National Bank NYSE: NBHC executives highlighted record loan production, margin expansion, and early progress integrating the Vista acquisition as the company reported first-quarter 2026 results and reiterated its expectation to deliver more than $1.00 of earnings per share in the fourth quarter.
Quarterly results and balance sheet growth
Chairman and CEO G. Timothy Laney said the company delivered “an outstanding Q1 quarter” and described momentum across the organization as reinforcing management’s belief it can “grow our earnings this year and surpass $1 of earnings per share in the Q4.” Laney pointed to record loan fundings and net interest margin expansion, adding that “positive trends with all credit metrics” left the company “well-positioned to deliver meaningful growth in earnings this year.”
CFO Nicole Van Denabeele reported adjusted net income of $32.6 million, or $0.72 per diluted share, which she said was 43% higher than the prior quarter. On an adjusted basis, she said the company generated a 1.2% return on tangible assets and an 11.8% return on tangible equity.
Van Denabeele said the quarter included the closing of the Vista acquisition and record quarterly loan originations of $805 million, driving annualized loan growth of 12.4%. She said loan balances increased by $2.2 billion, or 29%, during the quarter, consisting of $285 million of organic loan growth and $1.9 billion of loans acquired in the Vista transaction. Management said it entered the second quarter with “robust loan pipelines” and expects to achieve full-year loan growth guidance of approximately 10%.
Net interest margin and deposits
Van Denabeele said fully taxable equivalent net interest income totaled $111 million, up 25.7% from the prior quarter, driven primarily by $2.1 billion of higher average earning assets and the quarter’s margin performance. Net interest margin expanded 17 basis points to 4.06%, which she attributed to a 24-basis point increase in earning asset yields. For the remainder of 2026, she said the company expects net interest margin to remain “near 4%.”
In the Q&A, Van Denabeele said March margin was “very much in line with the overall quarter’s margin.” She also said the first-quarter margin included about 5 basis points of loan accretion related to the Vista acquisition, but emphasized that the margin remained strong even without that impact. She pointed to the quarter’s average loan origination rate of 6.4% and said management expects to fund loan growth with relationship-based core deposits while keeping deposit costs under 2%, supporting a margin around 4%.
Deposit balances increased by $2.2 billion during the quarter on a spot basis, inclusive of Vista balances. Van Denabeele said deposit costs remained low at 1.94% and the loan-to-deposit ratio ended the quarter at 91.9%. In response to a question about organic deposits excluding Vista, management said deposit levels were “a combination of all above,” citing seasonality and deposit “remixing” as the company combined the two institutions. Management also noted Vista had been operating at a 2.5% cost of deposits, while NBH kept deposit costs nearly flat on a linked-quarter basis, which they said reflected “a bit of a reshuffling.”
Credit quality trends and provisioning
Management described credit quality as stable to improving. Van Denabeele said the company recorded $4 million of provision expense, “primarily to support the quarter’s strong loan growth.” Net charge-offs were 8 basis points for the quarter (34 basis points annualized), and the allowance coverage ratio was 1.18%.
Van Denabeele added that as of March 31 the company held $24 million of marks against its acquired loan portfolio, which she said would provide an additional 25 basis points of coverage “if applied across the entire loan book.”
President Aldis Birkans said the company ended the quarter with the lowest levels of criticized loans in four years and reduced both nonperforming assets and nonperforming loans. Laney also told analysts the company had a “dramatic reduction” in criticized and classified loan ratios during the quarter and said management expects NPAs to trend down over the course of the year, while characterizing current levels as within “normal ins and outs.”
Asked how provisioning assumptions factor into the company’s $1.00+ EPS expectation for the fourth quarter, Birkans said loan growth, fee income guidance, and expense synergies were expected to be key components, and that there was “plenty of room to provide for new loan growth in Q4 as well in order to deliver $1 EPS.” Laney added that provisioning would be driven by the company’s models and said there was “nothing unusual” in the assumptions, noting the earnings outlook was not dependent on “any reduction in provision.”
Fees, expenses, and Vista integration
Non-interest income totaled $18 million in the quarter, up 16.9% year-over-year, and Van Denabeele reiterated full-year fee income guidance of $75 million to $80 million. She said that outlook includes $2 million to $4 million of 2UniFi revenue expected to be weighted toward the back half of the year.
In discussing what would drive fee growth through the year, management said 2UniFi-related fees are expected to start contributing in the second half, while interchange and service charges are expected to grow. Management also said mortgage-related gains on sale are typically light in the first and fourth quarters, and it expects a seasonal pickup as it enters the summer period.
On expenses, Van Denabeele said net interest income under GAAP was $96.8 million and included $15.3 million of acquisition and restructuring costs. Excluding one-time items, non-interest expense was $81.5 million. In a later clarification, she said most acquisition one-time costs in the first quarter were recorded in salary and benefits, and Laney referenced items such as severance and other exit-related compensation.
Van Denabeele said the company has begun realizing cost efficiencies from the Vista acquisition and remains on track for targeted expense synergies, with the majority expected to be realized following a third-quarter system integration. She reaffirmed full-year 2026 non-interest expense guidance of $320 million to $330 million and said the year would be “noisy” on the expense front given ongoing hiring and integration timing. She said the second quarter could see an uptick due to additional payroll days and merit increases, then “trend down throughout the year” as synergies are realized after the end-of-July system conversion.
Birkans said onboarding of new associates and clients has gone well and integration efforts remain on track. Executive Vice Chair John Steinmetz said the combined company has retained and attracted talent since closing the transaction, and that operational integration into NBH’s systems and platforms has progressed.
Capital, shareholder returns, and updates on 2UniFi and Camber
Van Denabeele said capital levels remained above well-capitalized thresholds after deploying capital for the Vista acquisition and share repurchases. She reported a Common Equity Tier 1 ratio of 12.5% and a total capital ratio of 15.8%, with tangible book value per share of $26. She also said the company expects to outperform its earn-back expectations for Vista.
Birkans said the company increased its quarterly dividend 3% to $0.32 per share and repurchased $16 million of stock in the first quarter, describing the buyback activity as taking advantage of market volatility.
Laney provided updates on NBH’s Camber and 2UniFi businesses. He said 2UniFi generated more than 1,300 user applications year-to-date, with weekly application volume accelerating from about 40 per week to nearly 400 most recently. However, he said the company still has work to do to increase deposit account openings and loan fundings, while adding he believes the team is “getting close to a meaningful breakthrough.” When asked about progress toward a 2UniFi partnership, Laney said it remains a focus but that there was “not much more we can say about it at this point.”
For Camber, Laney said that over three years the program has grown by more than $700 million to greater than $2 billion and has diversified its deposit distribution network, which he said gives Camber more pricing power and flexibility.
About National Bank NYSE: NBHC
National Bank Holdings Corporation NYSE: NBHC is a diversified financial services holding company headquartered in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Through its network of community bank subsidiaries, the company provides deposit, lending and payment solutions to consumer, small business and commercial clients across multiple U.S. markets.
Since its founding in 1992, National Bank Holdings has pursued a growth strategy focused on acquiring and integrating locally branded community banks. Its footprint spans the Midwest and Southern United States, including Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Illinois and Tennessee.
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