🎈 Up Big Today: Find today's biggest gainers (some over 50%!) with our free screenerTry Stock Screener

Earnings call: Bank of Marin Bancorp navigates mixed market in Q1

Published 2024-04-29, 06:12 p/m
© Reuters.
BMRC
-

Bank of Marin Bancorp (NASDAQ: BMRC) reported its first-quarter earnings on March 31st, 2024, highlighting a period of strategic adjustments and stable financial health despite a challenging interest rate environment.

The bank emphasized its focus on loan growth, credit quality, and operational efficiency, maintaining strong liquidity and capital levels. Key points included a slight net interest margin compression, stable deposit levels, and the implementation of new commercial banking hires to strengthen the loan origination process.

Key Takeaways

  • Bank of Marin Bancorp reported stable deposit levels and strong liquidity.
  • Net interest margin slightly compressed due to higher deposit costs.
  • Operating expenses increased, attributed to new hires and seasonal factors.
  • Credit quality remained high, with non-accrual loans at 0.31% of total loans.
  • The bank is focused on loan growth, margin expansion, and increased profitability.
  • Net income for the quarter stood at $2.9 million.
  • No stock was repurchased during the quarter.

Company Outlook

  • Bank of Marin Bancorp is targeting mid-single-digit loan growth.
  • The bank is optimistic about future loan production and profitability.
  • Strategies are in place for margin expansion and balance sheet optimization.
  • The bank continues to evaluate its physical footprint and expense structure.

Bearish Highlights

  • Net interest income decreased due to lower-earning assets.
  • Commercial real estate market valuations, especially in the office sector, have declined.
  • The bank's payout ratio exceeded 100% this quarter.

Bullish Highlights

  • Strong capital and liquidity positions are maintained.
  • The risk-based capital ratio improved to 17.05%.
  • New commercial banking hires are expected to strengthen the loan origination process.
  • Non-interest income remained stable.

Misses

  • Loan originations were lower in the first quarter but were balanced by payoffs.
  • Operating expenses increased due to new hires and seasonal factors.

Q&A Highlights

  • The bank is actively managing its balance sheet and considering selling securities for reinvestment.
  • Deposit costs experienced a slight increase but showed signs of deceleration.
  • The spread between new originations and payoffs was approximately 260 basis points.
  • The bank is committed to maintaining its dividend and making charitable contributions.

Bank of Marin Bancorp's Q1 earnings call revealed a company in the midst of adjusting to a complex market environment. CEO Tim Myers and CFO Tani Girton discussed various strategies to navigate the current conditions, including managing credit risk, optimizing the balance sheet, and leveraging technology to enhance customer relationships. The bank's focus on maintaining strong capital and liquidity, coupled with its efforts to expand its loan portfolio and manage operating expenses, positions it to pursue growth and profitability in the quarters ahead. Despite the challenges, including a competitive commercial real estate market and fluctuating deposit costs, Bank of Marin Bancorp remains committed to its core objectives and looks forward to capitalizing on new business opportunities.

InvestingPro Insights

Bank of Marin Bancorp (NASDAQ: BMRC) has shown resilience in its latest earnings report, reflecting a commitment to strategic growth and shareholder return. InvestingPro data and tips provide additional context to the bank's performance and outlook.

InvestingPro Tips:

  • BMRC has a notable history of rewarding its shareholders, having raised its dividend for 18 consecutive years. This trend aligns with the bank's focus on maintaining strong liquidity and capital levels, as mentioned in the article.
  • Analysts have revised their earnings expectations downwards for the upcoming period, indicating a cautious stance on the bank's near-term profitability. Nevertheless, with the bank's ongoing efforts in loan growth and operational efficiency, it remains to be seen how these revisions will play out in the actual performance.

InvestingPro Data:

  • The bank's market capitalization stands at $233.78M, which is reflective of its current position in the market.
  • A Price/Earnings (P/E) ratio of 11.89 in the last twelve months as of Q4 2023 suggests that BMRC's shares might be valued reasonably in the context of its earnings.
  • Despite a challenging quarter, BMRC offers a substantial dividend yield of 6.48%, which is particularly attractive for income-focused investors.

For readers interested in a deeper dive into Bank of Marin Bancorp's financial health and outlook, additional InvestingPro Tips can be found at https://www.investing.com/pro/BMRC. There are currently 7 more tips available, offering insights such as the company's gross profit margins and price performance over the last three months. To access these insights and more, use the coupon code PRONEWS24 to get an additional 10% off a yearly or biyearly Pro and Pro+ subscription.

