NASDAQ:BPOP Popular Q2 2024 Earnings Report $95.94 0.00 (0.00%) Closing price 04/25/2025 04:00 PM EasternExtended Trading$95.94 +0.00 (+0.01%) As of 04/25/2025 07:28 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Earnings HistoryForecast Popular EPS ResultsActual EPS$2.46Consensus EPS $2.08Beat/MissBeat by +$0.38One Year Ago EPS$2.10Popular Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$1.09 billionExpected Revenue$751.57 millionBeat/MissBeat by +$336.64 millionYoY Revenue GrowthN/APopular Announcement DetailsQuarterQ2 2024Date7/24/2024TimeBefore Market OpensConference Call DateWednesday, July 24, 2024Conference Call Time11:00AM ETConference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptSlide DeckPress Release (8-K)Quarterly Report (10-Q)Earnings HistoryCompany ProfileSlide DeckFull Screen Slide DeckPowered by Popular Q2 2024 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrJuly 24, 2024 ShareLink copied to clipboard.There are 11 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Hello, and welcome to the Popular Incorporated 2Q Earnings Call. My name is Elias, and I'll be coordinating your call today. I'd now like to hand over to Paul Cardillo, Investor Relations Officer at Popular. Please go ahead. Speaker 100:00:22Good morning, and thank you for joining us. With us on the call today is our CEO, Ignacio Alvarez our President and COO, Javier Ferrer our CFO, Jorge Garcia and our CRO, Lidio Soriano. They will review our results for the Q2 and then answer your questions. Other members of our management team will also be available during the Q and A session. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that on today's call, we may make forward looking statements regarding Popular such as projections of revenue, earnings, expenses, taxes and capital structure, as well as statements regarding Popular's plans and objectives. Speaker 100:00:56These statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward looking statements are set forth within today's earnings release and our SEC filings. You may find today's press release and our SEC filings on our webpage at popular.com. I will now turn the call over to our CEO, Ignacio Alvarez. Speaker 200:01:17Good morning, and thank you for joining the call. Before I discuss the highlights for the Q2, I am pleased to report that today we announced a 13% increase in our quarterly common stock dividend from $0.62 to $0.70 per share, commencing with a dividend payable in the Q1 of 2025 and a $500,000,000 common stock repurchase authorization. These actions evidence the strength of our capital position, which allows us to continue to invest in our franchise and serve the needs of our customers, while also returning capital to our shareholders. Please turn to Slide 3. We are pleased to report a strong Q2 achieving net income of $178,000,000 Excluding the impact of the FDIC special assessment and tax withholding matter on the results for the Q1, net income increased by 43,000,000 The results in the Q2 were driven by higher net interest income and lower provision for credit losses. Speaker 200:02:17Our ending loan balances increased by $473,000,000 during the quarter. BPPR achieved loan growth of $509,000,000 reflecting growth across almost all lending segments. Popular Bank saw a $36,000,000 decrease in loan balances driven by $140,000,000 commercial loan payoff that offset growth in construction loans. Deposit balances increased by approximately $1,700,000,000 driven by higher level of Puerto Rico government deposits. Our net interest margin increased by 6 basis points to 3.22 percent mainly driven by higher average loan balances and the repricing of loans and reinvestment of securities in a higher interest rate environment. Speaker 200:03:03This was partially offset by higher deposit costs. Non interest income increased by 2,000,000 dollars to $166,000,000 Excluding the additional FDIC special assessment and the expenses associated with the prior period tax expense, operating expenses increased by $7,000,000 driven by professional fees and transaction related costs. Credit quality trends improved in the quarter with lower net charge offs, NPLs and NPL inflows. The credit trends in the Puerto Rico unsecured consumer segment have stabilized. Tangible book value per share of 62 point $7.1 increased by $2.65 driven by our quarterly net income and lower unrealized losses in our investment portfolio. Speaker 200:03:52Please turn to Slide 4. Consumer spending remained healthy. Combined credit and debit card sales increased by 5% compared to the Q2 of 2023. Our auto loan and lease balances increased by $129,000,000 compared to the Q1 as demand for new cars continue to be strong in Puerto Rico. Mortgage loan balances at BPPR increased by $107,000,000 in the 2nd quarter, driven primarily by home