George Makris
Analyst · D.A. Davidson. Your line is now open
Thanks Steve. I'd like to begin today's call by thanking the Simmons associates for their commitment and dedication during the past three months. The special debt of gratitude goes to our branch, call center and digital banking support staff, who were here every day to fill the needs of our customers. We will continue to make operational adjustments to help meet the needs of our customers and communities in the coming months as we navigate these very uncertain times. I'm very proud of our team and their demonstration of our community banking values. My prepared comments today will be brief. We have posted an extensive presentation on our Web site at simmonsbank.com along with press release and financial data, which gives much more detail regarding our quarterly results and other important information about our company. In our press release, we reported net income of $58.8 million for the second quarter of 2020, an increase of $3.2 million compared to the same quarter last year. Diluted earnings per share were $0.54 for the quarter. Included in the second quarter earnings were $3 million in net after tax merger-related, early retirement program and branch rightsizing costs, as well as a $1.6 million gain on the sale of branches. In May, we sold three branches in Colorado and on June 27th, we closed 11 additional branches. Excluding the impact of these items, the company's core earnings was $60.1 million for the second quarter of 2020, and core diluted earnings per share were $0.55 for the quarter. Our return on average assets was 1.1%. Our return on average common equity was 8.2%. Our return on tangible common equity was 14.6%. And our efficiency ratio was 49.1% for the second quarter. As of June 30th, total assets were $21.9 billion. Our loan balance was $14.6 billion and our deposit balance was $16.6 billion. Our loan pipeline of approved and ready to close loans was $72 million at the end of the quarter, signaling a major slowdown in new loan activity in the markets we serve. At June 30th, our PPP loans totaled $964 million with an average loan balance of $123,000. We've also modified approximately 4,600 loans totaling $3.3 billion. Our net interest margin for the quarter was 3.42% and our core net interest margin, which excludes accretion was 3.18%. The allowance for credit losses on loans totaled $232 million or 1.6% of total loans on June 30th. In addition, our reserve for unfunded commitments is $24 million at quarter end. Total deposits at June 30th was $16.6 billion, an increase of $1.1 billion since last quarter. The increase was primarily in the non-interest bearing deposit category, and was partially offset by a decrease in our brokered funds of $309 million during the quarter. Our non-interest income for the second quarter was $50 million, an increase of approximately $10 million compared to the same period last year. The increase is mainly due to mortgage lending income, driven by the current rate environment. Non-interest expense for the second quarter was $112.6 million. Core non-interest expense for the quarter was $108.6 million. On a linked quarter basis, our non-interest expense decreased $13 million and core non-interest expense decreased $16 million. Our capital remains very strong at quarter end. Our total risk based capital ratio was 15%. Our common equity tier one ratio was 12%, while our tier one leverage ratio was 9%. The ratio of tangible common equity was 8.3% at June 30th. Once again, please view additional information on our Web site simmonsbank.com. Finally, I'd like to reiterate that we are operating under uncertain conditions. The direction of the economy is unclear and unfortunately, we don't seem to be close to a consensus as to the severity or duration of the effect. I expect that there will be substantial changes in our world as a result of the pandemic. As we have done to date, we will try as best we can to be prepared to adjust to those changes. I'm proud of the effort of our Simmons team and look forward to working with them as we navigate through this crisis. I will now turn the line over to our operator and invite questions from our analysts and institutional investors.