NASDAQ:FFBC First Financial Bancorp. Q2 2024 Earnings Report $24.11 -0.11 (-0.45%) Closing price 04:00 PM EasternExtended Trading$24.12 +0.00 (+0.02%) As of 04:04 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. ProfileEarnings HistoryForecast First Financial Bancorp. EPS ResultsActual EPS$0.64Consensus EPS $0.59Beat/MissBeat by +$0.05One Year Ago EPS$0.72First Financial Bancorp. Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$314.22 millionExpected Revenue$203.50 millionBeat/MissBeat by +$110.72 millionYoY Revenue GrowthN/AFirst Financial Bancorp. Announcement DetailsQuarterQ2 2024Date7/25/2024TimeAfter Market ClosesConference Call DateFriday, July 26, 2024Conference Call Time8:30AM ETUpcoming EarningsFirst Financial Bancorp.'s Q2 2025 earnings is scheduled for Thursday, July 24, 2025, with a conference call scheduled at 4:00 PM ET. Check back for transcripts, audio, and key financial metrics as they become available.Conference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptPress Release (8-K)Quarterly Report (10-Q)Earnings HistoryCompany ProfilePowered by First Financial Bancorp. Q2 2024 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrJuly 26, 2024 ShareLink copied to clipboard.There are 9 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Thank you for standing by. My name is Ian, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the First Financial Bancorp Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer Thank you. Operator00:00:39I will now hand the call over to Scott Crawley, Controller. Scott, you may begin your conference. Speaker 100:00:46Thank you, Ian. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us Speaker 200:00:49on today's conference call to discuss First Financial Bancorp's 2nd quarter year to date financial results. Participating on today's call will be Archie Brown, President and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Anderson, Chief Financial Officer and Bill Harrod, Chief Credit Officer. Both the press release we issued yesterday and the accompanying slide presentation are available on our website at www.bankatfirst.com under the Investor Relations section. We'll make reference to the slides contained in the accompanying presentation during today's call. Additionally, please refer to the forward looking statements disclosure contained in the Q2 2024 earnings release as well as our SEC filings for a full discussion of the company's risk factors. Speaker 200:01:28The information we Speaker 300:01:29will provide today is accurate as Speaker 200:01:30of June 30, 2024, and we will not be updating any forward looking statements to reflect facts or circumstances after this call. I'll now turn the call over to Archie Brown. Speaker 100:01:40Thank you, Scott. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for today's call. Yesterday afternoon, we announced our financial results for the Q2. I'll provide some highlights on our recent performance and then turn the call over to Jamie to provide further information. We had an outstanding quarter. Speaker 100:01:55Adjusted earnings per share was $0.65 in the 2nd quarter, which resulted in a return on assets of 1.4% and a return on tangible common equity of 20.9%. Loan growth was exceptionally strong again this quarter with balances increasing by 11% on an annualized basis, and this was a significant driver in the increase in net interest income. Growth was broad based and was led by Commercial Banking. Similarly, average deposits grew approximately 11% for the period with interest bearing deposits and a seasonal increase in public fund balances driving the increase. Our 4.1% net interest margin was unchanged in the Q1 and remains at or near the top of the peer group. Speaker 100:02:40Total adjusted revenue increased $14,400,000 or 7% compared to the linked quarter. Additionally, we posted record adjusted non interest income of $61,600,000 Growth in fee income was broad based for the period with foreign exchange revenue growing more than 60% from the linked quarter. Leasing business income, mortgage banking and bank card income all increased by double digit percentages and wealth management income posted another record quarter. Adjusted expenses increased by 1.2% compared to the Q1. The increase included a full quarter of agile expenses, the impact of annual salary adjustments that occurred late in the Q1 and variable compensation tied to our record fee income. Speaker 100:03:24Through our workforce efficiency initiative, we have eliminated 90 full time positions to date and this work will continue through the remainder of the year. I am pleased with the 23 basis point decline in net charge offs to 15 basis points, which marks the 3rd consecutive quarter that charge offs have declined. We did experience some downward credit migration during the period. However, this was not concentrated in any particular loan type and non forming loans as a percentage of total assets was relatively flat compared to the prior quarter. Our ACL increased to 1 point 3 6 percent of total loans and based on our outlook for loan growth and credit quality, we would expect provision to decline to levels approximately the Q1 in coming periods. Speaker 100:04:06With that, I'll now turn the call over to Jamie to discuss these results in greater detail. After Jamie's discussion, I will wrap up with some additional forward looking commentary and closing remarks. Jamie? Speaker 300:04:17Thank you, Archie, and good morning, everyone. Slides 4, 5 and 6 provide a summary of our most recent financial results. The 2nd quarter was really strong, highlighted by exceptional earnings, a flat net interest margin, record fee income and solid balance sheet growth. Our net interest margin remains very strong at 4.10. This was unchanged from the linked quarter due to increases in both loan and investment yields offsetting the pressure on deposit costs. Speaker 300:04:46We were pleased that the increase in deposit costs moderated in comparison to prior quarters and we expect this trend to hold. However, we expect slight margin contraction in the near term. Total loans grew 11% on an annualized basis, which exceeded our expectations. Loan growth was broad based with larger increases in C and I, Summit and Agile. Average deposit balances increased 3 $50,000,000 or 10.6 percent on an annualized basis and included a seasonal increase in public funds. Speaker 300:05:21Overall, the deposit mix continues to shift to higher cost deposits. However, we maintain 22% of our total balances in non interest bearing accounts and are strategically focused on maintaining deposit balances. Turning to the income statement, 2nd quarter fee income was the highest in the company's history. Foreign exchange and leasing had solid quarters and Wealth Management had their best revenue quarter ever. Non interest expenses increased slightly from the linked quarter due to higher variable compensation. Speaker 300:05:54However, we are starting to recognize the impact from our efficiency efforts and expect to see further benefits in the coming periods. Our ACL coverage increased 7 basis points during the quarter to 1.36 percent of total loans. This resulted in $16,400,000 of provision expense during the period, which was driven by loan growth and slight credit migration. Overall, asset quality trends were mixed with significantly lower net charge offs and an increase in classified assets. Annualized net charge offs declined 23 basis points during the period and NPAs as a percentage of assets were relatively flat at 35 basis points. Speaker 300:06:40From a capital standpoint, our regulatory ratios are in excess of both internal and regulatory targets. Tangible book value increased $0.44 or 3.5 percent, while our tangible common equity ratio was flat during the period. Additionally, our Board of Directors elected to increase our common dividend during the period. We have always been focused on delivering value to our shareholders and this step is further proof of that commitment. Slide 7 reconciles our GAAP earnings to adjusted earnings, highlighting items that we believe are important to understanding our quarterly performance. Speaker 300:07:19Adjusted net income was $61,700,000 or $0.65 per share for the quarter. Adjusted earnings exclude the impact of our efficiency initiative