Full transcript - Bank of Marin Ban (BMRC) Q1 2024:

Yahaira Garcia-Perea: Good morning and thank you for joining Bank of Marin Bancorp's Earning Call for the First Quarter ended March 31st, 2024. I'm Yahaira Garcia-Perea, Marketing and Corporate Communications Manager for Bank of Marin. During the presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. After the call, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. Joining us on the call today are Tim Myers, President and CEO, and Tani Girton, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Our earnings press release and supplementary presentation, which we issued this morning, can be found in the investor relations portion of our website at bankofmarin.com, where this call is also being webcast. Closed captioning is available during the live webcast as well as on the web replay. Before we get started, I want to note that we will be discussing some non-GAP financial measures. Please refer to the reconciliation table in our earnings press release for both GAAP and non-GAAP measures. Additionally, the discussion on this call is based on information we know as of Friday, April 26, 2024, and may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those set forth in such statements. For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, please review the forward-looking statements disclosure in our earnings press release, as well as our SEC filings. Following our prepared remarks Tim, Tani, and our Chief Credit Officer, Misako Stewart, will be available to answer your questions. And now I'd like to turn the call over to Tim Myers.

Tim Myers: Thank you, Yahaira. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our first quarter earnings call. At a high level, during the first quarter, we showed deposit stability, a declining pace of deposit cost increases, and continued strong liquidity. We also added to the foundation we are building for a more robust loan origination engine. Our smaller balance sheet and higher overall deposit costs resulted in slightly compressed net interest margin and core earnings reduction in the Q1. Operating expenses, which did include some seasonal increases and downward incentive adjustments, were also higher on balance as we added key new commercial banking hires and our talent is already helping pipeline activity in both the North Bay and Sacramento. Importantly, our concerns about overall credit quality and loss potential remain unchanged despite risk rate migration. In the quarter, we capitalized on the dislocation caused by the regional bank failures and as I noted attracted proven relationship bankers to help drive new client acquisition. Notably, the pace of deposit cost increase has slowed during February and March reaching the lowest incremental level since February 2023. These catalysts complement the strategic repositioning of our balance sheet late last year when we divested lower yielding securities and scaled down short-term borrowings to improve our interest rate risk position for the year ahead. We continue our facilities optimization by consolidating two of our commercial banking offices into one, saving approximately $650,000 this year and an $800,000 annualized run rate beginning in 2025. We will continue to evaluate a range of strategic possibilities to optimize our balance sheet and expense structure, create efficiencies and increase profitability on behalf of our shareholders. We also remain firmly committed for a long established conservative approach to credit. Overall, credit quality remains strong with non-accrual loans at just 0.31% of total loans at quarter end, down from 0.39% the prior quarter. As we've indicated, our relationship banking model enables us to work closely with our commercial real estate borrowers, most directly impacted by the current environment. We are also able to manage risk on certain CRE loans with vacancies through enhancements to collateral either by a way of cash or other income producing properties or by having the borrower pay down the loan. During the first quarter, we made good progress in this area and it remains a key focus. Classified loan levels did increase in the first quarter. This was due largely to three relationships of different types and geographies. Two are CRE loans that are fully secured and supported with personal guarantees and we believe there is minimal risk in these credits. We are not seeing the formation of material new problem loans, just previously identified problem loans continuing through the workout and resolution process. In the first quarter, we upgraded four loans totaling more than $10 million from special mention to past. Our non-owner occupied office portfolio overall is made up of 151 loans with an average loan size of only $2.4 million. The weighted average loan to value was 60% and the weighted average debt service coverage was 1.6 times based on our most recent data. There is no notable change from what we reported at year-end. Our office CRE book in San Francisco represents just 3% of our total loan portfolio and 6% of our total non-owner occupied CRE portfolio. I also want to note that we have minimal exposure to rent control properties within our multifamily portfolio, only 32 loans with an average balance of only $1.6 million or 2.5 % of our total loan portfolio. Like the rest of our book, we are monitoring this very closely. As I noted, with our new commercial hires, we're seeing more new attractive opportunities with a dramatically improved pipeline, but the timing to close is difficult to predict. As such, our loan portfolio did decrease slightly as our originations in the quarter were offset by past, scheduled repayments and strategic exits. Much of the payoffs were related to construction loans as a result of project completion. Now turning to deposits. We maintained total deposits with quarter end balances essentially flat from December 31st. We attracted new customers during the quarter, but some clients also moved cash into alternative investments to capture higher returns and we also saw seasonal outflows that we often see in Q1 of each year. Our noninterest-bearing deposit level remains favorable at 44% of total deposits. We continue to focus on relationship banking with high-touch service, being appropriately competitive on deposit pricing and maintaining our strong core deposit franchise. We anticipate our funding costs to further stabilize this year. We also continue to maintain high levels of capital and liquidity, and we are in a position of strength. Our total risk-based capital ratio improved to 17.05% at quarter end compared to 16.89% at the close of 2023. Total liquidity of approximately $1.9 billion consisted of cash, unencumbered securities and total borrowing capacity. In summary, we made substantial progress by adding talent and building upon our foundation for profitability improvements and long-term growth and these efforts are ongoing. With that, I'll turn the call over to Tani to discuss our financial results in greater detail.

