Lloyd Baker
Analyst · Piper Jaffray. Please go ahead
Thank you, Rick and good morning everyone. As Mark has noted, Peter Conner, our Chief Financial Officer for Banner Bank is again with us here today and after a few general remarks from me, Peter will provide more detailed insight into the first quarter results. In particular Peter will address the more unusual or volatile items in the income statement which on balance were a net positive for the quarter but were also more numerous than is often the case. By contrast, our core operations were very consistent with trends we have reported for a number of periods. Banner Corporation's first quarter 2017 operating results continue to reflect the successful execution on our strategic initiatives including significant benefits from the - as a result of the acquisition of AmericanWest bank, as well as meaningfully increased regulatory costs as a result of our approach to and subsequent breach of the $10 billion assets threshold. Our financial performance this quarter again was driven by strong revenue generation reflecting in the increased scale of the company. While we had an expected decrease in revenues compared to the immediately preceding quarter, as a result of normal seasonal patterns compared to the same quarter a year earlier, growth in average earning asset balances coupled with strong net interest margin and growth in noninterest income allowed our revenues from core operations to increase by 5%. Similar to previous periods, fully appreciating Banner's core operating results for each of the periods presented requires a clear understanding of the impact of the merger and acquisition related expenses, as well as the valuation adjustments for certain financial instruments that we carry at fair value and when material gains and losses on the sale of investment securities. However I’m pleased to note that we did not incur any acquisition related expenses in the first quarter. For the first quarter of 2017, Banner reported net income of $23.8 million or $0.72 per diluted share. This amount was net of 688,000 and net charges for valuation adjustments for financial instruments, partially offset by a small net gain on the sale of securities which together net of related tax effects reduced earnings for the quarter by one penny per diluted share. By comparison acquisition in related expenses were 788,000 in the fourth quarter which along with $1.1 million of fair valued charges partially offset by $311,000 of securities gains, reduced earnings net of taxes by $0.03 per diluted share for that quarter. For the first quarter a year ago, acquisition expenses were much larger $6.8 million, while fair valued charges and securities losses combined were just $50,000. All of which together net of tax effects reduced earnings by $0.13 per diluted share in that quarter. Excluding the acquisition-related expenses fair value adjustments and securities gains and losses, our earnings from core operations were $24.2 million or $0.73 per diluted share for the current quarter compared to $23.8 million or $0.72 per diluted share in the immediately preceding quarter and $22.1 million or $0.65 per diluted share in the first quarter a year ago. As we've done in previous earnings releases, again this quarter we've included a reconciliation of earnings from core operations and other non-GAAP financial information in our press release which I encourage you to review. As I noted, underlying this earnings growth our revenues from core operations which is revenues excluding gains and losses on the sale securities and net fair value adjustments, although slightly decreased from the immediately preceding quarter we're strong and at $116.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 were 5% greater than the same quarter a year ago. This solid core revenue generation continues to reflect a successful execution of our super community bank business model and the increasing value of the Banner franchise. First quarter net interest income before provision for loan losses decreased to $94.9 million compared to $97.2 million in the preceding quarter primarily reflecting fewer days in the current quarter and a much higher acquired loan discount accretion in the fourth quarter. However, as a result of increased earning asset balances and a stronger net interest margin, Banner's net interest income for the first quarter of 2017 was 4% greater than the same quarter a year earlier. Our reported net interest margin was 4.25% for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 a seven basis point decrease from the preceding quarter largely the result of the decreased accretion income which was particularly high in the fourth quarter but was 10 basis points above the margin in the first quarter a year ago which included a comparable dollar amount and yield effect from discount accretion. More important excluding the impact of acquisition accounting, our contractual or normalized net interest margin for the first quarter of 2017 was 4.15% compared to 4.13% in preceding quarter and 4.01% in the first quarter a year ago. Again this quarter loan yields and the net interest margin was positively impacted by increased market interest rates, while deposit pricing remained generally unchanged. In addition, the timing worked well for us as we re-leveraged the balance sheet above the $10 billion mark with first quarter purchases that boosted the yield on the securities portfolio. Deposit fees and service charges were $12.2 million in the first quarter unchanged from the preceding quarter and in line with our seasonal expectations. Deposit fees and service charges increased 3% compared to the same quarter a year earlier, a direct result of growth in core deposit accounts and related transaction activity. As noted in the press release, mortgage banking revenues decreased to $4.6 million for the first quarter compared to $5.1 million in the fourth quarter and $5.6 million in the first quarter a year ago. The decrease in mortgage banking revenues compared to the preceding quarter reflected in expected seasonal pattern from one to four family loan originations, amplified by the dampening effect of higher interest rates. In addition, gains on the sale of multi-family loans were quite modest in the current quarter. Although we did complete a substantial amount of loan sales during the quarter significantly reducing the amount of loans held for sale at March 31, 2017. Total non-interest expenses were $78.1 million in the first quarter compared to $79.9 million in the preceding quarter, an $84 million in the first quarter of 2016. In total, non-interest expenses were in line with our expectations. Although there were a number of unusual items which Peter will address in his comments. I will also leave most of the balance sheet discussion to Peter, however I do want to note that we had particularly strong first quarter deposit growth that was not entirely in line with our normal seasonal experience which generally results in modest first quarter, second quarter balance growth with stronger growth usually concentrated in the second half of the year. Finally I believe it's worth noting that our tangible book value per share increased to $31.68 at March 31, 2017 compared to $30.38 at March 31, 2016 of 4.3% increase as growth in retained earnings and amortization of the core deposit intangibles more than offset the dividend payments of $0.92 per share and dilutive effect of stock repurchases over that 12 month period. This concludes my prepared remarks. In summary, Banner had another good quarter and an encouraging start to 2017. As always I look forward to your questions but first Peter will add some more color.