as well as acquisition, severance and branch consolidation costs. As depicted on Slide 8, these adjusted earnings equate to return on average assets of 1.4%, a return on average tangible common equity of 21% and pre tax pre provision ROA of 2 10 basis points. Turning to Slide 9 and 10, net interest margin was unchanged from the linked quarter at 4.1%. Loan yields increased 10 basis points during the period and the yield on the investment portfolio increased 22 basis points. Speaker 300:08:09The increase in investment yields was driven by higher reinvestment rates as well as the full quarter benefit from the portfolio repositioning executed in the Q1. Funding costs increased 13 basis points during the period, which was significantly lower than in prior periods. Our cost of deposits increased 14 basis points compared to the linked quarter. However, as you can see on the bottom right chart, that pace of growth declined significantly by the end of the quarter. Slide 11 details the betas utilized in our net interest income modeling. Speaker 300:08:44The increase in deposit costs has moved our current beta up 2 percentage points to 45%, which matches our internal modeling. Going forward, we expect deposit cost increases to be a function of mix. Slide 12 outlines our various sources of liquidity and borrowing capacity. We continue to believe we have the flexibility required to manage the balance sheet through the expected economic environment. Slide 14 illustrates our current loan mix and balance changes compared to the linked quarter. Speaker 300:09:16As I mentioned before, loan balances increased 11 percent on an annualized basis with growth in almost every portfolio. As you can see on the right, the largest areas of growth for the quarter were in C and I, Summit and Agile. We expect Agile's growth to moderate in the coming periods as historically the 2nd quarter is the strongest quarter for originations. Slide 15 provides detail on our loan concentration by industry. We believe our loan portfolio remains sufficiently diversified to provide protection from deterioration in any particular industry. Speaker 300:09:53Slide 16 provides detail on our office portfolio. Similar to last quarter, about 4% of our total loan book is concentrated in office space. And the overall portfolio performance metrics remain strong. No office relationships were downgraded to classified during the quarter and our total non accrual balance for this portfolio remains approximately $17,000,000 Slide 17 shows our deposit mix as well as the progression of average deposits from the linked quarter. In total, average deposit balances increased $350,000,000 during the quarter, driven primarily by a seasonal increase in public funds as well as increases in retail CDs, money market accounts and broker deposits. Speaker 300:10:40These increases offset modest declines in non interest bearing deposits and savings accounts. Similar to recent quarters, this was expected as the current interest rate environment has driven customers to higher cost deposit products. Slide 18 illustrates trends in our average personal, business and public fund deposits as well as a comparison of our borrowing capacity to our uninsured deposits. On the bottom right of the slide, you can see our adjusted uninsured deposits were $3,200,000,000 This equates to 23% of our total deposits. We remain comfortable with this concentration and believe our borrowing capacity provides sufficient flexibility to respond to any event that would stress our larger deposit balances. Speaker 300:11:26Slide 19 highlights our non interest income for the quarter. Total fee income increased to $62,000,000 during the quarter, which was the highest quarter in the history of the company. Bannockburn and Summit both had solid quarters and Wealth Management posted its best revenue quarter ever. Additionally, mortgage, bank card and deposit service charge income increased from 1st quarter levels. Non interest expense for the quarter is outlined on Slide 20. Speaker 300:11:57Core expenses increased a modest $1,400,000 during the period. This was driven by an increase in variable compensation tied to fee income, the full quarter impact from Agile and annual salary adjustments. We have also started to recognize some of the expected benefit from our ongoing efficiency initiative. Turning now to Slides 21 22. Our ACL model resulted in a total allowance, which includes both funded and unfunded reserves of $173,000,000 $16,400,000 from total provision expense during the period. Speaker 300:12:36This resulted in an ACL that was 1.36 percent of total loans, which was a 7 basis point increase from the Q1. Provision expense was driven by loan growth and credit migration. Net charge offs declined 23 basis points to 15 basis points and our NPAs to total assets held steady at 35 basis points. In other credit trends, classified asset balances increased to 1.07% of total assets, primarily due to the downgrade of 4 relationships. These downgrades were not concentrated in any loan or collateral type. Speaker 300:13:17Our ACL coverage increased and we continue to believe we have modeled conservatively to build a reserve that reflects the losses we expect from our portfolio. We anticipate our ACL coverage will remain relatively flat or increase slightly in future periods as our model responds to changes in the macroeconomic environment. Finally, as shown on Slides 23, 2425, regulatory capital ratios remain in excess of regulatory minimums and internal targets. 3rd and second quarter tangible book value per share increased 3.5% and the TCE ratio was flat due to balance sheet growth. Absent the impact from AOCI, the TCE ratio would have been 9.13% compared to 7.23% as reported. Speaker 300:14:06Slide 24 demonstrates that our capital ratios would remain in excess of regulatory targets, including the unrealized losses in the securities portfolio. Our total shareholder return remains strong, with 36% of our earnings returned to our shareholders during the period through the common dividend. As I mentioned earlier, we were very pleased that the Board elected to increase the common dividend, demonstrating our commitment to provide an attractive return to our shareholders. We will continue to evaluate various capital actions as the year progresses. I'll now turn it back over to Archie for some comments on our outlook. Speaker 300:14:43Archie? Speaker 100:14:43Thank you, Jamie. Before we end our prepared remarks, I want to comment on our forward looking guidance, which can be found on Slide 26. Loan pipelines continue to be healthy, though we expect a modest increase in payoff trends and seasonally load production in our Agile business unit to contribute to overall loan growth in the low single digits on an annualized basis over the near term. For securities, we expect the portfolio to remain stable. Deposit growth has been steady and we expect to grow more modestly over the next quarter as seasonal public funds move out. Speaker 100:15:17Our net interest margin continues to remain strong and resilient and we expect it to be between 4% and 4.05% for the next quarter. This assumes a 25 basis point rate cut by the Fed in September. We expect our credit costs to decline slightly in the back half of the year, while ACL coverage as a percentage of loans is expected to be stable to slightly increasing. For the full year, we expect net charge offs to be approximately 25 to 30 basis points. The income is expected to be between $58,000,000 $60,000,000 which includes $13,000,000 to 15,000,000 dollars for foreign exchange and $16,000,000 to $18,000,000 for the leasing business. Speaker 100:15:57Non interest expense is expected to be between 100 $122,000,000 $124,000,000 and remain stable, excluding the leasing business. Finally, we're pleased to announce that our Board of Directors approved a $0.01 increase to this common dividend to $0.24 4.3% dividend increase results in a dividend payout ratio within our target range of 35% to 40% of net income and increases our already attractive yield. I'm encouraged with our operating performance through the first half of twenty twenty four and look forward to continued success for the full year. We'll now open up the call for questions. Operator00:16:55Our first question comes from the line of Chris