Rob Reilly
Analyst · Bank of America
Thanks Bill and good morning everyone. Overall our full year and fourth quarter results played out largely consistent with our expectations. For the full year we grew loan, deposits and fee income and reduced expenses even as we continue to invest in technology and our businesses. In addition we returned more capital to our shareholders while maintaining strong capital levels. As a result our 2015 net income was $4.1 billion or $7.39 per diluted common share. Fourth quarter net income was $1 billion or $1.87 per diluted common share. Our balance sheet information is on Slide 4 and it's presented on an average bases. As you can see total assets increased by $1.8 billion or 1% linked quarter compared to the fourth quarter a year ago, total assets grew by $21 billion or 6%, primarily reflecting increases in investment securities, loans and interest-earning assets which includes balances held at the federal reserves for liquidity purposes. Total loans grew by $1.2 billion or 1% linked quarter, primarily due to growth in commercial real-estate. A worth noting that on the spot basis, total commercial lending grew $2.4 billion or 2% primarily in PNC’s real-estate business, which includes an increase in multi-family agency warehouse lending. For the year-over-year quarter, total loans increased by $3.1 billion or 2% again driven by growth in commercial loans. Specifically real-estate and business credit as well as increased lending to our large corporate clients. Consumer lending decreased $396 million linked quarter as the decline in the non-strategic consumer loan portfolio was somewhat offset by growth in credit card and auto lending. Compared to the same quarter a year ago, consumer lending was down $2.8 billion or 4%, primarily due to the continued decline a non-strategic home lending and lower educational loan balances again partially offset by growth in credit card. Investment securities were up $5.8 billion or 9% linked quarter and increased $13.6 billion or 25% compared to the same quarter a year ago. Portfolio purchases were comprised primarily of agency residential mortgage-backed and U.S. Treasury securities. Our interesting earning deposits with the Federal Reserve were $31.5 billion at the end of the fourth quarter, down from the third quarter as we reduced commercial paper outstanding and shifted some Fed deposits to higher yielding liquid assets. Compared to the same quarter a year ago, our interest earning deposits with the Federal Reserve increased by $3.8 billion in support of our efforts to comply with the liquidity coverage standards. As of December 31st, our estimated short-term liquidity coverage ratio exceeded 100% for both the bank and the bank holding Company under the month-end calculation methodology. On the liability side, total deposits increased by $3.5 billion or 1% when compared to the third quarter. Primarily driven by consumer deposit growth with an emphasis on savings products. Compared to the fourth quarter of last year, total deposits increased by $17.5 billion or 8%. Turning to capital, as of December 31, 2015, our pro forma Basel III common equity Tier 1 capital ratio, fully phased in and using the standardized approach, was estimated to be 10%, essentially flat linked quarter as we continued to return capital to shareholders through our dividends and share buybacks. During the fourth quarter, we repurchased 5.8 million common shares for approximately $500 million. We are on track to meet our repurchase authorization of up to $2.875 billion for the five quarter period which began April 1, 2015. Period-end common shares outstanding were 504 million, down 19 million or 4% compared to the same time a year ago. Finally, our tangible book value reached $63.65 per common share as of December 31st, a 6% increase compared to the same period a year ago. Turning to our income statement on Slide five, again net income was $1 billion in the fourth quarter and $4.1 billion for the full year. Our fourth quarter return on average assets was 1.12% and for the full year, it was 1.17%. In the fourth quarter, total revenue grew by $78 million or 2% compared to the third quarter as a result of higher net interest income and fee income. Core net interest income grew by $30 million or 1% compared to the third quarter, primarily driven by increased securities balances and loan growth, while purchase accounting accretion was flat linked quarter due to greater than expected recovers. For the full year 2015, purchase accounting accretion was down $164 million compared to 2014. This decline was somewhat less than expected due to higher cash recoveries throughout the year. For 2016, we expect purchase accounting accretion to be down approximately $175 million compared to 2015. Total net interest margin was 2.7% in the fourth quarter, up 3 basis points linked quarter. Total non-interest income increased by $48 million or 3% compared to the third quarter, primarily driven by higher fee income. Total fee income grew by $27 million or 2% linked quarter due to growth in most categories partially offset by lower fee revenue from residential mortgage and service charges on deposits. I’ll have more to say about our fee income in a moment. Non-interest income increased by $44 million or 2% linked quarter, largely due to higher business activity. Importantly full year expenses were down $25 million and as Bill mentioned this marks the third straight year we reduced total expenses, while supporting significant investments in our business. These results are due in part to our Continues Improvement Program or CIP. During 2015, we completed actions and exceeded our full year goal of $500 million in cost savings. Looking forward to 2016, we have targeted an additional 400 million in cost savings through CIP, which we again expect to help fund a significant portion of our business and technology investments. Provision in the fourth quarter was $74 million, down $7 million or 9% from the third quarter. As overall credit quality remained relatively stable. Finally, our fourth quarter effective tax rate was 26.1%, up from 20% linked quarter as the third quarter reflected tax benefits. Our full year effective tax rate was 24.8%. Looking ahead we expect our 2016 effective tax rate to be between 25% and 26%. As you can see on Slide 6, non-interest income as a percent of total revenue has steadily increased during the last four years, and currently generates nearly half of our revenue. We have strategies in each of our lines of business to increase fee income across our franchise. Three of our business activity, asset management, corporate and consumer services, each generated more than a $1 billion in fee income in 2015. And their growth offset lower fee income from residential mortgage and