At March 31, 2024, our loans and leases totaled $122.8 billion, representing a $785 million, or 1%, increase compared to $122.0 billion at December 31, 2023.

Core deposits were $147.3 billion at March 31, 2024 which comprised 96% of total deposits, compared to $145.5 billion, and 96% of total deposits, at December 31, 2023. The $1.8 billion, or 1%, increase in core deposits, compared to December 31, 2023, was primarily driven by an increase in consumer core deposits.

During the three months ended March 31, 2024, we repurchased no shares of common stock under the current repurchase authorization. As part of the 2024 capital plan and our current expectation that organic capital will be used for funding loan and lease growth and proposed changes to regulatory capital requirements, we do not expect to utilize the share repurchase program through 2024.

The efficiency ratio increased from 55.6% to 63.7%. This indicates a decrease in efficiency.

To align with our strategic priorities, during the second quarter of 2023, we completed an organizational realignment and now report on two business segments: Consumer & Regional Banking and Commercial Banking.

At March 31, 2024, management believes current sources of liquidity are sufficient to meet Huntington's on and off-balance sheet obligations.

With remote work options leading to increased vacancy rates and underutilization of office space across the country, the office sector continues to be an area of uncertainty. Our office portfolio, which is predominantly suburban and multi-tenant loans, totaled $1.8 billion, or 1%, of total loans and leases, as of March 31, 2024.

Management continues to assess the uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment, including ongoing risks in the commercial real estate environment, current inflation levels, political uncertainty, and geopolitical instability, considering multiple macroeconomic forecasts that reflect a range of possible outcomes.

Cybersecurity threats continue to evolve and increase across the entire digital landscape. We actively monitor our environment for malicious content and implement specific cybersecurity and fraud capabilities, including the monitoring of phishing email campaigns.

Our core deposits come from a base of primary bank customer relationships, and we continue to focus on acquiring and deepening those relationships resulting in our granular and diversified deposit base.

As such, we utilize various resources to help ensure expectations are met, including a team of compliance experts dedicated to ensuring our conformance with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations.

Huntington's business segments are based on our internally-aligned segment leadership structure, which is how management monitors results and assesses performance.

Partially offsetting these increases, personnel costs decreased $10 million, or 2%, primarily reflecting a $35 million reduction in severance expense related to staffing efficiencies, partially offset by higher salary and benefit expense.

Outside data processing and other services increased $15 million, or 10%, reflecting higher technology and data expense.

Deposit and other insurance expense increased $34 million primarily due to the recognition of additional FDIC DIF special assessment expense totaling $32 million based on updated FDIC estimates to recover the costs associated with the 2023 bank failures.

We actively manage a cybersecurity operation designed to detect, contain, and respond to cybersecurity threats and incidents in a prompt and effective manner with the goal of minimizing disruptions to our business.

Outside data processing and other services increased $15 million, or 10%, reflecting higher technology and data expense.

To this end, we employ a set of defense-in-depth strategies, which include efforts to make us less attractive as a target and less vulnerable to threats, while investing in threat analytic capabilities for rapid detection and response.

During the three months ended March 31, 2024, we repurchased no shares of common stock under the current repurchase authorization.

As part of the 2024 capital plan and our current expectation that organic capital will be used for funding loan and lease growth and proposed changes to regulatory capital requirements, we do not expect to utilize the share repurchase program through 2024.

On April 17, 2024, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly common stock cash dividend of $0.155 per common share.

Huntington makes certain equity investments in various limited partnerships that sponsor affordable housing projects utilizing the LIHTC pursuant to Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code.

The purpose of these investments is to achieve a satisfactory return on capital, to facilitate the sale of additional affordable housing product offerings, and to assist in achieving goals associated with the Community Reinvestment Act.

In our efforts to identify risk mitigation techniques, we have focused on product design features, origination policies, and solutions for delinquent or stressed borrowers.

Inflation remained high in the first quarter of 2024 while the labor market showed some signs of slowing, but remained strong overall.

The Federal Reserve reiterates that data drives its interest rate policy. Until the data demonstrates that inflation will near the Federal Reserve's 2% target, the Federal Reserve indicated that it is unlikely to take action to lower interest rates.

Further banking regulation has been delayed with clarity on proposed amendment to the regulatory capital rule and long-term debt requirements for banks anticipated later in 2024.