Mark Mason
Analyst · D.A. Davidson. Please go ahead
Hello and thank you for joining us for our second quarter 2015 earnings call. Before we begin, I’d like to remind you that our earnings release was furnished this morning to the SEC on Form 8-K and is available on our website at ir.homestreet.com. In addition, a recording of this call will be available today at the same address. On today's call, we will make some forward-looking statements. Any statement that isn't a description of historical fact is probably forward-looking and is subject to many risks and uncertainties. Our actual performance may fall short of our expectations or we may take actions different from those we currently anticipate. Those factors include conditions affecting the mortgage markets such as changes in interest rates that affect the demand for our mortgages, our ability to meet our internal operating targets and forecasts, and economic conditions that affect our net interest margins. Other factors that may cause actual results to differ from our expectations or that may cause us to deviate from our current plans are detailed in our SEC filings, including our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2014, as well as our various other SEC reports. Additionally, information of any non-GAAP financial measures referenced in today's call, including a reconciliation of those measures to GAAP measures, may be found on our SEC filings and in the earnings release available on our website. Today, I'll give you a brief update on recent events; review our progress in executing our business strategy and highlight key financial results. Please refer to our earnings release for a more detailed discussion of our financial condition and results of operations. In the second quarter, we made significant progress on our strategy to grow and diversify earnings. We expanded our commercial and consumer banking business organically and through our recent bank acquisition, and we build mortgage banking market share by continuing to opportunistically hire teams of strong originators in new and existing markets in the Western United States. On March 1, 2015, the Company completed its merger with Simplicity Bancorp, Inc. and Simplicity Bank located in Southern California. The merger represents a significant expansion of HomeStreet's banking activities in California. The results of operations of Simplicity are included in the consolidated results of operations from the date of the merger on March 1. So second quarter was the first full quarter of combined operations. The merger is providing us with a platform for building a strong commercial and consumer banking franchise in Southern California to complement our growing mortgage banking business in the region. I'd now like to share some key metrics from our consolidated results for the quarter. Second quarter net income was $12.4 million or $0.56 per diluted share compared to $10.3 million or $0.59 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2015. The increase in net income for the quarter was primarily due to the increased revenue resulting from the first full quarter of combined operations from the Simplicity merger and lower net merger-related expenses partially offset by higher salaries and related costs. Excluding after-tax merger-related revenue and expenses, core net income for the second quarter was $14.5 million or $0.65 per diluted share compared to $11.6 million or $0.67 per diluted share in the first quarter. We realized pre-tax merger-related expenses of $3.2 million for the second quarter of 2015, $5.6 million for the first quarter of 2015, net of the bargain purchase gain and $606,000 for the fourth quarter of 2014. Net interest income increased $7.5 million or 24% in the second quarter compared to the prior period. This was a result of 23% growth in average interest-earning assets, in part due to higher average balances of loans held for investment from the addition of loans from Simplicity and organic loan growth. Our net interest margin was 3.63%, an increase of 3 basis points over the first quarter, primarily due to higher average asset yields from the addition of interest-earning assets from Simplicity and to ongoing changes in the composition of the loan portfolio through organic origination of commercial loans. Non-interest income decreased $2.4 million or 3% from the first quarter. Results in the first quarter included $6.6 million bargain purchase gain from the Simplicity merger. Excluding the first quarter bargain purchase gain, non-interest income increased in the second quarter by $4.3 million, due primarily to higher net gain on loan origination and sale activities. Net gain on mortgage loan origination and sale activities increased $8.1 million from the prior quarter due to higher composite margin and the correction of a prior period mortgage loan pipeline valuation error of $2.4 million. Non-interest expense was $92.3 million in the second quarter compared to $89.5 million in the first quarter. Excluding merger-related expenses, noninterest expense was $89.1 million compared with $77.3 million for the first quarter. The increase was primarily due to higher salaries and related costs from increased headcount, increased operating expenses related to the Simplicity acquisition and from higher commissions as a result of the 26% increase in closed mortgage volume. We realized substantially all of the anticipated operating cost savings from the Simplicity merger and going forward our expense run rate will reflect these savings. Additionally, actual total Simplicity merger related expenses will be $15.5 million versus our original estimate of $19.1 million. At June 