Blue Foundry Bancorp Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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October 25, 2023

There are 5 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to Blue Foundry Bancorp's Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. My name is Jordan, and I'll be your conference operator today. Comments made during today's call may include forward looking statements, which are based on management's current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Blue Foundry encourages all participants to refer to the full disclaimer contained in this morning's earnings release, which has been posted to the Investor Relations page on bluefoundrybank.com. During the call, management will refer to non GAAP measures, which exclude certain items from reported results.

Operator

Please refer to today's earnings release for reconciliations of these non GAAP measures. As a reminder, this event is being recorded. Your line will be muted for the duration of the call. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer session. I'm now going to turn the call over to President and CEO, Jim Nesi.

Speaker 1

Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to Blue Foundry Bancorp's 3rd quarter earnings call. I'm joined by our Chief Financial Officer, Kelly Pecoraro, We will share the company's financial results in greater detail after my opening remarks. The results we announced earlier today Illustrate the impact that the higher for longer rate environment continues to have on our revenue. The highly competitive Northern New Jersey market, Coupled with sustained higher short term interest rates, has had an adverse impact on our margin and cost of funds.

Speaker 1

Despite this pressure on revenue, we remain focused on expense management and maintaining our robust capital base, Strong liquidity and stable asset quality. My management team and I have been diligent in exploring opportunities to reduce our expense base To offset some of the top line pressure, we have reduced staff by 10% this year, and our investment in technology has allowed our employees Earlier this year, we challenged our employees to further optimize our operations, And we are appreciative of their contributions. Their efforts resulted in increased productivity through a reduction in redundant tasks and cost saves. And most importantly, we continue to streamline delivery of customer services to provide a consistently better customer experience. Our expenses have steadily declined during the course of the year.

Speaker 1

Expenses were $13,700,000 in the 1st quarter, $13,000,000 in the 2nd quarter $12,400,000 this quarter. Quarter over quarter, Our operating expenses declined $574,000 or 4.2%. Both our bank And holding company have capital levels that are among the highest in the banking industry. All of our capital ratios Are more than 2 times higher than the regulatorily defined well capitalized levels. Additionally, Tangible equity to tangible common assets was 17.1% at September 30.

Speaker 1

Maintaining significant liquidity and reducing liquidity risk remain paramount when operating in the current environment. At the end of the Q3, we had over $369,000,000 in untapped borrowing capacity And our unencumbered available for sale securities provided another $278,000,000 of liquidity. Excluding Heller Cash and counterparty cash collateral received from our swaps program, We had $33,000,000 of cash on hand at quarter end. Additionally, Blue Foundry continues to operate With a low percentage of uninsured deposits and low concentration risk to any single depositor. For customers who require FDIC coverage beyond the traditional $250,000 we're able to provide them With an additional coverage through our ICS and Cedar Sweep account programs.

Speaker 1

Uninsured deposits from customer accounts For $127,000,000 at September 30. This represents approximately 10% of the bank's total deposits. Additionally, our available liquidity covers 5.4 times our uninsured and uncollateralized deposits to customers. While the prospective credit environment remains uncertain, we continue to be pleased with the resilience of our existing lending portfolio. Our credit quality remains strong.

Speaker 1

Our non performing loans remain at historically favorable levels, and our underwriting standards on new production remain conservative. Lastly, in July, we completed our 2nd stock repurchase program and announced that our Board of Directors We approved a 3rd program authorizing the repurchase of an additional 5% of outstanding shares. During the quarter, We repurchased 298,000 shares at a weighted average cost of $9.51 a discount to tangible book value. Tangible book value per share was $14.24 at September 30, and we continue to believe that share repurchase programs representing prudent use of capital. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Kelly, and then we would be delighted to answer your questions.

Speaker 1

Kelly?

Speaker 2

Thank you, Jim, and good morning, everyone. The net loss for the Q3 was $1,400,000 compared to net loss of $1,800,000 during the prior quarter. This improvement Was largely driven by lower operating expenses and the release of the provision for credit losses, partially offset During the quarter, we had a provision for credit loss release of $717,000 The majority of our allowance for credit loss is derived from quantitative measures. And although our allowance methodology placed greater weighting On the baseline and adverse forecast, our favorable credit metrics and the composition of our loan portfolio, Coupled with a slight decline in our loan portfolio and a decline in our unused credit lines led to a reduction of our current expected credit loss reserves. Nonperforming assets to total assets Decreased 4 basis points to 33 basis points, primarily driven by a decline in nonaccrual loans.

Speaker 2

Our allowance to total loans decreased 3 basis points to 88 basis points. However, our allowance to non accrual loans increased to 226% From 186 percent the prior quarter, also due to the decline in non accrual loans. While we realized a $408,000 expansion in interest income, our interest expense increased $1,400,000 resulting in a reduction of $1,000,000 in net interest income. Yields on loans increased by 3 basis points to 4.21 percent And Neil on all interest bearing assets increased by 4 basis points to 3.97%. Cost of funds increased 31 basis points to 2.46%.

