketing, Lowry and Peggy Mays Eminent Scholar, and former dean of the Mays Business School, Texas A&M University. Tim Lancaster of Lubbock, former president, CEO of Hendrick Health. Kade L. Matthews of Clarendon, Ranching and Investments. Robert C. Nickles, Jr. of Houston, Executive Chairman of Alegacy Group, LLC. Blake Poutra of Spring, managing partner and principal at BIG Enrichment and Chief Executive Officer of Coennect. Lota Zoth of Buffalo Gap, retired biotech executive. This is the recommended slate of directors for our coming year. Thank you.
The second item of business is to ratify the audit committee of the board of directors' appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as independent auditors for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2026. The board of directors has recommended the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP be ratified. The third item of business is the advisory vote on compensation of our named executive officers. Pursuant to Securities and Exchange Commission rules, we are again conducting a shareholder advisory vote referred to as Say on Pay to give shareholders the opportunity to express their views on compensation of our named executive officers and the executive compensation philosophy, policies, and programs described in the proxy statement. The board of directors recommends approval of the resolution approving the compensation of named executive officers. Okay, Mr. Copeland, we're gonna put you back to work. Have you tabulated the votes?
We have.
Okay. Please give us the tabulation of the votes.
With respect to proposal one, all nominees received in excess of 94% of the votes cast. With respect to proposal two, in excess of 98% of the votes cast ratified the appointment of independent auditors. With respect to proposal three, in excess of 92% of the votes cast approved the compensation of named executives.
Thank you, Mr. Copeland. I'm pleased to report that the 13 directors are duly elected by a high percentage, the appointment of our independent auditors ratified, and the advisory resolution is approved. This concludes the official business, and we appreciate the strong approval of the three proposals recommended by the board of directors this morning. There being no further official business to come before the meeting, the 2026 annual meeting of First Financial Bankshares is now adjourned. Thank you for your attention. Before I leave the stage, many of you have asked me, "How is the transition going?" I will tell you that it is going extremely well. David Bailey, the management team, and I are working very closely together to make sure the transition is seamless.
As you know, I have committed to stay as an Executive Chairman for two more years. I can assure you that the new team is smarter, wiser, and more in tune with today's banking industry, and is already playing an integral role in managing the company. Those of us who have been here for a long time are stepping aside so that the new management team can fill important management positions. We plan to make ourselves available to the team to ensure that they have the support and direction that they need. Our goal is for the company to never waver from providing excellent personalized customer service, delivering unparalleled value to our shareholders, enriching the lives of our employees, and creating a positive impact on the communities we serve.
The board has been working on this succession plan for quite some time. When you look across the spectrum of publicly traded banks, I think our succession planning is being executed with much thought and transparency. Although bank stocks have not been in favor over the last several years, our growth and income performance has continued to improve. As you will hear in the presentations to come, the outlook is very good. I can assure you that you will not find another company more focused on our shareholders as we are. As I've always said, we don't worry about what the market does and the fluctuation of our stock. We are focused on good earnings. Ultimately, earnings dictate our stock price.
One of the good things about market fluctuations is that it creates opportunities for people to get in our bank stock at a good price. I'm pleased to turn this meeting over to Michelle Hickox, who will present our financial results. Lon Biebighauser will discuss highlights and activities of the Trust Company. David Bailey will present the 2025 current activities of the company as well as the future outlook. Michelle?
Thank you, Scott. Good morning, everybody. It's so wonderful to see so many of our shareholders and my colleagues here today. First, I wanna thank our shareholders for your continued trust in First Financial, and to recognize my associates across our markets. Their consistent focus on serving our customers while maintaining discipline and strong risk management is what makes our outstanding financial performance possible. First Financial is unique in the level of in-person engagement that we get at our shareholders meeting. It's truly an honor to speak before so many of you that are here today, and I also want to welcome our shareholders that are joining us via the live stream. Before we begin the financial review, please note the forward-looking statement disclosure.
