FinWise Bancorp Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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July 27, 2023

There are 6 speakers on the call.

Operator

Greetings, and welcome to the FinWise Bancorp Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Brad Cohen with ICR.

Operator

Thank you, Mr. Cohen. You may begin.

Speaker 1

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, and welcome to FinWise Bancorp's 2nd quarter 2023 conference call. The earnings press release is available on the Investor Relations section of the company's website at investors. Finwisebancorp.com. Note that this conference call is being recorded.

Speaker 1

I would like to remind you that certain statements made in the course of this call are not based on historical information and may forward looking statements covered by the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ From those described in the forward looking statements, I refer you to the company's filings made with the SEC, including its earnings Press release issued earlier today for a more detailed discussion of the risks and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward looking statements made today. The company undertakes no duty to update any forward looking statements that may be made during the course of this call. Additionally, certain non GAAP financial measures will be discussed on this conference call. Our presentation of this information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information presented in accordance with GAAP.

Speaker 1

Reconciliation of these non GAAP financial measures to the most comparable measures prepared in accordance with GAAP can be accessed Through our filings with the SEC, including the earnings press release issued earlier today at www sec.gov. Hosting the call today are Mr. Kent Landbatter, Chief Executive Officer and President of FinWise Bancorp Mr. Javis Jacobsen, Chief Financial Officer and Mr. Jim Noon, President of FinWise Bank.

Speaker 1

With that, I will turn the call over to Mr. Lamb Vetter. Thank you.

Speaker 2

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us on the Q2 2023 earnings conference call. On today's call, we will provide some color on our Q2 financial results, discuss the impact of the macroeconomic environment on the company and our Strategic priorities. We delivered solid second quarter results, notwithstanding the challenging macro headwinds. This is a testament to our resilient and differentiated business model. I'm exceptionally proud of our team's ongoing execution and dedication to providing our clients customers with best in class value and service, especially during more challenging market conditions.

Speaker 2

Our differentiated and diverse Together with our focused strategic priorities and strong execution, FinWise has been adept at effectively navigating a multitude of economic cycles. This was evidenced again in the Q2 as we continue to generate positive results supported by prudent credit underwriting, while we continued our investment in future growth opportunities. For the Q2 of 2023, We generated revenue of $21,200,000 led by growth in our loan portfolio and better than anticipated loan originations of $1,200,000,000 producing a net income of $4,600,000 or diluted earnings per share of $0.35 with return on average equity of 12.8%. While we recognize originations for the quarter were stronger than anticipated, most of the outperformance was driven by a single platform that benefited from additional funding during the quarter. We continue to believe that the interest rate outlook And tightness in the capital markets will weigh on our originations and that industry wide softness in loan originations may persist through the remainder of 2023.

Speaker 2

Therefore, our near term outlook for loan originations remains cautious and unchanged. In addition, it is important to note that our long term strategy and focus have not shifted. We continue to demonstrate that our business model is sound through various economic cycles and believe we are well positioned for growth when the market rebounds. We continue to prudently and conservatively manage capital. This included investing in our business to fuel future growth as well as selectively repurchasing our shares below tangible book value.

Speaker 2

At the end of the Q2, the company's tangible book value per common share was $11.59 as compared to $11.26 at the end of the prior quarter, And our bank capital levels remain significantly above well capitalized guidelines with a bank leverage ratio of 22.4%. I will now provide an update on our key objectives as we move through the second half of twenty twenty three and beyond. In our Strategic Programs business, we continue to our current platforms while working to expand our strategic program to drive growth and diversify revenue streams. A wide dispersion in the performance of loan originations by various strategic platforms in the quarter continued with some down, while others did relatively better. On the expenses front, we continue to demonstrate cost discipline with the 2nd quarter As previously communicated, We expect that our efficiency ratio will fluctuate and remain elevated as we invest to position the company for future growth.

Speaker 2

We believe that investing in our team and infrastructure, including administrative support, technology, systems And the expansion of our banking as a service product line is the best approach to secure future diversified growth. We believe these investments are crucial in expanding and deepening relationships with our current customers and in rolling out more products planned approach to growing our loan book. In the Q2, overall credit performance of our portfolio has remained strong With no significant deteriorations beyond the ongoing industry wide normalization of credit pre pandemic levels, Jim will provide further details regarding our credit performance later in this call. We are excited to announce that subsequent to the end of the second quarter, We entered into a definitive agreement with BFG and 4 members of BFG to acquire an additional 10% of its membership interests, subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions. Upon closing, this will bring our total ownership to 20%.

Speaker 2

Increasing our equity ownership at BFG has been one of our long term initiatives. As outlined in our previous public filings, we have a right The first refusal and an option to acquire 100 percent of BFG. As we look ahead, we continue to manage We have been proactively positioning the business to be flexible and responsive to the prevailing environment while pursuing opportunities. We will remain disciplined in our underwriting, invest for future growth, explore new opportunities and manage capital prudently. We believe that these strategies have served us well thus far and we are laser focused on seeking to grow the business responsibly and maximizing shareholder value.