Tani Girton: Thanks, Tim. Good morning, everyone. With interest rates higher for longer and lingering economic uncertainty, we continue to focus on further strengthening our core deposit franchise and maintaining robust liquidity and capital level while delivering exceptional service to existing and new customers as we position Bank of Marin for continued earnings improvement in 2024. We generated net income of $2.9 million for the first quarter or $0.18 per diluted share compared to net income of $610,000 or $0.04 per share in the fourth quarter of last year. $4.2 million of the increase in net income quarter-over-quarter was due to losses on securities sales in the fourth quarter of 2023. After repositioning our balance sheet out of borrowings and some securities, lower-earning assets combined with the higher cost of deposits to make net interest income $1.6 million lower than the prior quarter. However, during the first quarter, we maintained our noninterest-bearing deposit levels while capturing higher yields on new loans. This largely offset increases in interest-bearing deposit costs. And as a result, our tax equivalent net interest margin decreased by only three basis points in the first quarter, following a five basis point increase in the fourth quarter. Taken together, our net interest margin has stabilized over the past two quarters, and we are optimistic that we will see continued stability in the near term with a bias for improvement from new loans and existing loan repricing. At the same time, we continue to evaluate strategies that support margin expansion. Our noninterest expense base increased somewhat with the new hires Tim highlighted. Additionally, the seasonal increases related to 401(k) matches tied to bonus payments, and lower loan origination cost deferrals contributed to the $1.9 million increase over the fourth quarter. Professional service expenses related to the annual audit also tend to be higher in the first quarter. Increases were somewhat tempered by downward adjustments to incentive accruals in the first quarter, but there were much larger reductions to incentive, profit sharing, stock-based compensation and retirement plan accruals in the fourth quarter of 2023. Moving to noninterest income. Excluding the $5.9 million loss on the sale of AFS securities associated with our fourth quarter balance sheet restructuring, noninterest income of $2.8 million was stable quarter-over-quarter. In addition to the total risk-based capital strength Tim noted, Bancorp's tangible common equity to tangible assets ratio improved to 9.76% in the first quarter from 9.73% at December 31st. Our contingent liquidity is plentiful and our deposit base is well diversified with businesses representing 59% of balances and 32% of accounts. Our largest depositor represented just 2% of total deposits while our four largest depositors comprised 5.3%. We maintained our total deposits to $3.28 billion on March 31st without tapping the brokered CD market or running CD campaign. And noninterest-bearing deposits increased slightly to 44% of total deposits from 43.8% at December 31st. The average cost of deposits increased 23 basis points to 1.38% in the first quarter compared to a 21 basis point increase from the prior quarter. Underlying these changes is a clear downward trend and monthly increases since the peak in March 2023. We believe we are appropriately competitive in regard to deposit pricing given our relationship banking model that differentiates Bank of Marin. Disciplined credit management remains a Bank of Marin core value as well. Our $350,000 provision for credit losses in the first quarter compares to a provision of $1.3 million for the previous quarter and brought the allowance for credit losses to 1.24% of total loans compared to 1.21% as of December 31st. Typically, loan originations are lower in the first quarter of the year. And this year, new originations of $12.4 million were more than offset by payoffs of $21.8 million with rates on new loans averaging 266 basis points above the rates on loans paid off. Loan balances of $2.1 billion for the first quarter were down $18.8 million from the prior quarter after amortization and changes in utilization. Our Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.25 per share on April 25th, the 76th consecutive quarterly dividend paid by Bancorp. We didn't repurchase any stock during the quarter. Instead, we concentrated on building upon our strong capital, reinforcing credit protections, deepening relationships with our customers and developing new business. We regularly evaluate the merits of stock buyback. We also continue to assess additional possible adjustments across our balance sheet and expense structure with a focus on finding new ways to accelerate net interest income expansion and self-fund efficiency improvement. Potential actions are run through our capital plan and interest rate risk simulations, along with rigorous stress tests, to evaluate long-term benefits. In addition to meaningful profitability improvement, we screen for reasonable earn-back period, ample ongoing liquidity and capital and sustainable balance sheet strength and profitability. With now I'll turn it back over to Tim to share some final comments.