At a high level, 2025 was a strong year for First Financial, highlighted by record annual net income, robust organic balance sheet growth over the year, which was driven by a significant increase in deposits. This growth allowed us to increase net interest income and finish the year with momentum that positions us very well for 2026. Earnings increased to $253.6 million in 2025, up from $223.5 million in 2024. Represented a $30.1 million, or 13.5%, year-over-year increase. Diluted earnings per share were $1.77 in 2025, compared to $1.56 in 2024. This earnings growth was primarily driven by the strength in net interest income for the full year. Net interest income totaled $500.89 million, compared to $426.74 million in 2024.
As you will hear from Lon, trust had a great year also, with trust revenues and assets under management increasing year-over-year. Return on average assets is a key profitability measure for us and has been consistently above our peer group, which averaged 1.07% in 2025. In 2025, our return on average assets increased to 1.76% compared to 1.68% in 2024. This metric reflects the combination of strong revenue generation, disciplined expense management, and credit performance across our organization. The net interest margin is measured by the net interest income earned on average earning assets. Our net interest margin on a tax equivalent basis was 3.81% in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to 3.67% for the fourth quarter of 2024.
The margin benefited from an increase in yields on earning assets while the rates on our liabilities declined compared to 2024. Our margin compares very favorably to our peer group, which was 2.99% in 2025. The efficiency ratio reflects how much of each dollar of revenue is spent on operating expenses. Our efficiency ratio has historically been much lower than peer, which was 59.4% in 2025. Our efficiency ratio improved to 45.5% in 2025 compared to 47.2% in 2024, driven primarily by higher net interest income and careful expense management through thoughtful investment in the company. As you can see, our capital ratios remain well above the levels required to be considered well capitalized for regulatory purposes.
This strength provides resilience and flexibility, and it supports our ability to pursue prudent growth opportunities while maintaining a conservative risk profile. Total assets increased to $15.45 billion at December 31st, 2025 compared to $13.98 billion at December 31st, 2024. This reflects strong organic balance sheet growth over the past year, which was primarily driven by significant deposit activity in 2025. Deposit gathering was a major focus for us in 2025. We finished the year strong. Deposits and repurchase agreements totaled $13.4 billion at December 31st, 2025 compared to $12.1 billion at December 31st, 2024, an increase of $1.4 billion or 11.2% year-over-year. Loan growth slowed a bit from the past few years as we were impacted by a high amount of loan payoffs.
We ended the year with loans totaled $8.2 billion compared to $7.9 billion at December 31st, 2024, which was growth of $266.9 million or 3.4% for the year. While we had an unusual large charge-off during 2025 due to a fraud by a borrower, we maintained our strong credit standards and have continued to evaluate policies and procedures to ensure this was an isolated event. Non-performing assets as a percentage of loans and foreclosed assets totaled 0.69% at December 31st, 2025 compared to 0.8% at December 31st, 2024. This metric continues to be well below our peer of 1.07%, which reflects the quality of our underwriting and ongoing portfolio management. First quarter.
We did release our first quarter 2026 results earlier this month, let me briefly share those highlights with you. Our net earnings for the first quarter of 2026 were $71.5 million, with diluted earnings per share of $0.50 compared to $61.3 million or $0.43 per share for the first quarter of 2025, a 16.6% increase year-over-year. Key highlights of the quarter were net interest income of $134.8 million compared to $118.8 million in the same period of 2025, with our net interest margin increasing to 3.86% compared to 3.74% in 2025 and trust revenue increasing to $13.4 million, up $798,000 from the prior year.
We ended the quarter with total assets of $15.4 billion, which was down slightly from year-end. Deposits were also slightly down from year-end and totaled $13.2 billion as of March 31st. Core deposits expanded, but this growth was offset by a seasonal decrease in some public fund accounts. Loans totaled $8.3 billion as of March 31st, 2026, with growth of $126 million or 6.3% since year-end. As we look ahead to the rest of 2026, we remain focused on disciplined growth, strong credit standards, and on delivering consistent performance for our shareholders. Thank you for your support of First Financial and for being here with us today. Now Lon Biebighauser will come up to present the financial results for the trust company. Thank you.
