Hello, welcome to the annual meeting of stockholders of Great Southern Bancorp, Inc.. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded. During the meeting, we'll have a question and answer session. You can submit questions or comments at any time by clicking on the Q&A tab. It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to Brian Teague, Corporate Secretary of Great Southern. Brian, the floor is yours.
Good morning. Thank you for joining us for the 2026 Great Southern Bancorp annual meeting of stockholders. We appreciate your interest and support of our company. We are ready to get started. It is my pleasure to introduce President and CEO, Joe Turner.
Okay, thanks, Brian. I want to welcome everyone to our 2026 annual meeting. I'm pleased to be here representing our nearly 1,100 Great Southern associates to report on our company's performance and activities in 2025 and for the first quarter of 2026. Before we get started with our presentation, I want to recognize our board of directors. Each of our directors brings their own unique background and expertise, which contributes to our company's continued success. We appreciate their continued guidance, engagement, and support. I'll introduce each board member, each of whom are also joining us virtually. First is Bill Turner. Mr. Turner joined the company in 1974 as the president and now serves as the chairman of the board. He has been a driving force behind the company's success for more than five decades. Kevin R. Ausburn.
Kevin is a retired former Chairman and CEO of SMC Packaging Group and was appointed a Director of both the bank and Bancorp in 2017. Julie Turner Brown. Julie is an attorney with Carnahan Evans PC and was appointed a Director of both the bank and the holding company in 2002. Thomas J. Carlson. Thomas is an attorney and real estate developer who founded the Springfield Daily Citizen in 2022. He was appointed a Director of Great Southern Bancorp and the bank in 2001. Amy Counts. Amy is Regional Vice President, Client Success at Wise F&I, which is based in St. Louis, and was appointed a Director of Bancorp and the bank in 2024. Steven D. Edwards.
Steven D. Edwards is a retired former CEO of CoxHealth and was appointed a director of Bancorp and Great Southern Bank in 2022. Debra M. Shantz Hart. Debra M. Shantz Hart is an attorney and affordable housing developer. She was appointed the director of both the holding company and the bank in 2017. Douglas M. Pitt. Douglas M. Pitt is the owner of Pitt Technology Group LLC and Pitt Development Group LLC, as well as the founder of Care to Learn. Douglas M. Pitt was appointed a director of the bank and the holding company in 2015. Earl A. Steinert, Jr. Earl A. Steinert, Jr. is a CPA and co-owner of EAS Investment Enterprises Inc. He was appointed a director of Bancorp and the bank in 2004. Joining me today are four of my colleagues, our CFO, Rex A.
Copeland, Chief Retail Banking Officer, Laura Smith, Chief Lending Officer, John Bugh, and Corporate Secretary, Brian Teague.
After my brief comments, I'll turn the meeting over for their presentation. As I said earlier, I'm pleased to be here representing all of our Great Southern associates who are committed to building strong and lasting relationships with the customers and communities we serve. This slide offers an overview of Great Southern's scale and presence as of March 31, 2026. We are proud of the franchise we have developed over many years, and we recognize that our long-term success depends on continuing to earn, strengthen, and expand our customer relationships. Before we discuss our financial performance, I want to begin with the foundation of how we operate as a company. Great Southern has served customers and communities for more than 100 years, and that longevity is rooted in a consistent set of values, which include integrity, respect, teamwork, and unwavering commitment to ethical standards.
Those values matter in every environment. They are especially important in a period marked by lending and deposit competition, interest rate volatility, and economic uncertainty. Our response has not been to chase short-term outcomes. Instead, we've remained focused on fundamentals that have long supported this company. Careful balance sheet structuring, disciplined credit practices, prudent expense management, and relationship-based banking. I also want to recognize our associates across the organization. Great Southern's performance is made possible by their daily work serving customers, supporting one another, and carrying our culture forward. Their professionalism and commitment are central to the strength of our franchise, and I am grateful for the role they continue to play in helping us execute with consistency.
During 2025 and into the first quarter of 2026, we maintained strong capital and liquidity, preserved solid credit quality, and managed expenses carefully while continuing to invest in the people, technology, and infrastructure that support our long-term capabilities. We also continued to return capital to stockholders through our share repurchases, consistent with our long-term approach to maximize tangible book value growth. As we look ahead, our priorities remain consistent. We will continue to support our customers and communities, manage risks thoughtfully, and make decisions with long-term stockholder value in mind. Our core values, experienced team, and conservative operating approach remain central to how we manage the business and how we intend to continue building value over time. I will now turn the meeting over to our CFO, Rex Copeland. Rex?
