Camden National Corporation

Good day and welcome to Camden National Corporation's third quarter 2022 earnings conference call. My name is Drew and I'll be your operator for today's call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode during today's presentation. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. If you require an operator assistance at any time during the call, please press asterisk then zero. Please note that this presentation contains forward-looking statements which involve significant risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to vary materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Additionally, information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements are described in the company's earnings press release, the company's 2021 annual report on Form 10-K and other filings within the SEC. The company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the forward-looking statements are made. Any references in today's presentation to non-GAAP financial measures are intended to provide meaningful insights and reconcile with GAAP in your press release. Today's presenters are Greg Dufour, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Mike Archer, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Please note that this event is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Greg Dufour. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Joanne. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Camden National's third quarter 2022 earnings call. Earlier today, we announced third quarter net income of $14.3 million and year-to-date earnings of $46.1 million. This resulted in diluted earnings per share of 97 cents for the quarter, and $3.12 for the year-to-date period. Total revenues of nearly $142 million through their first nine months of 2022 were up 2% from the comparable period in 21, despite higher PPP loan income and record mortgage activity last year. We feel this demonstrates the flexibility and strong core operating capacity of Canada National. Underlying these results is our commitment to position and reposition the organization in light of the macroeconomic environment highlighted by rapidly rising interest rates, increased probability of recession, and geopolitical risk. I'd like to take a few moments to further explain some of the actions we're taking. We're repositioning our lending activities as we see the impact of the last remnants of PPP and the slowdown in the residential mortgage markets. This repositioning has actually been going on for several quarters and includes several points. a build-out of our small business lending efforts, leveraging two major strategies. First, we've hired five dedicated small business lenders in our markets and piloted a very successful training program to enhance our banking center manager's capacity to generate small business loans. This effort has been driven by a complete overhaul of our small business lending process, utilizing our FinTech partner, Abrego, as well as our own business process analysis group. We now have the capability to go from application to same-day decision and close within one business day depending on collateral. While early, we are very, very happy with our initial results using the new process. We also focused on streamlining our process for larger credit underwriting to build productivity and scale now and in the future. The results of these efforts allow for the expansion of capabilities in our existing markets while providing impactful tools. as we look to new markets. There are several other areas where our prior investments and focus have positioned as well and will continue to do so. Our asset quality is extremely strong in this period of economic uncertainty and increased probability of recession. We have continued to fortify our allowance for credit losses as demonstrated by our coverage of ACL to total loans of 95 basis points and ACL to non-performing loans of 723. Our ability to be productive continues to benefit us as shown through our 56.43% efficiency ratio. And our focus on deposits continues to be strong through both our retail network and our corporate trade trade management areas. Our deposit beta, which includes clear deposits and CDs, was 14% through the first nine months of the year. These efforts are extremely critical at this point in time as we see aggressive loan and deposit pricing throughout our various products and markets. Our priorities are to maintain asset quality within both our loan investment portfolios, to maintain our efficient cost structure, and to strengthen our balance sheet until we see economic projections turn more favorable. I would also highlight that we continue to focus on capital by being opportunistic in share repurchases as we repurchase just over 60,000 shares during the third quarter and provided a 40-cent dividend per common share. During the quarter, we also announced that Rebecca Hatfield, President and CEO of Avesta Housing based in Portland, Maine, will be joining our board on December 31st, 2022. In addition to her experience at Avesta, Rebecca has a strong background in banking, both in the lending and credit areas, as well as previous experience in the technology industry. I'd like to now turn the discussion over to our Chief Financial Officer, Mike Archer.