Thank you, Michelle. Good morning, everyone. First Financial Trust enjoyed another successful year in 2025, producing good growth in both assets under management and earnings. Our total assets increased $673 million to finish the year with a book value of $8.8 billion, an increase of 8.3%. The market value of our assets under management were up $1.1 billion to finish the year at $11.94 billion, an increase of 10.2%. The trust company experienced strong earnings growth in 2025. Trust revenue increased $4.4 million, or 9.3%, from $47.5 million in 2024 to $51.8 million in 2025. Our overall earnings grew year-over-year despite a decline in oil and gas revenue.
However, 2025 was our second-best year ever with oil and gas revenue at $7.5 million. The decrease was primarily due to decreased production as new drilling slowed. As you can see from the slide, while our oil and gas revenue continues to vary from year to year based upon market conditions, it remains an important line of business for us, representing approximately 14.5% of our total revenue. Our after-tax income contribution to First Financial Bankshares, Inc. increased $2.6 million, or 10.3%, from $25.7 million in 2024 to $28.3 million in 2025. Our Houston office led the way for increases with earnings of $757,000, an increase of $374,000 over 2024.
Our Sweetwater office had net income growth of 32.4%, followed by our Abilene office at 16.7%. 2025 was yet another great year for the equity markets, with the S&P 500 increasing 17.8% for the year. Our best performing portfolio for the year was our strategic growth portfolio, which was up 25.95%, followed by our core portfolio, which was up 23.35%. All of our portfolios have impressive long-term returns, with all of them beating their respective benchmarks on the one, three, and five-year rates of return. Our portfolio managers, led by Chris Montoya, currently manage approximately $5 billion in equity assets utilizing 5 different equity styles, allowing us to provide the appropriate equity strategy to meet each customer's needs and risk tolerance.
2025 saw strong returns in both taxable and tax-free fixed income. Our taxable bond portfolio had a total return for the year of 7.61%, while our tax-free portfolio had a total return of 4.51%. Bill Rowe continues to do an excellent job of managing our bond portfolios and currently manages approximately $9 billion in fixed income assets for our clients at First Financial Trust and for First Financial Bank. We continue to be excited about our newest markets. I have already mentioned the significant net income increase for our Houston office. Additionally, the assets of our Houston office have now surpassed the $400 million milestone in 2025. All of our locations across the state are positioned and ready to serve each of the regions for First Financial Bankshares, Inc. and for all of our clients.
We are pleased to announce that the first quarter of 2026 has produced good results despite the recent market volatility. The book value of our assets under management has increased $231 million since year-end to reach $9.02 billion. Even with the market decline through the first quarter of 2026, our market value for assets under management are up $1.04 billion from March of 2025. Our net income for the first quarter of $7.36 million was an increase of $441,000 when compared to the first quarter of 2025. We are excited by our robust pipelines and continued potential growth for 2026. At First Financial Trust, the foundation of our business has always been a trust established through deep, meaningful, and generational relationships.
While this trust has not changed, the mix of our lines of business has developed over time to ensure we are focused on what is most impactful to our clients. Today, roughly 80% of our business is made up of investment management designed to build and maintain our clients' wealth and future. As a result, I'm excited, very excited, actually today to announce that we will begin doing business as First Financial Wealth Management. We believe that First Financial Wealth Management better reflects the full suite of our lines of business that we provide to our clients every day to comprehensively manage their wealth.
Whether our clients need investment management, real estate management, oil and gas management, or retirement plan services, and whether it's within an investment account or retirement account, or if it's for trust and estate planning, First Financial Wealth Management can be trusted to meet those needs. While we may be doing business under a new name, our company remains the same. Our foundation is still built with the same people offering the same services our clients have trusted for generations. Thank you for your attention this morning. I'll turn the podium over to David.
Thank you so much, Scott, Michelle, and Lon, and thank you to all of you for being here today. What an amazing audience, and I hope you're pleased with what you've heard from our company so far today. As you can see, both the bank and the wealth management company performed well in 2025, and we've continued to outperform our peer group, and we are excited for the strategic direction that we are headed during the coming years. This performance was highlighted recently by S&P Global, which ranked First Financial Bank as the number five bank amongst publicly traded banks with assets of $10 billion or greater. This ranking is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the almost 1,600 employees we have across our company who strive every day to deliver exceptional value to our shareholders.