Speaker 2

Remaining competitive deposit pricing, The cost of interest bearing deposits increased 52 basis points to 2.25%. This was partially offset by 15 basis point reduction in borrowing costs. We still expect pressure on our margin to continue due to the competition for deposits, the current rate environment And the liability sensitive nature of our balance sheet. During the quarter, we executed $50,000,000 in interest rate hedges to manage our interest rate position. This brings us to a total of $259,000,000 of hedges Against interest rate volatility, the weighted average duration of these hedges is 3.4 years.

Speaker 2

Expenses declined $574,000 driven by a reduction in compensation and benefits expense And to a lesser extent, a reduction in occupancy and equipment, data processing and professional services. The reduction to compensation and benefits expense was driven by sustained lower headcount and a reduction in variable compensation. We continue to explore opportunities to optimize our expense base. We expect operating expenses for the 4th quarter To be below $13,000,000 Moving on to the balance sheet. Gross loans declined By $10,800,000 as amortizations and payoffs outpaced new loan funding.

Speaker 2

As a reminder, Less than 2% or $23,000,000 of our loan portfolio is in office space And none is in New York City. With a duration of 4.5 years, Our debt securities portfolio continues to provide cash flow that is being used to fund loans. These securities declined $11,500,000 due to maturities, calls And schedule paid down as well as an additional $5,900,000 increase in unrealized losses. Deposits decreased by $14,000,000 or 1.1% during the quarter. We were able to increase retail time deposits by $51,000,000 This growth in time deposits Was more than offset by an outflow of $65,000,000 from non maturity accounts.

Speaker 2

Our focus remains on attracting the full banking relationship of small to medium sized businesses. We offer an extensive suite of low cost Deposit products to our business customers. Despite the competition for deposits, we were able to grow the number of business accounts By 2% during the Q3. The number of business accounts are up 7% this year. During the quarter, borrowings increased marginally.

Speaker 2

And with that, Jim and I are happy to take your questions.

Operator

Our first question comes from Justin Crowley of Piper Sandler. Justin, the line is yours.

Speaker 3

Hey, good morning, guys. Good morning, Mike. I wanted to start on operating expenses. It's nice to see this continue to come down in the quarter. As I think the last update, at least this time last quarter, was to perhaps About cost holding steady through the back half of the year.

Speaker 3

And I was wondering if you could expand a little on exploring opportunities. I think across the industry you've seen a lot of banks formally come out with broader initiatives, some of which you've already done. It seems like you guys have also been able to do a decent job just Trimming costs around the margin, but just curious if there could be even more to be done here. And then I guess sort of a loaded question, But Kelly, if I heard you right, I think you mentioned below $13,000,000 for the Q4. I'm not sure if you're able to get a little more specific But does that sort of imply that the base could see a little bit of a tick up into the end of the year?

Speaker 2

Yes, Dustin. So 13, we're guiding to just below $13,000,000 We do have a little bit of additional expense. We do have one new branch coming on In the Q4, which will have additional expense, but we continue to look at opportunities to reduce our expense base. So you asked, are we do we have specific initiatives? I think the initiative and the mantra around here is to look at every contract, look at every Expense line item, especially as we go into our strategic planning season and as renewals come up and see what we can do to lower that expense, Eliminate redundancies and tasks that vendors may be performing for us, so it's been paramount in our operating model.

Speaker 3

Okay. I appreciate that. And then sort of shifting gears, turning to loan growth. So our balance has declined again. Can you just talk a little bit about net growth expectations going forward?

Speaker 3

I'm not sure if there's any change in the thinking in terms of the size of the balance sheet looking ahead. Just curious your thoughts there.

Speaker 2

So Justin, I think, yes, we did see a reduction in our loan balances. We are very mindful in putting on high quality, high yielding loans using both our Using both our amortization from our loan book to redeploy that into higher yielding assets as well as our Pay downs and amortization of our securities book, some of the constraints on the deposit outflow has tampered that a little bit, but we're in the market looking to lend and looking for the appropriate asset class to put on our balance sheet.

Speaker 3

Okay. So when I think about like the loan pipeline, how is that trended maybe as of now compared to this time last quarter?

Speaker 2

I think right now, we're probably a little bit below where we were from an overall pipeline perspective, but the rates are higher. So as we look at that, as we said, putting on those higher yielding assets and being mindful of our composition.

Speaker 3

Okay. And do you feel comfortable just sharing any sort of loan growth target just over the next Perhaps a year or so? I'm not sure if you're in a position to be able to do that.

