M&T Bank Corporation

Welcome to the M&T Bank Second Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following management's prepared remarks, the call will be open for questions. If you would like to ask a question at that time, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to Brian Klopp, Head of Markets and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Gretchen, and good morning. I'd like to thank everyone for participating in M&T's second quarter 2022 earnings conference call, both by telephone and through the webcast. If you have not read the earnings release we issued this morning, you may access it along with the financial tables and schedules from our website, www.mtb.com, and by clicking on the investor relations link and then on the events and presentations link. Also, before we start, I'd like to mention that today's presentation may contain forward-looking information. Cautionary statements about this information, as well as reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures, are included in today's earnings release materials, as well as our SEC filings and other investor materials. These materials are all available on our Investor Relations webpage, and we encourage participants to refer to them for a complete discussion of forward-looking statements and risk factors. These statements speak only as of the date made, and M&T undertakes no obligation to update them. Now, I'd like to turn the call over to our Chief Financial Officer, Darren Kang.

Thank you, Brian, and good morning, everyone. As we reflect on the past quarter and the first half of the year, we're very pleased with our progress. The second quarter results include the impact of the People's United financial acquisition, which closed on April 1st. We're excited about the momentum we have as a combined organization, especially the progress both franchises are making in preparation for the planned systems conversion later this quarter. With strong NII growth and effective expense management, M&T generated positive operating leverage. as pre-tax, pre-provision net revenue increased by more than $300 million versus last quarter. We repurchased $600 million of our common stock in the second quarter, and yesterday, the Board of Directors authorized a new program to repurchase up to $3 billion in M&T common stock. Our balance sheet management enabled us to benefit from the changing interest rate environment, boosting the net interest margin, and allowing us to deploy excess cash into investment securities with higher yields. With more Fed hikes projected this year, we continue to add more fixed-rate assets to our balance sheet and to continue expanding our interest rate hedging program. While we're just beginning to see the positive net interest income benefit from rising rates, those same higher rates have prompted headwinds in our mortgage banking business, both for origination volumes and for gain on sale margins. We expect these headwinds to persist. Despite the macro challenges, the unemployment rate remains low and credit quality remains strong. We're well positioned for the future and excited to continue the integration of the People's United franchise and to deploying our excess cash and excess capital.