I can assure you, we are striving to be the number one bank. As Scott mentioned earlier, the succession planning within our company is going extremely well, including Scott's transition to the role of Executive Chairman and my transition to the role of CEO. It's truly an honor to be able to succeed Scott as the fourth CEO of this company. As I discussed in our annual report, over the past 72 years, First Financial Bankshares has been led by only three different CEOs. Walter Johnson from 1954 to 1981, Kenneth Murphy from 1981 to 2000, and Scott Dueser from 2000 to 2025. It is extremely rare to see this level of continuity of leadership in any organization, and it's truly an honor to stand on the shoulders of these three icons in the banking industry and continue to lead this company forward. It's truly an honor.
In a few days, on May first, Scott Dueser will celebrate his 50th anniversary with First Financial Bankshares. This milestone puts him in a class that very few bankers in the country have ever achieved. It shows the level of commitment that he continues to demonstrate to this company and to all of you as shareholders. We are so fortunate to have his continued guidance, direction, and leadership as he remains Executive Chairman of our board. The succession planning of this company has not only been carried out in Scott's and my transition, but also within other senior leadership roles. I would like to highlight some of these management changes for you now.
As I highlight these, I would encourage you to please listen not only to the tenure of leadership, but also to the industry experience that we are bringing together to lead our company into the future. In January of 2025, Chris Schjetnan was promoted to Executive Vice President, Director of Community Lending & Outreach. In this role, Chris leads the bank's affordable banking initiatives that focus on the lower income neighborhoods in our communities. Born and raised in Mexico City in a bilingual and bicultural household, Chris gained experience and expertise that has enabled him to become a leader in community lending and outreach. After spending many years at Wells Fargo, Chris began his career at First Financial Bank in 2012. He most recently served as regional consumer lending manager in our Chisholm Trail region.
In April 2025, Jeff Vorhees was elected as Executive Vice President and Treasurer of First Financial Bank. Jeff most recently served as Director of Corporate Treasury at Independent Bank Group, Inc., a $19 billion public bank that is now a part of SouthState Corporation. Prior to working at Independent, he held positions in asset liability management, consulting, investment banking, and as a commission bank examiner at the Federal Reserve Bank. He is also a certified management accountant and certified treasury professional. In May 2025, James Hinton was elected as President of First Financial Mortgage. James is a 40-plus year mortgage professional and has deep roots in the Dallas business community. Right out of college, James took the reins of the mortgage company that his family founded in 1950. Under his leadership, the company flourished until its successful sale in 1992.
Following that sale, James has held several positions in mortgage finance, most recently serving as Executive Vice President of Residential Mortgage Warehouse Lending at Independent Bank Group. In July 2025, Josh Brown was promoted to Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer. Josh is a seasoned HR professional with over 17 years of experience working for both retail and nonprofit companies. In his most recent role of Senior Vice President, Human Resources, he oversaw all aspects of the department's work, including talent acquisition, employee engagement, leadership training, and organizational development. He also serves as co-chair of First Financial Bank's Service Improvement Team. Also in July 2025, Frank Gioia was promoted to Executive Vice President, Customer Care Center. Frank came to First Financial in 2015 to serve as call center manager.
He has over 25 years of experience leading customer operation teams domestically and internationally across various industries, including healthcare, telecommunications, web services, energy, and banking. In addition to managing the customer care center, he serves as co-chair of First Financial Bank's Service Improvement Team and leads our digital banking team. He also has taken an active role in advancing the company's use of artificial intelligence and automation. In July of 2025, Kyle McVey was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of First Financial Bank. A position most previously held by Michelle Hickox, who is continuing in the role of Chief Financial Officer of First Financial Bankshares. Previously serving as Chief Accounting Officer for the company, Kyle joined First Financial in 2011 after two years with KPMG LLP in Jacksonville, Florida.
In September 2025, Mark Davidovich was elected as Executive Vice President and Market Leader for the Fort Worth office of our wealth management company. Mark brings extensive experience in wealth management, real estate, and public affairs. He recently served as founder of VetMor, a Fort Worth-based medical real estate firm. He had previous roles as wealth manager at True North Advisors, JP Morgan Private Bank, and Goldman Sachs. In October 2025, Tim Brown was elected as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of the company. Tim brings over 35 years of technology, innovation, and operations experience to us. Before joining First Financial, he served as Chief Information Officer for Johnson Financial Group, a community banking and wealth management company in Wisconsin. Prior to Johnson Financial, he spent over 30 years at USAA, with the most recent position being senior executive of innovation, research, and development.
