Mariner Kemper
Analyst · KBW. Please go ahead
Thank you, Kay. Thanks everyone for joining us today. We earned $62.4 million or $1.27 per share in the third quarter, compared to $1.16 per share in both the second quarter of 2019 and in the third quarter of 2018. We continue to see strong loan growth with average balances increasing 8.6% on a linked-quarter annualized basis and 10% year-over-year. For comparison, the publicly traded banks that have reported to-date have shown a median linked-quarter annualized increase of 6% in average loan balances. Commercial real estate was the biggest contributor to our growth for the quarter, followed by residential real estate. We added $61 million in average mortgage balances to the balance sheet during the third quarter originating both in our private banking area and in our consumer business. Our C&I book, while still experiencing solid production was impacted by some paydowns related to M&A activity as well as a few prepayments by clients who have experienced strong performance. For the total portfolio, third quarter top line loan production was $850 million, one of the strongest production numbers to date. Total payoffs and paydowns, which include an expected exit of certain factoring loans, were $561 million this quarter or 4.3% of total loans. We continue to see opportunity in our markets and the production pipeline remains strong as we look into the fourth quarter. Net charge-offs for the quarter were just 0.07% of average loans. And on a September year-to-date basis, net charge-offs were 0.29% of average loans compared to 0.26% for the same period in 2018. Now looking at fee income, positive results from asset servicing, Private Wealth, Corporate Trust and Investment Banking were included in the mix. As Ram will detail shortly, third quarter included some noise from market-related adjustments including COLI and equity earnings income along with outsized gains on sale of securities. Excluding those items, we are still seeing positive trends. Our fund services teams continue to win business, taking advantage of consolidation, both among asset managers and in the servicing space. We are seeing larger conversion deals and existing clients are launching new products at a fast pace. And in bond trading, we experienced increased activity with some clients taking gains as the bond market rallied near the end of the quarter. Net interest income grew 1.1% compared to the second quarter, largely due to our solid loan growth and a 3% increase in average securities along with an extra day in the quarter. However, net interest margin compressed by 10 basis points. Asset yields were impacted more quickly than liability side of the balance sheet, given that about 68% of our loans reprice each year with most tied to short-term rates that moved ahead of the anticipated Fed cuts during the quarter. While we're working to adjust deposit pricing, those results naturally lag changes in loan pricing based on competitive rates as well as our liquidity needs to support our strong loan pipeline. The 2018 money market campaign hit its one-year mark in mid-September, so we'll see the full impact of that repricing next quarter. In a declining rate environment, we'll clearly see a benefit from the index portion of our deposit base. But, keep in mind that one-third of our deposits are in DDA with no downside potential. Economic data has relatively been positive and our conversations with our clients cautiously optimistic. However, we expect a lot of volatility leading up to the 2020 elections. Given the murky interest rate environment, we executed a small $750 million cash flow hedge during the quarter to help reduce the downside risk, balancing the near-term earnings impact with the longer-term protection from lower rates. With the exception of certain CRE loans, our markets haven't fully supported the institution of loan floors in term language. However, we maintain our discipline in pricing. As we've said many times over the years, our business model is built to weather all economic cycles. While the shape of the yield curve and the low interest rate environment pose challenges, our strong loan pipeline should enable us to continue to grow net interest income, counter to what we've been hearing from our peers. Coupled with our focus on diversified fee income sources, this should help us mitigate some of these headwinds. Now, I'll turn the call back over to Ram for more detailed discussion of our results. Ram?