purchase activity and our existing strategy to retain FHA loans in portfolio. Speaker 200:04:28Business activity in Puerto Rico remains solid as reflected in the positive trends in total employment, consumer spending and other economic data. The tourism and hospitality sector continues to be a source of strength for the local economy. Passenger traffic at the San Juan International Airport increased by 8% in the Q2 compared to the Q2 of 2023. Hotel occupancy was flat year over year in the first half of twenty twenty four and the average daily rate and RevPAR were up slightly year to date compared to the same period a year ago. There is a significant amount of committed federal funds that have yet to be dispersed. Speaker 200:05:11The pace of disbursement of these funds has accelerated and we anticipate that they will support economic activity for several years. We remain optimistic about the future of our primary market and are well positioned to support our clients during the coming years. In short, we are pleased with our financial performance for the quarter, particularly in Puerto Rico, where continued loan growth and improved credit metrics helped contribute to our increase in net interest income and support our optimistic outlook for the balance of the year. On that note, I now turn the call over to Jorge for more details on our financial results. Speaker 300:05:48Thank you, Ignacio. Good morning and thank you all for joining the call today. As Ignacio stated, we reported net income of $178,000,000 in the Q2, dollars 43,000,000 higher than the prior period's adjusted results. We're pleased with the core results, particularly the NII growth and the expansion of the NIM. Net interest income increased by $18,000,000 Our net interest margin increased by 6 basis points on a GAAP basis and 10 basis points on a tax equivalent basis, driven by the repricing of loans and securities and higher balances. Speaker 300:06:22Loan growth improved this quarter to 1.5% year to date driven by BBBR where we saw loan growth across nearly all categories, led by commercial, lending, auto and mortgage originations. The underlying economic activity in Puerto Rico remains strong. However, the demand for credit in our U. S. Market continues to be less than we had anticipated at the beginning of the year. Speaker 300:06:44As a result, we now expect consolidated loan growth to be towards the low end of our original 3% to 6% guidance. Consolidated customer deposit balances, excluding Puerto Rico public deposits were flat as increases in time deposits at Popular Bank were offset by outflows at BPPR. However, average customer balances during the quarter were higher, including non interest bearing demand deposits. At the end of the Q2, Puerto Rico public deposits were $19,700,000,000 up $1,700,000,000 compared to Q1 and above the upper end of our year end guidance range. Q2 is typically the peak in public deposit balances and is mostly related to tax receipts. Speaker 300:07:26Normal annual seasonality should result in these balances trending lower for the rest of the year. By the end of 2024, we expect public deposits to be near the upper end of our $15,000,000,000 to $18,000,000,000 guidance. While higher balances of public deposits contribute to higher NII, approximately CAD 800,000,000 of low cost government related accounts managed by our Fiduciary Services Group were repriced during the quarter to market linked rates, offsetting in part the benefit of the higher balances. As a result of the shift of the deposit mix toward higher cost deposits, along with a slower loan growth in the U. S, we now expect our year over year growth in NII to be 8% to 10%. Speaker 300:08:08Non interest income was $166,000,000 an increase of $2,000,000 from Q1, driven primarily by higher credit card and debit card fees from customer transaction activity. We continue to expect non interest income to be approximately $160,000,000 to $165,000,000 per quarter. During the Q2, we were also very pleased to see the continued improvement in credit metrics. The provision for credit losses of $47,000,000 was CAD 26,000,000 lower than the Q1. Total operating expenses were CAD470,000,000 or CAD7 1,000,000 higher than last quarter's adjusted operating expense. Speaker 300:08:46The increase was driven by professional fees due to advisory related expenses, an increase to reserves for operational losses and higher transactional expenses tied to client activity. These increases were offset in part by lower personnel expenses, which are traditionally higher during the Q1 of the year due to annual incentive awards and payroll taxes. We continue to expect total 2024 expenses in a range of $1,89,000,000 to $1,950,000,000 Our effective tax rate for the quarter was 19% compared to a 25% adjusted tax rate in the prior quarter