service charges on deposits. For the full year asset management fees increased by $54 million or 4% as a result of new primary client acquisition, net asset flow and positive market performance in the first half of the year. Full year 2015 results also benefited from a large trust settlement that occurred in the second quarter. On a linked quarter basis asset management fees reflected stronger equity markets and increased by $23 million or 6% due to higher earnings from PNC's equity investment in Blackrock and new sales production. Assets under administration were $259 billion as of December 31st, up $3 billion linked quarter but lower than the $263 billion at the same time a year ago, largely reflecting equity market movements in both comparisons. Consumer service fees increased $81 million or 6% for the full year as a result of increased customer related debit, credit and merchant services activity along with higher brokerage income all consistent with our strategy of growing share of wallet in retail. Reflecting this momentum consumer services fees increased $8 million or 2% linked quarter due to higher merchant services and seasonally higher credit and debit card activity. Corporate services fees increased by $76 million or 5% in 2015 and included higher treasury management and commercial mortgage service fee. Our corporate and institutional business also saw strong full year results in capital markets. On a linked quarter basis corporate services fees increased by $10 million or 3% primarily due to higher merger and acquisition advisory fee and higher loan syndication. Residential mortgage non-interest income declined by $52 million or 8% for the full year primarily due to elevated secondary loan sales in 2014 that didn't repeat in 2015. As well as lower servicing fees. On a linked quarter basis residential mortgage fees decreased $12 million or 10% primarily as the result of lower sales revenue and net hedging gain. Fourth quarter originations were $2.3 billion down approximately $200 million or 8% compared to the same quarter a year ago, due in part to closing delays resulting from the implementation of new disclosure requirements. Service charges on deposits for the full year declined by $11 million or 2% and on a linked quarter basis they were down by $2 million or 1%. In both periods the lower revenue was driven by evolving customer behavior and product changes. Lastly, full year total other non-interest income decreased by $51 million or 4% primarily due to a higher level of asset sales in 2014. Of note gains from the sales of Visa Class B common shares were approximately $40 million less in 2015 compared to 2014. And on a linked quarter basis total other non-interest income increased by $21 million or 7%, primarily driven by asset sales. Turning to Slide 7, overall credit quality remains relatively stable in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter, non-performing loans were down $51 million or 2% linked quarter driven by improvements in the consumer lending portfolio partially offset by increases in commercial loans. Total past-due loans were down $23 million or 1% linked quarter as we saw small declines in most categories. Net charge offs of a $120 million increased by $24 million due to higher growth charge off levels and lower recoveries compared to the third quarter. In the fourth quarter the net charge off ratio was 23 basis points of average loans up from 19 basis points in the prior quarter. Our provision of $74 million was down $7 million or 9% from the third quarter. Consistent with our previous disclosures during the fourth quarter we implemented the de-recognition of $468 million in purchase credit, impaired loan balances and the associated allowance for loans related losses. These balances were related to loans that had been paid off, sold, foreclosed or have nominal value. Importantly this change had no impact on EPS, the net carrying value of the pools or accretion accounting. The allowance for loan and lease losses to total loans is 1.32% as of December 31st, this compares to 1.58% linked quarter and 1.63% at the same time a year ago. The decline in both periods was primarily attributable to the implementation of the de-recognition. We are cognizant of the volatility effecting the energy related in commodity sectors. That stated not much has changed regarding our exposures since last quarter. Specifically on oil and gas we have a total of $2.6 billion in outstanding, which is relatively flat quarter-over-quarter. This represents approximately 2% of our total commercial loan book. We have approximately $700 million in outstanding to Energy and Production Company, $1 billion to midstream and downstream and $900 million to oil services. Approximately $200 million of this services portfolio is not asset based on investment grade and this poses a greatest near term risk consistent with what we've been telling you the last few quarters. We continue to experience some portfolio deterioration in the fourth quarter, though charge-offs were quite modest. And during the quarter we increased our reserves to reflect the incremental impact of the continued decline in oil and gas prices. In summary PNC posted fourth quarter and full year earnings consistent with our expectations. Turning to 2016 we're obviously off to an unexpected rough start to the year relative to the global macro economy. However our 2016 operating plan completed at the end of last year and prior to this recent volatility assumes continued steady growth in GDP and a corresponding increase in short term interest rates three times this year, in March, June and December with each increase meaning [ph] 25 basis points. Based on these assumptions our full year 2016 guidance is for modest growth in revenue and stable expenses which by definition positions us to deliver positive operating leverage. And as we've said before we continue to expect credit costs to normalize on a gradual basis. In regard to the recent economic conditions, we acknowledge it’s unclear how long these conditions may persist, but should they continue for a long period it will impact our plan and we will adjust accordingly. Looking ahead at the first quarter of 2016 compared to the fourth quarter of 2015 reported results, we expect spot loans to be up modestly, but average loans to be stable as the calculation of the average balances will be impacted by the de-recognition implementation. We expect net interest income to increase in the low single digit range. We expect fee income to be down mid-single digits due to seasonality and typically lower first quarter client activity. We expect expenses to be down low single digits and we expect provision to be between $75 million and a $125 million. And with that Bill and I are ready to take your questions.