In 2025, John Ruzicka transitioned to the role of Chief Banking Operations Officer for First Financial Bankshares. John had served as chief information officer of the company since 2018. With over 30 years of experience in bank technology and operations, John is bringing efficiencies to our backroom operations team by introducing new processes and procedures. He is also leveraging technology to provide scalability for our future growth. Prior to joining our company, John served in various IT and operations leadership roles for various community and regional banks. In January 2026, James Alexander was promoted to Executive Vice President, Head of Commercial Banking. James began his career with First Financial in 2018 upon the bank's acquisition of Commercial State Bank in Kingwood, where he was then serving as president. James has over 20 years of experience in commercial banking, having begun his career in commercial lending with Compass Bank.
Since then, he has served as market president of Sterling Bank, president of Commercial State Bank, senior lender of the Kingwood region of First Financial, and most recently as president of the Greater Houston region of our bank. Also in January 2026, Chris Evatt was promoted to Senior Banking Executive. In this role, he will provide executive leadership for the bank's southernmost regions. Chris began his career at First Financial in 2001 and advanced through the ranks from credit analyst to CEO of our West Texas region of the bank. In this most recent role, he is overseeing the growth of the West Texas footprint of our company. Having spent his entire banking career with First Financial, Chris has a true commitment to the bank's culture and values that will benefit him greatly in this new role.
In January 2026, Rick Vaughan was promoted to CEO of the West Texas Region of the bank, a position most previously held by Chris Evatt. Rick joined First Financial Trust and Asset Management in 2024, most recently serving as senior vice president and market manager for San Angelo. Rick brings over 30 years of banking and wealth management experience, having served as regional banking president for Wells Fargo. Immediately prior to joining the company, Rick served as the private banking manager for a community bank in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In his new role with the company, along with leading the growth efforts of the entire West Texas Region of the bank, Rick will continue to be involved in the leadership of the San Angelo market of First Financial Wealth Management.
Another promotion in January of this year was that of Luke Uherik to Market President of San Angelo and Senior Relationship Manager for the West Texas Region. Luke has been with First Financial for over 17 years, having joined the bank as a junior commercial relationship manager and having worked his way up to the most recent role of Executive Vice President, Commercial Relationship Manager. Prior to joining the bank, Luke served as a banking officer with PlainsCapital Bank. In February 2026, Tim Corzine was promoted to Beaumont Market President and Senior Relationship Manager for the Southeast Texas Region. Tim joined First Financial Bank in 2018 as a Senior Vice President, Commercial Lender and became the Market President of Mineral Wells in 2023.
Prior to joining First Financial Bank, he worked as a commercial relationship manager with a few banks in Oregon, having started his banking career in 2004 with Umpqua Bank. Just a few weeks ago, you might have seen that in April 2026, that we hired Rodney Nabors as CEO of our Greater Houston region of the bank. Rodney brings over three decades of commercial banking experience in the Houston market. Prior to joining First Financial, Rodney served as President of Agility Bank, a community bank in the Houston market. Prior to joining Agility, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer at Independence Bank and later Executive Vice President and Branch President at Stellar Bank. Finally, in April this year, Bart Griffith was promoted to Conroe Market President, part of our Greater Houston region.
Bart joined First Bank of Conroe in 2012, which was later acquired by First Financial. Bart has over 35 years of banking experience, having held various management positions in several community banks. Most recently, Bart served as senior relationship manager for our Greater Houston region, a role that he will continue to play in his new role. As you can see by all these additions and promotions, we are continually looking at ways to enhance the leadership of our company at both the corporate and the regional levels to ensure we are well prepared for our future growth while continuing to meet the needs of our communities. We're proud of each of these bankers for taking on these new leadership roles in our company. In addition to succession planning within the management of our company, we are also undergoing succession planning within the board of directors.
