ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. — Call Transcript 2026

Day, welcome to the ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. Annual Meeting. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Mr. Frank Sorrentino, Chairman of the Board. Please go ahead. Good morning. I'm Frank Sorrentino, Chairman of the Board of ConnectOne Bancorp Inc. On behalf of management and Board of Directors of the company, I welcome all of you to this online annual meeting of shareholders of the company. The purpose of this annual meeting is to elect members of the Board of Directors, approve ConnectOne Bancorp Inc. 2026 Equity Incentive Plan, to vote on an advisory basis to approve the executive compensation of ConnectOne Bank, named executive officers as described in the proxy statement, and to ratify the appointment of Crowe LLP as the company's independent registered public accountants for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2026. All as described in further detail in the proxy statement for this annual meeting. We will undertake the business of this annual meeting first, and then have time for any questions later in the meeting. On or about April 10th, 2026, formal notice of this meeting, proxy statement, and form of proxy was made available to all shareholders of record as of the record date, March 31, 2026. In the interest of efficiently conducting this meeting, I dispense with the reading of the notice of the meeting. The Secretary will file the notice of this meeting, proxy statement, and form of proxy with the minutes of this meeting. I hereby appoint Laura Criscione as Secretary, and Frederick Chao of Broadridge Financial Solutions as Judge of the Elections for this meeting. I now ask the Judge of Elections to please report on the presence of shareholders. The company has 50,288,494 shares of common stock issued and outstanding and entitled to vote, and at least 42,281,567 shares of common stock are present in person and by proxy, thus constituting a quorum. Okay, thank you. Since the holders of a majority of the voting power of the company's shares are present in person or by proxy at this meeting, there is a quorum present, and the meeting is organized and ready to transact business. The polls are now open for voting for any shareholder who has not previously voted online, by telephone, or by returning a proxy card, or for any shareholder who wishes to change their previously cast vote. The first order of business to be conducted at this meeting is voting on the management nominees for the board of directors as set forth in the proxy statement. The second order of business is to vote on ConnectOne Bancorp Inc.'s 2026 Equity Incentive Plan. The third order of business to be conducted at this meeting is voting on an advisory basis to approve the executive compensation of ConnectOne Bancorp Inc.'s named executive officers as described in the proxy statement. The final order of business to be conducted at this meeting is voting to ratify the appointment of Crowe LLP as the company's independent registered public accountants for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2026. Any shareholders who have not yet voted online, telephonically, or by returning a proxy card, or want to change their vote, may vote now using the keys posted on the website for this meeting. I now declare that the polls are closed. Oh, I'm sorry, they're open. The voting will take place. Okay, I now declare that the polls are closed for voting at this meeting, and I ask the Judge of Elections to tabulate the results. In the meantime, while we're waiting for that, there were a couple of questions that came through regarding our loan growth and competition with the various other financial institutions that are not banking institutions. Certainly, we are aware of all of the various competitive forces within the market and continue to hone our skills relative to that change in the marketplace itself. ConnectOne has continued to see growth in all the markets we represent, and so we're happy about the ability to continue to grow with our business model going forward. Another question was regarding our emphasis on commercial real estate, and certainly ConnectOne has always had a lot of strength in the commercial real estate space. As we get larger and serve new markets, we continue to diversify our portfolio. Certainly, part of the merger the first time was being able to accomplish that by bringing on a fairly large residential portfolio, and as we've reported in the past, continuing to grow both our C&I exposures and our risk solutions. There was a question about opportunities for acquisitions. We remain opportunistic at all times, moving forward from since the day of our inception. We've made a number of small acquisitions over time. We continue to look at the marketplace and think about what makes sense for ConnectOne and what fits into our strategy. Again, we remain opportunistic as time goes on and look to be financially disciplined as we think about any type of acquisition. With there being no other questions, I would now request the Judge to report on the ballot results for this meeting. Operator, could you go ahead please and show those results. Based on the tabulation of the votes, management's proposals and recommendations have been adopted. Thank you. I declare that the proposals to elect management's nominees to the board of directors, to approve the ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc.'s 2026 Equity Incentive Plan, to vote on an advisory basis to approve the executive compensation of ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc.'s named executive officers as described in the proxy.

