Earnings Labs

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (HBANL)

Q2 2018 Earnings Call· Wed, Jul 25, 2018

$25.48

-0.20%

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Greetings and welcome to the Huntington Bancshares' Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Mark Muth, Director of Investor Relations.

Mark Muth - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Thank you. Welcome. I'm Mark Muth, the Director of Investor Relations for Huntington. Copies of the slides, we'll be reviewing, can be found on the Investor Relations section of our website, www.huntington.com. This call is being recorded and will be available as a rebroadcast starting about one hour from the close of the call. Our presenters today are Steve Steinour, Chairman, President and CEO; and Mac McCullough, Chief Financial Officer. Dan Neumeyer, our Chief Credit Officer, will also be participating in the Q&A portion of today's call. As noted on slide 2, today's discussion including the Q&A period will contain forward looking statements. Such statements are based on information and assumptions available at this time and are subject to changes, risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially. We assume no obligation to update such statements. For a complete discussion of risks and uncertainties, please refer to this slide and material filed with the SEC including our most recent Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K filings. Let me now turn it over to Steve.

Stephen D. Steinour - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Thanks, Mark, and thank you to everyone for joining the call today. As always, we appreciate your interest and support. We had a really solid second quarter as we continue to build momentum and deliver high-quality earnings. We reported net income of $355 million and earnings per share of $0.30, increases of 31% and 30%, respectively, over the second quarter of 2017. Profitability ratios were very good and improving with return on common equity of 13.2% and return on tangible common equity of 17.6%. The average loan increase was strong at 7% versus the second quarter of 2017 and 8% annualized versus the first quarter of 2018. Our loan growth was driven by disciplined broad-based growth in both commercial and consumer loans. We're pleased with our second quarter efficiency ratio of 57% driven by 4% year-over-year revenue growth and continued expense discipline. Our organic growth, along with the successful integration of the FirstMerit, provides scale which will allows for continued meaningful investments in extending our customer experience advantage through targeted investments in both people and technology, all while delivering positive operating leverage. The franchise continues to perform well on many fronts, allowing us to make the investments that we needed to compete at the highest levels of the industry as a result of the focused execution of our strategies. We're very pleased with the recent DFAST and CCAR stress test results which provided important industry comparisons. Now, Huntington's organic capital generation, as illustrated by the profitability metrics that I just referenced, is a significant competitive advantage for the company and is a direct result of our successful acquisition and integration of FirstMerit. On the credit side of the equation, our nine-quarter cumu loss as a percentage of total loans in a severely adverse scenario ranked third-lowest among traditional commercial banks.…

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Thanks, Steve. Slide 6 provides the highlights of the second quarter results. As Steve mentioned, we had a good second quarter. It was also a clean quarter, as for the third quarter in a row, there were no significant items other than the implementation of tax reform in the fourth quarter of 2017. We reported earnings per common share of $0.30, up 30% over the year ago quarter. The year ago quarter included a $0.03 per share reduction due to the FirstMerit integration related significant items. Return on assets was 1.36%. Return on common equity was 13.2%; and return on tangible common equity was 17.6%. We believe all three of these metrics distinguish Huntington among our regional bank peers. Our efficiency ratio for the quarter was 56.6%. Tangible book value per share increased to 2% sequentially and 8% year-over-year to $7.27 per share. On slide 7, total revenue was up 4% from the year ago quarter. Net interest income was up 5% year-over-year due to a 5% increase in average earning assets. The non-interest income increased 3% year-over-year, reflecting ongoing household acquisition and execution of our Optimal Customer Relationship or OCR strategy. While both mortgage and SBA originations were higher year-over-year, compression in secondary market spreads and mortgage banking and a higher mix of construction SBA originations, which lengthens the funding cycle for SBA loans, continue to impact these fee categories. Non-interest expense decreased 6% year-over-year, reflecting $50 million of significant items expensed in the year ago quarter related to the integration of FirstMerit versus none in the current quarter. Expenses were up versus the prior quarter, driven by the timing of compensation associated with long-term incentives and seasonally higher marketing expense. For a closer look at the income statement details, please refer to the analyst package and the press…

Mark Muth - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Jessie, we will now take questions. We ask that, as a courtesy to your peers, each person ask only one question and one related follow-up. And then if that person has additional questions, he or she may add themselves back into the queue. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. At this time, we will be conducting a question-and-answer session. Thank you. Our first question is coming from the line of Ken Usdin with Jefferies. Please proceed with your question.