Speaker 2

With that, let me turn the call over to Jim Noon, our Bank President, who will provide you with more detail on strategic program initiatives And credit performance.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Kent, and good afternoon. Given the market's focus on credit quality and growth opportunities, I will take a few minutes to walk you through our strategic program initiatives, credit performance and how we believe we are uniquely positioned Whether the current challenging environment and achieve long term growth. As part of our strategy to increase and diversify revenue, We have continued to invest in new products such as card offerings and our payments hub. We believe That an integrated banking as a service offering is core to our future and could provide FinWise with additional opportunities to offer lending, deposits, cards and payment services to our platforms. We are pleased with the progress we have made on these initiatives to date.

Speaker 3

Our SBA 7 loan originations remain solid for the quarter. Similar to the previous quarter, we continued to hold the majority of the guaranteed As a result, our SBA gain on sale revenue was much lower than in the same quarter last year. We continue to believe That over the longer term, this shift may benefit the company through a higher balance of government guaranteed loans in our portfolio and the higher level of recurring interest income that this is expected to deliver. Now turning to credit. Our loan book performed as anticipated with non performing loans to total loans held for investment of 0.3% at the end of the second quarter, The previous quarter and the same quarter last year.

Speaker 3

The company's provision for credit losses was compared to $2,700,000 for the Q1 and a provision for loan losses of $2,900,000 for the same quarter last year. The change in the provision over the same quarter last year was primarily due to a reduction in the balance of our strategic program loans held for investment. During the quarter, net charge offs were $2,400,000 compared to $2,900,000 in the first quarter and $2,300,000 during the same quarter last year. The company's net charge off rate as a percentage of average loans held for investment was 3.4% compared to 4.5% in the 1st quarter and 4.5% in the same quarter last year. The decrease in net charge offs compared to the prior quarter was primarily due to lower net charge offs in our strategic program loans.

Speaker 3

The increase in net charge offs compared to the same quarter last year was primarily due to higher net charge offs related to our SBA loans. We believe we continue to be well reserved with an allowance as a percentage of total loans held for investment of 4.2% in the quarter compared to 4.4% last quarter and 5.3% in the same quarter last year. Overall, we believe our team's extensive experience in the industry along with our technology, automation and underwriting positions us well to manage potential credit risks. Now, let me turn the call over to Javis, He will provide more detail on our financial results.

Speaker 4

Thank you, and good afternoon. I plan to discuss our financial results for the Q2 relative to the prior quarter and to the Q2 of the prior year. Loan originations totaled $1,200,000,000 for the 2nd quarter compared to $900,000,000 for the 1st quarter and $2,100,000,000 in the prior year. Relative to prior quarter, the increase was driven by better than Anticipated performance in our strategic programs, while the decrease from the prior year, was primarily due to a continued contraction in the capital markets For certain loan assets as a result of the challenging macro environment and our conservative underwriting to manage credit risk, Average loan balances comprising held for sale and held for investment loans were up 11.6% percent from $279,300,000 in the prior year. The increase from the previous quarter and the prior year period was primarily driven by continued growth in our SBA 7 program.

Speaker 4

Despite industry wide liquidity pressure, Our balance sheet and liquidity position remained strong during the quarter. Average interest bearing deposits were $219,100,000 compared to $165,200,000 in the 1st quarter $127,200,000 during the prior year period. The sequential quarter increase was driven primarily by an increase in certificates of deposit. The year over year increase was due mainly to increases in certificates of deposit and interest bearing demand deposits, partially offset by a reduction in money market deposits. As we have noted previously, non interest bearing deposit levels have historically had a high correlation with held for provided us with a stable and sticky deposit base.

Speaker 4

Specifically, the origination platforms have been contractually obligated To maintain certain levels of deposits with FinWise, while a significant portion of the uninsured deposits on the bank's balance sheet have been our own capital. Taken together, as of the end of the quarter, approximately 85% of the bank deposits are either insured, are our own capital or are contractually required in our strategic lending business. Now turning to the income statement. Net income for the quarter was $4,600,000 compared to $3,900,000 last quarter $5,500,000 in the same quarter last year. The improvement from the prior quarter was primarily due to an increase in net interest income driven by growth in our loans held for investment portfolio.

