Jamie Anderson
Analyst · Piper Sandler. Scott, your line is open
Thank you, Archie and good morning everyone. Slide four, five and six provide a summary of our fourth quarter and full year 2021 financial results. We are very happy with our performance which included strong earnings, core loan growth, a significant decline in classified assets, provision recapture and elevated fee income. The highlights of our quarter included closing the acquisition of Summit funding group and 6% annualized core loan growth. In addition, fee income surpassed our expectations as Bannockburn had a record income quarter, wealth management remained strong, and we recorded higher syndication fees during the period. Non-interest expenses were slightly higher than our expectation due to elevated incentive compensation, which was tied to our higher fee income and overall company performance. We were particularly pleased on the credit front as classified assets declined 37% during the period. Net charge-offs were elevated due to our decision to sell $134 million of hotel loans in order to address various portfolio concentrations The decline in classified assets, combined with a positive economic outlook resulted in $7.7 million of provision recapture during the period. From a capital standpoint, our ratios are strong and remain in excess of both internal and regulatory targets. Given the Summit acquisition, we paused our share repurchase program and expect to remain on the sidelines in the near term. However, our board recently approved a new plan, which authorized 5 million additional shares to be repurchased. Slide seven reconciles our GAAP earnings to adjusted earnings, highlighting items that we believe are important to understanding our quarterly performance. Adjusted net income was $54.1 million or $0.58 per share for the quarter. These adjusted earnings account for $6 million in tax credit investment write-downs, $3.5 million in legal settlements, $4 million of Summit acquisition costs and $2 million of other costs not expected to recur, such as severance and branch consolidation expenses. As depicted on slide eight, these adjusted earnings equate to return on average assets of 1.34%, a return on average tangible common equity of 17.4% and an efficiency ratio of 60.2%. Turning the slide nine and 10, net interest margin declined 9 basis points from the linked quarter to 3.23%. This decline was primarily driven by a decline in PPP forgiveness fees and lower asset yields. The impact on the net interest margin from these changes was partially offset by an increase in other non PPP loan fees during the quarter. Asset yields declined modestly during the period due to continued pressure from the low interest rate environment and the growth of the investment securities portfolio. Over the course of 2021, we increased the size of the investment of the investment portfolio, which has negatively impacted the margin. Our cost of deposits of 10 basis points was flat when compared to the third quarter. Our near term outlook on funding costs remains the same. We anticipate cost stability, or a very slight decline as we have reached our pricing floor. Slide 11 illustrates our current loan mix and balance changes compared to the linked quarter. Loan balances decreased during the period primarily due to declines in PPP, and the ICRE portfolio. The decline in PPP was expected as those loans have been forgiven, while the decline in ICRE was impacted by 144 million in loan sales during the quarter. Excluding the impact from these two events, as well as the acquisition of Summit, we were very encouraged by $149 million of growth and the rest of the portfolio. Slide 13 shows our deposit mix as well as a progression of average deposits from the third quarter. In total, average deposit balances increased $218 million during the quarter, driven primarily by increases in non-interest bearing deposits, and public funds. This was partially offset by a decrease in higher cost brokered CDs. We continue to be mindful of deposit pricing, and we'll make any necessary adjustments based on market conditions and our funding needs. Slide 14 highlights our non-interest income for the quarter. As I mentioned previously, fourth quarter fee income remained elevated and was driven by record production from Bannockburn and strong wealth management results. In addition, other non-interest income increased 37% during the period, primarily due to a $1.2 million increase in syndication fees. Non-interest expense for the quarter is outlined on slide 15. Non-interest expenses increased $10.6 million during the period where it included multiple large transactions that we do not expect to recur. These include $6.1 million of tax credit investment write-downs, $4.1 million of cost associated with the Summit acquisition, a $3.5 million legal settlement and $1.9 million of other costs, such as branch consolidation and severance expenses. Overall, core expenses were slightly higher than we expected and increase modestly when compared to the linked quarter. This was driven by elevated incentive compensation, which was tied to higher fee income and the company's overall financial performance. Turning now to slide 16, Our ACL model resulted in a total allowance which includes both funded and unfunded reserves of $145 million and $7.7 million in total provision recapture during the period. The provision recapture was driven by a 37% decline in classified asset balances, and improved economic forecasts. Net charge-offs as a percentage of loans increased to 32 basis points on an annualized basis, as a company sold $134 million of hotel loans during the period in an effort to address portfolio concentration. This sale added $9.2 million to our quarterly net charge-off figure. For further description of the loan sales during the quarter, please, see slide 18. Our view on the ACL and provision expense remains unchanged. We believe we acted aggressively when building reserves in response to the pandemic and have been relatively conservative in releasing those reserves. In the beginning of 2022, we expect further provision, recapture and reserve in reserve release, but at a more gradual pace than we saw in the back half of 2021. Finally, as shown on slides 20 and 21 capital ratios remain in excess of regulatory minimum and internal targets. All capital ratios remain strong despite declines during the period due to the acquisition of Summit. As I previously mentioned, we did not repurchase any shares in the fourth quarter, and do not expect any additional share repurchases in the near term, while we rebuild our capital position following the Summit acquisition. Additionally, we do not anticipate any near term changes to the common dividend. However, we will continue to evaluate various capital actions as the year progresses. I'll now turn it back over to Archie for some comments on Summit and our outlook going forward. Archie?