Ken Usdin - Jefferies LLC

Analyst

Thanks.

Stephen D. Steinour - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Good morning, Ken.

Ken Usdin - Jefferies LLC

Analyst

Good morning, guys. Hey, Mac, thanks for the color on the expectation for how the NIM should traject in the second half. I was wondering that's a pretty big step-up, 3 basis points to 6 basis points per quarter. Can you help us understand the – literally the – separate the left side and right side of the balance sheet and where that will be driven from?

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

So, Ken, I think a number of things will impact going forward. I do think we're being more aggressive on asset pricing. We've increased pricing in indirect auto. We've increased pricing in boat and RV. We've increased pricing in residential mortgage and we continue to be very disciplined and appropriately priced on the commercial portfolio. So we continue to see good expansion there, in particular, as we take some of these pricing actions. I think on the liability side, given the CD strategy that we put in place in really the middle of the first quarter of this year, we did expect to see some accelerated deposit costs. We also expected to see the loan growth that we've been seeing. So we wanted to make sure that we got ahead of that with core funding. We feel very good about the product that we put on the books. We've had very, I would say, good reception from our customer base, good execution by the retail branches in terms of raising about $3 billion to-date. And we do think that longer term that's going to position us well as interest rates continue to rise. We should see this help us both with asset sensitivity and with the deposit beta as going forward.

Ken Usdin - Jefferies LLC

Analyst

Okay. And as a follow-up, maybe you can also help us understand your reinvestment yields on new securities. I know you're changing the composition of the book, but versus the 271 basis points (28:33), what are you putting on stuff on? And on the right – lower right side, is there anything going on in the long-term debt line that should also revert relative to the big spike you saw in the cost on that line this quarter? Thanks a lot, Mac.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Yeah. So, we are not reinvesting into the security portfolio at this point in time. We're going to continue to run that down through the end of the year, basically not reinvesting cash flow. If you think about where we started the year to where we're going to end the year, the securities portfolio would be down about $1.8 billion. You need to cut through the noise because we do have some municipal loans that are counted as securities that are growing in that book. But basically, the pure investment security portfolio will be down $1.8 billion by the end of the year. We'll start to reinvest in 2019, but we're in really good shape from an LCR perspective right now and we're going to continue to run that down. We did issue some long-term debt. We did issue the $1.25 billion, $500 million of that was seven-year and $750 million was three-year. We did swap that to floating but we likely will have another issuance of debt later this year.

Ken Usdin - Jefferies LLC

Analyst

All right. Thanks a lot, Mac.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Yeah. Thanks, Ken.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. The next question is coming from the line of John Pancari with Evercore. Please proceed with your question.

John Pancari - Evercore Group LLC

Analyst

Morning.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Morning, John.

John Pancari - Evercore Group LLC

Analyst

On your full-year 2018 outlook, I know you kind of bumped up the midpoint of your revenue expectation. You bumped down the midpoint of your expense expectation a bit versus previously. But the midpoint of your efficiency ratio guidance is unchanged despite tweaking the tails a bit. So why not see more of a move in the midpoint of that range? Thanks.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Yeah. I think basically the ranges would allow us to calculate out to the range of the efficiency ratio based upon the mix of revenue and expense, feel very comfortable with the range that we provided across all those categories. We did tighten them somewhat significantly in this guidance. But basically, within those ranges, those are the efficiency ratios that we feel comfortable with.

John Pancari - Evercore Group LLC

Analyst

Okay. So, not meaningful enough really to move the midpoint?

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Yeah. I think that's the way to think about it. I mean, we likely were this tight in the range when you think about prior guidance.

