Good morning. Welcome to the Shore Bancshares, Inc. 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Alan Hyatt, Chairman of Shore Bancshares, Inc. Please go ahead, sir.
Good morning, and welcome to the virtual webcast of the 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders for Shore Bancshares, Inc. I am Alan Hyatt, Chairman of Shore Bancshares, Inc. It is my pleasure, on behalf of the directors and officers of the company and Shore United Bank, to welcome you to this annual meeting. We are grateful to you for attending this meeting. Each of you has already been provided access to the company's annual report, proxy statement, and a proxy card. Copies of these documents are available to any stockholder who does not have them by clicking on the hyperlink on the web portal. The principal business of this meeting is to elect five Class II directors to vote on a non-binding proposal regarding executive compensation and to ratify the appointment of our independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal 2026.
Before we move on to official business, I would like to introduce those members of our board of directors and officers of the company and the bank who are present today via the live webcast, as well as other individuals who are important to our company. The following directors are present: Michael Adams , Jimmy Burke, Michael Clemmer, William Esham , Louis Jenkins, David Jones, John Lamon, Rebecca McDonald, Larry Sanders, Esther Streete, and Dawn Willey.
Members of our executive management that are present include Mr. Burke, Chief Executive Officer; Gina Anderson, Chief Internal Audit Officer; John Augustus, Chief Credit Officer; Charlie Cullum, Chief Financial Officer; Scot Ebron, Chief Banking Officer; Aaron Kaslow, Chief Legal Officer; Christy Lombardi, Chief Human Resources Officer; Lacey Pierce, Chief Strategy and Project Officer; Noah Stayton, Chief Information Officer; Donna J. Stevens, Chief Operating Officer; and Talal Tay, Chief Risk Officer.
We are also joined here today by Tal Scheer from Crowe LLP, our independent auditors. He will be available during the question and answer session after the meeting to respond to appropriate questions. Finally, I would like now to present to you the Company's Secretary, Aaron Kaslow, who will act as Secretary of this meeting, and the Company's Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Christy Lombardi, who has been appointed Inspector of Election and has taken the oath of Inspector of Election earlier today. Mr. Kaslow, has the notice of this meeting been sent to all Company stockholders entitled to vote at this meeting?
Yes. I have here an affidavit sworn to by myself and duly signed, stating that the notice has been mailed to each stockholder of record as required by the company's bylaws. In addition, resolutions were adopted by the Board of Directors of Shore Bancshares, Inc. providing for the meeting to be held at this time and place, directing that notice be given as provided in the bylaws. The board also fixed March 23, 2026, as the record date for determining persons entitled to notice of and to vote at this meeting.
Thank you, Mr. Kaslow. Please file a copy of the notice and the affidavit as to the mailing of notice for this meeting with the minutes of this meeting. Ms. Lombardi, will you please present your report of attendance at this meeting so that we can determine whether a quorum is present?
Mr. Chairman, there were 33,450,542 shares entitled to vote as of the March 23rd, 2026 record date. There are represented in person or by proxy 28,394,022 shares of common stock of the company, or approximately 85% of all of the shares entitled to vote at this meeting.
Thank you, Ms. Lombardi. On the basis of the reports of the Secretary and the Inspector of Election, I find that proper notice has been given and that a quorum is present for purposes of transacting business, and that this meeting has been properly convened. Mr. Kaslow, were there any stockholder nominations or proposals for business for this meeting properly filed with you as Secretary?
No, there were not.
Since no stockholder nominations or proposals were properly filed in advance of this meeting, the business of this meeting is limited to the voting on the three matters on the agenda. I will now present the matters to be voted upon. Please note that we will give stockholders an opportunity to comment on the proposals themselves after all proposals have been presented. The first proposal we will consider is the election of five Class II directors. The board has nominated Michael B. Adams, James M. Burke, Louis P. Jenkins, Jr., David S. Jones, and Dawn M. Willey to serve three-year terms as directors, which terms would expire at the annual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2029. Information concerning the nominees' principal occupations, their service with the company and the bank, and other matters that may be of interest are contained in the proxy statement.
