Fifth Third Bancorp

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Fifth Third Band Corp Third Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. If you require further assistance, please press star 0. I would now like to turn the conference over to your speaker today, Chris Dahl, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, operator. Good morning and thank you for joining us. Today we'll be discussing our financial results for the third quarter of 2021. Please review the cautionary statements in our materials, which can be found in our earnings release and presentation. These materials contain reconciliations to non-GAAP measures, along with information pertaining to the use of non-GAAP measures, as well as forward-looking statements about Fifth Thirds' performance. We undertake no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this call. This morning, I'm joined by our CEO, Greg Carmichael, CFO, Jamie Leonard, President Tim Spence, and Chief Credit Officer, Richard Stein. Following prepared remarks by Greg and Jamie, we will open the call up for questions. Let me turn the call over now to Greg for his comments.

Thanks, Chris, and thank all of you for joining us this morning. Earlier today, we reported third quarter net income of $704 million, or $0.97 per share. On a core basis, we earned $0.94 per share. Once again, we delivered strong and steady financial results while fully supporting our customers, communities, and employees. During the quarter, we generated an adjusted ROTCE of nearly 19%, which represents the fifth straight quarter, exceeding 18%. We generate period end C&I loan growth of 4% compared to the prior quarter, excluding the impact of PPP. Commercial loan production increased 5% from last quarter, representing the strongest quarter since the fourth quarter of 2019. We generate strong consumer household growth of 3% compared to last year, with growth in every region in our footprint, reflecting the continued success of our branch and digital initiatives. And, as expected, we generate positive operating leverage on a year-over-year basis. Our performance this quarter reflected strong business outcomes across our franchise, resulting in improved and diversified revenues. This was combined with disciplined balance sheet management, expense management, and yet another quarter of the nine credit results. We closed the provide acquisition and the sale of HSA deposits during the quarter to improve long-term growth and profitability. Provide a leading fintech company serving healthcare practices will further accelerate profitable relationship growth. The sale of our HSA deposits is part of our multi-year strategy to simplify the organization and prioritize investments in order to generate differentiated outcomes for our customers and shareholders. Despite continued pressure from low interest rates, adjusted PPNR increased 4% compared to the year-ago quarter, highlighting the strong results from our fee-based businesses in retail, mortgage, commercial, and wealth and asset management. Excluding the impact of PPP, average total loans increased 1% compared to last quarter, reflecting strong commercial loan production as well as strength in our indirect auto and residential mortgage portfolios. Commercial loan production increased 5% sequentially with record quarters in corporate banking and middle markets. Despite some of the challenges we have been hearing from our customers, including supply chain constraints and labor shortages, the strong production was led by our healthcare, renewable energy, and retail verticals and was well diversified geographically. Our commercial lending production trends, pipelines, and retention of the client relationship all support continued loan growth. As it relates to provide, we are very pleased with the progress we have seen so far and We are even more excited about the opportunities for continued growth. As we have previously mentioned, we expect strong original volumes in 2022, selecting a robust pipeline, added product capabilities, and key talent hires. Provide supports, a relationship approach with approximately two-thirds of customers having either a deposit account or a payments relationship with Fifth Third. During the quarter, we recorded a net benefit to credit losses, as well as historically low net charge-offs of eight basis points, reflecting continued improvement in both our commercial and consumer portfolios. In addition to historically low credit losses, we experienced another quarter of improvement in criticized assets and MPAs. Our criticized assets declined near 20%. Our MPA ratio declined nine basis points sequentially. Our MPA and MPL ratios this quarter have reverted back to pre-pandemic levels. Our strong credit performance reflects disciplined client selection, conservative underwriting, and continued support from fiscal and monetary government stimulus programs. Our balance sheet and earnings power remain very strong. As we've said before, we remain focused on deploying capital into organic growth opportunities, evaluating strategic non-bank opportunities, paying a strong dividend, and sharing purchases. bank acquisitions remain a lower priority. I'd like to once again thank our employees. I very much appreciate the way you have continually risen to the occasion to support our customers, communities, and each other. I'm very proud that in addition to producing strong financial results, We have also continued to take deliberate actions to improve the lives of our customers and the well-being of our communities. For our customers, we are excited to roll out Genie, our new AI-driven digital assistant, in the fourth quarter. This will drive targeted marketing capabilities, digital engagement, and improve customer retention. For our communities, we made a $15 million contribution to our foundation this quarter. as part of our $2.8 billion commitment to accelerate racial equity, equality, and inclusion in our communities. In total, we have contributed $40 million in philanthropic support since the end of last year. We continue to make targeted investments to accelerate economic revitalization, as you may have seen in last week's announcement of Fifth Thirds Neighborhood Investment Program. This innovative initiative further demonstrates our commitment to being an ESG leader, in addition to other recent proof points. including chairing over $6 billion toward our $8 billion renewable energy goal to be achieved by 2025, announcing a new position at Climate Risk to focus on identifying, measuring, and managing the physical and transition risk of our clients, and a robust, transparent, and peer-leading ESG disclosure. In summary, we believe our balancing strength, diversified revenues, and continued focus on disciplined management throughout the company will serve us well into 2022 and beyond. We expect to generate positive operating leverage on a year-over-year basis in the fourth quarter and also for the full year in 2021. We remain committed to generating sustainable long-term value and consistently producing through the cycle top quartile results. With that, I'll turn it over to Jamie to discuss our third quarter results and our current outlook.