OFG Bancorp

Good morning. Thank you for joining OFG Bancorp's conference call. My name is Todd, and I will be your operator today. Our speakers are Jose Rafael Fernandez, Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors, and Maritza Arizmendi, Chief Financial Officer. A presentation accompanies today's remarks. It can be found on the homepage of the OFG website under the fourth quarter 2023 section. This call may feature certain forward-looking statements about management's goals, plans, and expectations. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties outlined in the risk factors section of OFG's SEC filings. Actual results may differ materially from those concurrently anticipated. We disclaim any obligation to update information disclosed in this call as a result of developments that occur afterwards. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. Instructions will be given at that time. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Fernandez. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. We are pleased to report our fourth quarter and year-end results. 2023 was an outstanding year with record levels of loans, customer deposits, assets, and stockholders' equity. For the first time, commercial loan balances exceeded $3 billion, and tangible common equity was more than $1 billion. Our digital-first strategy continues to empower existing customers and attract new ones. 93% of all routine retail transactions and more for deposits now take place through self-service channels. enabling our teams to focus more on business development opportunities. While consumer credit has begun to normalize post-pandemic, consumer liquidity and employment levels continue to be solid. Our commercial clients are doing very well in a strong economy. We are very proud of our accomplishments and thank the entire Oriental team for making this record year possible. Please turn to page three for a summary of our fourth quarter results. Looking at the income statement, earnings per share diluted was 98 cents. Total core revenues were $175.6 million, and net interest margin was 5.62%. Provision was $19.7 million, primarily due to increased loan volume. Non-interest expenses were $94.1 million and pre-provision net revenues total $88.2 million. Quarterly performance included two items of note. First was closing on the sale of non-performing Puerto Rico small business loans. We mentioned the planned sale last quarter. This resulted in a $6.3 million pre-tax gain. Second was workforce early retirement and right sizing. This resulted in a $3.2 million non-interest expense for severance and lease cancellations. This stemmed from increased productivity in certain areas, in part as a result of our technology investments. Turning to the balance sheet, total assets increased to $11.3 billion from $10.3 billion last quarter. Customer deposits increased to $9.6 billion from $8.5 billion. This was due primarily to a $1.2 billion deposit of public funds in mid-December, giving us a total of $1.6 billion of government deposits. Loans held for investment totaled $7.5 billion, up 4% from the third quarter, with new loan production or loan origination of $664 million, up 17% from the third quarter. Investment increased to $2.7 billion from $2.1 billion in the third quarter. This was due to purchases of short-term Treasury bills and long-term government mortgage-backed securities. Cash increased to $748 million from $533 million. During the second half of 2023, we redeployed our higher-than-normal cash levels and maturing Treasury positions into longer-term mortgage-backed securities. These moves position OSG balance sheet well for the expected lower interest rate environment in the second half of 2024. Looking at capital, the CET1 ratio was 14.12% up from 14.06% in the third quarter. Please turn to page four for a summary of our 2023 results. Earnings per share diluted for the year was $3.83, up 11% year-over-year. Total core revenues were $683 million, up 12% year-over-year. Net interest margin was 5.8%, provision was $60 million, non-interest expense $363 million, and pre-provision net revenues total $326 million. Our capital actions in 2023 included increasing the quarterly dividend by 10% to 22 cents and completing $18.7 million of share buyback. We have approximately $17 million of remaining authorization. Please turn to page five for an update on our digital first strategy. As of December, 93% of all retail customer transactions and 96% of retail deposit transactions are now being made through digital and self-service channels. That is being driven by year-over-year growth in December of 11% in digital enrollment, 54% in digital loan payments, and 21% in virtual teller utilization, as well as the continued success of our Oriental servicing portal. which was introduced mid-2023. For new listeners, the portal is a corner store of our self-service strategy. Customers can manage all loans and deposit accounts. It enables them to originate and open checking, savings, and CD, applying for and accessing loans, managing automatic loan payments, and downloading bank letters and tax documents. We will continue to add new features on a regular basis. Our 2023 performance continues to validate our strategy and investments in technology. As I mentioned, they help us provide more value-added service, increase our efficiency, and assign more staff for new business development activities. Now, I'd like to welcome Maritza to the call to go over the financials in more detail.