McGratty with KBW. Your line is open. Speaker 400:17:02Good morning. Jamie, maybe start with a margin question. You obviously outperformed expectations this quarter. Your slides show a cumulative beta of 45 on the deposit, 70 on the loans. How are you thinking about NIM if the forward curve plays out? Speaker 400:17:21I think I know you have a September cut, but I know the market is expecting more next year. How do we think about margin into next year? Speaker 300:17:27Yes. So obviously, we were asset sensitive benefited from the increase in rates over the past 6, 8 quarters. But so when we look at it and we look at rate cuts, we're kind of a methodical 25 basis point rate cuts by the Fed. I mean the first couple, we think that we're going to have some difficulty reducing deposit costs significantly. I mean, we'll get some relief on some of the more rate sensitive categories. Speaker 300:18:04So we think that the first cut or 2 impacts the margin a little bit more significantly than the ones going forward. So the first couple of rate, 25 basis point rate cuts, we think we get about 8, 9 basis point decline in the margin. And then going forward from that, we're going to get like a 5 or 6 basis point decline in the margin in the subsequent cuts. We just think the first couple of cuts, it's going to be difficult to get the full impact on the deposit side. And also, I mean, I would tell you our strategy at this point is that just given the fact that we've seen some outsized loan growth, the acquisition of Agile as well over the past 2 or 3 quarters, we've been leaning more towards being a little more aggressive on the deposit side and bringing in deposit balances and having a and trying to match off that loan growth with deposit growth even if it's in some of the higher cost buckets. Speaker 400:19:19That's great. Thanks for that. And Archie, maybe a question on capital. You've got really good capital generation. Your CET1 ratio is pretty solid. Speaker 400:19:29How are you thinking about using potentially using your excess capital and your multiple into 2025? Speaker 100:19:37Yes, Chris. Primarily, I'd say funding the company's growth internally would be 1st and foremost, certainly, we just did the dividend increase. But it's those kind of things. I don't think we see a buyback in the near term. And part of this is we're focused on growing our tangible value continuing to increase it. Speaker 400:19:59And in terms of traditional bank M and A versus a fee income deal, are you seeing I think there's a deal this morning, are you seeing more opportunities to grow that way as well? Speaker 100:20:11Yes, Chris, on the let's maybe talk about bank M and A first. Some conversations happening early stages. I don't see anything in the near term that would come. But I think there's a little bit more interest in discussions just because of where we are in the cycle. And I think especially with some expectations that rates will start to come down and maybe we're approaching a soft landing. Speaker 100:20:35On the non bank side, I don't really think we're pursuing any other acquisitions at this time. Speaker 400:20:41Okay. And then finally, could you just remind us your parameters when you Speaker 100:20:45look at it? You haven't done one since the Speaker 400:20:46main source deal 5 or 6 years ago. Speaker 100:20:50Well, I mean, they can change over time. I'd certainly tell you deposit franchises are a lot more important today than they would have been several years ago. But we like end market. We like more density areas markets, more metro kind of focused areas in our footprint or I would say adjacent to our footprint. Operator00:21:14Great. Thank you. Yes. Your next question comes from the line of Terry McEvoy with Stephens Inc. Your line is open. Speaker 500:21:25Hi, thanks. Good morning, everybody. Maybe, James, just a question for you. Just back on the margin, you said kind of sensitivity to deposit mix over the near term. Just wondering what your thoughts are on the non interest bearing balances over the course of the year and maybe any early insight into the Q3 and whether you fund the loan growth with higher costing deposits? Speaker 500:21:49Yes. Speaker 300:21:49I think, I mean, if you look at the chart and the deck in terms of deposit costs, I mean, we really started to see that the pressure on deposit costs subside significantly in the last couple of months of the quarter. We saw maybe 2 or 3 basis points in those months. So we're really starting to see both from a cost perspective and the momentum that we were seeing from a mix shift, both of those subside pretty significantly. So we think we're at or near the bottom in terms of non interest bearing balances and especially the percentage of non interest bearing the total deposits somewhere in that low. We're estimating that those were going to drop somewhere in the low 20s and we're at 22% now. Speaker 300:22:52So I think that we hit the bottom there or close to it. But going forward, yes, I mean, we are looking to and you can see in the outlook, our deposit for the back half of the year, our loan growth projections are softened from what we were seeing in the first half, which were relatively strong. So we are looking to fund that growth going forward here, especially over the next 2, 3 quarters from the deposit side and not the borrowing side. But understanding that some of that might be the mix of that might be a little bit on the higher cost side and CDs and money market accounts. Speaker 500:23:40Perfect. Thanks for that, Jamie. And as a follow-up, just the transportation sector keeps coming up this earning season when discussing credit. Any comments on your transportation C and I portfolio or within Summit and whether you're seeing any stress there or just taking a step back any segments within C and I you're monitoring and keeping a close eye on? Speaker 600:24:05Yes. We are watching the transportation sector very closely as most of our most banks are just with some of the challenges that they've been facing heretofore. We haven't had any material issues and overall we feel pretty good about the book. But there is some stress, especially in some of the smaller and some of the larger trucking companies out there, but our exposure is manageable. Speaker 500:24:38Thanks for taking my questions. Speaker 300:24:40Thanks, Terry. Thanks, Terry. Operator00:24:45Your next question comes from the line of Daniel Tamayo with Raymond James. Your line is open. Speaker 700:24:53Hey, good morning guys. Good morning, Dan. Thanks for taking Speaker 400:24:55my questions. Speaker 700:24:57I know you talked a little bit about this. I apologize if this question has been asked. I jumped on late. But the loan growth guidance down, I heard you mention seasonally strong, agile in the Q2. So I get that part. Speaker 700:25:12But anything else that's driving that? I mean, is it more of a normalization? Just curious kind of I guess on the commercial side how pipelines look and how we should think about loan growth over the next several quarters. And it's not the official guidance, but kind of if you take a step back and think about what opportunities for you might be over the next several quarters, that'd be helpful. Speaker 100:25:40Yes, Danny, this Archie. We've had a couple of really strong quarters in loan growth and it's been a combination of some decent production, but also much lower than normal payoff activity, especially in our commercial real estate portfolio. So that's buoyed at some. As we look forward, pipelines, I would say, softened some in the mid part of the second quarter. They seem to be strengthening back now. Speaker 100:26:06But that will create a little bit of building that back into production in the back half. So that's a piece. We mentioned Agile, their big part of the year is early to mid part. So that will flatten out for most of the back half of the year. And we are anticipating more payoffs. Speaker 100:26:24Commercial Real Estate, we're starting to see some late in the quarter. We'll see more Q3. Our Oak Street unit, we've got a few large payoffs that we're expecting to come in the back half of the year. So that payoff activity just a little bit stronger combined with Agile. And I would say on the CRE side still that production is a little bit lower than it