as we benefited from higher tax exempt income and certain tax credit during the quarter. We continue to expect the effective tax rate for the year to be in the range of 21% to 23%. Please turn to Slide 6. Speaker 300:09:36Net interest margin increased by 6 basis points. On a taxable equivalent basis, NIM was 3.48%, an increase of 10 basis points. The increase was driven by higher earning asset yields and balances. This benefit was partially offset by higher interest expense on deposits due to increased average balances of public deposits at BPPR and time deposits at Popular Bank. During the quarter, we continue to see the benefits in the contribution of the investment portfolio as low yielding maturities are reinvested in short term fee bills that are tax exempt in Puerto Rico. Speaker 300:10:09This improved the tax affected yield of securities portfolio by 24 basis points to 3.47%. In BPPR, the cost of total deposits increased by 2 basis points to 1.83%. The total deposit cost at BPPR continued to be impacted by the proportion of public deposits to total deposits. At Popular Bank, deposit costs increased by 3 basis points during the quarter. This change reflected a significant stabilization when compared to an increase of 23 basis points in Q1. Speaker 300:10:40We expect to continue NIM expansion throughout the rest of 2024. Please turn to Slide 7. Regulatory capital levels remain strong. Our CET ratio of 16.5% increased by 12 basis points from Q1. Tangible value per share at the end of the quarter was $62.71 an increase of $2.65 per share from Q1. Speaker 300:11:04Return on tangible common equity improved by nearly 500 basis points in the quarter to 11.8%. We continue to target a sustainable 14% return on tangible common equity by the end of 2025. As Ignacio mentioned, we announced an increase in our quarterly common dividend of $0.08 per share to 0 point 7 $0 We expect our Board to approve and declare this dividend in Q4 for payment in the Q1 of 2025 and a CAD 500,000,000 common stock repurchase authorization. We expect to execute the stock repurchases in the open market. The timing and quantity of the repurchases will be subject to various factors, including market conditions, our capital position and financial performance. Speaker 300:11:44We will provide quarterly updates on our activity as part of our earnings webcast and SEC filings. With that, I turn over the call to Lidio. Speaker 400:11:51Thank you, Jorge, and good morning. Credit quality metrics improved from the Q1 with the corporation's mortgage and commercial portfolios continue to reflect credit metrics significantly below pre pandemic levels, while credit quality metrics continue to normalize for Puerto Rico's consumer portfolios. We continue to closely monitor changes in the macroeconomic environment and on borrower performance. Given higher interest rate and inflationary pressures, we remain encouraged by the performance of our loan book. Turning to Slide number 8. Speaker 400:12:28Non performing assets and non performing loans decreased during the quarter driven by the BBPR segment. NPLs in BBPR decreased by $12,000,000 reflecting improvements across most loan categories. NPLs in the Popular Bank segment remained flat, driven by the return to accrual of a $17,000,000 mortgage loan offset by a $17,000,000 commercial NPL inflow. OREO decreased in BBPR by $10,000,000 driven by the sale of a commercial real estate property. Inflows of NPLs decreased by $2,000,000 In DBPR, total inflows increased by $8,000,000 driven by higher mortgage inflows, while in Popular Bank, inflows decreased by $9,000,000 as last quarter activity included a single 17,000,000 dollars mortgage loan that enter NPL, offset in part by higher commercial inflows by $7,000,000 The ratio of NPL to total loans held in portfolio remained flat at 1%. Speaker 400:13:33Turning to Slide number 9. Net charge off amounted to 54,000,000 dollars or annualized 61 basis points of average loans held in portfolio compared to $62,000,000 or 71 basis points in the prior quarter. Net charge off in DDPR decreased by $7,000,000 driven by lower consumer by $5,000,000 and lower commercial by $2,000,000 The decrease in consumer net charge off were driven by lower auto by $4,000,000 dollars and lower personal loans by $1,000,000 In Popular Bank, net charge off decreased by $1,000,000 due to lower consumer net charge offs. Given the credit performance in the first half of the year and our outlook for the second half, we now expect net charge off to be near the low end of our initial full year guidance of 65 basis points to 85 basis points. Please turn to Slide 10. Speaker 400:14:35The allowance for loan losses decreased by $9,000,000 to $730,000,000 In BBTR, the AECL remained flat as increases driven by higher commercial loan volumes, higher