Thank you, and good morning. Great Southern delivered solid financial results in 2025, supported by resilient net interest income, strong asset quality, disciplined expense management and thoughtful capital allocation. The operating environment remained competitive, particularly with respect to funding costs, loan production and borrower payoffs. At the same time, our balance sheet remained well-positioned with strong capital and liquidity levels and a healthy loan portfolio. As we review the key financial trends, I will focus on the areas that most directly shaped our performance, earnings, net interest income and margin, balance sheet trends, credit quality, expenses, and capital management. This slide highlights several key balance sheet trends over the past five years, as well as our position at March 31, 2026 for total assets, net loans receivable and total deposits.
At year-end 2025, total assets were approximately $5.60 billion compared to approximately $5.98 billion at the end of 2024. At March 31, 2026, total assets increased modestly to approximately $5.69 billion. The movement in total assets was driven primarily by changes in total outstanding loan balances, particularly as we realized elevated loan payoffs in 2025. Net loans receivable was $4.36 billion at December 31, 2025, down $333.5 million or 7.1% from the prior year end. Elevated payoff and refinancing activity was most pronounced within multifamily, construction, 1- 4 family residential and commercial business portfolios. While loan production remained active, borrower repayment activity had a meaningful impact on reported balances, particularly in the second half of 2025.
We continued to prioritize disciplined origination, appropriate pricing and strong credit structuring instead of certain production or loan balance targets. Despite the loan balance decline throughout 2025, in the first quarter of 2026, net loans increased $99.8 million or 2.3% to $4.46 billion at March 31, 2026. This increase was primarily driven by growth in construction and commercial real estate loans, partially offset by declines in multifamily loans. Payoff activity moderated compared to recent quarters, which supported the increase in loan balances in the first quarter of 2026. Our lending activity continues to reflect our relationship-based approach and conservative credit posture. At year end, our pipeline of unfunded commitments remained solid, particularly within construction and commercial real estate lending.
These unfunded commitments provided a foundation for future loan activity, while efforts to underwrite strong loans with relationship-based borrowers continue simultaneously. From a funding standpoint, total deposits were $4.48 billion at December 31, 2025, a decrease of $122.8 million from the end of 2024. This decrease was driven primarily by reductions in broker deposits and time deposits, partially offset by growth in interest-bearing checking balances. While non-broker deposits declined gradually in 2022 through 2024 following COVID-19 economic stimulus, 2025 generally demonstrated a stabilization of non-broker deposit balances. At March 31, 2026, total deposits were $4.5 billion, a modest decline from year end, with deposit balances remaining generally stable during the quarter. Deposit markets remain competitive across both core and broker channels.
We continue to manage our funding mix with a focus on cost, duration, liquidity and customer relationships. Broker deposits, retail time deposits or transaction accounts and other wholesale funding sources each remain part of our broader liquidity and interest rate risk management strategy, and we evaluate those sources based on relative pricing, desired duration and balance sheet needs. Overall, the trends on this slide reflect a disciplined approach to balance sheet management. We are focused on maintaining strong capital and liquidity, supporting relationship-based loan growth where pricing and structure are appropriate, and managing deposits and other funding sources in a way that supports long-term performance. For the full year 2025, Great Southern reported net income of $71.0 million or $6.19 per diluted common share, compared to $61.8 million or $5.26 per diluted common share in 2024.
Return on average assets was 1.22% for 2025 compared to 1.05% in 2024, and return on average tangible common equity was 11.56% for 2025 compared to 10.74% in the prior year. These results reflected solid profitability supported by resilient net interest income, strong asset quality, disciplined expense management and continued capital management. For the first quarter of 2026, we reported net income of $17.5 million, or $1.58 per diluted common share, compared to $17.2 million or $1.47 per diluted common share in the first quarter of 2025.
While net interest income decreased modestly from the prior year quarter, due primarily to the completion of accounting recognition from a previously terminated interest rate swap, earnings benefited from lower interest expense, strong credit quality, disciplined expense control and certain income and expense items that positively impacted the quarter. Our profitability metrics continue to reflect the strength and consistency of the franchise. In 2025, the efficiency ratio also improved to 61.91% from 64.40%. In the first quarter of 2026, annualized return on average assets was 1.24% compared to 1.15% in the prior year first quarter, and the efficiency ratio remained relatively consistent at 62.85% compared to 62.27% in the first quarter of 2025.