Speaker 3: Day, welcome to the ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. Annual Meeting. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Mr. Frank Sorrentino, Chairman of the Board. Please go ahead. Day, welcome to the ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. Annual Meeting. day welcome to the connectone bancorp inc annual meeting Today's conference is being recorded. today's conference is being recorded At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Mr. Frank Sorrentino, Chairman of the Board. at this time i'd like to turn the conference over to mr frank sorrentino chairman of the board Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 1: Good morning. I'm Frank Sorrentino, Chairman of the Board of ConnectOne Bancorp Inc. On behalf of management and Board of Directors of the company, I welcome all of you to this online annual meeting of shareholders of the company. The purpose of this annual meeting is to elect members of the Board of Directors, approve ConnectOne Bancorp Inc. 2026 Equity Incentive Plan, to vote on an advisory basis to approve the executive compensation of ConnectOne Bank, named executive officers as described in the proxy statement, and to ratify the appointment of Crowe LLP as the company's independent registered public accountants for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2026. All as described in further detail in the proxy statement for this annual meeting. We will undertake the business of this annual meeting first, and then have time for any questions later in the meeting. Good morning. good morning I'm Frank Sorrentino, Chairman of the Board of ConnectOne Bancorp Inc. On behalf of management and Board of Directors of the company, I welcome all of you to this online annual meeting of shareholders of the company. i'm frank sorrentino chairman of the board of connectone bancorp inc on behalf of management and board of directors of the company i welcome all of you to this online annual meeting of shareholders of the company The purpose of this annual meeting is to elect members of the Board of Directors, approve ConnectOne Bancorp Inc. 2026 Equity Incentive Plan, to vote on an advisory basis to approve the executive compensation of ConnectOne Bank, named executive officers as described in the proxy statement, and to ratify the appointment of Crowe LLP as the company's independent registered public accountants for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2026. the purpose of this annual meeting is to elect members of the board of directors approve connectone bancorp inc 2026 equity incentive plan to vote on an advisory basis to approve the executive compensation of connectone bank named executive officers as described in the proxy statement and to ratify the appointment of crowe llp as the company's independent registered public accountants for the fiscal year ending december 31 2026 All as described in further detail in the proxy statement for this annual meeting. all as described in further detail in the proxy statement for this annual meeting We will undertake the business of this annual meeting first, and then have time for any questions later in the meeting. we will undertake the business of this annual meeting first and then have time for any questions later in the meeting On or about April 10th, 2026, formal notice of this meeting, proxy statement, and form of proxy was made available to all shareholders of record as of the record date, March 31, 2026. In the interest of efficiently conducting this meeting, I dispense with the reading of the notice of the meeting. The Secretary will file the notice of this meeting, proxy statement, and form of proxy with the minutes of this meeting. I hereby appoint Laura Criscione as Secretary, and Frederick Chao of Broadridge Financial Solutions as Judge of the Elections for this meeting. I now ask the Judge of Elections to please report on the presence of shareholders. On or about April 10th, 2026, formal notice of this meeting, proxy statement, and form of proxy was made available to all shareholders of record as of the record date, March 31, 2026. on or about april 10th 2026 formal notice of this meeting proxy statement and form of proxy was made available to all shareholders of record as of the record date march 31 2026 In the interest of efficiently conducting this meeting, I dispense with the reading of the notice of the meeting. in the interest of efficiently conducting this meeting i dispense with the reading of the notice of the meeting the The Secretary will file the notice of this meeting, proxy statement, and form of proxy with the minutes of this meeting. meeting the secretary will file the notice of this meeting proxy statement and form of proxy with the minutes of this meeting I hereby appoint Laura Criscione as Secretary, and Frederick Chao of Broadridge Financial Solutions as Judge of the Elections for this meeting. i hereby appoint laura criscione as secretary and frederick chao of broadridge financial solutions as judge of the elections for this meeting I now ask the Judge of Elections to please report on the presence of shareholders. i now ask the judge of elections to please report on the presence of shareholders

Speaker 2: The company has 50,288,494 shares of common stock issued and outstanding and entitled to vote, and at least 42,281,567 shares of common stock are present in person and by proxy, thus constituting a quorum. The company has 50,288,494 shares of common stock issued and outstanding and entitled to vote, and at least 42,281,567 shares of common stock are present in person and by proxy, thus constituting a quorum. the company has 50,288,494 shares of common stock issued and outstanding and entitled to vote and at least 42,281,567 shares of common stock are present in person and by proxy thus constituting a quorum