Thank you, Jose. Please turn to page six to review our financial highlights. Starting with revenues, total interest income was $176 million, up $10 million from the third quarter. Key factors were a $7 million increase from loans, a $6 million increase from investment securities, and a $2 million decline from cash. Loans benefited from a higher average volumes and yields. The same factors affected investment securities, mainly due to fixed rates higher gilding securities purchased late in both the third and fourth quarters. Average cash balances declined as we put more funds to work in loans and investment securities. Total interest expense was $33 million, an increase of $9 million from the third quarter. Key drivers were a $5 million increase due to a higher level of short-term wholesale funding and a $4 million increase due to higher average balances of core deposits at a higher rate. Total banking and financial service revenues were $32 million, up $2 million from the third quarter. Wealth management revenues reflected annual insurance commission recognition of $2.5 million. Bank service revenues increased due to higher levels of economic activity And mortgage banking revenues declined due to lower MSR valuations, deflecting the fall in long-term interest rates during the quarter. As a result of all these factors, total core revenues were $176 million, up $3 million from the third quarter. Other non-interest income totaled $7 million, up $6 million from the third quarter. This was due to the gain from the sale of non-performing Puerto Rico small business loans. Looking at non-interest expenses, they totaled $94 million, up $4 million from the third quarter. The efficiency ratio was 53.59%, up slightly from the third quarter. Most of the difference between the third and the fourth quarter was the cost of workforce early retirement and facilities right sizings. We plan to use the results and savings to continue to invest in technology. This should enable us to continue to average about 90 to 92 million dollars of non-interest expense per quarter in 2024, with efficiency ratios continuing in the low to mid 50 percentage range. Other performance metrics remain high. Return on average asset was 1.76%, the same as in the third quarter, Return on average tangible common equity was 18.22%, a nice increase from the third quarter. Tangible value per share was $23.13, up more than $2 from the third quarter. Tangible equity benefited from the increase in both retained earnings and AOCI. Please turn to page seven to review our operational highlights. Average loan balances were $7.4 billion, an increase of 3% from the third quarter. End of period balances were about the same. December 31st balances reflected sequential growth of 9% in Puerto Rico commercial loans, 7% in U.S. commercial loans, 3% in auto loans, and 1% in consumer loans. Residential mortgage loans declined 3%, reflected continued regular paydowns and the securitization and sale of conforming loans. Loan yield was 7.96% of 12 basis points from the third quarter. This reflected increases from variable rate commercial loans, higher entry yields on new loans, and a smaller proportion of residential mortgages in the loan book. Average core deposits were $8.7 billion, an increase of 1% from the third quarter. End of period balances were $9.6 billion, an increase of 12% from September 30th. This reflected the $1.2 billion deposit of public funds in mid-December. Core deposit cost was 107 basis points compared to 90 basis points in the third quarter. This increase mainly relates to 30 basis points due to higher rates on government deposits and 20 basis points in time deposits. As of the fourth quarter, our cumulative beta was 25% for interest-bearing deposits and only 19% for total deposits. Excluding government deposits, it was 15%. Average balance and brokerage deposits were $602 million compared to $266 million in the third quarter. The December 31st balance fell to $363 million. The rate paid on this wholesale funding increased 54 basis points to 5.21% in the fourth quarter. The interim quarterly increase in wholesale funding balances reflected assets and liability management strategies that involve a short-term need for increased liquidity. Most of the December 31st broker deposit balance of $162 million will mature early in the current first quarter. We expect to use excess deposits to reduce wholesale funding. Net interest margin was 5.62%, that compares to 5.80 in the third quarter. Assuming some catch up in the deposit cost as well as a potential rate cut, we believe NIMC will easy about 20 basis points over the course of 2024. Please turn to page A to review our credit quality and capital strength. Net charge-off totaled $16 million, down $3 million from the third quarter. The net charge-off rate was 88 basis points, down 70 basis points from the third quarter. The fourth quarter reflected net charge-off rate declines in residential mortgages due to recovery and an improvement in commercial loans due to the absence of a $7 million charge-off in the third quarter related to two U.S. loans. Included in the fourth quarter net charge-off rates were increases in auto and consumer loans, mainly due to the higher level of delinquencies. Looking at other metrics, provision for credit losses totaled $20 million, most of which relate to increased volume. Fourth quarter early and total delinquency rates were in line with the third quarter at 2.76% and 3.76% respectively, The non-performing loan rate of 1.22% was the lowest of the last five quarters. Overall, credit continues to be good. With COVID cash stimulus fading away, we expect increased net charge-offs in auto and consumer. But with increased employment and a growing Puerto Rico economy, net charge-offs and delinquency should be lower than pre-pandemic levels. Looking at some of other capital metrics, total stockholders' equity was $1.2 billion, and tangible common equity ratio was 9.68%. To sum up, during the fourth quarter, we saw revenue growth continue to benefit from higher yields and higher balances of both loans and securities. Good loan origination driven by commercial, retail, auto, and consumer lending. Increased core deposit costs mainly higher, but figures continue to remain well below peers. Significantly higher end-of-period core deposits, higher short-term wholesale funding, great condition normalization, and core non-interest expense in line with our expected range that includes continuing investment in our digital first strategy. Now, here's poses.