Overall, these profitability trends demonstrate our continued focus on disciplined execution, careful balance sheet management, and long-term stockholder value creation. While the operating environment remains competitive, we believe our performance reflects the durability of our core banking model and the benefits of maintaining strong credit, defense, and capital discipline. For the year ended December 31, 2025, net interest margin was 3.67% compared to 3.42% in 2024. This 25 basis point improvement was enabled through disciplined asset liability management and careful reduction of deposit and borrowing costs. Specifically, upon the Fed's rate cuts in late 2024 and late 2025, we commensurately lowered deposit rates while asset yields only modestly declined, with many maturing fixed rate loans repricing at a higher rate. This ultimately led to an improvement in net interest margin.
In the first quarter of 2026, net interest margin was 3.71% compared to 3.57% in the first quarter of 2025 and 3.70% in the fourth quarter of 2025. This reflects continued momentum within the bank's core operations. These trends represent our continued focus on balancing asset pricing, funding costs, and liquidity needs in a competitive rate environment. While market conditions continue to influence both loan yields and cost of funds, we remain focused on maintaining a disciplined approach to balance sheet management and long-term profitability. Liquidity management remains a critical component of how we manage the company, particularly in a competitive banking environment. Our liquidity position continues to be supported by a combination of customer deposits, secured borrowing capacity, cash and cash equivalents, unpledged securities, loan repayments, and other available funding sources.
At March 31, 2026, our uninsured deposits, excluding deposit accounts of the company's consolidated subsidiaries, were approximately $740.1 million or 16.7% of total deposits. We continue to monitor deposit composition closely and remain focused on maintaining stable customer relationships while managing funding costs, liquidity, and balance sheet flexibility. At March 31, 2026, the company had available secured borrowing capacity of approximately $1.24 billion through the Federal Home Loan Bank and $332.1 million through the Federal Reserve Bank. In addition, we held $187.4 million in cash and cash equivalents as well as $347.1 million of unpledged available-for-sale securities.
Taken together, these sources provide meaningful liquidity to support depositors, meet borrowers' credit needs, and manage the balance sheet through a range of market conditions. We believe our liquidity position remains strong and reflects our continued emphasis on prudent funding, disciplined balance sheet management, and sound risk oversight. Capital levels remain very strong. Our capital base provides us the ability to absorb changes in the operating environment, evaluate growth opportunities, and return capital to stockholders when appropriate. As we managed through 2025 and entered 2026, our capital position continued to support our focus on long-term value creation with a commitment to tangible book value appreciation. At December 31, 2025, the company's total stockholders' equity and common stockholders' equity were $636.1 million, resulting in a book value of $57.50 per common share.
This represents a $36.6 million increase in stockholders' equity from the prior year. The increase was driven by $71.0 million in net income, a decrease in unrealized losses on investment in interest rate swaps, and a $6.7 million increase in equity from stock option exercises. These items were partially offset by $18.8 million in cash dividends declared on the company's common stock and $44.5 million in common stock repurchases. During the first quarter of 2026, total stockholders' equity decreased $2.5 million- $633.6 million, while book value per common share increased to $58.27.
The decrease in stockholders' equity from December 31, 2025 was primarily driven by $4.7 million in cash dividends declared, $16.9 million in common stock repurchases, and an increase in unrealized losses on investments and interest rate swaps. These items were mostly offset by $17.5 million in net income and a $4.6 million increase in equity from stock option exercises. The increase in unrealized losses during the first quarter reflected changes in market interest rates and their impact on the fair value of available-for-sale securities and interest rate swaps. Importantly, our regulatory capital ratios continued to significantly exceed well-capitalized thresholds at March 31, 2026, underscoring the strength of our capital position and our continued focus on prudent capital management.
This slide provides a historical view of our tangible common equity, or TCE, and our TCE ratio since 2021. The TCE ratio represented by the black line measures tangible common equity as a percentage of tangible assets. The decline in 2022 was driven primarily by the company's repurchase of a substantial amount of its common stock, as well as market-driven unrealized losses on investment securities and interest rate swaps resulting from the significant increase in interest rates in 2022. Since then, our tangible common equity position has rebounded significantly. At December 31, 2025, the company's TCE ratio was 11.2%, and at March 31, 2026, the TCE ratio was 11.0%. Overall, our tangible common equity position continues to reflect meaningful appreciation driven by both strong earnings and opportunistic share repurchases with relatively short tangible book value earn backs.