30, the Bank’s tier-1 leverage ratio was 9.46% and total risk-based capital was 13.97%. These ratios reflect the implementation of Basel III requirements on January 1, as well as the capital that was added through our merger with Simplicity. I’d now like to share some key points from our commercial and consumer banking business segment results. As we noted last quarter, through our merger with Simplicity, HomeStreet gained seven retail deposit branches in Southern California. Related to the merger, we entered into an agreement with Kaiser Permanente to continue providing a network of 37 ATMs at certain of its California locations. Going forward we plan on opening several more retail deposit branches near Kaiser Permanente locations. Building upon our Southern California platform, in the first quarter we launched HomeStreet Commercial Capital, a commercial real estate lending group located in Orange County, California and we added a highly experienced nine-person SBA lending team. During the second quarter, these groups funded over $25 million in loans and their pipelines exceeded $85 million at quarter end. The commercial and consumer banking segment net income was $2.9 million in the second quarter compared to a net loss of $14,000 in the first quarter. Net income in the segment was higher due to lower net merger-related expenses, lower provision for credit losses and higher interest income on higher average loan balances in the second quarter, partially offset by lower noninterest income. Excluding net merger-related expenses, the segment recognized core net income of $5 million in the second quarter compared to $1.2 million in the first quarter. We recorded $500,000 of provision for credit losses in the second quarter compared to a provision of $3 million recorded in the first quarter of this year. The first quarter provision was higher in part due to the impact of extending the modeled loan loss emergence period for commercial loans and increasing the qualitative reserves for construction loans. Second quarter loan loss provision also benefited from the favorable impact of net loan loss recoveries during the quarter. The portfolio of loans held for investment increased 2.6% to $2.9 billion from $2.83 billion at March 31, an increase of $72.5 million. New commitments totaled $313 million compared to $222 million in the first quarter. We achieved this net growth in the loan portfolio despite continuing high portfolio runoff of approximately 26% annualized in the quarter. Credit quality remained strong with nonperforming assets at 0.67% of total assets at June 30 and non-accrual loans of 0.73% of total loans. Nonperforming assets were $32.7 million at quarter end compared to nonperforming assets of $32.8 million at the end of March. Deposit balances were $3.32 billion at June 30, down slightly from $3.34 billion at March 31. Total commercial and consumer transaction savings accounts increased $63.9 million or 2.9% and noninterest-bearing commercial and consumer transaction savings deposits increased $82.2 million or 27% in the quarter. Segment noninterest expense was $29.3 million, a decrease of $6.4 million from the first quarter including noninterest expense for the second and first quarters of 2015 were merger-related expenses of $3.2 million and $12.2 million, respectively. Excluding merger-related expenses, the additional increase in expense is due to the continued growth of our commercial real estate and commercial business lending units and the expansion of our branch banking network. Now, I’d like to talk about Mortgage Banking as well as give some insight on the local economy. Most recent Mortgage Bankers Association monthly forecast projects total loan originations nationally to increase 20% in 2015 over the past year; an upward revision from its prior forecast of 11%. Mortgage rates continue near historic lows. And nationally, purchases are expected to comprise 59% of loan volume this year. Housing starts for 2015 are expected to be up 11% from 2014 levels. MBA currently forecasts an additional 13% growth in housing starts next year. During the second quarter, purchases comprised 57% originations nationally and in the Pacific Northwest. HomeStreet, however, continues to perform at levels above the national and regional averages, with purchases accounting for 69% of our closed loans and 73% of our interest rate lock commitments in the quarter. In recent quarters, job creation in Washington, Oregon, and California has been approximately 3% annualized. Since 2009, unemployment rates in the northwest states of California have been cut by one-third to one half. The cutback in housing activity has also been protracted though not as uniform as the job recovery. The path of housing permits, for example, has diverged in the recent quarters. Permit levels are approaching their respective long run averages only in Washington. In the other states, they range from 8% below average in Idaho to 30% below average in Oregon. Home price appreciation rates are more consistent across the states. Prices are continuing to rise that the pace in all areas has leveled out to the 6% to 7.5% range. In Washington, multifamily permits are expected to average 63% of total permits this year, the Portland and Vancouver at 52%. In Seattle, the apartment market is on track to see the highest number of units delivered in a year since tracking began in 2005. There is four times as much office space at our construction today compared to two years ago and more office space under construction than any time in the last ten years. Seattle is ranked in 2015 by the Urban Land Institute in the Top 10 regions in overall real estate market