Speaker 1: Okay, thank you. Since the holders of a majority of the voting power of the company's shares are present in person or by proxy at this meeting, there is a quorum present, and the meeting is organized and ready to transact business. The polls are now open for voting for any shareholder who has not previously voted online, by telephone, or by returning a proxy card, or for any shareholder who wishes to change their previously cast vote. The first order of business to be conducted at this meeting is voting on the management nominees for the board of directors as set forth in the proxy statement. The second order of business is to vote on ConnectOne Bancorp Inc.'s 2026 Equity Incentive Plan. Okay, thank you. okay thank you Since the holders of a majority of the voting power of the company's shares are present in person or by proxy at this meeting, there is a quorum present, and the meeting is organized and ready to transact business. since the holders of a majority of the voting power of the company's shares are present in person or by proxy at this meeting there is a quorum present and the meeting is organized and ready to transact business The polls are now open for voting for any shareholder who has not previously voted online, by telephone, or by returning a proxy card, or for any shareholder who wishes to change their previously cast vote. the polls are now open for voting for any shareholder who has not previously voted online by telephone or by returning a proxy card or for any shareholder who wishes to change their previously cast vote The first order of business to be conducted at this meeting is voting on the management nominees for the board of directors as set forth in the proxy statement. the first order of business to be conducted at this meeting is voting on the management nominees for the board of directors as set forth in the proxy statement The second order of business is to vote on ConnectOne Bancorp Inc.'s 2026 Equity Incentive Plan. the second order of business is to vote on connectone bancorp inc.'s 2026 equity incentive plan The third order of business to be conducted at this meeting is voting on an advisory basis to approve the executive compensation of ConnectOne Bancorp Inc.'s named executive officers as described in the proxy statement. The final order of business to be conducted at this meeting is voting to ratify the appointment of Crowe LLP as the company's independent registered public accountants for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2026. Any shareholders who have not yet voted online, telephonically, or by returning a proxy card, or want to change their vote, may vote now using the keys posted on the website for this meeting. I now declare that the polls are closed. Oh, I'm sorry, they're open. The voting will take place. Okay, I now declare that the polls are closed for voting at this meeting, and I ask the Judge of Elections to tabulate the results. The third order of business to be conducted at this meeting is voting on an advisory basis to approve the executive compensation of ConnectOne Bancorp Inc.'s named executive officers as described in the proxy statement. the third order of business to be conducted at this meeting is voting on an advisory basis to approve the executive compensation of connectone bancorp inc.'s named executive officers as described in the proxy statement The final order of business to be conducted at this meeting is voting to ratify the appointment of Crowe LLP as the company's independent registered public accountants for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2026. the final order of business to be conducted at this meeting is voting to ratify the appointment of crowe llp as the company's independent registered public accountants for the fiscal year ending december 31st 2026 Any shareholders who have not yet voted online, telephonically, or by returning a proxy card, or want to change their vote, may vote now using the keys posted on the website for this meeting. any shareholders who have not yet voted online telephonically or by returning a proxy card or want to change their vote may vote now using the keys posted on the website for this meeting I now declare that the polls are closed. i now declare that the polls are closed Oh, I'm sorry, they're open. oh i'm sorry they're open The voting will take place. the voting will take place Okay, I now declare that the polls are closed for voting at this meeting, and I ask the Judge of Elections to tabulate the results. okay i now declare that the polls are closed for voting at this meeting and i ask the judge of elections to tabulate the results In the meantime, while we're waiting for that, there were a couple of questions that came through regarding our loan growth and competition with the various other financial institutions that are not banking institutions. Certainly, we are aware of all of the various competitive forces within the market and continue to hone our skills relative to that change in the marketplace itself. ConnectOne has continued to see growth in all the markets we represent, and so we're happy about the ability to continue to grow with our business model going forward. Another question was regarding our emphasis on commercial real estate, and certainly ConnectOne has always had a lot of strength in the commercial real estate