qualitative reserves and changes in credit quality were offset by changes in the macroeconomic scenarios and net charge off. In Popular Bank, the ACL decreased by $9,000,000 mainly driven by lower reserves for the commercial portfolio due to risk rating improvements. The corporation ratio of ACL to loans held in portfolio decreased slightly from 2.11 percent to 2.05%, while the ratio of ACL to NPLs improved slightly from 209% in the previous quarter to 214% this quarter. Deposition for loan losses was $44,000,000 compared to $72,000,000 in the prior quarter, reflecting lower losses, changes to credit quality and improvements in macroeconomic scenarios. In BBBR, the provision was $49,000,000 compared to $61,000,000 dollars while in Popular Bank, the provision was a benefit of $4,000,000,000 compared to an expense of $11,000,000 in the Q1. Speaker 400:15:53To summarize, credit quality metrics improved during the Q2 and we remain encouraged by the performance of our loan book. With that, I would like to turn the call over to Ignacio for his concluding remarks. Speaker 200:16:06Thank you, Lidio and Jorge for your update. Our results for the first half of twenty twenty four were strong, driven by higher net interest income and expanding net interest margin and improved credit quality. We are continuing to execute on our transformation to better serve our customers and drive returns over time. We are investing in talent and technology to deepen our relationships with clients and maximize the opportunities inherent in our unique franchise. I am optimistic about our prospects for the remainder of the year. Speaker 200:16:36Business trends in Puerto Rico continue to be positive and we are well positioned to participate in the economic activity that is expected to be generated in the coming years. We are mindful of the responsibility we have to Puerto Rico as the leading banking institution and to all the communities that we proudly serve. In June, we released our annual corporate sustainability report. We continue to focus on providing opportunity for progress, protecting the environment and promoting trust. One of the highlights of the report included the financing of 1 of the largest transactions to date in the renewable energy sector in Puerto Rico, a solar farm that produces enough electricity to supply the needs of approximately 7,000 homes in Puerto Rico. Speaker 200:17:20Finally, providing opportunity in our community starts with ensuring Popular remains a great place to work. I want to thank all our colleagues for their continued education and commitment to serve our customers and contribute to our success. We are now ready to answer your questions. Operator00:17:40Thank Our first question comes from Kelly Motta with KBW. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Speaker 500:18:02Hi, good morning. Thanks for the question. Good morning, Kelly. I would like to start out with the capital plan. It certainly came at least a quarter sooner than I had expected. Speaker 500:18:16Just wondering, I know you guys were waiting for some clarity on the outlook before coming out with something. Has anything changed in terms of your comfort level with where you're viewing the capital position and the outlook ahead that allowed you to come out with this in July? And also wondering any guideposts we should be thinking about in terms of what your constraining capital ratio is and how you're thinking about stepping in with the buyback, especially with the run we've had in the stock? Thanks. Speaker 200:18:55Yes. Obviously, we hear our investors and our Board and management is very conscious that people wanted a statement from us on where we were on a capital return. We worked very hard with our group. We went through some analysis of our credit book and what we thought about the future and we thought that the $500,000,000 authorization was the appropriate amount appropriate amount given the circumstances. We also thought given our view that the dividend increase was important, I think that's an important piece of the puzzle. Speaker 200:19:27So obviously, that shows our confidence in the future. In terms of where we're going, we're going to do open market purchases. We still think that the stock is fairly valued. So we I really have more insight than that, but we still believe that the stock is fairly valued, especially relative to our peers and others in the industry. Speaker 500:19:50Got it. Okay. That's really helpful. And then with the NII outlook being reduced, just a point of clarification, the 8% to 10% growth that you're currently projecting for this year, is that on a GAAP basis or an FTE, because there are some moving parts with the FTE adjustment this year that does make it somewhat meaningful? Speaker 300:20:21Yes. Thank you for the question, Kelly. All of