Hancock Whitney Corporation

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Hancock Whitney Corporation's third quarter 2022 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session, and instructions will follow at that time. As a reminder, this call may be recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference, Tricia Carlson, investor relations manager. You may begin.

Thank you and good afternoon. During today's call, we may make forward-looking statements. We would like to remind everyone to carefully review the Safe Harbor language that was published with the earnings release and presentation and in the company's most recent 10-K and 10-Q, including the risk and uncertainties identified therein. You should keep in mind that any forward-looking statements made by Hancock Whitney speak only as of the date on which they were made. as everyone understands the current economic environment is rapidly evolving and changing. Hancock Whitney's ability to accurately project results or predict the effects of future plans or strategies or predict market or economic developments is inherently limited. We believe that the expectations reflected or implied by any forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions but are not guarantees of performance or results and our actual results and performance could differ materially from those set forth in our forward-looking statements. Hancock-Whitney undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Some of the remarks contain non-GAAP financial measures. You can find reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures in our earnings release and financial tables. The presentation slides included in our 8K are also posted with the conference call webcast link on the Investor Relations website. We will reference some of these slides in today's call. Participating in today's call are John Hairston, President and CEO, Mike Ackery, CFO, and Chris Saluca, Chief Credit Officer. I will now turn the call over to John Hairston.

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us late in the day. Today's results reflect one of the highest performing quarters in the history of our company. Results were straightforward with no noise, just another solid quarter. EPS of $1.55 was up $0.17 linked quarter, with net income up $14 million and PPNR up $28 million. Similar to last quarter, loan growth exceeded our expectations, ending the quarter at $22.6 billion, up $739.5 million, or 14% linked quarter annualized. As noted on slide 6, the growth was across our footprint and across all lines of business, reflecting fewer payoffs and higher line utilization. Loan growth in the quarter was partially funded by the remaining excess liquidity on our balance sheet. This shift in earning asset mix, coupled with the most recent Fed rate increases, drove a 50 basis point widening in our net interest margin. Our asset quality metrics remain near historically low levels, with net charge-offs of only $1.3 million. criticized loans up only slightly, and non-performing loans basically unchanged, linked quarter. We booked a provision of $1.4 million this quarter and continue to report a strong reserve at 1.50%. Last quarter, we exceeded our goal of getting under a 55% efficiency ratio. And this quarter, the team delivered an impressive improvement to 51.6%, which we believe is the best in our company's history. Rates helped drive the revenue component of the measure and well offset the slight increase in personnel-related expenses. With additional rate hikes projected in November and December, we have an opportunity to report an efficiency ratio of 50% or better, perhaps in the fourth quarter. Overall, our capital remained solid with leverage up 59 basis points, CET1 up 4 basis points, and total risk-based capital was stable. The rate environment once again impacted our AOCI and was the main driver of the 48 basis point decline in TCE. Our top capital priority continues to be earning support for the common dividend and organic balance sheet growth. We are mindful of macroeconomic events and trends which may impact us. Today we believe we are well positioned for those possibilities. Our balance sheet has natural hedges to absorb interest rate volatility, and should a recessionary period begin, We enter with excellent asset quality, a strong ACL, solid capital, and a diverse loan portfolio. We have a great deal of momentum, both in core banking and improving efficiency, effectiveness, and positioning the company for organic growth. Technology innovation continues and is impactful to our improvement priorities. Coupled with today's results, we hope you see a company focused on improving shareholder value. With that, we'll turn to Mike for further comments.