We feel this metric demonstrates the bank's success in generating long-term shareholder returns. As shareholders of Great Southern, we recognize the significance of dividends as a crucial component of our common stock's total return performance. Since 1989, through varying business cycles, Great Southern has consistently paid quarterly cash dividends to our common shareholders. These dividend declarations are carefully approved by our board of directors, considering factors such as quarterly earnings, strategic priorities, and the capital requirements of the company. In 2025, we declared total regular cash dividends of $1.66 per common share. The board increased the regular quarterly cash dividend to $0.43 per common share from $0.40 per common share during the third quarter of 2025. In the first quarter of 2026, the declared dividend remained at $0.43 per share.
Enhancing long-term stockholder value remains a core priority for the company. This slide provides a historical overview beginning in 2021, highlighting net income, regular cash dividends declared, stock repurchased, and shares outstanding at the end of each period. Our approach to capital allocation continues to include regular quarterly cash dividends and share repurchases when we believe that they are appropriate based on market conditions, capital levels, and the expected impact on long-term stockholder value. From year-end 2021 through the first quarter of 2026, we reduced our outstanding share count by approximately 2.3 million shares, representing a decrease of approximately 17%. This reduction reflects our continued use of share repurchases as part of a disciplined capital allocation strategy. For the full year of 2025, the company reported net income of $71.0 million or $6.19 per diluted common share.
During the year, we declared common stock cash dividends totaling $18.8 million or $1.66 per share, and repurchased 755,759 shares of common stock at an average price of $58.35 per share, totaling $44.5 million. Book value per common share increased to $57.50 at December 31, 2025, compared to $51.14 at December 31, 2024. During the first quarter of 2026, the company reported net income of $17.5 million for $1.58 per diluted common share. We also repurchased 268,664 shares of common stock at an average price of $62.55 per share, totaling $16.9 million.
The board declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.43 per common share, totaling $4.7 million. At March 31, 2026, book value per common share increased to $58.27 and approximately 419,000 shares remained available under the current repurchase authorization previously approved by the company's Board of Directors. Since May 1990, the company has used stock repurchase programs from time to time when management believed repurchases would contribute to the overall growth of stockholder value. Repurchase decisions continue to be based on a range of factors, including market availability, share price, capital levels, and the expected impact on earnings per share and long-term value creation. We also continue to evaluate opportunities to responsibly grow the loan portfolio and the balance sheet between loan growth, capital levels, and market conditions will help guide future repurchase activity.
That concludes my remarks. It's now my pleasure to turn the meeting over to our Chief Lending Officer, John Bugh.
Thanks, Rex. Today, I'd like to provide an overview of Great Southern's loan portfolio for the year ended December 31, 2025, as well as the first quarter of 2026. Throughout 2025, loan balances were impacted by elevated payoffs. Our loan portfolio decreased by $333 million or 7.1% in 2025. This decrease was primarily attributable to declines in multifamily loans, construction loans, 1-4 family residential loans, and commercial business loans. In the first quarter of 2026, total net loans increased by $100 million, or 2.3% to $4.46 billion, driven primarily by growth in construction and commercial real estate loans. Payoff activity moderated compared to recent quarters, but loan growth will continue to depend on borrower repayment activity, project timing, and disciplined origination opportunities.
Turning to the loan portfolio at March 31, 2026, the two graphs on this slide break down Great Southern's portfolio by loan type and by region. As you can see, commercial real estate and multifamily represent 65% of our loan portfolio, and Missouri is our largest region, followed by Texas, Minnesota, and Iowa. Unfunded commitments remain solid, particularly within construction lending. As we move through 2026, our lending approach remains consistent. We are focused on relationship-based loan opportunities where the risk profile, pricing, and structure align with our standards, while continuing to monitor market conditions and borrower performance closely. This disciplined approach supports both the quality of the portfolio and our long-term shareholder value objectives. Our lending activity is supported by both our commercial loan production offices and our established banking center markets.