has typically been. Speaker 100:26:43And you can imagine just the market with rates where they are, the market is a little softer and we're probably a little bit more selective there in the current environment. Speaker 700:26:59Okay. Thanks Archie. And then maybe on the expense side, you guys have done a really good job of managing expenses despite this good revenue growth and balance sheet growth. I'm just curious where you've been able pull out the FTEs or identify cost savings opportunities in this environment and just as you've been going through that, just curious how that's been going, if you've had any issues or identified any kind of areas that you need to invest as you think about continued growth over the next few years? Speaker 100:27:41Yes, Danny, we've talked a little bit about this in both quarters. So it's a maybe a good question for us to talk a little bit more about it. First, we view that good expense control and management is part of what we need to always be doing. But if you think about what's happened in recent years, the industry, but certainly us have invested heavily in great technologies and tools and we believe have created a significant amount of capacity in the system. So we embarked, we did some late last year some, I guess, I'd call them beta testing in an area or 2 to really do kind of we call it almost like desk to desk review of all our production areas and support areas. Speaker 100:28:25We started in a group or 2 kind of proof of concept on what we were trying to do and we identified excess capacity that we could take out of the system. And now we're going through a methodical review throughout the whole company. It's more been in the support areas at this point, but before we're done, which we hope will be through this work by the end of the year, we'll have touched all or most of the company. To date, we're about 35% to 40% through the work. And I'm not sure that the same numbers will hold up through the rest of the process because we'll get into some areas that we think don't have as much capacity. Speaker 100:29:04But we're going to keep doing that work and each quarter as we go through it, we'll update certainly all of you and all of the other stakeholders on the progress that we're making. Speaker 300:29:16And Danny, just to jump in as well, this is Jamie. I mean, what that has also allowed us to do is, we were able to essentially absorb the expenses with Agile through that and the expense base didn't go up a lot and also use those savings to invest in other areas that will help us grow in the future. So the office and clear To Speaker 100:29:40Jamie's point, we have opened a couple offices, commercial banking offices, added a few other salespeople in our wealth group and still been able to keep a lid on the expenses. Speaker 700:29:54Yes. No, it's certainly showing through. So I appreciate all that color. Thanks. Speaker 100:29:59Thanks, Operator00:30:09Our next question comes from the line of Jon Arfstrom with RBC. Your line is open. Speaker 800:30:16Good morning, guys. Speaker 300:30:17Hey, Jon. Speaker 800:30:20On Chris McGratty's question about the margin coming down or freights come down, can you talk about how you expect the fee businesses to perform if short rates come down? Do you think that will have any kind of impact on maybe some improvement there? John, Speaker 100:30:39maybe slightly. We think Bannockburn has shown in multiple rate environments at this point that they can generate income with their clients. So we think they'll continue to perform effectively. Leasing volumes are strong. We'll continue to see the leasing income side grow, I think in even a different rate environment, maybe even more. Speaker 100:31:06And then on the mortgage side, it's really going to depend on probably what happens more in the 10 year part of the curve, but we would expect a little bit of an increase maybe on the mortgage side. If the markets hold up wealth is going to continue. We've put a lot of investment in our wealth group and we think they're going to continue to just incrementally make improvements as we go forward. So those are the big areas. Speaker 800:31:31Yes. Okay. You touched on leasing. It's obviously been very strong. It feels like it's a little bit different than the commercial outlook. Speaker 800:31:41Can you just talk a little bit about the pipelines and leasing and what you're seeing there? Is it market activity or market share? What is it? Speaker 100:31:49Well, they're on a more of a national platform and they've got salespeople throughout the country and other connections of how they do business. So we do get a lens into maybe things more broadly and things are pretty healthy, especially in, I would say, larger companies and they tend to do a lot of business with larger companies. So pipelines are good. If anything, we're probably restraining the ability to originate there a little bit in the environment where we're focused more on funding. We do also, if you just look back last year, we've had a couple of year ends now with them, they will see their strongest amount of origination activity occurs in the back part of the year, especially in that Q4. Speaker 100:32:36So that will pick up. That will I think we said low single digit growth in the near term. Not sure what 4th quarter looks like, but they'll certainly have a strong 4th quarter. Speaker 800:32:46Okay. Good. That helps. And then, Bill, can you just talk a little bit more about the downgrades? And we probably know what the themes are, but any themes? Speaker 800:32:56And then should we expect the classified increases to continue for the next few quarters? Thanks. Speaker 600:33:03Yes. So the downward credit migration in the classified bucket was driven by 2 multifamily and 2 C and I credits. The 1st multifamily deal is currently under LOI. The other experience it has experienced conversion and stabilization delays. The 2 C and I credits are both long time customers 20 plus years that are just navigating through some shifts in the respective markets. Speaker 600:33:33And we think there's reasonable solutions for all of them. And as we look out, we do expect our class size to remain stable. Looking at our special mentions for the quarter, they were down a little flat. And so that kind of that's kind of what we're looking at, at this point, kind of stable. Speaker 800:33:53Yes. Okay. All right. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it. Speaker 300:33:57Thanks, John. Thanks, John. Operator00:34:00There are no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the call back over to Archie Brown for some closing remarks. Speaker 100:34:07I want to thank everybody for joining today and hearing our story for the quarter. We look forward to talking with you again next quarter. Have a great Friday, great weekend. Bye now. Operator00:34:18This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect. Have a good day.Read morePowered by Key Takeaways First Financial achieved adjusted EPS of $0.65 in Q2, delivering a 1.4% return on assets and a 20.9% return on tangible common equity. Loan balances increased 11% on an annualized basis, led by Commercial Banking, while average deposits rose 10.6% driven by interest-bearing products and seasonal public funds. Net interest margin held steady at 4.10%, with higher loan and investment yields offsetting moderate deposit cost increases. Adjusted noninterest income hit a record $61.6 million, paced by over 60% growth in foreign exchange revenue and double-digit gains in leasing, mortgage banking, bank cards, and wealth management. Credit trends strengthened as net charge-offs declined to 15 basis points and nonperforming assets remained flat, while the allowance for credit losses rose to 1.36% of loans with provisions expected to ease. AI Generated. May Contain Errors.Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallFirst Financial Bancorp. Q2 202400:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2x Earnings DocumentsPress Release(8-K)Quarterly report(10-Q) First Financial Bancorp. Earnings HeadlinesFirst Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Now Covered by Analysts at Truist FinancialMay 15, 2025 | americanbankingnews.comFirst Financial Bancorp Highlights Q1 2025 ProfitabilityMay 12, 2025 | tipranks.comVladimir Lenin was right…The Magnificent 7 could be in for a world of pain… And the insiders know it. It’s why Jeff Bezos just sold $3 billion of Amazon… it’s why Nvidia’s CEO just sold $713 million... and it’s why Zuckerberg just sold $1.3 billion in Meta stock. The financial establishment doesn’t want you to know about this… but a controversial new documentary just pulled back the curtain and exposed what’s really going on. It’s called The Final Frontier.May 22, 2025 | Porter & Company (Ad)Decoding First Financial Bancorp (FFBC): A Strategic SWOT InsightMay 10, 2025 | gurufocus.comFirst Financial Bancorp Declares Quarterly Cash DividendApril 29, 2025 | prnewswire.comFirst Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Q1 2025 Earnings Call TranscriptApril 27, 2025 | insidermonkey.comSee More First Financial Bancorp. Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like First Financial Bancorp.? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on First Financial Bancorp. and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About First Financial Bancorp.First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Bank that provides commercial banking and related services to individuals and businesses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The company offers checking, savings, and money-market accounts; and accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for commercial customers. It also provides real estate loans secured by residential property, such as one to four family residential housing units or commercial property comprising owner-occupied and/or investor income producing real estate consisting of apartments, shopping centers, and office buildings; commercial and industrial loans for various purposes, including inventory, receivables, and equipment, as well as equipment and leasehold improvement financing for franchisees; consumer loans comprising new and used vehicle loans, second mortgages on residential real estate, and unsecured loans; and home equity lines of credit. In addition, the company offers commercial financing to the insurance industry, registered investment advisors, certified public accountants, indirect auto finance companies, and restaurant franchisees. Further, it provides a range of trust and wealth management services; lease and equipment financing services; and currency payments, foreign exchange hedging, and other advisory products. First Financial Bancorp. was founded in 1863 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.View First Financial Bancorp. 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There are 9 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Thank you for standing by. My name is Ian, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the First Financial Bancorp Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer Thank you. Operator00:00:39I will now hand the call over to Scott Crawley, Controller. Scott, you may begin your conference. Speaker 100:00:46Thank you, Ian. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us Speaker 200:00:49on today's conference call to discuss First Financial Bancorp's 2nd quarter year to date financial results. Participating on today's call will be Archie Brown, President and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Anderson, Chief Financial Officer and Bill Harrod, Chief Credit Officer. Both the press release we issued yesterday and the accompanying slide presentation are available on our website at www.bankatfirst.com under the Investor Relations section. We'll make reference to the slides contained in the accompanying presentation during today's call. Additionally, please refer to the forward looking statements disclosure contained in the Q2 2024 earnings release as well as our SEC filings for a full discussion of the company's risk factors. Speaker 200:01:28The information we Speaker 300:01:29will provide today is accurate as Speaker 200:01:30of June 30, 2024, and we will not be updating any forward looking statements to reflect facts or circumstances after this call. I'll now turn the call over to Archie Brown. Speaker 100:01:40Thank you, Scott. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for today's call. Yesterday afternoon, we announced our financial results for the Q2. I'll provide some highlights on our recent performance and then turn the call over to Jamie to provide further information. We had an outstanding quarter. Speaker 100:01:55Adjusted earnings per share was $0.65 in the 2nd quarter, which resulted in a return on assets of 1.4% and a return on tangible common equity of 20.9%. Loan growth was exceptionally strong again this quarter with balances increasing by 11% on an annualized basis, and this was a significant driver in the increase in net interest income. Growth was broad based and was led by Commercial Banking. Similarly, average deposits grew approximately 11% for the period with interest bearing deposits and a seasonal increase in public fund balances driving the increase. Our 4.1% net interest margin was unchanged in the Q1 and remains at or near the top of the peer group. Speaker 100:02:40Total adjusted revenue increased $14,400,000 or 7% compared to the linked quarter. Additionally, we posted record adjusted non interest income of $61,600,000 Growth in fee income was broad based for the period with foreign exchange revenue growing more than 60% from the linked quarter. Leasing business income, mortgage banking and bank card income all increased by double digit percentages and wealth management income posted another record quarter. Adjusted expenses increased by 1.2% compared to the Q1. The increase included a full quarter of agile expenses, the impact of annual salary adjustments that occurred late in the Q1 and variable compensation tied to our record fee income. Speaker 100:03:24Through our workforce efficiency initiative, we have eliminated 90 full time positions to date and this work will continue through the remainder of the year. I am pleased with the 23 basis point decline in net charge offs to 15 basis points, which marks the 3rd consecutive quarter that charge offs have declined. We did experience some downward credit migration during the period. However, this was not concentrated in any particular loan type and non forming loans as a percentage of total assets was relatively flat compared to the prior quarter. Our ACL increased to 1 point 3 6 percent of total loans and based on our outlook for loan growth and credit quality, we would expect provision to decline to levels approximately the Q1 in coming periods. Speaker 100:04:06With that, I'll now turn the call over to Jamie to discuss these results in greater detail. After Jamie's discussion, I will wrap up with some additional forward looking commentary and closing remarks. Jamie? Speaker 300:04:17Thank you, Archie, and good morning, everyone. Slides 4, 5 and 6 provide a summary of our most recent financial results. The 2nd quarter was really strong, highlighted by exceptional earnings, a flat net interest margin, record fee income and solid balance sheet growth. Our net interest margin remains very strong at 4.10. This was unchanged from the linked quarter due to increases in both loan and investment yields offsetting the pressure on deposit costs. Speaker 300:04:46We were pleased that the increase in deposit costs moderated in comparison to prior quarters and we expect this trend to hold. However, we expect slight margin contraction in the near term. Total loans grew 11% on an annualized basis, which exceeded our expectations. Loan growth was broad based with larger increases in C and I, Summit and Agile. Average deposit balances increased 3 $50,000,000 or 10.6 percent on an annualized basis and included a seasonal increase in public funds. Speaker 300:05:21Overall, the deposit mix continues to shift to higher cost deposits. However, we maintain 22% of our total balances in non interest bearing accounts and are strategically focused on maintaining deposit balances. Turning to the income statement, 2nd quarter fee income was the highest in the company's history. Foreign exchange and leasing had solid quarters and Wealth Management had their best revenue quarter ever. Non interest expenses increased slightly from the linked quarter due to higher variable compensation. Speaker 300:05:54However, we