Speaker 4

The decrease from the prior year period was primarily due to lower strategic program fees, higher interest expense on deposits and lower gain on sale, partially offset by higher interest income and a reduction in non interest expense. Net interest income for the quarter grew 13% to $13,700,000 compared to $12,100,000 last quarter and was up 7.1% over the $12,800,000 in the same quarter last year. The improvement relative to the prior quarter year was primarily due to Increases in the bank's average balances on loans held for investment portfolio, coupled with increasing yields on variable rate interest earning assets Due to the rising rate environment, partially offset by an increase in the interest rates being paid and average interest bearing liability balances over the Net interest margin for the quarter was 37 basis points lower at 12.14% compared to 12.51 last quarter and 155 basis points lower than 13.69% in the prior year period. The change from the prior quarter was mainly due to an increase in interest bearing liabilities primarily associated with a rise in our certificates of deposit balances and rates. The decrease from the prior year period was primarily due to a reduction in average balances in our loans held for sale portfolio along with the shift in our deposit portfolio mix From lower to higher costing deposits, partially offset by an increase in average balances in our loans held for investment portfolio.

Speaker 4

Non interest income was $5,300,000 in the quarter compared to $4,500,000 in the Q1 and $8,400,000 in the same quarter last year. The increase from the prior quarter was primarily due to an increase in the number of SBA 7 loans sold. The decrease from the prior year period was primarily due The lower originations of strategic program loans and the associated strategic program fees, a reduction in gain on sale of loans primarily attributable To our increased retention of the guaranteed portion of SBA loans to increase interest income, which resulted in a corresponding decrease And gain on sale income, partially offset by an increase in the fair value of our investment in BFG. We expect that the fair value of our investment in VFG will continue to experience quarterly fluctuations, partially due to general market movements. Non interest expense during the quarter was $10,000,000 compared to $8,700,000 in the prior quarter and $11,000,000 in the same quarter last year.

Speaker 4

The increase from the prior quarter was primarily due to an increase in salaries and employee benefits related to higher accrual for performance bonuses based on higher company profitability. The decrease from the prior year period was primarily due to a recovery on our SBA servicing during the quarter compared to 52.5% during the prior quarter and 52% in the same quarter last year. As we've noted in past calls, we expect the company's efficiency ratio to increase as we continue to build out our infrastructure to position the company for Sustainable long term growth. With respect to capital levels with a 22.4% leverage ratio, The bank remains significantly above the 9% well capitalized requirement. The company's effective tax rate was 26 point 1 percent for the 2nd quarter as it was last quarter.

Speaker 4

This compares to 24.6% for the same quarter last year. As part of our effort to be good stewards of capital, during the quarter, we bought back a total of $2,200,000 With that, we would like to open up the call for Q and A. Operator?

Operator

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. Thank you. And our first question is from Andrew Terrell with Stephens Inc. Please proceed with your question.

Speaker 5

Hey, good afternoon.

Speaker 4

Hey. Hello, everyone.

Speaker 5

Hey, can I maybe just start on the origination volume for the quarter, came in a bit better than I expected and It was obviously up in the quarter and Ken, I heard your comments towards the beginning of the call about maybe some still kind of cautious outlook into the back half of the year? But I guess like As you look at it today, does it feel like we've at least kind of relatively hit a trough around this $1,000,000,000 level in terms of originations?

Speaker 3

Yes. Hey, Andrew, this is Jim. So yes, I mean, originations in the quarter were better than But like Kent mentioned, on the script, most of the delta quarter over quarter came From a single partner rather than a broad trend across all of our platforms. And we don't currently see enough broad strength In market conditions or across all of our partners that would change our outlook on originations for the rest of the year. And so We would continue to point you to Q1 origination levels, as more likely than the current quarters.

Speaker 5

Yes, understood. Okay. And the charge offs stepped down pretty considerably Again, this quarter after kind of peaking out in the back half of last year, just on the overall loan portfolio, just wanted to get maybe Thoughts on incremental balance sheet retention of SP loans here. I know you're focusing on Retaining more in SBA credit, but wanted to get the refresh thoughts on the strategic partner or strategic program balance retention?

Speaker 3

Yes. I think specifically you're talking about like the SPHFI portfolio, right?

Speaker 5

Yes. Correct. Correct.

Speaker 3

Yes. Okay. So generally, we've been measured and purposeful in kind of how we grow the balance sheet, Not just in that program, but across our other portfolios as well. If you look at the SPHFI balance at the end of the Q2 of 2022, It was about $27,500,000 And then if you fast forward it to this quarter, that balance is about 20,700,000 So beyond remixing the composition there that we've talked about some in previous quarters, you also saw us reduce the at risk Portfolio there by about $6,700,000 or about 25% over the last 12 months. So There's not a specific balance or size to that SPHFI portfolio that we're targeting, But we monitor and review the trends just like we do with all the rest of our programs to make decisions on what we're comfortable retaining.

Speaker 3

And You can see how we've positioned that over the last 12 months.

Speaker 5

Got it. Okay. And then Jim, going back to some of your prepared remarks about Or some of my prepared remarks around the continued investment kind of in payments hub and card offerings. Wanted to get maybe a status update there and Anything you can share around maybe how the pipeline is looking in terms of the build out of some of that? Just any additional color there would be helpful.

