Will Furr
Analyst · KBW. Please go ahead
Thanks Alan. I'll start on Page 7, net interest income for the first quarter equated to 92 million, a decrease of 12 million from the prior quarter and $2 million from the prior year. net interest income in the first quarter of 2017 included 12 million of purchase loan accretion. Purchase loan accretion declined versus the fourth quarter by approximately 6 million and 4.5 million from the first quarter of 2016. Core net interest income excluding purchase loan accretion improved by 2.5 or 3% including the impact of one fewer day in the first quarter of 2017. Reported taxable equivalent net interest margin for the first quarter was 3.54%, down 28 basis points from the prior quarter and 16 basis points from the same period prior year. Excluding the impact of purchase low accretion across all periods, Hilltop’s net interest margin in the fourth [ph] quarter was 3.05%, down 6 basis points versus the prior quarter and up 9 basis points from the prior year. Reported loan yields on gross loans declined 31 basis points from the first quarter of 2016, driven principally by the impact of lower purchase loan accretion. Loan yields at PlainsCapital Bank excluding the impact of purchase loan accretion have remained relatively stable from the first quarter of 2016 levels ending the first quarter of ’17 at 4.34%. At the bank, net interest margin excluding first loan accretion equated to 3.56%, down 7 basis points from the prior quarter, driven by lower recoveries from previously charged off loan interest. Interest bearing deposit cost increased 5 basis points versus the first quarter of 2016. This increase is driven by growth in money market deposit balances and our testing of new rates in terms across our deposit products as we focus on attracting new core relationship deposit. During the quarter, market interest rates remain volatile. The bank's investor portfolio which represented 990 million in total securities maintained its taxable equivalent book yield of 2.13%, up 6 basis points in the fourth quarter of ’16. Given the current market conditions and our securities redemption mix, the reinvestment rate in the portfolio is approximately 2%. Moving to Page 8. Hilltop reported total non-interest income of 271 million in the first quarter of 2017. Total non-interest income declined by 6 million or 2% versus the prior year. During the first quarter, mortgage related non-interest income declined by 2.4 million or 2% while loss mortgage volume declined 7%. Growth secondary mortgage gain on sale margins remained relatively stable versus the first quarter of 2016. The focus on purchase mortgage loan and best execution at our mortgage business continue to provide support and strong gain on sale levels. Insurance revenues declined versus the prior year by 3.6 million, driven by competition and the own going optimization of our book of business. The securities businesses remained relatively stable with the first quarter of 2016. Moving to Page 9. We reported first quarter non-interest expenses of 320 million, down 5 million or 2% from the first quarter of 2016. The first quarter of 2016 included 4.5 million of transaction and integration related costs related directly to the SWS acquisition and integration. They also included a significant write-down of a specific OREO property. The first quarter of 2017 non-interest expenses include $4 million of FDIC Indemnification Asset amortization. These expenses are reflected in the other non-interest expense bucket. Compensation and benefits expense increased from the first quarter of 2016 by $4 million. Annual compensation increases reflect strategic hiring, middle office support in our mortgage business to support higher volumes and normal inflationary increases including annual salary merit and healthcare related costs. Moving to Page 10. Total assets of $12.3 billion increased by 606 million or 5% for the first of 2016. The growth in assets is driven by an increase of 448 million or 8% in non-covered loans. Broker dearly clearing receivables increased by 204 million driven by stronger market activity in business and increase of similar impact as noted on the liability side of the balance sheet in broker dealer clearing payables. These balances while variable on a quarterly basis are being managed to a target of 1.5 billion level. During the quarter, Hilltop’s FDIC Indemnification Asset declined $23 million or 33%. This decline is driven by two items, a significant reimbursement related to a previously charged off loan and the $4 million of asset amortization. We do expect to continue amortizing the FDIC Indemnification Asset throughout 2017. Total deposits have grown 5% versus the prior year to 7.3 billion versus the fourth quarter of 2016, we experienced strong growth in money market deposits and a stabilization of CD balances. We are actively assessing the competitive environment and continue to test new rates and promotions to attract core relationship deposit. Capital levels grew in the first quarter as common equity increased by $15 million versus the prior quarter. Hilltop’s common equity tier-1 ratio acquitted to 19.03% at March 31 and PlainsCapital Bank’s common equity tier-one ratio equated to 15.5% for the current period. Moving to Page 11. PlainsCapital Bank’s pretax income increased to $31.8 million in the first quarter 2017 versus 31.2 million in the first quarter of 2016, primarily driven due to lower provision expense and lower non-interest expenses, partially offset by lower net interest income. Net interest income declined as a result of lower purchase loan accretion versus the first quarter of 2016. Non-interest income decreased compared to the first quarter of 2016, mainly as a result of year-over-year declines in interchange fees due to the impact of the Durbin Amendment. Non-interest expenses declined versus the prior year driven by lower losses related OREO properties somewhat offset by amortization of the FDIC Indemnification Asset. I’ll briefly touch on Pages 12 and 13. At PlainsCapital, our exposure to energy continues to moderate. As of March 31, our energy loans have fallen below 3% of total loans to 2.7%, while the reserves against our energy exposures has increased to 7.1%. Overall credit quality remains strong as non-covered NPAs to total loans is reported at 28 basis points for the period. I'm now Page 14. PrimeLending’s pretax income increased to 9.9 million in the first quarter of 2017 versus 9.1 million during the prior year. During the first quarter, the mortgage originated 2.8 billion in loans representing a decrease of approximately 105 million or 4% versus the prior year. The first quarter of 2017 included $555 million of loans originated to refinance existing mortgages versus the prior year, refinance volume declined 37% or 323 million consistent with expectations, while purchase mortgage volume increased by 218 million or 11% from the prior year. Consistent with our ongoing strategy, the mix of purchase volume increased to 80.3% in the first quarter of 2017 from 70% in the first quarter of 2016 and is in line with our expectations given current market conditions. Non-interest income declined 2.7 million or 1.8% from the first quarter 2016 to 144 million in the first quarter of 2017, due to a decline in value of interest rate lock commitments which was partially offset by higher net gains from sale of loans and higher mortgage loan origination fees. Non- interest expenses decreased 2.8 million or 2.1% from the first quarter 2016 to 132 million in the first quarter of 2017 due primarily to a decline in variable compensation expenses associated with lower total origination volume, partially offset by increased salaries and benefits related to office support. Moving to page 15. At HilltopSecurities, pretax income equated to 9.5 million in the first quarter of 2017, an increase of 5.7 million versus the prior year. Pretax margin improved to 10.5% versus the prior year, reflecting a $4 million decline in the integration related costs, directly attributable to the acquisition of Southwest securities and improving net revenues that benefited from the higher short-term interest rates. Securities compensation ratio was 62.9% in the first quarter compared to 65.8% in the first quarter of 2016. As has been the case, HilltopSecurities provided PlainsCapital Bank with approximately 1.1 billion of core deposits, representing 44% of the total available FDIC insured funds. Moving to page 16, National Lloyds’ earned pretax income of 1.8 million in the first quarter of 2017. Pretax income declined versus the prior year by 4.4 million. First quarter of 2017 results reflect an elevated frequency of storms above seasonal norms for the first quarter of the calendar year, including a sales storms that developed in the last week of March. The decline in net premiums earned is a reflection of management's continued efforts to produce concentrations in high risk areas as well as a moderate increase in pricing competition across the footprint. The increase in the expense ratio is primarily driven by the decline in net premiums earned and elevated compensation expense. With that, I'll now turn the call back over to the operator for the Q&A portion of the call.