are starting to recognize the impact from our efficiency efforts and expect to see further benefits in the coming periods. Our ACL coverage increased 7 basis points during the quarter to 1.36 percent of total loans. This resulted in $16,400,000 of provision expense during the period, which was driven by loan growth and slight credit migration. Overall, asset quality trends were mixed with significantly lower net charge offs and an increase in classified assets. Annualized net charge offs declined 23 basis points during the period and NPAs as a percentage of assets were relatively flat at 35 basis points. Speaker 300:06:40From a capital standpoint, our regulatory ratios are in excess of both internal and regulatory targets. Tangible book value increased $0.44 or 3.5 percent, while our tangible common equity ratio was flat during the period. Additionally, our Board of Directors elected to increase our common dividend during the period. We have always been focused on delivering value to our shareholders and this step is further proof of that commitment. Slide 7 reconciles our GAAP earnings to adjusted earnings, highlighting items that we believe are important to understanding our quarterly performance. Speaker 300:07:19Adjusted net income was $61,700,000 or $0.65 per share for the quarter. Adjusted earnings exclude the impact of our efficiency initiative as well as acquisition, severance and branch consolidation costs. As depicted on Slide 8, these adjusted earnings equate to return on average assets of 1.4%, a return on average tangible common equity of 21% and pre tax pre provision ROA of 2 10 basis points. Turning to Slide 9 and 10, net interest margin was unchanged from the linked quarter at 4.1%. Loan yields increased 10 basis points during the period and the yield on the investment portfolio increased 22 basis points. Speaker 300:08:09The increase in investment yields was driven by higher reinvestment rates as well as the full quarter benefit from the portfolio repositioning executed in the Q1. Funding costs increased 13 basis points during the period, which was significantly lower than in prior periods. Our cost of deposits increased 14 basis points compared to the linked quarter. However, as you can see on the bottom right chart, that pace of growth declined significantly by the end of the quarter. Slide 11 details the betas utilized in our net interest income modeling. Speaker 300:08:44The increase in deposit costs has moved our current beta up 2 percentage points to 45%, which matches our internal modeling. Going forward, we expect deposit cost increases to be a function of mix. Slide 12 outlines our various sources of liquidity and borrowing capacity. We continue to believe we have the flexibility required to manage the balance sheet through the expected economic environment. Slide 14 illustrates our current loan mix and balance changes compared to the linked quarter. Speaker 300:09:16As I mentioned before, loan balances increased 11 percent on an annualized basis with growth in almost every portfolio. As you can see on the right, the largest areas of growth for the quarter were in C and I, Summit and Agile. We expect Agile's growth to moderate in the coming periods as historically the 2nd quarter is the strongest quarter for originations. Slide 15 provides detail on our loan concentration by industry. We believe our loan portfolio remains sufficiently diversified to provide protection from deterioration in any particular industry. Speaker 300:09:53Slide 16 provides detail on our office portfolio. Similar to last quarter, about 4% of our total loan book is concentrated in office space. And the overall portfolio performance metrics remain strong. No office relationships were downgraded to classified during the quarter and our total non accrual balance for this portfolio remains approximately $17,000,000 Slide 17 shows our deposit mix as well as the progression of average deposits from the linked quarter. In total, average deposit balances increased $350,000,000 during the quarter, driven primarily by a seasonal increase in public funds as well as increases in retail CDs, money market accounts and broker deposits. Speaker 300:10:40These increases offset modest declines in non interest bearing deposits and savings accounts. Similar to recent quarters, this was expected as the current interest rate environment has driven customers to higher cost deposit products. Slide 18 illustrates trends in our average personal, business and public fund deposits as well as a comparison of our borrowing capacity to our uninsured deposits. On the bottom right of the slide, you can see our adjusted uninsured deposits were $3,200,000,000 This equates to 23% of our total deposits. We remain comfortable with this concentration and believe our borrowing capacity provides sufficient flexibility to respond to any event that would stress our larger deposit balances. Speaker 300:11:26Slide 19 highlights our non interest income for the quarter. Total fee income increased to $62,000,000 during the quarter, which was the highest quarter in the history of the company. Bannockburn and Summit both had solid quarters and Wealth Management posted its best revenue quarter ever. Additionally, mortgage, bank card and deposit service charge income increased from 1st quarter levels. Non interest expense for the quarter is outlined on Slide 20. Speaker 300:11:57Core expenses increased a modest $1,400,000 during the period. This was driven by an increase in variable compensation tied to fee income, the full quarter impact from Agile and annual salary adjustments. We have also started to recognize some of the expected benefit from our ongoing efficiency initiative. Turning now to Slides 21 22. Our ACL model resulted in a total allowance, which includes both funded and unfunded reserves of $173,000,000 $16,400,000 from total provision expense during the period. Speaker 300:12:36This resulted in an ACL that was 1.36 percent of total loans, which was a 7 basis point increase from the Q1. Provision expense was driven by loan growth and credit migration. Net charge offs declined 23 basis points to 15 basis points and our NPAs to total assets held steady at 35 basis points. In other credit trends, classified asset balances increased to 1.07% of total assets, primarily due to the downgrade of 4 relationships. These downgrades were not concentrated in any loan or collateral type. Speaker 300:13:17Our ACL coverage increased and we continue to believe we have modeled conservatively to build a reserve that reflects the losses we expect from our portfolio. We anticipate our ACL coverage will remain relatively flat or increase slightly in future periods as our model responds to changes in the macroeconomic environment. Finally, as shown on Slides 23, 2425, regulatory capital ratios remain in excess of regulatory minimums and internal targets. 3rd and second quarter tangible book value per share increased 3.5% and the TCE ratio was flat due to balance sheet growth. Absent the impact from AOCI, the TCE ratio would have been 9.13% compared to 7.23% as reported. Speaker 300:14:06Slide 24 demonstrates that our capital ratios would remain in excess of regulatory targets, including the unrealized losses in the securities portfolio. Our total shareholder return remains strong, with 36% of our earnings returned to our shareholders during the period through the common dividend. As I mentioned earlier, we were very pleased that the Board elected to increase the common dividend, demonstrating our commitment to provide an attractive return to our shareholders. We will continue to evaluate various capital actions as the year progresses. I'll now turn it back over to Archie for some comments on our outlook. Speaker 300:14:43Archie? Speaker 100:14:43Thank you, Jamie. Before we end our prepared remarks, I want to comment on our forward looking guidance, which can be found on Slide 26. Loan pipelines continue to be healthy, though we expect a modest increase in payoff trends and seasonally load production in our Agile business unit to contribute to overall loan growth in the low single digits on an annualized basis over the near term. For securities, we expect the portfolio to remain stable. Deposit growth has been steady and we expect to grow more modestly over the next