John Pancari - Evercore Group LLC

Analyst

Got it. Got it. Okay. And then separately, on the betas, I know that part of that jump up in the beta cumulatively this quarter was from the CD program. How do you think about next quarter? And I know you are indicating you're expecting an incremental beta of about 50% through the back half of the year. How – what do you view your terminal beta as well? At what point do you think – or at what level do you see the terminal getting to?

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

So, the 50% for 2018, feel very comfortable with that. That actually might be a little bit high but I would say not materially. And going forward, we continue to think that we're going to be continuing to see deposit betas increase. I'm just not sure at this point in the cycle as we think about the rate increases that are coming that we're going to see materially different performance when you think about incremental 50% in 2019 based upon the rate increases that we see coming through.

John Pancari - Evercore Group LLC

Analyst

Okay. All right. Thank you.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Thanks.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is coming from the line of Matt O'Connor with Deutsche Bank. Please proceed with your question.

Ricky Dodds - Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc.

Analyst

Hey, guys. It's actually Ricky Dodds from Matt's team.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Hey Ricky.

Ricky Dodds - Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc.

Analyst

Just wanted to touch on loan growth. You saw some good strong growth in the commercial book. And I'm wondering if you could sort of flesh that out a little bit more, just what are customers saying? Is there an uptick in investment spend and just your general sense as to the climate out there among corporate clients?

Daniel J. Neumeyer - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Analyst

Yeah. Ricky, this is Dan. I would say that we still have a strong pipeline. I think our customer base, overall, is fairly optimistic. I think what you saw this quarter, we had good diversification in the various categories. If you recall, last year, corporate banking, they had big headwinds with bond issues taking out loans. I think that phenomenon has really led up and we're gaining some traction in the large corporate space. Some of our specialty businesses have had good results. Our energy book, which – our E&P book had always been very modest. It still is of a modest size, so we've had some good growth there because we like the structure and the pricing. Middle market has seen good growth. So, it's broad and it's diversified. And so, still very positive. Some headwinds out there, we believe, from the trade talk. While I don't think its impacted customers outlook yet that is something we're keeping an eye on.

Ricky Dodds - Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc.

Analyst

Thanks. And maybe just a follow-up on the boat, RV lending piece. Obviously, you've seen some pretty nice pick-up there. Just wondering how big can that become over time. And do you guys have sort of a limit on capital as to how big that can grow in the out years?

Daniel J. Neumeyer - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Analyst

Yeah. So, given the size of the portfolio, we started very small, so there is room for growth, but we have established a concentration limit. And so, we like the business but the growth is going to be controlled. We're now in 34 states. I don't see that growing in the near-term. But when you look at what we're originating, very high FICO. The customer profile remains very strong. And so, we do have room to grow, but we have capped that growth internally.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is coming from the line of Ken Zerbe with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed with your question. Ken Zerbe - Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC: Great. Thanks. Good morning.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Morning, Ken. Ken Zerbe - Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC: Can you just elaborate a little bit, the change that you guys have made to make your balance sheet a little more asset sensitive, I guess, can you just walk through the decision process? Why make that decision now versus a quarter or two quarters ago? Thanks.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

So, Ken, we analyze the situation weekly. We spend a lot of time in ALCO, sub-ALCO, a lot of committees taking a look at the position, looking at different options that we can take. We basically made the call on the CD strategy in the first quarter because we became more convinced that we were going to see rates rise from here, more probable than what we might have thought in 2017, and started to put those deposits on, as I mentioned, because we also saw the loan growth coming at us. In terms of what we did with the debt swaps, we did contemplate taking those off earlier to become more asset-sensitive. We were doing other things along the way to become more asset-sensitive. In general, we feel pretty comfortable with where we are. We're about 6% and that's a 200-basis-point ramp. So we don't want to get ahead of the situation. We don't want to fall behind the situation but we feel very comfortable with where we are. Ken Zerbe - Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC: Okay. Understood. And then, my follow-up, in terms of capital return obviously, in my view, I think you're demonstrating your willingness to be more aggressive or as aggressive as you can be in terms of returning capital. Would you consider sort of a mid-year resubmission to ask for more capital return or given the environment and kind of given your capital ratios, are you completely comfortable sort of where you're at with this – with the current $1 billion authorization? Thanks.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

So, we're targeting at 9% to 10% CET1. We have had better asset growth relative to what we submitted in the CCAR plan. So, on a risk-weighted asset basis, we're a little bit higher than what we expected but still very comfortable and very – I would say higher in that 9% to 10% range. I think we just have to continue to see how the economy progresses. I think we have to see what happens with the interest rate environment and make that decision as we take the various factors into consideration. We do think that our 9% to 10% CET1 target positions us well relative to the peer group. We do see the peer group bringing CET1 levels down. So we have to take all those things into consideration when we decide if we'll do that kind of in a midyear process.