our guidance is GAAP basis. Speaker 500:20:27Got it. That's helpful. And with your outlook, for government deposits to decline off of that $19,700,000,000 level where we're at now. As we look ahead, should we be thinking about the balance sheet as being relatively flat from here given the movement in government funds between now year end? Speaker 300:20:55I mean, certainly, if I would expect the movement. If you see a decrease in deposits, we would not be leveraging up the balance sheet with alternative sources of liquidity. So I think that's a fair statement in terms of more or less around that level of decrease of public funds. Speaker 500:21:13Got it. Thank you. I'll step back. Operator00:21:19We now turn to Timo Braziler with Wells Fargo. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Speaker 600:21:27Hi, good morning. Speaker 200:21:29Good morning. Speaker 600:21:33Wondering on the $800,000,000 of low cost government deposits managed by fiduciary services that were repriced this quarter. Just wondering what drove that? When did that happen in the quarter? And how much of a headwind from an average standpoint will flow into 3Q from those actions? Speaker 300:21:55Thank you, Timur. First, the repricing is baked into our guidelines. So our updated guidance takes into account this repricing. It happened towards the end of the quarter and I think at the beginning of June. So I mean, I don't know if there's any other part of the question there, Timur. Speaker 300:22:18I think I missed the part. Speaker 600:22:22Just what drove that decision? Speaker 300:22:28As you know, I mean these are client relationships. We have communications and conversation with our clients and we react to market conditions and client expectations. Speaker 600:22:42Okay. And then maybe just following up on Kelly's FTE question. Can you just give us an update on where you expect FTE for the year in context of the updated guide? How much of that revision was driven by the issuance? Yes, we Speaker 300:22:59don't usually get guidance on an FTE basis. Our guidance is all GAAP basis. The tax rate, we do provide you the tax rate, so it allows you to at least get a sense of the flow to EPS. Speaker 600:23:16Okay. But should we expect further reinvestment into tax advantage T bills or has that remixing largely played out? Speaker 300:23:29Now as you probably remember, we have about $1,000,000,000 a quarter in maturities in our investment portfolio. We currently continue to invest in T bills or fund loan growth. So ultimately, the we haven't exhausted our potential for taxes and securities. Okay. But again, all this and that I can go as hard. Speaker 300:23:58And tax effective rate. Speaker 700:24:02Okay, got it. Speaker 600:24:02And then just last for me, just around the cadence for buybacks, is the expectation that we go back to a January authorization as we've seen in the past? Or is this $500,000,000 more or less for a year and the next Board authorization or Board decision will take place a year from now in July? Speaker 200:24:28No, no. This is an open ended authorization. We don't have a time limit on it. And we will execute under this authorization. And if things change, we'll let you know. Speaker 200:24:42But this Speaker 300:24:42is an open end authorization with no specific time limit. And we're not expecting to go back to the annual January cadence. We want to have the flexibility to react to market conditions. Operator00:24:56Great. Thanks, Matt. Our next question comes from Jared Shaw with Barclays. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Speaker 700:25:07Hey, good morning. Maybe first just Speaker 800:25:12if we Speaker 700:25:12look at the fees and expenses to get into your guidance range, where should we, I guess, expect to see lower fees and where should we expect to see a faster pace of expense growth? Speaker 300:25:30Let's talk about the expenses first. There is seasonality in expenses, for example, merit increases, our personnel costs are a significant portion of our expenses. Our merit increase schedule is in the summer. So that is an expense that will be accretive or an incremental expense that we'll see in the second half of the year. We continue to have efforts around the transformation, professional fees, technology. Speaker 300:25:57These are not symmetric throughout the year. So in terms of fee income, there is there are a lot of components to that fee income. Some of it comes from our equity pickup investment in Banco Biachare in the Dominican Republic. There's transactional activity from clients. I There are a lot of variances and frankly $2,000,000 or $3,000,000 up or down any quarter, it's not an unusual variance. Speaker 700:26:31Okay. All right. Thanks. And then when we look at credit, good trends in credit charge offs, do you think that