We currently operate seven commercial lending offices located in Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Omaha, and Phoenix. These offices remain strategically positioned in attractive commercial lending markets and continue to be an important source of commercial loan activity. In 2025, 41% of our commercial lending production originated from these offices. In addition to these commercial lending offices, a meaningful portion of our commercial loan production is generated through our established banking offices in core markets, including Springfield, St. Louis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, and Des Moines. This combination of regional commercial lending offices and local market teams supports a diversified lending platform while allowing us to maintain our emphasis on relationship-based lending, disciplined underwriting, and appropriate credit structure. We continue to evaluate our commercial lending footprint based on customer relationships, market dynamics, and long-term opportunity.
This ongoing review helps ensure that we are allocating resources effectively and maintaining a lending platform that supports quality production across our markets. Our consistent focus on credit fundamentals and disciplined risk management remained central to our performance in 2025 and into the first quarter of 2026. We continue to emphasize prudent underwriting, active portfolio monitoring, and timely credit actions, all of which support the overall quality of the loan portfolio. This slide provides an overview of our key asset quality trends since 2021. At year-end 2025, non-performing assets were $8.1 million or 0.15% of total assets, compared to $9.6 million or 0.1% of total assets at year-end 2024.
Non-performing assets and potential problem loans totaled $9.5 million at year-end 2025, a decrease of $7.1 million from the prior year-end. At March 31, 2026, non-performing assets increased to $10.1 million or 0.18% of total assets. Non-performing assets and potential problem loans totaled $11.3 million at quarter-end, an increase of $1.8 million from December 31, 2025. While these balances increased modestly during the quarter, overall asset quality metrics remained very strong. Net charge-offs were negligible for the full year of 2025. In the first quarter of 2026, the company recorded net recoveries of $13,000. We also did not record a provision for credit losses on outstanding loans during 2025 or in the first quarter of 2026.
The allowance for credit losses as a percentage of total loans was 1.46% at December 31, 2025 and 1.43% at March 31, 2026. Management continues to consider the allowance adequate based on recent portfolio reviews and current eco-economic conditions, while recognizing that changing eco-economic conditions or portfolio trends could require additional provisions in future periods. Our asset quality trends continue to reflect our conservative credit culture, relationship-based lending approach, and ongoing credit monitoring practices. We remain mindful of broader economic uncertainty and continue to monitor borrower performance closely, including isolated examples of slower lease-up activity in certain multifamily projects. For more information about our loan portfolio, we file quarterly loan portfolio presentations that are available on our investor relations website under the presentations link.
With that, I will hand the meeting over to our Chief Retail Banking Officer, Laura Smith.
Thank you, John. This slide provides a breakdown of our deposit mix at March 31, 2026. A stable and diversified deposit base remains important to our funding strategy, liquidity management, and overall balance sheet flexibility. At March 31, 2026, total deposits were approximately $4.45 billion, a decrease of $37.6 million from December 31, 2025. Non-broker deposits declined by approximately $26 million during the quarter, while broker deposits declined by approximately $11 million. Deposit competition remains elevated, and we continue to manage our funding mix with a focus on cost, duration, liquidity, and customer relationships. This includes evaluating retail deposits, broker deposits, FHL Bank borrowings, and other available funding sources based on relative pricing and balance sheet needs.
At March 31, 2026, estimated uninsured deposits, excluding deposit accounts of the company's consolidated subsidiaries, were approximately $740 million, or 16.7% of total deposits. We continue to monitor deposit composition closely and remain focused on maintaining stable customer relationships and prudent liquidity management. Our banking centers remain an important source of stability for the bank. At March 31, 2026, Great Southern operated 87 retail banking centers across Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Arkansas, and Nebraska.
While digital services provide customers with greater flexibility, our physical locations continue to play an important role in customer relationships by providing a place to receive trusted support, open accounts, discuss lending needs, and access a broader range of financial services. As customer preferences and market conditions evolve, we will continue to evaluate our banking center network to ensure our resources are aligned with long-term opportunity and customer demand. Since 2013, we have closed 34 locations as part of this ongoing review, allowing us to reduce costs, reallocate resources, and continue investing in offices and capabilities that best support customer needs. That same disciplined approach also guides how we modernize the network.
During 2025 and early 2026, we completed several initiatives, including converting the Sioux City main drive-through to live teller ATMs, opening our new next-generation banking center at Benton Avenue in Springfield, consolidating our Edina, Minnesota banking center with our Lakeville location, and transitioning our Cottleville location to our second drive-through express center. The Cottleville transition also represents our first express center in the St. Louis market. Looking ahead, we expect to continue investing selectively in our banking center network, including the planned remodel of our Indian Hills banking center in Sioux City in 2026. We will continue to evaluate opportunities across the network based on customer needs, market dynamics, and long-term opportunity, while maintaining the relationship-based service that has long defined Great Southern.
