Ram Shankar
Analyst · Barclays. Jared, your line is now open
Thanks Mariner. Net interest income of $245.1 million represented an increase of $5.7 million or 2.4%, reflecting continued loan growth and higher levels of liquidity. Net interest margin increased three basis points on a linked-quarter basis to 2.51%, outpacing the expectations I shared previously in large part due to stronger-than-expected DDA balances. The increase was driven by the positive impact of 7 basis points from loan repricing and mix, 2 basis points from the securities portfolio, 1 basis point from the level of free funds, and 2 basis points related to various smaller items. These were partially offset by a 9 basis point reduction from higher deposit pricing, driven by mix changes. Cycle-to-date betas on total deposits and on loan yields are 53% and 63% respectively and continue to track closely to our expectations for terminal betas. Looking into the third quarter with the prospect of a Fed rate cut in September, we would expect our net interest margin to be relatively stable to second quarter levels. Approximately 31% of our total deposits are hard indexed to short-term interest rates. As the Fed funds rate changes these deposits reprice down immediately. An additional 17% of our total deposits are what we call soft indexed or balances negotiated at current prevailing market rates. On these soft indexed deposits, we would expect to move deposit rates down pretty quickly following any rate cuts. Overall, we expect our deposit betas on the way down to be immediate and steeper than peer banks, similar to our experience during this past tightening cycle. Coupled with favorable reinvestment of cash flows from the securities books and repricing of some loans at accretive yields our interest rate simulation results shown on Page 33 of our deck shows us as benefiting from interest rate cuts in year one with fairly neutral implications for year two. As a reminder, this analysis does not include any interest income generated from new growth or the Heartland acquisition. At this preliminary stage, we estimate that our pro forma interest rate position will remain relatively neutral. Details and activity in our securities portfolio are shown on Slides 30 and 31 in our deck. The combined AFS and HTM portfolios averaged $12.2 billion during the quarter a decrease of 2.3%. We continue to purchase mortgage-backed securities and agencies while as noted security levels fluctuate based on our collateral needs for both public funds and trust deposits. The average purchase yield in our portfolio was 4.99% for the quarter, while securities rolling off had a yield of 2.67%. We expect $1.4 billion of securities with a yield of 2.54% to roll off over the next 12 months. Capital levels continued to build with our common equity Tier 1 capital increasing to 11.14% and continued growth in tangible book value, which increased by $1.57 from March 31st to $60.58. Tangible book value per share has grown 15.3% over the past year. As previously described in our forward purchase agreement, our regulatory capital ratios do not include the $230 million forward equity offering agreement that we announced in April. Turning back to the income statement. Non-interest income was $144.9 million, a linked-quarter reduction of 9%, largely due to a few non-recurring items in the prior quarter. These first quarter benefits included $8.6 million in net gains on equity position, a $4 million legal settlement and a $1.8 million in gains on the sale of land. Momentum in our fee business has continued with Fund Services' assets under administration growing to $460 billion, an increase of 20% from June 30, 2023. In Private Wealth, our teams have brought in $781 million in net new assets year-to-date, ahead of full year 2023 levels. And credit and debit card spending including from our newly acquired retail co-branded portfolio reached $4.7 billion in the second quarter, up from $4 billion a year ago. Non-interest expense of $249.1 million for the quarter included pre-tax acquisition expenses of $9.6 million and a reduction of $3.8 million in previously accrued FDIC special assessment charges. On an operating basis, non-interest expense increased $2 million linked-quarter and included higher processing fees related to higher software subscription costs in various software projects along with increased bank card expense. Within salaries and benefits expense, typical seasonal reductions in FICA and 401(k) costs along with a decrease in deferred compensation expense was partially offset by increased bonus and salary expense related to the timing of merit increases and higher bonus accruals for 2024 year-to-date performance. Excluding the one-time items and seasonal variances, our core expense run rate in the second quarter was approximately $240 million. Finally, our effective tax rate was 20.1% for the quarter compared to 18.1% in the second quarter of 2023. The year-over-year increase was primarily related to lower income on tax-exempt securities and a decrease in tax benefits from stock compensation. For the full year 2024, we would expect a tax rate between 17% and 19%. Now, I'll turn it over to the operator for the Q&A portion of the call.