we've seen peak consumer charge offs here? And where should we expect to see the ACL settle out? Speaker 700:26:48Is this a good rate as a ratio of loans? Or is there still room for that to move lower? Speaker 900:26:58A lot of that what you have is going to be economy dependent. We feel and we're comfortable with the state of the economy and the outlook for the economy going forward. So I'll leave it at that. I mean, the rate and net charge off on the top of the Asia will depend on the economy. Speaker 700:27:22Okay. But so right now though, you still feel pretty confident on the general trajectory at this point, it sounds like? Speaker 900:27:30We do, yes. Speaker 700:27:33Great. Thank you. Operator00:27:37We now turn to Jared Cassidy with RBC. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Speaker 800:27:46Hi, good morning. This is Thomas Leddy calling on behalf of Gerard. Loan growth has remained pretty solid now for range. As you look ahead given the remaining sort of idiosyncratic tailwinds for the island specifically, could loan growth for BPPR actually accelerate from here as some of the construction projects you guys have referenced historically sort of come online? Speaker 200:28:20This is Ignacio. I think we would reiterate the guidance we've given. I think we feel pretty good about the economic activity in Puerto Rico. We are seeing a lot of positive economic activity, investment from outside the island, entrepreneurs locally. So we feel pretty good. Speaker 200:28:36And if you saw the results, we are seeing long growth in Puerto Rico. What's holding us back a little bit is that the U. S, like many of our peers in the U. S, especially that focused a lot on commercial real estate, that loan growth has been slower and slower than we expected. So again, in general, we reiterate the guidance, we feel good about Puerto Rico, but we feel that the U. Speaker 200:28:59S. Has been a bit slower than we actually had expected. Speaker 800:29:04Okay, that's helpful. And then I guess just more broadly, can you give us some color regarding your appetite for actually growing that Mainland portfolio in the face of what's expected to remain a pretty uncertain credit environment in the back end of this year and into early next year? Speaker 200:29:20I would say generally, I don't really think we have some there. We're comfortable with the portfolio that we have, but obviously we've been as most banks, we have been prudently looking at the market and we are being careful, especially in the commercial real estate sector, but we're very comfortable with the portfolio we had. So again, there is a lot of pressure in general from regulators and others to sort of make sure your growth in that area is cautious. So we'll be cautious like the rest of the market commercial real estate. But we have other areas that we're hopeful. Speaker 200:29:56The condominium association, I think, is an area we're expecting to see some more growth from. But yes, we'll be cautious with the commercial real estate just like everyone else. Speaker 800:30:08Okay. That's helpful. Thank you for taking my questions. Operator00:30:20We now turn to Samuel Bargo with UBS. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Speaker 1000:30:27Good morning. I just wanted to turn back to those lower cost of government deposits for your question. After the $800,000,000 that's already been repriced, how much more do you have in lower cost balances? And can you give any sense for the sort of difference between the reset yield and the original one? Speaker 300:30:50Yes. We not going to give specific information on the reset. I would tell you that you can see in the levels and yield, these deposits are categorized as time deposits, so you can get a sense of the increase in the cost in that segment of our levels and yield schedule. In terms of other large low cost, I'm not aware of any significant amount that would reprice or subject to repricing. Speaker 1000:31:21Got it. Thank you very much. Operator00:31:26We have a follow-up question from Kelly Motta with KBW. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Speaker 500:31:33Hey, thank you so much for letting me back in. I have, two questions, if I could sneak in. The first is on, just a clarification on the tax rate. The tax advantage income brought down the tax rate considerably this quarter from last and I think you also had some discrete items impacting last quarter. I know you guide on a full year basis, but would it be fair to say within that range, 2Q is a good starting point to for forecasting the back half of this year? Speaker 300:32:11I think as you mentioned, the quarter did have some discrete events that may not recur. So that is something that I wouldn't certainly not multiply times 3, I guess. Got it. So I mean, we've given the