quarter as seasonal public funds move out. Speaker 100:15:17Our net interest margin continues to remain strong and resilient and we expect it to be between 4% and 4.05% for the next quarter. This assumes a 25 basis point rate cut by the Fed in September. We expect our credit costs to decline slightly in the back half of the year, while ACL coverage as a percentage of loans is expected to be stable to slightly increasing. For the full year, we expect net charge offs to be approximately 25 to 30 basis points. The income is expected to be between $58,000,000 $60,000,000 which includes $13,000,000 to 15,000,000 dollars for foreign exchange and $16,000,000 to $18,000,000 for the leasing business. Speaker 100:15:57Non interest expense is expected to be between 100 $122,000,000 $124,000,000 and remain stable, excluding the leasing business. Finally, we're pleased to announce that our Board of Directors approved a $0.01 increase to this common dividend to $0.24 4.3% dividend increase results in a dividend payout ratio within our target range of 35% to 40% of net income and increases our already attractive yield. I'm encouraged with our operating performance through the first half of twenty twenty four and look forward to continued success for the full year. We'll now open up the call for questions. Operator00:16:55Our first question comes from the line of Chris McGratty with KBW. Your line is open. Speaker 400:17:02Good morning. Jamie, maybe start with a margin question. You obviously outperformed expectations this quarter. Your slides show a cumulative beta of 45 on the deposit, 70 on the loans. How are you thinking about NIM if the forward curve plays out? Speaker 400:17:21I think I know you have a September cut, but I know the market is expecting more next year. How do we think about margin into next year? Speaker 300:17:27Yes. So obviously, we were asset sensitive benefited from the increase in rates over the past 6, 8 quarters. But so when we look at it and we look at rate cuts, we're kind of a methodical 25 basis point rate cuts by the Fed. I mean the first couple, we think that we're going to have some difficulty reducing deposit costs significantly. I mean, we'll get some relief on some of the more rate sensitive categories. Speaker 300:18:04So we think that the first cut or 2 impacts the margin a little bit more significantly than the ones going forward. So the first couple of rate, 25 basis point rate cuts, we think we get about 8, 9 basis point decline in the margin. And then going forward from that, we're going to get like a 5 or 6 basis point decline in the margin in the subsequent cuts. We just think the first couple of cuts, it's going to be difficult to get the full impact on the deposit side. And also, I mean, I would tell you our strategy at this point is that just given the fact that we've seen some outsized loan growth, the acquisition of Agile as well over the past 2 or 3 quarters, we've been leaning more towards being a little more aggressive on the deposit side and bringing in deposit balances and having a and trying to match off that loan growth with deposit growth even if it's in some of the higher cost buckets. Speaker 400:19:19That's great. Thanks for that. And Archie, maybe a question on capital. You've got really good capital generation. Your CET1 ratio is pretty solid. Speaker 400:19:29How are you thinking about using potentially using your excess capital and your multiple into 2025? Speaker 100:19:37Yes, Chris. Primarily, I'd say funding the company's growth internally would be 1st and foremost, certainly, we just did the dividend increase. But it's those kind of things. I don't think we see a buyback in the near term. And part of this is we're focused on growing our tangible value continuing to increase it. Speaker 400:19:59And in terms of traditional bank M and A versus a fee income deal, are you seeing I think there's a deal this morning, are you seeing more opportunities to grow that way as well? Speaker 100:20:11Yes, Chris, on the let's maybe talk about bank M and A first. Some conversations happening early stages. I don't see anything in the near term that would come. But I think there's a little bit more interest in discussions just because of where we are in the cycle. And I think especially with some expectations that rates will start to come down and maybe we're approaching a soft landing. Speaker 100:20:35On the non bank side, I don't really think we're pursuing any other acquisitions at this time. Speaker 400:20:41Okay. And then finally, could you just remind us your parameters when you Speaker 100:20:45look at it? You haven't done one since the Speaker 400:20:46main source deal 5 or 6 years ago. Speaker 100:20:50Well, I mean, they can change over time. I'd certainly tell you deposit franchises are a lot more important today than they would have been several years ago. But we like end market. We like more density areas markets, more metro kind of focused areas in our footprint or I would say adjacent to our footprint. Operator00:21:14Great. Thank you. Yes. Your next question comes from the line of Terry McEvoy with Stephens Inc. Your line is open. Speaker 500:21:25Hi, thanks. Good morning, everybody. Maybe, James, just a question for you. Just back on the margin, you said kind of sensitivity to deposit mix over the near term. Just wondering what your thoughts are on the non interest bearing balances over the course of the year and maybe any early insight into the Q3 and whether you fund the loan growth with higher costing deposits? Speaker 500:21:49Yes. Speaker 300:21:49I think, I mean, if you look at the chart and the deck in terms of deposit costs, I mean, we really started to see that the pressure on deposit costs subside significantly in the last couple of months of the quarter. We saw maybe 2 or 3 basis points in those months. So we're really starting to see both from a cost perspective and the momentum that we were seeing from a mix shift, both of those subside pretty significantly. So we think we're at or near the bottom in terms of non interest bearing balances and especially the percentage of non interest bearing the total deposits somewhere in that low. We're estimating that those were going to drop somewhere in the low 20s and we're at 22% now. Speaker 300:22:52So I think that we hit the bottom there or close to it. But going forward, yes, I mean, we are looking to and you can see in the outlook, our deposit for the back half of the year, our loan growth projections are softened from what we were seeing in the first half, which were relatively strong. So we are looking to fund that growth going forward here, especially over the next 2, 3 quarters from the deposit side and not the borrowing side. But understanding that some of that might be the mix of that might be a little bit on the higher cost side and CDs and money market accounts. Speaker 500:23:40Perfect. Thanks for that, Jamie. And as a follow-up, just the transportation sector keeps coming up this earning season when discussing credit. Any comments on your transportation C and I portfolio or within Summit and whether you're seeing any stress there or just taking a step back any segments within C and I you're monitoring and keeping a close eye on? Speaker 600:24:05Yes. We are watching the transportation sector very closely as most of our most banks are just with some of the challenges that they've been facing heretofore. We haven't had any material issues and overall we feel pretty good about the book. But there is some stress, especially in some of the smaller and some of the larger trucking companies out there, but our exposure is manageable. Speaker 500:24:38Thanks for taking my questions. Speaker 300:24:40Thanks, Terry. Thanks, Terry. Operator00:24:45Your next question comes from the line of Daniel Tamayo with Raymond James. Your line is open. Speaker 700:24:53Hey, good morning guys. Good morning, Dan. Thanks for taking Speaker 400:24:55my questions. Speaker 700:24:57I know you talked a little bit about this. I apologize if this question has been asked. I jumped on late. But the loan growth guidance down, I heard you mention seasonally strong, agile in the Q2. So I get that part. Speaker 700:25:12But anything else that's driving that? I mean, is it more of a normalization? Just curious kind of I guess on