Mike Price
Analyst · FBR. Please go ahead
Thanks, Ryan. Good afternoon and welcome to our call today. Net income of $59.6 million in 2016 is a new high watermark for First Commonwealth. Our GAAP or unadjusted earnings per share in the fourth quarter and for the full year of 2016 were $0.20 and $0.67, respectively. Adjusting for $2.8 million of one-time merger costs due to the acquisition of 13 FirstMerit branches in early December, our fourth quarter core earnings per share increases to $0.22, in turn driving a 1.18% ROA and a 61.7%% efficiency ratio. The core earnings for the year are $0.69, which translates to a 93 basis point ROA and a 58.7% efficiency ratio for the full year. These same quarterly and year-end financial performance figures represent consistent improvement over the last several years. Consequently, we announced this morning a 14% increase to our quarterly dividend to $0.08 per share. As you look at the fourth quarter, I would draw your attention to just a few unusual items which impacted performance. Provision expense of negative $1.8 million represents a release of reserves stemming largely from some $5.1 million in partial recoveries on previously charged off loans. A portion of this recovery was from a second-quarter credit this past summer. Another portion was from a real estate related credit roughly one year ago. And the last portion of this recovery was from a credit, which had been charged off roughly two-and-a-half years ago. This was a nice credit tailwind for the quarter. Secondly, non-interest expense rose from $38.7 million in the third quarter to $45.7 million. Besides the aforementioned one-time merger expense of $2.8 million, employee expenses rose in part due to some increased incentive accruals in the fourth quarter. Additionally, the typical seasonal increases in hospitalization expense and the addition of FirstMerit employees increased non-interest expense in the fourth quarter, as well. Net interest income buoyed some $2 million to $52.5 million, as deposit interest expense remained well controlled and interest income rose due to a Federal Reserve interest rate increase and subsequent higher spreads on LIBOR and prime rate loans. Also, we had an adjustment in the quarterly swap valuations, which added $1.3 million to a non-interest income figure of $17.7 million. And this excluded net security gains for the quarter. Reflecting on the full year, where our GAAP earnings per share grew some 20% to $0.67, and net income increased $9.4 million or 19% to $59.6 million, I would offer the following. We had a more robust margin for the year coupled with strong commercial loan growth. This helped our net interest income increase some 6% to over $202 million. Provision expense was up $3.5 million in 2016 to $18.5 million, primarily due to a handful of credits that had deteriorated in the first half of the year. We also saw better mortgage fee income, deposit service charges and interchange income, which aided a $2.5 million increase in non-interest income to $64 million, and that excluded net security gains. Non-interest expenses fell significantly for the year as retail banking restructure created some $6 million plus of savings on a pretty healthy expense base. This savings enabled investment elsewhere, including continued expansion of mortgage and corporate banking. Commercial loan growth of 8.8% set the pace for First Commonwealth in 2016, as well as strong year-over-year growth in mortgage loan originations. Both of these overcame contraction in our indirect auto portfolio and our branch-based portfolio. All in all, our loans grew 4.2% year-over-year. For fund loans, total deposits increased $752 million to $4.9 billion by the end of 2016. Roughly $600 million of this increase stemmed from the December acquisition of 13 FirstMerit branches in northeast Ohio. More aggressive deposit gathering, coupled with the timely purchase of the FirstMerit branches, helped reduce our loan to deposit ratio to 98.8%, and lowered our short-term borrowings to $868 million or under $1 billion for the first time since the second quarter of 2014. Some other noteworthy 2016 items and perspectives that might be helpful to investors include, we entered into two deals in 2016 to include Delaware County Bank and the Columbus MSA, as well as the FirstMerit branches. In fact, the legal close and FirstMerit branch conversion occurred only four months after the deal was announced. Our Ohio franchise will have quickly matured, really from an outpost to a $1 billion plus depository bank in 2017. We have received regulatory approval for Delaware County Bank and are on track to close and convert in the second quarter. Also, the number of digital solutions and channels continues to expand rapidly and appropriately. In 2016, First Commonwealth launched online lending to complement online deposit account opening. We also enhanced our mobile and online platforms, we added a credit card product, we launched online chat, and added two more virtual wallets. Also, our asset sensitivity, coupled with the acquisition of two rich depositories, should serve us very well in a rising interest rate environment. I would also add that the transition from Bob Emmerich to Brian Karrip as Chief Credit Officer went smoothly in the fourth quarter, as Bob officially retired at the end of the fourth quarter. We also added Jeff Rosen to the team in December in a newly created position as EVP of Consumer and Small Business Lending. He will be based in Columbus and is charged with profitably growing our consumer and small business lending businesses, while jump-starting our alternative lending platforms. He's also charged with developing a de novo SBA capability. Along with our accomplishments, we have a list of challenges as we enter 2017. They include continue to grow our corporate banking business with the right risk/return profile, and this is after a very solid year; move from defense to offense in retail banking and grow households, deposits and loans; third, ensure acquisitions achieve financial targets and our Ohio households grow nicely; and, lastly and importantly, really maintaining cost discipline given the plethora of initiatives and acquisitions here at our Bank right now. We're genuinely excited about tackling these challenges to ensure our company continues to grow, prosper and we take care of our great customers. With that I'll turn it over to Jim.