Stephen D. Steinour - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

There's also Federal Reserve action, Ken, that's expected as a result of the recent legislation for banks our size. And the timetable for that's not clear but it's intended to be within 18 months. Hopefully it's sooner and that'll give us some guidance. Ken Zerbe - Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC: All right. Great. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Our next question is coming from the line of Scott Siefers with Sandler O'Neill. Please proceed with your question. R. Scott Siefers - Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP: Morning, guys.

Stephen D. Steinour - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Hey, Scott.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Hey, Scott. R. Scott Siefers - Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP: Hey. Mac, maybe I was hoping you could expand a little on your thoughts on the competitive dynamics in both the auto and marine, RV businesses. I mean you guys have clearly had some success raising prices in both. And I guess just as I look at them, auto, you've had some larger players sort of deemphasizing that business, which presumably is good for you guys, but then marine, RV maybe some newer entrants getting in. So, just hoping you could update your thoughts on how the competitive dynamic is in each of those businesses.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

So, I'll start and maybe Steve or Dan want to add to it, but I think in the auto space, we're very well positioned with our customers who are the auto dealers. I mean we've been in this space for over 60 years. We provide a high level of service when you think about the response time, when you think about same-day funding. We do some things that other banks just don't do. And I think that really puts us in a very strong relationship position with those dealers. We're not changing our risk appetite as it relates to this business, we're super fine. And we do think that we can optimize the balance sheet, optimize revenue by increasing pricing in the indirect auto space and that's what we've been doing to the point where we don't need a securitization this year in order to stay our limits. So, we think that's just smart balance sheet and capital optimization. And we believe that we've got the pricing power and the relationships to be able to do that in the indirect auto space. But marine and RV, there really are six major players nationally in that business. It's probably not as dependent on technology as the indirect auto space might be. But again it comes down to the relationships that you have and be in there to be able to service those dealers. It's a space where we're going to continue to make investments and we'll likely bring some additional technology into that space, but we feel that just given our market share and given our position, we do have some pricing power. And part of it also is the level of customer service that we provide that allows the actions to take place. R. Scott Siefers - Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP: All right. Perfect. Thanks. And then can I have just one sort of piggyback question on the margin guidance. So, when you talk about the GAAP margins being up a couple basis points versus the 2017 number. Are you using the 330 basis points (41:14) FTE margin for full-year 2017 or are you not including the FTE adjustment?

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

We always use the FTE. R. Scott Siefers - Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP: Okay. Sorry. I figured as much, but just want to make sure...

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Yeah. Good question. Good question. R. Scott Siefers - Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP: Okay. Perfect. Thank you, guys, very much.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Thanks, Scott. Op: Thank you. Our next question is coming from the line of Steven Alexopoulos with JPMorgan. Please proceed with your question.

Steven Alexopoulos - JPMorgan Securities LLC

Analyst

Hey, good morning, everybody.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Hey, Steve.

Steven Alexopoulos - JPMorgan Securities LLC

Analyst

On the deposit side, what was the term and cost of the CDs that you guys added in the quarter? And is that strategy of building these out continuing in the third quarter?

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Yes. So we're basically somewhere between 19 and 26 months, and the rates between 2.20% and 2.50% (42:10) is the way to think about it. We are continuing with the campaign and the activity. And I would say we've been averaging about $600 million a month in production pretty consistently.

Steven Alexopoulos - JPMorgan Securities LLC

Analyst

Okay. That's helpful. I'm curious, is this (42:31) optimism has been really strong in your footprint, but regarding the uncertainty around tariffs, is this impacting your commercial loan pipelines at all? What are you hearing from your customers on that front?

