Mariner Kemper
Analyst · Wells Fargo Securities. Please go ahead
Thank you, Kay, and thanks, everyone, for your interest in UMB. As you've seen in our press release, our results for the fourth quarter were significantly impacted by the charge-off of a single $48.1 million factoring relationship. Strong asset quality has long been a hallmark of UMB, and this has been – was not expected and is certainly not typical for us. After a thorough review, we believe that the issues specific to this credit were isolated, and we don't believe that this charge-off points to deterioration in any particular sector. Our loan portfolio remains diversified, and we have seen improvements in overall quality. In fact, outside of this credit event, we would have reported outstanding asset quality, including net recoveries, which can be summarized from the chart on Slide 18, showing net charge-offs of $45.7 million for the fourth quarter. I'm sure you'll understand that because of ongoing legal proceedings, we may not able to answer all your questions related to this credit. I can share that this was a ranked credit as of September 30, and after being placed in receivership in the fourth quarter of 2018, the customer filed for bankruptcy protection in January. Based on third-party bids that we obtained under the receivership, we determined to fully charge off the credit for accounting purposes. But we intend to fully pursue our rights, both within and outside the bankruptcy proceedings. In our history, as we've analyzed our relatively few credit losses, we found that most of them have involved some deviation from our processes or a failure to receive timely, accurate information and, more often than not, were unrelated to underwriting issues. We believe our underwriting standards and processes remain strong. Again, while we believe that this is an isolated incident, it's understandably the headline for the quarter. On a personal note, I'm deeply disappointed with the result that doesn't live up to the standards we set for ourselves as excellent risk managers. We will use this event as an opportunity to learn and improve. Aside from the charge-off, the fourth quarter was solid, with linked quarter results, including 8.5% annualized loan growth, 9.9% average deposit growth and margin expansion of 6 basis points. Average loans increased 2.1% versus the third quarter or 8.5% on a linked quarter annualized basis compared to 5.6% for the industry, according to H.8 data. Top line loan production was again very strong, coming in at $709 million for the quarter. C&I was the biggest contributor to our growth this quarter while CRE balances remained relatively flat, impacted by the payoffs and paydowns at year-end. Top region for loan growth was Kansas City, followed by Texas and Colorado. Total payoffs and paydowns this quarter represented 4.6% of loans. As we mentioned last quarter, we expected payoffs and paydowns to reset slightly higher, and this level is similar to our long-term quarterly averages. Looking ahead at the first quarter, our pipeline outlook remains strong, similar to what we saw going into the fourth quarter. Net interest income grew 7.5% compared to the third quarter, fueled by loan volume and the impact of rising asset yields, which more than offset increased funding costs. Net interest margin for the quarter was 3.24% or a 6 basis point increase. The expected drag from a full quarter of the promotional deposit balances and the excess liquidity we continue to carry was mitigated by loan growth and favorable repricing, decreased wholesale borrowing levels and higher DDA balances. Ram will provide more detail into these metrics in a few minutes. Expenses for the quarter increased 2.2% compared to the third quarter and on an operating basis, increased 0.8%. As we repeat each quarter, we are focused on our operating leverage over the long term, and you should expect that to continue. For the full year of 2018, we generated positive operating leverage of 1.9%. Finally, you'll recall that we announced an accelerated stock repurchase agreement for approximately $50 million of our outstanding shares. That agreement was completed in December. We repurchased approximately 780,000 shares during the fourth quarter. Our priorities for capital remain organic loan growth, potentially augmented by bank M&A; continued interest in consolidating opportunities in our fee businesses; periodic dividend increases; and the opportunistic use of share buyback authorization, including the potential for future accelerated share repurchases. Now I'll turn it back over to Ram for a more detailed discussion of our drivers behind the results. Ram?