Speaker 3

Yes. Yes, it's no problem. So we continue to make good progress with new lending partner launches, Andrew. And we're comfortable with the stated goal of 2 to 3 launches in the second half of this year, on kind of new lending partners. And then you asked about kind of the new product initiatives as well.

Speaker 3

And it's mostly processes and infrastructure For the new debit and credit card issuance business that's being stood up as we speak, we think that and we believe this will stood up in the next few quarters with our first customers soon thereafter. And then we've also started the diligence and scoping process on our payments hub. We expect this to be operational in the next few quarters as well.

Speaker 5

Very good. I appreciate it. And then if I could just ask one more Quick. The increased investment in BFG, what are the net impacts from a financial standpoint of that Increased investment and can you just talk a little bit more about kind of the rationale there in terms of stepping up the investment?

Speaker 2

Maybe I could start just with the rationale and then I'll turn over to Javis for some of those things. But BFG, As you know, it's been a primary source of our SBA loan since 2014. And beyond that, We've had a very synergistic relationship and we believe that This was a very good acquisition and they've been a very good partner to us. And so we were the primary reasons behind the acquisition You need to be strategic. And so just strengthening this relationship as we move forward is very important to us.

Speaker 2

And maybe, Javis, you can dig into the specifics.

Speaker 4

Yes, Andrew, probably the Maybe the place to start is on dilution. There will be a dilutive impact for existing shareholders as a result The transaction when it closes, but we believe that it will be minor compared to the benefits we expect as a result of the transaction.

Speaker 5

Okay. I guess More specifically on the benefits side, when the transaction closes, I guess, what should we expect in terms of net financial Pacts and benefits? Yes,

Speaker 4

that's a good question, Andrew. As you know, we carry our investment in BFG On our balance sheet at fair value, so this is a little different than the traditional bank acquisition Or what have you in the community bank space. So once we close the transaction, we'll update you on that, The financial impact, but it isn't expected to change from what we've been doing in the past as far as how we treat our investment.

Speaker 5

Okay, very good. Thank you for taking the questions. I'll step back in the queue.

Speaker 4

Sure.

Operator

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. We have a follow-up question from Andrew Terrell with Stephens Inc. Please proceed with your question.

Speaker 5

Okay. Thank you. If I can ask a couple more really quick. Just on The SBA loan servicing fees, what drove the step down in that line item this quarter? It looks like it's been run rating around $500,000 to $600,000 a quarter and it came down a fair amount in the second quarter.

Speaker 5

Just curious what drove the step down this quarter and should we expect the normalization higher there?

Speaker 4

Yes, Andrew, the step down as we've talked about in the past, when rates continue to rise In the market, SBA loans tend to pay off and that's what we had occurred during the Q2. A couple of SBA loans paid off And the associated accruals and deferrals all flushed through the income statement. So that's what you're seeing there.

Speaker 5

Okay. So fair to think a kind of run rates around this level moving forward then?

Speaker 4

It should be similar to the last couple of quarters.

Speaker 5

Okay. Got it. And then maybe just I know the compensation increase this quarter sounded like it was higher level of bonus accrual and you guys do continue making Investments into the franchise kind of positioning for future growth, just could you help us out maybe with operating expense kind of run rate or target for the next couple of quarters?

Speaker 4

Sure. As we've talked about in the past, Andrew, we do plan to continue to build our infrastructure. And as you noted, the major reason for the change between last quarter and this quarter is related to performance The company and bonuses associated with that. So I think the relationships will stay consistent from that standpoint.

Speaker 5

Understood. Okay. And then I might have missed it towards the end of the prepared remarks, But did you have the amount of shares bought back in the current quarter and the weighted average price and then Expectations for the buyback moving forward and then what amount do you have left outstanding on the authorization?

Speaker 4

I have that number, Andrew. I just have to find it. Yes. We purchased 269,690 shares during the quarter for about 2,200,000 And I'm not sure what the I'll have to get back to you Andrew on the amount remaining.

Speaker 5

Okay. That's fine. I can go back and find the initial one. But fair to assume you remain active on the buyback though?

Speaker 4

Where we have opportunity, especially below book value, we will we plan to remain active, yes.

Speaker 5

Okay. Very good. I will step back. Thank you for the questions.

Speaker 3

No problem. Thanks, Andrew.

Operator

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the floor back over to CEO and President, Kent Landbatter for closing comments.

Speaker 2

Yes. Thank you, everyone, for joining us on this quarter's call. We're very excited about the future of the bank and we appreciate your support and Look forward to future growth in our company and shareholder value.

Operator

Thank you. This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

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Earnings Conference Call
FinWise Bancorp Q2 2023
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