Daniel J. Neumeyer - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Analyst

Yeah. So, I would say at this point, it is not impacting the pipelines, but obviously we'll have to watch the pull-through rate, and if sentiment changes, the longer this goes on. Right now, as I mentioned before, I think our customer base, they're monitoring the situation, they're cautionary, but still going ahead with plans that they've had in place for investment. So we haven't seen the impact at this point. I think the outlook still remains pretty positive.

Steven Alexopoulos - JPMorgan Securities LLC

Analyst

Great. Thanks for taking my questions.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Thanks, Steve.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. The next question is coming from the line of Jon Arfstrom with RBC Capital Markets. Please proceed with your question.

Jon Arfstrom - RBC Capital Markets LLC

Analyst

Thanks. Good morning, guys.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Hey, Jon.

Jon Arfstrom - RBC Capital Markets LLC

Analyst

Just back on deposits, can you touch a little bit up on the consumer deposit growth for the quarter? I guess, one of the numbers that stood out was the non-interest bearing demand growth and curious what drove that? And if you could maybe tie that into the customer acquisition and reduced attrition comment that you talked about in your longer term plans?

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Sure, Jon. So, I think we continue to be, I think, advantaged and strong in terms of household acquisition on the consumer side. There is some seasonality in the second quarter that actually worked against us but we continue to have good new account origination. I think that's a big driver of it. And I think also, being able to get deeper into the FirstMerit book of business has been helpful as well. But we haven't published statistics around OCR and some of the household acquisition that we've seen for a while but we continue to see good growth and good household acquisition.

Jon Arfstrom - RBC Capital Markets LLC

Analyst

Okay. Okay. Good. And then, to Steve, one for you, the labor shortage comment. That seems to come up every quarter but maybe it seems a little bit more acute from the tone of your voice when you talked about it this quarter. Would you say is it a bigger problem for you and does that concern you longer term?

Stephen D. Steinour - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

I do think it's a restraining factor in terms of the economic potential in our footprint. It was surprising to me to see our jobs availability being higher than every other region of the country, Jon. And so that underlying strength and the potential makes me bullish long-term, but clearly, it's holding us back at some level.

Jon Arfstrom - RBC Capital Markets LLC

Analyst

Okay. Okay. Thank you.

Stephen D. Steinour - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. The next question is coming from the line of Brian Klock with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. Please proceed with your question.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

Hey, Brian. Brian Klock - Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc.: Hey. Good morning, gentlemen. So Mac, I just want to have a follow-up question really quickly, and I'm sorry if I missed it earlier, but for the full-year revenue guidance, do you now include a September hike in further – for the back half of the year?

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

We do. Yes, we do have a September hike in the back half of the year. Brian Klock - Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc.: Okay. And just really on the deposit beta, so the 50% would be your deposit beta for the full-year 2018. So, the expectation is that there will be another ramp in the back half of the year with that September hike that would be higher than the second quarter?

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

That is the way we would model. We're expecting the 50% to be for the full-year. Brian Klock - Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc.: Okay.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

And we think we're probably 40%, 43%, something in that range kind of where we sit today. Brian Klock - Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc.: Got you. But obviously, the NIM expansion is going to come from the earning asset side of this, they're getting the benefit from that rolling through for the second half of the year.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

That's correct. Brian Klock - Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc.: Got it. Thanks for your time.

Howell D. McCullough III - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

You bet.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the call back over to Steve Steinour for closing remarks.

Stephen D. Steinour - Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

Management

We are clearly building long-term shareholder value with this top quartile financial performance, combined with strong risk management and our execution of our strategies. And then we had a strong first half for the year, good growth, clean credit, high-quality earnings, and we believe we're well positioned for the remainder of the year and beyond. So, finally, I'd always like to include a reminder that there's a high level of alignment between the board, management and our colleagues and shareholders. The board and our colleagues are collectively the seventh largest shareholder of Huntington and all of us are appropriately focused on driving sustained long-term performance. So thank you for your interest in Huntington today. We appreciate you joining us and have a great day.

Operator

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time and we thank you for your participation.