Last year, we introduced two new board members, Geoff Haney and Blake Poutra, both of whom are shareholders elected at last year's annual meeting. Geoff Haney has a strong background in agriculture. He began his career as a trading partner before becoming CEO and Partner at Cape & Son, an Abilene-based company active in various commodity markets and sectors. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics from Texas Tech University and attended the Royal Agricultural University in England. Geoff is also Lead Director of First Financial Bank's Abilene Region, serving on both the regional director's loan committee and the asset liability committee. His leadership includes past and current roles with the Cottonseed and Feed Association, United Way of Abilene and its foundation, Community Foundation of Abilene, Hendrick Medical Center Foundation Board, Nathan Siegel Merit Scholarship Foundation, and West Texas Rehab.
I'm probably missing some. Geoff received the 2024 Volunteer Service Award from United Way of Abilene and the 2018 Lifetime Service Award from the Cottonseed and Feed Association. Blake Poutra is a technology leader known for driving growth and value. As the founder and CEO of Phoenix, he built an industry-leading enterprise data management suite, ultimately selling the company to Salesforce. He is now managing partner and principal at Big Enrichment, a venture studio emphasizing go-to-market strategies for software-as-a-service solutions. He is also CEO of Coennect, a center of excellence that maximizes the enterprise value of software-as-a-service applications. Blake also serves on the board of First Financial Bank's Greater Houston region and on the board of our technology services company, a subsidiary of our bank.
He holds a bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University and a master's degree from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business. The nominating and corporate governance committee of the board of directors of First Financial Bankshares submitted a director nominee, Lota Zoth, in our proxy, which you just elected to our board, and we want to welcome Lota to the board of directors. Lota brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will be instrumental in continuing the strength we have come to expect from our board. She is a certified public accountant and former controller for various publicly traded companies, including MedImmune, Inc. and PSINet Inc. She has also been a financial executive at Sodexo Marriott Services, Marriott International, and PepsiCo, Inc . She began her career as an auditor with Ernst & Young and currently serves on the boards of enGene Holdings Inc.
Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Lota has also served on the boards of six other biopharmaceutical companies. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a concentration in accounting from Texas Tech University. We are excited to welcome Lota Zoth to the board of directors of this company. This year, we are certainly sad to see one of our longest-tenured board members, Johnny Trotter, retire from the board of First Financial Bankshares. Johnny has devoted 23 years of service to the board of directors, having been elected in 2003. During his tenure, he has served faithfully and unselfishly on the executive, compensation, and nominating corporate governance committee. He has also served on the regional advisory board for the Hereford division for over 32 years. Johnny has provided countless hours of guidance and direction to our team of bankers across the state.
We are so thankful for his dedication to this organization, and he will be greatly missed on our board of directors. Would you please join me in thanking Johnny Trotter for his years of service to our company? Our bank continues to adhere to the philosophy that we are only as successful as the communities that we serve. The credo of our organization, which every employee holds as their guiding principle is we are professional bankers building relationships and serving our communities. This service to our communities was highlighted in a very special way this past year as First Financial held our 10th annual Day of Service. Over the past 10 years, every Columbus Day holiday, employees from across the company take part in service projects that make a real difference in our respective communities.
This past year, over 1,000 First Financial employees were joined by hundreds of employees from other banks around the state in the first-ever joint initiative in partnership with the Texas Bankers Association. This partnership enabled us to amplify our impact, reaching more communities and fostering a spirit of collaboration across banks throughout the state. I'm extremely proud and honored to have such a dedicated group of bankers at First Financial that lead by example and set the bar high for the banking industry in Texas. Over the past year, our company has broken ground on two significant projects in our footprint. In Beaumont, we have begun construction on a new full-service location in the heart of the city near the medical center. This new location will bring much-needed financial services to an underserved area of that community.
In downtown Abilene, you might have seen it across the street, we have begun construction. We're actually nearing completion of construction of a new drive-through facility, which will replace an older and less efficient location. This new drive-through will be adjacent to the downtown headquarters of the bank and will conveniently serve both retail and commercial customers. At our downtown location, we have recently moved our corporate offices into the fully remodeled space on the fourth floor of our building. This remodeled space enables our team to work together more collaboratively with updated technology, expanded workspaces, and larger meeting rooms. In 2026, we are excited about our continued investment in growing our facilities across the state.
