Michael Scheopner
Management
Thank you, and good morning. Thank you for joining our call today to discuss Landmark's earnings and results of operations for the second quarter and year-to-date 2023. Joining the call with me to discuss various aspects of our second quarter performance is Mark Herpich, Chief Financial Officer of the company; and the company's Chief Credit Officer, Raymond McLanahan. Before we get started, I would like to remind our listeners that some of the information we will be providing today, falls under the guidelines for forward-looking statements, as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission. As part of these guidelines, I must point out that any statements made during this presentation that discuss our hopes, beliefs, expectations, or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements, and our actual results could differ materially from those expressed. Additional information on these factors is included from time to time in our 10-K and 10-Q filings, which can be obtained by contacting the company or the SEC. Landmark reported net earnings of $3.4 million during the second quarter of 2023. Earnings per share on a fully diluted basis for the second quarter was $0.64 for the three months ended June 30th, the return on average assets was 0.88%, and the return on average equity was 11.52%. Our efficiency ratio in the second quarter of 2023 was 69.2%. Our second quarter results reflected continued solid earnings, driven by growth in loans, well-controlled expenses and strong credit quality. Compared to the first quarter 2023, total gross loans increased by $23.5 million or 10.8% on an annualized basis this quarter, while deposits decreased $13.1 million during the second quarter of 2023, due to lower non-interest demand deposits and savings accounts, but offset by growth in money market, interest checking and certificate of deposit accounts. Our loan-to-deposit ratio this…