Throughout 2025 and into 2026, we have continued to invest in technology initiatives that support customer experience, business banking capabilities, and operational strength. These efforts include visible customer-facing improvements, as well as foundational projects that are essential to how we operate, including data management, system reliability, security, and long-term scalability. We have completed or are nearing completion on several projects designed to enhance services for our business banking customers, including improvements to our treasury management capabilities. We also launched a new public-facing website and are beginning a project to update the online banking experience. Together, these initiatives are intended to make banking with Great Southern more efficient, accessible, and responsive to customer needs. As banking technology continues to evolve, we remain focused on advancing our systems in a thoughtful and controlled manner with strong attention to data protection, reliability, and customer trust.
This approach supports our broader goal of improving the customer experience while maintaining the disciplined operating practices that have long guided Great Southern. Great Southern was again recognized by respected national organizations, including Bank Director and Forbes. While we do not manage the company for rankings or rewards, we appreciate this recognition because it reflects the consistency of our performance, the strength of our organization, and the dedication of our associates. Bank Director's RankingBanking study and Forbes' America's Best Banks list evaluate banks using financial performance measures such as profitability, capital strength, credit quality, growth, and stock performance. Being included in these reviews is meaningful because these are areas where we have remained focused over time. We take pride in the commitment of our team and the consistency with which they serve customers, support our communities, and execute the fundamentals of our business.
The Community Matters program reflects our commitment to supporting the communities where we live and work. Through this program, we focus on areas where Great Southern can make a practical difference, including community development, volunteer service, charitable giving, and financial education. In 2025, Great Southern contributed approximately $1.94 million through corporate donations and sponsorships, supported more than 800 nonprofit and civic organizations, and associates donated approximately $56,300 through United Way campaigns and community giving day contributions. Our associates also contributed 6,290 volunteer hours to 340 organizations. These efforts reflect the way our team brings our core values to life beyond the bank's day-to-day operations. Community Matters is also an extension of our relationship-based approach to banking.
Our associates live and work in the markets we serve, and many support local organizations as volunteers, mentors, board members, and advisors. The program helps us support initiatives that strengthen local economies, expand access to education, promote affordable housing, and improve quality of life in our communities. Additional information about Community Matters is available on the Great Southern Bank Community Matters website, where visitors can learn more about the organizations and initiatives supported through the program. We are proud of the impact our associates and community partners made in 2025, and we remain committed to supporting the people and places that have supported Great Southern for more than one century. Great Southern has long believed that service to our communities is an important part of who we are as a company.
Each year, we recognize one associate through the Bill and Ann Turner Distinguished Community Service Award, which honors the legacy of Bill and Ann Turner and their example of leadership, generosity, and commitment to improving the lives of others. This year, we are pleased to recognize Harlie Koth, banking center manager in Kimberling City, as the 2026 award recipient. Harlie's commitment to giving back reflects the spirit of this award and the important role our associates play in strengthening the communities we serve. Part of this recognition, Great Southern made a donation on Harlie's behalf to her preferred organization, Dry Legs Humane Society. Congratulations to Harlie, thank you for representing Great Southern with care, commitment, and a strong sense of community. Thank you for your attention. I'll turn the meeting back over to Joe Turner for closing remarks.
All right. Thanks, Laura. As we move through 2026, we continue to operate in a competitive and evolving banking environment. Interest rates, deposit competition, borrower performance, and customer expectations all remain important considerations. At the same time, Great Southern's priorities remain consistent: maintaining strong capital and liquidity, preserving credit quality, managing expenses carefully, and serving our customers and communities well. Our approach has always been grounded in proven risk management and long-term decision-making. We do not manage the company for short-term outcomes. Instead, we focus on cultivating durable customer relationships, maintaining conservative credit standards, and adapting thoughtfully as market conditions change. That approach served us well in 2025 and continues to guide how we are managing the business today. We also recognize that banking continues to evolve. Customer preferences are changing. Technology is advancing, and the way people interact with financial institutions continues to shift.