In just a few months, we will look forward to starting the construction of a new full-service location in Franklin, which is located in our Bryan-College Station market. This new location will replace a temporary location that is currently serving that community. As we continue our journey to be a mid-sized bank. Our company remains committed to our value proposition of large banks products and services delivered with local and personalized customer service. This model has enabled us, for the past 136 years, to become one of the top performing and most respected banks in the country.
To ensure we remain true to what makes First Financial special, our team is executing on a short and long-term strategic plan that will enable us to remain competitive and high-performing while not compromising our service that we know our customers and you as shareholders expect from us. We continue to implement technology advancements, focusing on further integration of artificial intelligence, which will enable us to deliver faster, more effective, and more efficient service. We also continue to build out a more robust and effective risk management practice to ensure we remain ahead of regulatory expectations while protecting our customer, employee, and shareholder assets. As highlighted in the annual report this past year, we are committed to furthering our investment in our people through training and development of our existing workforce.
Along with this internal development, we will continue to look for opportunities to bring in new talent to our organization by recruiting those with experience from other mid-sized banks. In 2026 and beyond, we see a great opportunity to leverage the disruption that has happened in Texas and nationally through the growing bank merger and acquisition activity. We are already seeing much success in recruiting talented individuals from these banks being acquired that are bringing much needed expertise to our organization. Additionally, we will leverage these disruptions from this M&A activity to bring new customer relationships to our bank, driving growth in both loans and deposits.
We continue to look for opportunities to deploy our capital and our liquidity in an accretive way by identifying high performing banks to purchase that will help us fill out existing markets for our company or enable us to enter new strategic markets across Texas. It's been six years since we have purchased another bank. I can assure you that we are looking hard to find the right bank for us, and our team stands ready to ensure that any bank acquisition is effectively planned and integrated into our organization. Thanks to our robust capital levels and stock valuation, we feel like we are situated especially well to benefit from this continued M&A market. These capital levels have come from the long history of high performance and increased earnings.
Thanks to this history of performance, we as shareholders have enjoyed a trend of increased dividends for many years. Now is the point that you've all been waiting for. This year, thanks to our strong earnings and capital position, our board has voted to increase our cash dividend by $0.03 to $0.22 per quarter, which reflects a 16% increase. This will be paid to shareholders of record as of June 12th, 2026, with payment date of July 1st, 2026. We hope you are pleased with this decision. As you have seen and heard today, First Financial Bank's transition into a mid-sized bank with assets over $10 billion is going exceptionally well. We continue to build and equip a team of bankers that is well prepared to take us into the next era of our company.
Our team will continue to work hard and ensure that we provide excellent service to our customers and drive exceptional value to our shareholders. We will accomplish this by continuing to implement the strategic initiatives that our board and management have been working on for years. We are standing before you today as representatives of the almost 1,600 dedicated employees across the state of Texas. Over the past few months, I've spent many days going into these markets and having personal conversations with our frontline employees, the employees that make it happen every day. Their passion for delivering exceptional customer service is infectious, and this commitment to service is only made possible by the dedication of all of our back office operational employees who ensure that we are always well-equipped to serve our customers.
It's an honor to work with every one of our team members and to work for such a supportive and engaged board of directors. We appreciate the support of each of you as shareholders have in us. The 2026 annual meeting of shareholders of First Financial Bankshares is now adjourned. We invite each of you to join us for the famous Perini tenderloin lunch in the exhibit hall. This year's lunch is going to be exceptionally special as we recognize Horst Schulze as the 12th all-time recipient of the Walter Johnson Award. You will have the opportunity to hear one of the most respected leaders in the regional banking space, Mr. Tom Michaud, speak about what is going on in the industry and share insights from his perspective on First Financial Bankshares, Inc.
As you exit the conference room, please turn right outside the door and enter the buffet lines. We have plenty of lines so that we can serve you quickly. However, for those that are not comfortable going through these lines, just please find a seat, and we will make sure that one of our servers serves you. Thank you for coming today, and we look forward to seeing you at the luncheon. We are dismissed.