Donald Hinson
Analyst · D.A. Davidson. Please go ahead
Thank you, Jeff. I will just start with the earnings overview. As we have stated in the earnings release report, earnings per share for Q1 was $0.45, which is unchanged from Q4 of 2018 and up from $0.27 in Q1 2018. Moving down to the balance sheet, total asset growth was muted in Q1 due mostly to a $39 million decrease in total deposits. Deposits decreased in all maturity deposit categories. Historically, the first quarter usually starts slow for deposit growth and 2019 followed that trend. To offset decreases in non-maturity deposits, we increased brokered CD balances by $50 million to a total of $78 million as of the end of Q1. The CDs purchased in Q1 will mature by the first part of Q3 and were at rates lower than current borrowing rates. We will proactively use brokered CDs as a short-term supplement to other funding sources and as a cost of funds management tool. However, it’s not our plans to use them as a significant long-term funding source. Loans grew at an annualized rate of 4.6% in Q1, and Bryan McDonald will further discuss loan production in a few minutes. Moving on to credit quality, our non-performing asset ratio increased to 36 basis points at March 31 from 30 basis points at December 31. The increase was driven primarily by the further downgrade of two commercial lending relationships totaling $5.1 million which were put on non-accrual status during Q1. However, the ratio of our allowance for loan losses to non-performing loans still stands at a very healthy 207%. In addition, included in the carrying value of the loans are approximately $11 million of purchase accounting fair value net discounts which may reduce the needs of an allowance for loan losses on those related purchased loans. The sum of the discounts and the allowance for loan losses is 1.28% of total loans as of March 31. We continue to have success working through problem credits as evidenced by the net recoveries in Q1 and the decline in potential problem loans. The net interest margin decreased 3 basis points in Q1 compared to Q4 2018. This was actually due to a decrease in accretion income. Pre-accretion net interest margin remained at 4.22% in Q1, unchanged from Q4 2018. Although pre-accretion loan yield increased by 2 basis points and investment portfolio yield increased by 13 basis points in Q1. This was offset by a 4 basis point increase in the cost of total deposits. The cost of total deposits increased due to a combination of an increase in the cost of interest-bearing deposits and an increase in the percentage of CDs to total deposits. Due to the shape of the yield curve, forecasted 2019 rates and competitive pricing pressures, we do expect a challenging margin environment in 2019. Non-interest income for Q1 decreased $1.1 million from Q4 levels due to decreases in service charges, mortgage loan sale gains and interest rate swap fees. Although we expect mortgage loan sale gains to increase as we get further into the year, due to the current mortgage environment, we have recently adjusted the staffing size of the mortgage operations in order to improve the profitability of the department over future periods. Beginning in Q3, we expect cost savings of about $200,000 per quarter related to this staff reduction. The quarter-over-quarter decrease was also due to a $413,000 gain on sale of a building recognized in Q4 of 2018. Non-interest expense for Q1 decreased $749,000 from Q4 levels, due primarily to a $1.2 million decrease in the acquisition-related expenses. The benefit from the decrease in acquisition-related expenses was partially offset by increased marketing expenses and cost related to our new commercial banking team in Portland. Year-over-year adjusting for the combined impact of acquisition-related expenses and the amortization of the intangible assets, non-interest expense to average assets improved to 2.70% in Q1 2019 from 2.77% in Q1 2018. Our effective tax rate for Q1 was 16.3%. The decrease from the 22% effective tax rate in Q4 2018 was due primarily to the $898,000 of tax expense recorded in Q4 related to a change in estimates from low-income housing tax credit projects. And finally on capital, our tangible common equity ratio increased to 10.2% in Q1 from 9.9% at the prior quarter end. The increase was due to a combination of reduction in the unrealized loss on investment securities and our solid earnings for the quarter. Since December 2017, even with the slightly dilutive impact of 2 acquisitions, our tangible book value per common share has increased to 9.6%. We continue to believe our capital position sufficiently supports our balance sheet risk, our internal growth and potential future growth, both organic and M&A. Bryan McDonald will now have an update on loan production.