David Zalman
Analyst · Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead
Thank you, Charlotte. I would like to welcome and thank everyone for listening to our second quarter 2016 conference call. For the second quarter we had impressive returns on average tangible common equity of 17.15% annualized and on average assets, a return of 1.24%. Our earnings were $68.071 million for the second quarter of 2016 compared to $71.932 million for the same period in 2015. Excluding purchased accounting adjustments, net income was $62.359 for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 compared with $63.8 million for the same quarter in 2015. This quarter’s net income was impacted by a $6 million provision for credit losses which is much larger than the provision for the second quarter of 2015. Diluted earnings per share were $0.98 for the second quarter of 2016 compared to $1.03 for the same period in 2015. Loans at June 30, 2016 were $9.650 billion, an increase of $535 million or 5.9% compared with $9.114 billion at June 30, 2015. Linked quarter loans were basically flat. At June 30, 2016 oil and gas loans, totaled $328.4 million or 3.4% of total loans compared with oil and gas loans of $433.4 million or $4.8 million of total loans at June 30, 2015. A $105 million decrease represents a 24% decrease in oil and gas loans when comparing June 2016 to June 2015. On a linked quarter basis, oil and gas loans decreased $34.4 million from $362 million or 3.8% of total loans at March 31, 2016. Our nonperforming assets at June 30, 2016 were $52.130 million or 0.27 basis points of quarterly average earning assets compared to $56.985 million or 29 basis points of quarterly average earning assets at March 31, 2016, a decrease of 8.5%. Our nonperforming assets ratio was one of the lowest in the industry and a sign of solid asset quality. Our deposits at June 30, 2016 were $17.219 billion, an increase of $217.5 million or 1.3%, compared with $17 billion at June 30, 2015. Linked quarter deposits decreased $653 million or 3.7% from $17.873 billion at March 31, 2016. As mentioned in prior earnings calls, our deposits are the lowest for the year in the second quarter due to a seasonal decrease in deposit balances of the over 400 municipalities we do business with, as well as a decrease in the balance of our farm and ranch customers who are using their money to finish out their crops. We have historically experienced an increase in deposits in the fourth quarter of each year. In addition, when comparing deposits at June 30, 2016 to those at March 31, 2016, part of the decrease was attributable to the maturity of higher cost certificates of deposits assumed in prior acquisitions, on which we intentionally lower the write at maturity. The average balance of certificates and other timed deposits decreased from $2.888 billion at June 30, 2015 to $2.548 billion at June 30, 2016, a 340 million decrease. We continue to hear from bankers about the added regulatory requirements that are impacting the profitability and believe that these requirements combined with management and board fatigue will continue to create opportunities for those that have the ability and the will to deal with these headwinds. Prosperity operates in markets across Texas and Oklahoma, some of which have been impacted more than other by the downturn in Energy industry. During 2016, we have experienced growth in Central Texas, Bryan/College Station, Houston and Dallas and Fort Worth areas, which have offset the markets affected more by the energy industry, such as West Texas, South Texas and Oklahoma. We believe that we have seen the bottom in oil prices and that the energy industry should start experiencing job recoveries by the first quarter of 2017. I'm still amazed at the resiliency in the markets we serve; Austin, Dallas and San Antonio are three of the two fastest growing cities in the United Sates. The Texas unemployment rate held steady in May 2016 at 4.4% which is lower than the U.S. rate of 4.7%. While the Oklahoma unemployment rate was 4.7% in May, in line with the U.S. rate, home prices in Texas continue to rise partly due to solid demand and low inventories, while home prices in Oklahoma also rose slightly. I would like to thank our whole team once again for a job well done. Thanks again for your support of our company. Let me turn over discussion to David Hollaway, our Chief Financial Officer to discuss some specific financial results we achieved. David?