Tim Myers: Thank you, Tani. In closing, our enduring relationship-based banking model, healthy capital and liquidity levels and favorable mix of deposits and solid funding base provide Bank of Marin a strong foundation for loan growth, margin expansion and increased profitability in coming quarters. Over the past few months, we have added a number of highly productive bankers, implemented a more active approach to developing new client relationships and increased our use of technology to enhance those efforts. All of these have positioned us to generate a higher level of loan production going forward while we maintain our disciplined underwriting. We also continue to evaluate our physical footprint and optimization opportunities as well as other ways to manage expenses while also investing in talent and technology to maximize customer satisfaction, attract new clients and further enhance our ability to generate long-term profitable returns. With that, I want to thank everyone on today's call for your interest and support. We will now open the call to your questions.

Operator: At this time we will open the floor for questions. [Operator Instructions] Our first question will come from Jeff Rulis with D.A. Davidson. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Jeffrey Rulis: Thanks. Good morning.

Tim Myers: Good morning, Jeff.

Tani Girton: Good morning.

Jeffrey Rulis: A question on the hires that you had. I know you've added folks even last year. I just wanted to try to get a sense. Were there any new in the first quarter?

Tim Myers: Yes, there were. And we haven't -- I think we talked about before not having a team. They're spread out among our different regions, but we did have costs in Q1 associated with that and haven't -- it's more of a timing issue, haven't offset that yet with the cost rationalizations and other areas that we said we'd do to fund that. So that -- there's a bit of a timing gap there.

Jeffrey Rulis: Okay. Yes, it's kind of leading to the next. So I'm just trying to get a sense for -- you've had this seasonal impact bumps in professional services and other. Just trying to get a sense on the salaries line, Tani, if -- are there some puts and takes that overall expense? Do you moderate from here? Or is that some of those new adds kind of continue to add to growth?

Tani Girton: Yes, I'd say puts and takes. We had some positives that offset some of the negative seasonal stuff. And so when you look at it on balance, we do have a higher base on the salaries. And this is the beginning of the year. So medical insurance costs are up, and we do have some strategies that will be kicking in the cost for which we'll be kicking in later in the year. Again, we're trying to self-fund those. But I would say we are moving into 2024 with a higher salary base.

Tim Myers: Just one more point, Jeff. While it's not in the salary line, I mentioned in the script that we did consolidate two offices so -- in the quarter -- at the very end of the quarter. So we'll save about $800,000 a year and lease expense there, in part largely so that we cannot fund the personnel acquisition. So we'll continue to look for ways like that. I know it's hard to quantify at this point, but we'll continue to do those kind of things.

Jeffrey Rulis: Yes. No, makes sense. And Tim, the arena, the folks that were hired their focus of lending, is it in a particular area?

Tim Myers: No. I think it's more C&I-based or focused than we have had, but I would call them generalists like much of our bank in history has been. So we are seeing a much more diversified portfolio, professional services, general C&I deals. But it is spread out. So we're seeing a lot of growth in the pipeline in Sacramento, the North Bay, Walnut Creek. Those are all the different places we have these hires. So that was part of our strategy was to grow -- become more regionally specific to how we are aligned rather than, I said before, buying a team that's focused on more than just one geography.

Jeffrey Rulis: Great. And maybe just my last one then. As it relates to that loan growth, I mean you talked about in the release remaining careful of the environment. The pipeline is up. You kind of got over, so maybe some construction payoffs. I wanted to -- maybe big picture on loan growth from here. I know, Tim, you mentioned timing is difficult, but get a sense for your expectations for loan growth on a net basis going forward.

