Joe Fisher
Analyst · Seaport Research Partners. Your line is open
Thank you, Dave, and everyone on today's call for your interest in Navient. During my prepared remarks, I will review the Q3 results for 2024 and provide updated guidance underlying our outlook for the remainder of the year. In the third quarter, we’ve reported GAAP EPS loss of $0.02. On a core basis we delivered third quarter EPS of a $1.45. A primary difference in the quarter between GAAP and core earnings with the exclusion of doing well and intangible asset impairment the amortization of $0.98 related to our government services business. Our other significant items that impacted the quarter included $1.54 gain from the sale of our Healthcare Services business, $0.10 of regulatory expenses primarily related to the resolution of the CFPB lawsuit, $0.12 of restructuring expenses driven by the strategic actions we are undertaking to reshape and right-size the expense base of the company and $0.15 of provision related to lower expected recovery rates on defaulted private education loans. Adjusting for these items, we earned $0.28 on a core basis and expect our fourth quarter EPS to be between $0.25 and $0.32. I will provide further detail on our outlook and results by segment beginning with the Federal Education Loan segment on Slide 5. The net interest margin increased to 46 basis points from 36 basis points in the second quarter as prepayments declined to just under $1 billion from $2.5 billion. We continue to see lower levels of prepayments than experienced earlier in the year as recent injunctions caused certain federal forgiveness benefits and resulted in lower consolidation activity. The self-portfolio continues to perform as expected from a credit perspective. Compared to the prior year, our greater than 90 day delinquency rates improved to 7.3%, the charge-off rate improved to 14 basis points and forbearance rates remained flat at 16.4%. Slide 6 illustrates the rise of prepayments over the last few quarters as borrowers consolidated to the direct loan program and the sharp decline that occurred this quarter. We continue to encourage borrowers who are experiencing or have historically experienced difficulty repaying their loans to understand and take advantage of programs that are only offered to direct loan customers. While we are seeing lower levels of prepayment activity, we cannot predict whether this level is temporary or reflects a more permanent change in prepayment trends. Our EPS guidance reflects prepayments in the Q4 that are consistent with what we have experienced during the third quarter. Now let's turn to our consumer lending segment on Slide 7. Net interest margin in this segment was 284 basis points in the quarter compared to 317 a year ago and 289 in the prior quarter. Originations grew over 30% to $500 million compared to $382 million a year ago and are in line with our expectations as we remain focused on generating growth from high quality borrowers. Late stage delinquency and forbearance rates increased from the prior quarter to 2.4% and 2.8% respectively. The increase in forbearance is primarily a result of the disaster relief that is granted to borrowers impacted by a federally declared natural disaster. Much of this activity occurred late in the quarter and we have since granted $92 million of additional relief in October from recent events. At the end of the third quarter, our allowance for loan loss for our entire education loan portfolio is $836 million which is highlighted on Slide 8. During the quarter, we released $5 million for FFELP loans as a result of the prepayment activity in the quarter. New private education loan origination volume contributed $15 million to the allowance and $21 million is related to the recovery adjustment I mentioned earlier in my remarks. Let's continue to Slide 9 to review our Business Processing segment. We achieved total fee revenue of $70 million and 20% EBITDA margins in the quarter excluding the $219 million gain from the sale of our healthcare services business and $138 million impairment related to our government services business. The decline in government services revenue to $42 million is primarily driven by an unfunded federal program within a government services contract. There is uncertainty as to when or ASAP program will receive congressional funding approval. For the remainder of the year, we expect government services revenue to be consistent with the third quarter. We will continue to provide services to the healthcare business for a period of time after closing. Our expenses and the offsetting revenue we receive under these transition services agreements, or TSAs, will be reported in the other segment. Let's turn to expenses beginning on Slide 10. Total expenses for the quarter excluding regulatory and restructuring expenses were down 9% to $170 million. This quarter represents the first full quarter of our transition to a variable cost based servicing structure. We are also providing services to MOHELA under the TSAs. The revenue and expenses associated with these services will also be reported in the other segment. We anticipate the completion of the transition services related to health care and to MOHELA to occur by the end of the first half of 2025. The completion of the TSAs are important steps in our ability to remove these expenses. We remain confident in our ability to achieve the level of expense savings we outlined at the beginning of the year. Turning to our capital allocation and financing activity that is highlighted on Slide 11. We continue to maintain disciplined asset liability and capital management strategies with 83% of our education loan portfolio funded to term and in an adjusted tangible equity ratio of 9.8%. In the quarter, we repurchased 2.1 million shares for $33 million. Given our current capital levels and outlook for cash flows, we plan to double the amount of purchases in the fourth quarter assuming we continue to trade at a significant discount to tangible book value. As we look at the next 12 months, we have $176 million of remaining authorization under the current plan. With $1.1 billion of cash on hand, unsecured debt maturities of $1.1 billion and the potential for a favorable rate environment that will allow for us to significantly grow our high quality refinance loan product. Our excess cash will be available over time to invest, reduce outstanding debt and distribute to shareholders. In summary, our updated full year 2024 core earnings per share outlook of $2.45 to $2.50 reflects the move to a more variable cost based servicing structure, the completed sale of extend healthcare, the resolution of legacy regulatory matters and further execution on strategic actions to reduce our shared service expenses in order to enhance overall value for shareholders. As I close, I'd like to express my appreciation to Navient team members for their hard work as we continue to execute on our strategic actions. Thank you for your time, and I will now open the call for any questions.