Thank you, Greg. Good afternoon, everyone. Earlier today, we reported net income for the first nine months of 2022 of $46.1 million and diluted earnings per share of $3.12 compared to $52.5 million and diluted EPS of $3.49 for the same period a year ago. The drivers for the earnings compression between these periods can be directly traced back to the change in the global economic environment between periods, creating a dynamic and rapid shift and the operating environment for us, not unlike other banks. Between periods, we have seen interest rates rise considerably at an accelerated pace, the yield curve invert, and mounting pressures for a slowing economy that many believe will lead to a near-term recession. Through the challenges, we've been able to maintain favorable performance metrics through the first nine months of 22, including a return on average assets at 1.13%, a return on average tangible equity at 16.27%, and maintain an efficiency ratio in the mid-50s. To further highlight the strength of our core operations and results, for the nine months ended September 30, 2022, we reported an increase in non-GAAP earnings, which excludes income taxes, provision expense, and SBA PPP loan income of $4.5 million, or 8%, over the same period last year. In regards to our performance for the most recent quarter, we reported net income of $14.3 million, diluted EPS of 97 cents for the third quarter, each down 5% compared to the second quarter of 2022. On a non-GAAP basis, adjusting for income taxes provision spent in SBA PPP income, earnings decreased 328,000 or 2%. Then net interest income had a nice lift in the third quarter, increasing 1.3 million or 4% over the second quarter. Historically, we've seen an increase in our net interest margin in the third quarter each year, due to seasonal inflows of deposits within our markets, which we again saw this year as average core deposits increased 4% in quarter over quarter. The seasonality in our deposits and our shift in earning asset nets as we continue to redeploy investment cash flows to fund loan growth, each contributed to NIM increasing four basis points between quarters to 2.88% for the third quarter. Our NIM increase for the quarter was within our prior guidance. Our yield on interest-earning assets for the third quarter increased 29 basis points to 3.4% over the second quarter, and represented an asset beta of 20% for the period. Funding costs over the same period increased 25 basis points to 0.54%. For the third quarter of 22, our total deposit cost was 0.45%, an increase of 24 basis points over the second quarter, and represented a deposit beta of 17% for the quarter. Year-to-date, our deposit data, which includes non-interest checking and CDs, was 14%. End-to-end loans grew 4% during the third quarter and 13% through the first nine months of 2022. Our loan growth for the quarter was driven by residential mortgage and commercial real estate. Residential mortgage balances grew 7% during the quarter and credit balances grew 2%. As noted in our earnings release, at the end of the third quarter, our residential mortgage pipeline was approximately $110 million, and our commercial pipeline was approximately 90 million. For the third quarter of 2022, we provisioned 2.8 million of the spend for credit losses, which was an increase of 419,000 over the last quarter. At this point in the cycle, our credit portfolio remains in excellent condition with no immediate signs of trouble or deterioration. The increase in the provision for the credit losses this quarter was due to the combination of solid loan growth and growing concerns of an economic slowdown. In the third quarter, we released the remaining reserves that were established for certain COVID-modified hospitality loans, totaling $768,000. At September 30, 2022, our allowance for credit losses on loans stood at 95 basis points of total loans, which was an increase of three basis points over the last quarter and covered over seven times our non-performing loans. Our reserve levels continue to incorporate our long-term view of macro conditions as well as consider more local factors. We continue to proactively monitor and analyze various pockets of our portfolio to identify any leading indicators of risk. And to date, we have not identified any trends of systemic risk or stress within our portfolio. Non-interest income for the third quarter of 2022 totaled 10 million and was down 11% compared to the previous quarter, as we were not immune to the effect of higher interest rates pressuring mortgage banking income and the down markets affecting wealth management fees and bully income. Residential mortgage production for the third quarter was down 20% compared to last quarter, and correspondingly, sole production was nearly down 20% as well. Our non-interest income forecast for next quarter is a range of 10 to 11 million, like previous quarters. In the fourth quarter each year, we recognize our annual debit card incentive bonus and expect to do so again next quarter. Non-interest expense for the third quarter of 2022 totaled $27.1 million, which was 2% higher than the second quarter of 2022. Our non-GAAP efficiency ratio for the third quarter of 2022 was 56.43% compared to 55.42% in the last quarter. We estimate our fourth quarter expenses will be near $27 million as we've seen in the past quarters. Tangible book value per share decreased 95 cents or 4% during the third quarter to $22.97 at September 30th, while our tangible common equity ratio decreased 38 basis points in the quarter to 6.13% at September 30th. Tangible capital decreased again due to rising interest rates, so decreasing the value of our bond portfolio. Actions we took in the second quarter to move securities to HDM help mitigate some of the impact of further rising rates on tangible capital. The company's regulatory capital ratios continue to be well in excess of regulatory capital requirements as of September 30th, supporting the strength of our core capital position. During the third quarter, we repurchased 63,689 shares of our common stock, bringing our total shares repurchased for the first nine months of 22 to $225,245 at a weighted average cost of $45.46 per share. This concludes our comments on our third quarter results. We'll now open the call for questions.