Tim Myers: We are still targeting the mid-single-digit that we've talked about. It is really -- we're really getting traction. Again I -- we can't promise you're going to get those deals approved or -- but it's really those people in the market are getting traction. And so we have a much higher confidence level that we'll see more yield churn, more activity, which ultimately leads to more closing. So the timing of that, again, it's hard to predict. It can be lumpy, but we're pretty optimistic at this point of how that's shaping up.

Jeffrey Rulis: So Q1's net runoff doesn't deviate from mid-single-digit for the full year?

Tim Myers: That is still our goal.

Jeffrey Rulis: Okay. Thank you.

Operator: Our next question will come from the line of David Feaster with Raymond James. Your line is now open.

David Feaster: Hey, good morning, everybody.

Tim Myers: Good morning, Mr. Feaster. How are you?

David Feaster: Doing great. Doing great. I wanted to maybe follow up on the loan growth kind of commentary. Originations were down in the quarter. Just curious, even though -- how do you think about -- what drove that? Like how much of that is weaker demand, maybe less appetite for credit? And just kind of your -- where do you expect growth to be coming from? You touched on more C&I. So it seems like that might be a bigger driver. So just kind of some of those comments.

Tim Myers: Yes, no problem. On the weakness of side, I think you hit on it. I think there is weaker demand, but we are seeing a big normalization as people get more used to the higher rates and higher for longer that we're seeing a lot more activity, either they can't wait it out or it's not quite as scary for them as we thought. So we are seeing a higher level of interest. There is a component of, no, we're not going to do an office property in San Francisco with 30% vacancy, even if it looks good as a smaller property or even in other parts of our footprint where there's lease rollover risk. And you're just not going to step into a situation where it could start deteriorating relatively soon. So there is a greater degree of oversight, but we are seeing a greater degree of deals where the credit meets our criteria, more geographically dispersed and more dispersed by type of loan. So it's always hard to predict from a point in time what that means, but we are seeing all of the above right now.

David Feaster: Okay. And then maybe just touching on credit, right? You've got a great reputation as an aggressive and proactive manager of credit. That's evidenced in the quarter. You touched on a few of the credit issues in the quarter. But I'm curious maybe, how do you think about managing those issues? Your thoughts after stressing the CRE book and maybe the health of the CRE market in your footprint? And how -- just high level how you think about approaching digital modifications?

Tim Myers: Yes. That's a great, that's a good question. Let me ask Misako Stewart, our CCO, who's on to jump in. She's the one that does most of that work.

Misako Stewart: Good morning. So as you mentioned the credit quality and the credit management of our portfolio is still pretty solid, I mean -- or very solid, I would say. In terms of managing the credit, you mean it's a close management. Every quarter, we're getting updated information. We're looking at values, and we're talking to our borrowers. I mean, of our classified loans, all of them are supported by personal guarantees or the owners or the direct borrowers. And so we are constantly in discussions with them on how to kind of remediate or find resolution, find a mutual agreement, compromise on how to rightsize or get the loan to a more conforming level, if you will. And that conversation continues. The balances in our graded loans is not always a great reflection of the movement that we see, and there is a lot of movement up and down in our portfolio. And last quarter, we had very little by a way of migration from past to criticized or classified and even in the downgrades to -- from our special machine to our substandard. Majority of those are vacancy issues, but they're not necessarily that vacancies have gotten worse. They just haven't gotten better. And with the passage of time, it warrants closer attention, and those are the reasons for the downgrade. So we do take a pretty aggressive approach in how we monitor the credit and how we risk rate.

David Feaster: Okay. That's helpful. And then just kind of another part was -- just help the CRE market across your footprint?

Misako Stewart: I'm sorry?

Tim Myers: Say that again, David. Sorry.

David Feaster: Just help the CRE market across your footprint?

Tim Myers: Misako, you want to take that?

Misako Stewart: Yes. It depends on the asset class. I think industrial still continues to perform well. And it depends on our footprint. Office is not bad in every market that we're in, and same with retail. So it is different. Multifamily is still -- continues to be a strong asset class for us. So it's hard to say how it is overall since it is different in each market.

Tim Myers: Yes. It is uneven, David. And the valuation declines, obviously, are most pronounced in our footprint in office. But even then within office, it can be 20% decline from someone region up to the kind of declines we're seeing 40%, 50% in San Francisco, again, heavily dependent on the size of the property, all that kind of stuff. So it is uneven. Industrial is strong in a lot of our footprint. So -- and as Misako said, multifamily is strong, and we haven't had a lot of issues there that aren't just weird, idiosyncratic, unrelated to what's going on in the world. So it's holding up in many of these categories.

