Welcome to the 2026 Annual Meeting of United Community Banks, Inc. Our host for today's call is Lynn Harton, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President. At this time, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. I'll now turn the conference call over to your host, Mr. Harton. You may begin, sir.
Thank you. Good afternoon, and welcome to the 2026 Annual Shareholders Meeting of United Community Banks Incorporated. It's my pleasure to welcome participants joining through both our web portal and the provided 800 number of the meeting. In keeping with the digital approach to this year's meeting, this meeting is officially called to order. Now, I would like to acknowledge and present the other Executive Officers who are joining us today, both in person and virtually. Jefferson Harralson, Chief Financial Officer. Rob Edwards, Chief Risk Officer. Melinda Davis Lux, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel. Rich Bradshaw, President and Chief Banking Officer. Mark Terry, Chief Information Officer. Abraham Cox, Chief Retail and Small Business Banking Officer. Holly Berry, Chief Human Resources Officer.
Now, at this time, I'd like to acknowledge and present the other members of the Board who are joining us today, both in person and virtually. Jennifer Bazante, George Bell, Jim Clements, Ken Daniels, Lance Drummond, John James, Jen Mann, Sally Pope Davis, Tom Richlovsky, Tim Wallis, and David Wilkins. PricewaterhouseCoopers, our Independent Auditors, are also joining us today. They will be available during the question- and- answer session following the meeting to address any relevant inquiries. Lastly, the company has appointed Louis Larson to act as Inspector of Election. Mr. Larson, a representative of Broadridge, is also joining us today and took the oath of Inspector of Election earlier today. At this time, it is my pleasure to introduce Melinda Davis Lux, our Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, who will serve as the secretary for today's meeting.
Thank you, Lynn. Once the official meeting concludes, there will be an opportunity for general questions. Please note that only verified shareholders are permitted to submit questions through the designated field on the web portal. The board of directors fixed March 16th, 2026 as the record date for determining shareholders entitled to vote at this meeting. An affidavit has been delivered attesting to the fact that either a notice of internet availability of the notice of the meeting, the proxy statement, and Annual Report, or the documents themselves were mailed on or about April 1st, 2026 to all shareholders as of the record date and will be incorporated into the minutes of this meeting.
The shareholder list shows that as of the record date, there were 119,684,031 shares of common stock outstanding and entitled to vote at this meeting. We are informed by the Inspector of Election that there are represented in person or by proxy shares of common stock representing 106,268,386 votes or approximately 89% of the voting power on the record date. This represents more than a majority of the voting power of all issued and outstanding stock entitled to vote on the record date, a quorum is present for purposes of transacting business. At this time, I will present the matters to be voted upon. Please note that shareholders will have an opportunity to provide feedback on each proposal once all have been introduced.
Proposal one is the election of directors. The Board has nominated Jennifer Bazante, George Bell, Jim Clements, Ken Daniels, Sally Pope Davis, Lance Drummond, Lynn Harton, John James, Jen Mann, Tom Richlovsky, Tim Wallis, and David Wilkins for election as Directors to hold office until the 2027 Annual Meeting of Shareholders or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. No other nominations having been submitted in accordance with the company's bylaws, I hereby declare nominations closed. Proposal two is the advisory vote to approve the compensation of our named Executive Officers as described in the proxy statement. This advisory vote, commonly referred to as a say-on-pay vote, is non-binding. Although the talent and compensation committee and the Board will take the results of the vote into account when determining future executive compensation.
Proposal three is the vote to ratify the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as our independent registered public accountants for 2026. While this is also an advisory vote, an adverse vote will be considered a direction to the audit committee to consider other auditors for the following year. If any shareholder would like to provide feedback regarding any of the proposals, please use the web portal to submit your feedback now. It is now 3:06 P.M. Eastern Time on May 13th, 2026, and the polls are open. Any shareholder who has not cast their vote or wishes to change their vote can do so by selecting the voting option on the web portal and following the provided instructions. Shareholders who sent in proxies or voted by telephone or internet and do not wish to change their vote do not need to take any further action at this time.
Now that everyone has had the opportunity to vote, I declare the polls for the 2026 United Community Banks, Inc. Annual Shareholder meeting closed. We have been informed by the Inspector of Election that the preliminary vote report shows that the nominees for election to the Board have been duly elected. The compensation of the named Executive Officers has been approved by advisory vote, and the selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers as the company's independent accounting firm has been approved.
Thank you, Melinda Davis Lux. There being no further business to come before the meetings, the 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of United Community Banks, Inc. is now adjourned. At this time, I will share a few remarks before opening the floor for our question- and- answer session. 2025 was a year of meaningful progress for United Community. On an operating basis, earnings per share grew by 18%, return on average assets improved 18 basis points to 120 basis points, and tangible book value per share grew by 11%. We surpassed $1 billion in revenue, grew loans by 7%, and net charge-offs for the year were only 22 basis points. We continue to see strong momentum in our business, supported by strong capital levels and ample liquidity.
In 2025, we also celebrated a milestone, our 75th year in business, an accomplishment made possible by generations of customers, teammates, and shareholders committed to building and serving our communities. In 2025, we were also recognized by J.D. Power for the 11th time as number one in retail customer satisfaction in the Southeast, and once again earned recognition as one of American Banker's Best Banks to Work For. Our teams continue to invest personally in our communities, including tremendous volunteer hours, foundation donations, and with financial literacy programs re-reaching literally thousands of students across our footprints. We continue to focus on the future, successfully integrating American National Bank in Fort Lauderdale, expanding private banking and wealth capabilities, upgrading core systems, and adding talent across the organization. Our future is bright. Our markets remain strong and are in some of the fastest-growing states in the country.
United is well-positioned to deliver quality growth, strong returns for our shareholders, and to continue building what we call a legendary bank. One where customers love to bank, teammates love to work, and shareholders earn top quartile returns. As always, we sincerely appreciate the trust and support of our shareholders. We look forward to continuing to build a great bank together. We now invite shareholders to submit their questions and comments. We will address as many relevant inquiries as time permits, focusing on those pertaining directly to the matters of this meeting. As there are no questions, this concludes the question- and- answer portion of our meeting. On behalf of the Board of Directors and our entire team, we sincerely thank you for your ongoing support of the Bank That Service Built. We appreciate your participation in today's meeting.