space. As we get larger and serve new markets, we continue to diversify our portfolio. In the meantime, while we're waiting for that, there were a couple of questions that came through regarding our loan growth and competition with the various other financial institutions that are not banking institutions. in the meantime while we're waiting for that there were a couple of questions that came through regarding our loan growth and competition with the various other financial institutions that are not banking institutions Certainly, we are aware of all of the various competitive forces within the market and continue to hone our skills relative to that change in the marketplace itself. certainly we are aware of all of the various competitive forces within the market and continue to hone our skills relative to that change in the marketplace itself ConnectOne has continued to see growth in all the markets we represent, and so we're happy about the ability to continue to grow with our business model going forward. connectone has continued to see growth in all the markets we represent and so we're happy about the ability to continue to grow with our business model going forward Another question was regarding our emphasis on commercial real estate, and certainly ConnectOne has always had a lot of strength in the commercial real estate space. another question was regarding our emphasis on commercial real estate and certainly connectone has always had a lot of strength in the commercial real estate space As we get larger and serve new markets, we continue to diversify our portfolio. as we get larger and serve new markets we continue to diversify our portfolio Certainly, part of the merger the first time was being able to accomplish that by bringing on a fairly large residential portfolio, and as we've reported in the past, continuing to grow both our C&I exposures and our risk solutions. There was a question about opportunities for acquisitions. We remain opportunistic at all times, moving forward from since the day of our inception. We've made a number of small acquisitions over time. We continue to look at the marketplace and think about what makes sense for ConnectOne and what fits into our strategy. Again, we remain opportunistic as time goes on and look to be financially disciplined as we think about any type of acquisition. With there being no other questions, I would now request the Judge to report on the ballot results for this meeting. Operator, could you go ahead please and show those results. Certainly, part of the merger the first time was being able to accomplish that by bringing on a fairly large residential portfolio, and as we've reported in the past, continuing to grow both our C&I exposures and our risk solutions. certainly part of the merger the first time was being able to accomplish that by bringing on a fairly large residential portfolio and as we've reported in the past continuing to grow both our c&i exposures and our risk solutions There was a question about opportunities for acquisitions. there was a question about opportunities for acquisitions We remain opportunistic at all times, moving forward from since the day of our inception. we remain opportunistic at all times moving forward from since the day of our inception We've made a number of small acquisitions over time. we've made a number of small acquisitions over time We continue to look at the marketplace and think about what makes sense for ConnectOne and what fits into our strategy. we continue to look at the marketplace and think about what makes sense for connectone and what fits into our strategy Again, we remain opportunistic as time goes on and look to be financially disciplined as we think about any type of acquisition. again we remain opportunistic as time goes on and look to be financially disciplined as we think about any type of acquisition With there being no other questions, I would now request the Judge to report on the ballot results for this meeting. with there being no other questions i would now request the judge to report on the ballot results for this meeting Operator, could you go ahead please and show those results. operator could you go ahead please and show those results

Speaker 2: Based on the tabulation of the votes, management's proposals and recommendations have been adopted. Based on the tabulation of the votes, management's proposals and recommendations have been adopted. based on the tabulation of the votes management's proposals and recommendations have been adopted

Speaker 1: Thank you. I declare that the proposals to elect management's nominees to the board of directors, to approve the ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc.'s 2026 Equity Incentive Plan, to vote on an advisory basis to approve the executive compensation of ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc.'s named executive officers as described in the proxy. Thank you. thank you I declare that the proposals to elect management's nominees to the board of directors, to approve the ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc.'s 2026 Equity Incentive Plan, to vote on an advisory basis to approve the executive compensation of ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc.'s named executive officers as described in the proxy. i declare that the proposals to elect management's nominees to the board of directors to approve the connectone bancorp inc.'s 2026 equity incentive plan to vote on an advisory basis to approve the executive compensation of connectone bancorp inc.'s named executive officers as described in the proxy