David Feaster: Okay. That's great. And then I just wanted to touch on -- just kind of get a high-level thoughts on how you think about managing the balance in a higher-for-longer environment. You've noted that there's some opportunities that you're considering. You guys have already been active with the securities book, with cost saves, still investing in the franchise with new hires. But I'm just curious what types of initiatives you're considering. And given the like, again, last quarter, we're talking about rate cuts. Now we're talking about a higher-for-longer environment, what are your thoughts on managing the balance sheet have changed at all?

Tim Myers: We are actively contemplating all those things and I'll let Tani jump in here.

Tani Girton: Yes. So we had a series of sales last year. We did about $83 million in the second quarter and then another $132 million in the fourth quarter. We still have a significant AFS portfolio that gives us a lot of flexibility to opportunistically sell those securities and get those funds redeployed into higher-yielding investment loans, whatever opportunities we have there. So the timing is important, but we are looking at it, as Tim said, very -- in a very concentrated manner and we'll continue to do so.

David Feaster: All right. Thanks everybody.

Tim Myers: Okay. Thank you.

Operator: The next question will come from the line of Andrew Terrell with Stephens. Your line is now open.

Andrew Terrell: Hey, good morning.

Tim Myers: Hey, Andrew. How are you?

Andrew Terrell: Doing well. How are you guys?

Tim Myers: Good.

Andrew Terrell: Maybe if I could start just on the deposit front. Looks like the interest-bearing deposit costs increased this quarter was actually maybe a little bit of an acceleration from 4Q. I've got up 33 basis points and it was 31, I believe, in the fourth quarter. I'm just trying to maybe square that with some of your commentary around the deposit cost deceleration and maybe you mean more on kind of a month-to-month basis throughout 1Q. So maybe it would be helpful, could you share just kind of how deposit costs progressed throughout the first quarter?

Tim Myers: You're 100% right and I'm sorry if that was unclear. So, yes, we saw a couple of basis point increase in the overall cost quarter-over-quarter, but a big deceleration. Tani can give you specifics. But by the time you hit March there, it was the lowest level we've seen since before this crisis.

Tani Girton: Yes. So if you look back at March '23, we had a 60 basis point pop on interest-bearing and 29 overall. So I'll stick with the overall cost of deposits. So that has trended down on a monthly basis. It fell down pretty steeply to 16 and 12, and then it popped up a little to 14. Then by July of '23, it was down to 6 and then 5. Then it popped up a little bit in September and stayed up a little bit around 7 to 9 and then peaked in January at 10 and then back down to 6 and 2. So the -- it's a clear trend down. There are some peaks and troughs in that trend, but it is a pretty solid trend down.

Andrew Terrell: Got it. Okay. Very good. So 10, 6 and 2 in January, February, March. Definitely seems like a big step-down into March, though. And then if I could ask another one kind of margin-related as well. I think the release mentioned about a 260 basis point spread for new originations versus what was being paid off this quarter. I'm just curious your thoughts on -- if I look at what paid off most heavily this quarter was construction, which I would imagine is a little higher yield. Just as we contemplate, Tim, you guys getting back to that kind of mid-single-digit-type loan growth, so growth ramping later this year, would you expect that spread of new originations to payoffs to widen from this 260 level?

Tim Myers: Yes. It's hard because, as you said, the cost of loans paying off were probably a little bit higher. So the loans came on again. It's a small sample, but I think it's consistent with what we're seeing is in the low 8s. 8.18%, I think, was the rate of the loans that came on in the quarter. So a material difference from a lot of our other fixed rate loans. So it just depends on the timing in the category, right, of the payoffs. But I think that is a clear trend. Just again, also whether it's going to be fixed rate or variable rate, some of the fixed rate for attractive real estate lending out there is still awfully competitive. It may not seem to see the same delta rates coming on, Brazil is going up, but that's where we were for the quarter, about 8.18%.

Andrew Terrell: Okay. Great.

Tani Girton: And I would just add we have on the -- if you just look at the existing portfolio, assuming a static balance sheet, no change in rates, we've got 36 basis points of residual repricing in the loan book for the next 12 months.