Speaker 2

No. We're not in a position right now, Justin, to do that.

Speaker 3

Okay. Got it. And then just lastly, I wanted to touch on share repurchases. Obviously, capital levels are pretty healthy. Just curious if there's appetite to get quite a bit more active here possibly.

Speaker 3

We've seen that the math has gotten even more attractive when I think about where activity

Speaker 2

Yes. I think we are very we support buybacks. The Board and management believe that the purchase of our shares is a good investment. We were If you think about where we were in the Q2 and the volume within the market, we were able to take advantage of that, the volume At that point, as we headed into Q3, we saw volumes kind of trend downward. Also the timing of Transition from our first stock our second stock repurchase plan to the 3rd plan had some impact on our purchases this quarter.

Speaker 1

Justin, this is Jim. Good morning again. To reiterate what Kelly is saying, we are still a firm believer And share buybacks and expect to be back in the marketplace in Q4 as we go in. So again, no news.

Speaker 3

Okay, understood. Great. I appreciate it. I'll leave it there.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Justin.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Justin.

Operator

Our next question comes from Chris O'Connell of KBW. Chris, please go ahead.

Speaker 4

Hi, morning. Just circling back on the loan growth discussion. So I mean given where the pipelines are a bit lower than last quarter, I mean is it does that imply that Maybe for the next couple of quarters, net loan growth is kind of more of a flat line situation?

Speaker 2

I think it's hard to tell, Chris, as we look at the market, the volume in the market, what we're looking to put on the balance sheet, Again, looking for those high quality, higher yielding assets. So if it's available and we have the funding as well, we are definitely looking to put Loans on our balance sheet.

Speaker 1

Yes. I think just to again reiterate, it depends on the asset class, it depends on the price. So those 2 go hand in glove in my opinion. We're looking, we're actively looking and we are building the pipeline. So it's hard to give you a specific number Where we projected to be, we're looking in the marketplace and we do think there'll be activity in the coming quarters.

Speaker 4

Okay. And what is are the origination yields on the loan pipeline?

Speaker 2

The pipeline right now, we have just under 8.5 from a weighted average rate.

Speaker 4

Okay. And as far as the next 12 months, how much In the dollar amount, are the loans set to mature?

Speaker 2

$25,000,000 are set to mature, but we do have amortization of the portfolio. Each month is about $5,000,000 to $7,000,000 that's coming in from an amortization perspective as well as the securities portfolio that's amortizing down And we have some payoffs coming or maturities due in that book, probably about $12,000,000 in the next quarter.

Speaker 4

Okay, great. And as far as all the hedges that you guys have on the 259,000,000 Can you remind us as to where each of those rates are locked in at?

Speaker 2

I think it's a nice blend, Chris, as we put them on right now. We have our The weighted average maturity is 3.4 years and the weighted average rate of those hedges are at Okay.

Speaker 4

And that's being kind of applied against the FHLB advances in terms of like the yield table?

Speaker 2

Right. So if you take a look at that, it does impact our interest expense. So it's offsetting interest expense on our financial

Speaker 4

Okay, great. And kind of putting it all together here, I mean, do you guys have the September spot NIM or any color as to how much NIM pressure you might see into the Q4?

Speaker 2

So we don't normally share our Spot NIM where we're at, but we do see some additional compression, but not at the pace we saw in the 3rd quarter As the significant amount of our CDs have matured and went into those buckets, so we don't see that volume of activity in some of our maturing deposits.

Speaker 4

Okay. Got it. And just taking a step back, I mean, in order do you have any idea of In the current rate environment and if that kind of persists as it is right now with the inverted yield curve, Which I know makes things difficult. Where the NIM could bottom and start to move back up in terms of timing And just what levers can be pulled to kind of get to a path to profitability from here?

Speaker 1

So I don't know that it's a specific lever. What we continue to focus on is our core business strategy of banking small and medium sized businesses. We continue to look for the lower cost deposits, obviously, that those businesses provide to banks like ours. But that's where we're going to stay on the strategy. We continue to increase the deposit base.

Speaker 1

The products are working well. Obviously, we want to see them scale up faster, but that's We're going to keep pushing our manpower into.

Speaker 4

Okay. And any sense is the timing as to where we could get to an inflection point in the margin?

Speaker 1

It's too hard to say at this juncture. I don't have any guidance on that point at this time.

Speaker 4

Okay. That's all I had. Thank you for taking my questions.

Speaker 2

Of course. Thanks. Thank you, Chris.

Operator

With that, I'll hand back to the team for any closing remarks.

Speaker 1

Thank you, operator. Thank you again for joining us on our Q3 call our earnings call. We look forward to speaking with you again next quarter. Thanks, and have a great day.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's call. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your line.

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Earnings Conference Call
Blue Foundry Bancorp Q3 2023
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