We are investing thoughtfully in our systems, banking centers, digital capabilities, and associates so we can improve the customer experience, strengthen operational capabilities, and maintain the relationship-focused service that has long defined Great Southern. Looking ahead, we believe our experienced team, strong financial position, and disciplined operating culture position us well to navigate the changing conditions. Our focus remains on supporting our customers, strengthening our communities, and creating long-term value for our stockholders through adaptability, consistent execution, and proven risk management. Before concluding today's meeting, I want to review our stock's total return since going public in 1989. Given our commitment to long-term shareholder value creation, over more than three decades as a public company, by challenging and evolving times, our long-term strategic commitment has sustained driving meaningful returns to our stockholders. We remain committed to continuing this sustained success in the years to come.
As we close today's meeting, I want to return to the foundation of Great Southern's success. For more than a century, this company has been guided by consistent core values: serving customers well, supporting our communities, managing risks prudently, and making decisions with the long term in mind. The banking environment will continue to change. Interest rates, technology, customer expectations, and competitive dynamics will all evolve, but our approach remains steady. We will continue to focus on strong relationships, disciplined execution, and sound credit practices and careful capital management. What gives me confidence is the strength of our people and the culture they carry forward every day. Our associates are the connection between Great Southern and the customers and communities we serve. Their commitment, professionalism, and service mindset are central to who we are as a company.
As we look ahead, we remain focused on investing thoughtfully in our team, our technology, and our customer experience while preserving the conservative operating approach that has served us well over time. We believe this balance of consistency and adaptability positions Great Southern to support our customers, strengthen our communities, and create long-term value for our stockholders. That concludes our formal presentation. Do we have any questions at this time? Okay, it looks like there are no questions. We will begin the business portion of the meeting, and I'll turn it over to our Corporate Secretary, Brian Teague, to conduct that. Brian?
Thank you, Joe. Turning to the business portion of this meeting, we have determined that a quorum is present for voting on the proposals before this meeting may occur. The first item of business is to vote on the proposals set forth in the notice of this meeting and the proxy statement, which were made available to stockholders commencing on or about March 31, 2026. No other proposals may properly come before this meeting. Only stockholders of record as of the close of business on March third, 2026 are entitled to notice of and to vote at this meeting. If you are a stockholder entitled to vote and have not yet voted, or if you want to change your vote previously cast by proxy, please do so via the website used to access this meeting.
Please remember that if you have already voted by proxy, it is not necessary to vote again. After voting has been completed on all matters, we will provide a preliminary report of the results. The polls for voting will remain open for a short time as I formally present the proposals. The first proposal is the election of four directors. The board of directors is divided into three classes, the terms of which are staggered to expire in different years. Mr. Kevin R. Ausburn, Mrs. Amelia A. Counts, Mr. Steven D. Edwards, and Mr. Douglas M. Pitt are in the class of directors whose term expires this year. Mr. Ausburn, Mrs. Counts, Mr. Edwards, and Mr. Pitt are willing to serve the three-year term for which they have been nominated. Since no other nominations may be made at this meeting, I declare the nominations closed.
Are there any questions regarding the election of directors? If there are no questions, we will proceed. The second proposal for your consideration is an advisory non-binding vote on executive compensation as described in the company's proxy statement for the annual meeting. Are there any questions on this proposal? The third proposal for your consideration is the approval of the Great Southern Bancorp 2026 Omnibus Incentive Plan as described in the company's proxy statement for the annual meeting. Are there any questions on this proposal? The final proposal for your consideration is to ratify the audit committee's appointment of Forvis Mazars, LLP to serve as Great Southern's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2026. Are there any questions on this proposal?
The polls are about to close, if you are a stockholder of record and wish to vote during this meeting but have not yet done so, please do so now. As previously noted, if you have already voted by proxy, it is not necessary to vote again. I will pause briefly. The proposals have been presented to you in the notice and proxy statement and at this meeting. Proxies have been made available and returned, and any stockholders of record wishing to vote during this meeting have had an opportunity to do so. The polls are now closed. The preliminary results are as follows: Mr. Ausburn, Mrs. Counts, Mr. Edwards, and Mr. Pitt have been elected as directors, each for a three-year term. The advisory vote on executive compensation has been approved. The Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. 2026 Omnibus Incentive Plan has been approved.
The appointment of Forvis Mazars LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2026, has been ratified. The final results will be contained in a Form 8-K to be filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Are there any further questions? If not, we are now ready to adjourn the meeting. Seeing no questions, I declare the 2026 annual meeting of stockholders is now adjourned. We thank you for attending and for your continued support of Great Southern.
This concludes the meeting. You may now disconnect.