Andrew Terrell: Yes. Okay. And that's, I think, pretty consistent with kind of how we thought about loan repricing when we discussed it last quarter. Is that right?

Tim Myers: Yes. 17%, 18% a year is our run rate of loans repricing on the book.

Andrew Terrell: Okay. If I could ask one more just around the dividend. I mean clearly above 100% payout ratio this quarter. And I understand you guys have a lot of capital, a very healthy capital position. Just would love to hear kind of your thoughts, Tim, on comfortability around the dividend and where it's at today and whether that's a maybe holdup as you contemplate any incremental capital-return opportunities or securities restructuring.

Tim Myers: I think you just summarized what we're asking. You answered your own question very well. The dividend is really important to us and we understand the importance of it to our investors. And so, yes, we have a lot of capital as we work through this compressed NIM rate environment. But as you said also, we're looking at restructuring or other things we can do with our balance sheet to help provide more visibility and expanded margin where that wouldn't be such an issue. That is all part of our ongoing discussions that we are currently involved in.

Andrew Terrell: Okay. I appreciate it. And then actually, Tani, just one more quickly. I think if I look back at 2023, the charitable contribution line steps up in the second quarter. Should we expect something similar in 2Q of '24?

Tani Girton: Yes, yes. We're very committed to those contributions and the timing is going to stay the same this year in the second quarter.

Andrew Terrell: Okay. That's it for me. Thank you for taking the questions. I appreciate it.

Tim Myers: Thank you, Andrew.

Operator: The next question comes from the line of Woody Lay with KBW. Your line is now open.

Woody Lay: Hey, good morning, guys.

Tim Myers: Good morning, Woody.

Tani Girton: Hey, Woody.

Woody Lay: Wanted to start on noninterest-bearing deposits. I mean they saw a slight increase on the quarter, which was great to see. I mean, were there any seasonal impact to the noninterest-bearing bucket? And are you beginning to see that mix shift flow from here?

Tim Myers: I will -- I'll start and I'll let Tani jump in. I don't think we saw anything unusual. We did have an outflow from noninterest-bearing or even, in some cases, interest-bearing into alternate investment, higher yielding. That was about $27 million, but we brought in $97 million total across the various types. So we're just going to have those fluctuations. We just -- I know we've said it and have -- happening in Q1 of last year compounded the concern, but we get some big fluctuations up and down in our noninterest-bearing commercial accounts. And we haven't seen any trend that leads me to believe that anything has changed.

Tani Girton: Yes. I think we often have outflows in the first quarter and the efforts that our team have made to make sure that we bring in inflows to compensate for that is really good.

Woody Lay: All right. That's good to hear. And then maybe turning over to the loan growth. I think in the release, you cited some new compensation plans where we're helping the pipeline. But just any color you can give on sort of what those new compensation plans are?

Tim Myers: Yes. I would say the comp -- there's two components. So one is a more -- around frequency of how we're paying people, right? We've always been an annual shop. And so I think as generations change, expectations change. We -- that's one area where I think we can really try to drive behavior. People do what they get paid to do. And the other end would be to bring in some of the really quality producers would be have more upside built into the plan. So face value is not going to cost us anymore, unless they really hit a different level of production targets. And that was really -- that's all new. That was designed to -- meaning newly applied. That was designed to help with the people we were bringing in. So that was more aimed at getting those people. The former will be aimed at behavior. So still new, but that face value don't anticipate it costing us more money necessarily, unless again, they hit it out of the park, and then we'll all be cheering that anyway.

Woody Lay: Yes. All right. And then last for me, just another follow-up on the classified movement. Just any additional color you can give on the types of CRE loan that moved into that bucket? Were those in the office portfolio?

Tim Myers: Yes. Misako, do you want to take that, please?

Misako Stewart: Sure. Yes, one was office, one was retail in different locations. And both are supported by strong meaningful support by a way of the guarantees with liquidity. All right. That’s all for me. Thanks for taking my questions.

Tani Girton: Thank you.

Tim Myers: Thank you, Woody.

Operator: There are no further questions on the line. I'll now turn the call over to Tim Myers for closing remarks.

Tim Myers: Yes. It appears we do not have any online questions. I want to thank everyone for your diligence and questions. And if anyone has any further, please, by all means, call Tani or I, and we're happy to further dive into some of these issues. With that, we'll see you next quarter.

Tani Girton: Thank you.

Operator: The meeting has now concluded. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.