the commercial side how pipelines look and how we should think about loan growth over the next several quarters. And it's not the official guidance, but kind of if you take a step back and think about what opportunities for you might be over the next several quarters, that'd be helpful. Speaker 100:25:40Yes, Danny, this Archie. We've had a couple of really strong quarters in loan growth and it's been a combination of some decent production, but also much lower than normal payoff activity, especially in our commercial real estate portfolio. So that's buoyed at some. As we look forward, pipelines, I would say, softened some in the mid part of the second quarter. They seem to be strengthening back now. Speaker 100:26:06But that will create a little bit of building that back into production in the back half. So that's a piece. We mentioned Agile, their big part of the year is early to mid part. So that will flatten out for most of the back half of the year. And we are anticipating more payoffs. Speaker 100:26:24Commercial Real Estate, we're starting to see some late in the quarter. We'll see more Q3. Our Oak Street unit, we've got a few large payoffs that we're expecting to come in the back half of the year. So that payoff activity just a little bit stronger combined with Agile. And I would say on the CRE side still that production is a little bit lower than it has typically been. Speaker 100:26:43And you can imagine just the market with rates where they are, the market is a little softer and we're probably a little bit more selective there in the current environment. Speaker 700:26:59Okay. Thanks Archie. And then maybe on the expense side, you guys have done a really good job of managing expenses despite this good revenue growth and balance sheet growth. I'm just curious where you've been able pull out the FTEs or identify cost savings opportunities in this environment and just as you've been going through that, just curious how that's been going, if you've had any issues or identified any kind of areas that you need to invest as you think about continued growth over the next few years? Speaker 100:27:41Yes, Danny, we've talked a little bit about this in both quarters. So it's a maybe a good question for us to talk a little bit more about it. First, we view that good expense control and management is part of what we need to always be doing. But if you think about what's happened in recent years, the industry, but certainly us have invested heavily in great technologies and tools and we believe have created a significant amount of capacity in the system. So we embarked, we did some late last year some, I guess, I'd call them beta testing in an area or 2 to really do kind of we call it almost like desk to desk review of all our production areas and support areas. Speaker 100:28:25We started in a group or 2 kind of proof of concept on what we were trying to do and we identified excess capacity that we could take out of the system. And now we're going through a methodical review throughout the whole company. It's more been in the support areas at this point, but before we're done, which we hope will be through this work by the end of the year, we'll have touched all or most of the company. To date, we're about 35% to 40% through the work. And I'm not sure that the same numbers will hold up through the rest of the process because we'll get into some areas that we think don't have as much capacity. Speaker 100:29:04But we're going to keep doing that work and each quarter as we go through it, we'll update certainly all of you and all of the other stakeholders on the progress that we're making. Speaker 300:29:16And Danny, just to jump in as well, this is Jamie. I mean, what that has also allowed us to do is, we were able to essentially absorb the expenses with Agile through that and the expense base didn't go up a lot and also use those savings to invest in other areas that will help us grow in the future. So the office and clear To Speaker 100:29:40Jamie's point, we have opened a couple offices, commercial banking offices, added a few other salespeople in our wealth group and still been able to keep a lid on the expenses. Speaker 700:29:54Yes. No, it's certainly showing through. So I appreciate all that color. Thanks. Speaker 100:29:59Thanks, Operator00:30:09Our next question comes from the line of Jon Arfstrom with RBC. Your line is open. Speaker 800:30:16Good morning, guys. Speaker 300:30:17Hey, Jon. Speaker 800:30:20On Chris McGratty's question about the margin coming down or freights come down, can you talk about how you expect the fee businesses to perform if short rates come down? Do you think that will have any kind of impact on maybe some improvement there? John, Speaker 100:30:39maybe slightly. We think Bannockburn has shown in multiple rate environments at this point that they can generate income with their clients. So we think they'll continue to perform effectively. Leasing volumes are strong. We'll continue to see the leasing income side grow, I think in even a different rate environment, maybe even more. Speaker 100:31:06And then on the mortgage side, it's really going to depend on probably what happens more in the 10 year part of the curve, but we would expect a little bit of an increase maybe on the mortgage side. If the markets hold up wealth is going to continue. We've put a lot of investment in our wealth group and we think they're going to continue to just incrementally make improvements as we go forward. So those are the big areas. Speaker 800:31:31Yes. Okay. You touched on leasing. It's obviously been very strong. It feels like it's a little bit different than the commercial outlook. Speaker 800:31:41Can you just talk a little bit about the pipelines and leasing and what you're seeing there? Is it market activity or market share? What is it? Speaker 100:31:49Well, they're on a more of a national platform and they've got salespeople throughout the country and other connections of how they do business. So we do get a lens into maybe things more broadly and things are pretty healthy, especially in, I would say, larger companies and they tend to do a lot of business with larger companies. So pipelines are good. If anything, we're probably restraining the ability to originate there a little bit in the environment where we're focused more on funding. We do also, if you just look back last year, we've had a couple of year ends now with them, they will see their strongest amount of origination activity occurs in the back part of the year, especially in that Q4. Speaker 100:32:36So that will pick up. That will I think we said low single digit growth in the near term. Not sure what 4th quarter looks like, but they'll certainly have a strong 4th quarter. Speaker 800:32:46Okay. Good. That helps. And then, Bill, can you just talk a little bit more about the downgrades? And we probably know what the themes are, but any themes? Speaker 800:32:56And then should we expect the classified increases to continue for the next few quarters? Thanks. Speaker 600:33:03Yes. So the downward credit migration in the classified bucket was driven by 2 multifamily and 2 C and I credits. The 1st multifamily deal is currently under LOI. The other experience it has experienced conversion and stabilization delays. The 2 C and I credits are both long time customers 20 plus years that are just navigating through some shifts in the respective markets. Speaker 600:33:33And we think there's reasonable solutions for all of them. And as we look out, we do expect our class size to remain stable. Looking at our special mentions for the quarter, they were down a little flat. And so that kind of that's kind of what we're looking at, at this point, kind of stable. Speaker 800:33:53Yes. Okay. All right. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it. Speaker 300:33:57Thanks, John. Thanks, John. Operator00:34:00There are no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the call back over to Archie Brown for some closing remarks. Speaker 100:34:07I want to thank everybody for joining today and hearing our story for the quarter. We look forward to talking with you again next quarter. Have a great Friday, great weekend. Bye now. Operator00:34:18This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect. Have a good day.Read morePowered by