prospects for investment, development and home building. Seattle ranked sixth in technology and energy employment concentrations and overall job creation in the last two years. Now, we’ll look out our Mortgage Banking segment results. In the second quarter, we added production offices in Fresno, Bakersfield, and Temecula, California and grew Mortgage Banking personnel by over 14%. Closed loans per loan officer rose in the quarter to 5.3 loans compared to 4.3 loans in the first quarter and we maintained our position as the Number 1 loan originator by volume of purchase mortgages in the Pacific Northwest and in the Puget Sound region. Purchase demand continues to remain strong in many of our markets. However, limited inventory continues to be a significant constrain issue. Second quarter Mortgage Banking segment net income was $9.5 million compared to net income of $10.3 million in the first quarter. The decrease was primarily due to lower mortgage servicing income related to increased current prepayments and long-term prepayment speed expectations increasing. Interest rate lock commitments in the second quarter were consistent with the first quarter, totaling approximately $1.9 billion. Single family closed loan volume designated for sales set a record for our Company in the second quarter, totaling $2 billion. This compares to $1.6 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 26%. The combined pipeline of locks and closed loans held-for-sale was $1.6 billion at quarter end compared to $1.5 billion at the end of the first quarter. The volume of interest rate lock commitments was lower than closed loans designated for sale by 7% this quarter, which negatively affects accounting earnings because a majority of mortgage revenue is recognized in interest rate lock by majority of origination costs, including commissions recognized upon closing. If rate lock commitments during the second quarter would have equaled closed loan volume, it would have resulted in approximately $4.4 million higher loan origination and sale revenue. Conversely, the closed loan volume had been the same as interest rate lock commitments, pretax income would have been approximately $1.7 million higher as a result of lower variable costs, primarily commissions. Non-interest expense was almost $10 million higher quarter-over-quarter, primarily due to the $416 million increase in closed loans in the second quarter. Net gain on single family mortgage loan origination and sale activities in the second quarter was $67.5 million compared to $60.7 million in the first quarter of this year, primarily due to an 11 basis point increase in our Composite profit margin and $2.4 million of additional gain related to the correction of a prior period pipeline valuation error. As mentioned earlier, in the second quarter, single family mortgage servicing income decreased $2.7 million from the first quarter, primarily due to higher current and estimated future prepayments. Mitigating the impact of higher prepayments, single family mortgage servicing fees collected increased $745,000 or 9.1% from the first quarter, while the portfolio of single family loans serviced for others grew to $13 billion at the end of the quarter, up from $11.9 billion at March 31st. Segment non-interest expense was $63.1 million, an increase of 17% from the first quarter. Again, this is primarily due to higher commissions and incentives related to the 26% increase in closed loans in the quarter and additions to staff. We continued to make progress in improving production efficiency in the quarter and as a result, our direct cost to originated loan decreased by 10 basis points. Since the first quarter of 2014, our direct cost to originated loan has declined by 119 basis points. I’m proud of the ongoing progress that our mortgage -- operations group has made in improving their efficiency and growing our productive capacity. It is gratifying that our investments in growth are showing consistent returns in both operating segments. Core return on shareholder equity, excluding merger related items, has exceeded 12%, each of the last two quarters. Looking forward to the next three quarters in our mortgage banking segment, we currently anticipate mortgage loan lock volumes of approximately $1.8 billion, $1.4 billion and $1.7 billion in the third and fourth quarters and the first quarter of next year respectively. We anticipate mortgage closing volumes of $1.9 billion, $1.6 billion and $1.4 billion in the third and fourth quarters and first quarter of next year. This seasonality is expected to produce greater variation and accounting results, due to the timing of recognition of related revenues and expenses and the expected imbalance between locks and closings. This imbalance is expected to negatively impact the quarters where closings exceed locks and vice versa. Additionally, we expect our Composite margin to range between 325 and 315 basis points over that period. In our commercial and consumer banking segment, over the next three quarters, we continue to expect net loan portfolio growth to approximate 5% quarterly and our net interest margin to remain at roughly the same level, absent changes in market rates. I’m sharing this extended guidance with you this morning to assist investors and to emphasize the seasonal changes in mortgage origination activity. Of course, this guidance is dependent upon many factors, including but not limited to those I mentioned earlier, in particular changes to market and mortgage interest rates. This concludes my prepared comments. I appreciate your patience. Thank you for your attention today and I’d be happy to answer any questions you have at this time.