The second item of business we will consider is the vote on the non-binding resolution to approve the compensation of our named executive officers. The resolution reads as follows; Resolved that the non-binding resolution of the compensation of the named executive officers as described in the tabular disclosure regarding named executive officer compensation and the accompanying narrative disclosure in the proxy statement be, and hereby is approved in all respects. The third item of business we will consider is the ratification of the appointment of Crowe LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the year ended December 31st, 2026. Representatives of Crowe LLP are here today to answer any questions related to their engagement. If any stockholder would like to make a comment regarding any of the proposals, please submit your comment through the web portal. The polls are now open for voting.
Any stockholder who hasn't yet voted or wishes to change their vote may do so by clicking on the voting button on the web portal and following the instructions there. Stockholders who have sent in proxies or voted via telephone or internet and do not want to change their vote do not need to take any further action. Now that everyone has had the opportunity to vote, I now declare the polls closed for the 2026 Annual Stockholders' Meeting for Shore Bancshares, Inc. Ms. Lombardi, do we have preliminary voting results?
Yes. The preliminary vote report shows that all directors nominated were elected and that the majority of shares voted were voted in favor of the non-binding resolution regarding the compensation of our named executive officers and the appointment of Crowe LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2026.
We have been informed by the Inspector of Election that the preliminary vote report shows that all directors nominated were elected, and that the non-binding resolution regarding the compensation of our named executive officers has been approved by stockholders, and that the appointment of Crowe LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2026 has been ratified by stockholders. The report of the Inspector of Election, as presented, is accepted. Mr. Kaslow, please retain the vote report provided by Broadridge Corporate Issuer Solutions proxies and the oath and certificate and report of the Inspector of Election and maintain them among the records of the company. There being no further business to come before the meeting, the 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Shore Bancshares, Inc. is now adjourned.
At this time, I would call on James Burke, the President and CEO of the company and the bank, to report to you on the results of our operations, which will be followed by a question-and-answer session. Mr. Burke?
Thank you, Mr. Hyatt. Good morning, and thank you for joining us. I appreciate everyone taking the time to be part of Shore Bancshares Virtual Annual Meeting. Your engagement and support matter a great deal to us, and it's a pleasure to be with you today. This past year was one of real progress for our company. Despite a challenging and volatile economic environment, we continued to strengthen the fundamentals of the bank. Core deposits grew by nearly 5%, our net interest margin improved, and we kept expenses well controlled while continuing to invest in the scalable infrastructure our future requires. We ended the year with a return on assets above 1% and continued momentum building capital. These results are a direct reflection of our people. I want to thank every member of our team for their commitment to our clients and to each other.
We also added three outstanding leaders this year, Charlie Cullum as Chief Financial Officer, Noah Stayton as Chief Information Officer, and Aaron Kaslow as Chief Legal Officer. Their expertise is already contributing meaningfully to our ability to scale with confidence. I also want to thank the Board of Directors for their steady guidance and support throughout the year. Their leadership keeps us focused on long-term value creation and disciplined execution. At the heart of all this progress is our purpose, helping the communities we serve prosper one dream at a time. It's more than a phrase to us. It's the lens through which we make decisions, serve our clients, support our employees, and invest in the future of this company. When our communities thrive, we thrive. Looking ahead, we are moving with clarity and purpose. While economic uncertainty remains, we are confident in the path forward.
Our priorities this year, data, deposits, people, and process improvement, are all designed to strengthen the balance sheet, build scalable infrastructure, deepen client relationships, drive sustained profitability, and ultimately enhance shareholder value. We are building momentum, and we are doing it together. Thank you again for your support and partnership. I'm proud of what we have accomplished and even more excited about the opportunities ahead for Shore Bancshares. Mr. Hyatt?
Thank you. Now, we would like to open things up for stockholder questions and comments. Please note we will attempt to answer as many questions as time allows, but only questions that are germane to the meeting will be addressed. We don't see any questions, so this will conclude the question-and-answer session. I want to thank all of you for attending today's webcast and for the interest you have shown in the affairs of your company.
The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.