guidance, I think you can work on to it's GAAP guidance, so you know what the Q1 was, Q2, and I think you can get a sense of what the risk of the asset has to achieve it. Speaker 500:32:42Fair enough. And then, I was hoping, if you could spend a minute talking about your insurance subsidiary. We've seen a couple of banks sell those at a considerable gain as well as your stake in the Dominican Bank. Just wondering if how management is viewing these businesses and if there's any potential gains that could be harvested from that? Speaker 200:33:12Yes. Let me start by saying we don't have any current plans to sell either of those investments. Obviously, like any business, we always we look at every opportunity, but it is not in our current plans. In terms of the BHD, that's been a very successful investment for us. It produces a steady amount of income every quarter. Speaker 200:33:32As mentioned, Otis mentioned, the equity pickup has been very good. They also produce a cash dividend, which brings money to the holding company. It's a well run bank in a growing economy. So we'd have to have a much better use for our money. The tax implication of selling that would not be great, the Dominican Republic does. Speaker 200:33:55So it wouldn't be right now, we've looked at it, but really, I think we're going to hold that investment. And our insurance, it's very important for us. It's one of those things. And one of our thesis is how we can become more embedded in the lives of our clients. And I think insurance is an area in Puerto Rico where many of our citizens are underinsured and we think we can add value to them by bringing a comprehensive suite of services. Speaker 200:34:19So that's not something that in my mind right now we would sell. I think it's an important part of our fee business and we like it. Speaker 500:34:28Great. Thanks for taking the time. Operator00:34:34This concludes our Q and A. I will now hand back to Ignacio Alvarez, CEO for closing remarks. Speaker 200:34:42Thank you very much for joining us today and for your questions. And we look forward to updating you and talking to you again on our Q3 results in October. Thank you very much.Read morePowered by Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallPopular Q2 202400:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2x Earnings DocumentsSlide DeckPress Release(8-K)Quarterly report(10-Q) Popular Earnings HeadlinesLGI Homes Opens New Section at Popular Second Creek Farm Community in Commerce City, CO | LGIH ...April 25 at 5:43 PM | gurufocus.comAnalysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Financial Companies: Popular (BPOP), Nasdaq (NDAQ) and Discover Financial Services (DFS)April 25 at 1:48 PM | markets.businessinsider.comAltucher: Turn $900 into $108,000 in just 12 months?We are entering the final Trump Bump of our lives. But the biggest returns will not be in the stock market.April 26, 2025 | Paradigm Press (Ad)Wells Fargo Sticks to Their Buy Rating for Popular (BPOP)April 25 at 1:48 PM | markets.businessinsider.comPopular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Q1 2025 Earnings Call TranscriptApril 24 at 5:45 PM | msn.comPopular (BPOP) Price Target Raised by Barclays to $125 Amid Positive Outlook | BPOP Stock NewsApril 24 at 5:51 AM | gurufocus.comSee More Popular Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like Popular? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on Popular and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About PopularPopular (NASDAQ:BPOP), through its subsidiaries, provides various retail, mortgage, and commercial banking products and services in Puerto Rico, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands. The company provides savings, NOW, money market, and other interest-bearing demand accounts; non-interest bearing demand deposits; and certificates of deposit. It also offers commercial and industrial, commercial multi-family, commercial real estate, and residential mortgage loans; consumer loans, including personal loans, credit cards, automobile loans, home equity lines of credit, and other loans to individual borrowers; construction loans; and lease financing comprising automobile loans/leases. In addition, the company provides investment banking, auto and equipment leasing and financing, broker-dealer, and insurance services; debit cards; and online banking services. Popular, Inc. was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.View Popular ProfileRead more More Earnings Resources from MarketBeat Earnings Tools Today's Earnings Tomorrow's Earnings Next Week's Earnings Upcoming Earnings Calls Earnings Newsletter Earnings Call Transcripts Earnings Beats & Misses Corporate Guidance Earnings Screener Earnings By Country U.S. Earnings Reports Canadian Earnings Reports U.K. Earnings Reports Latest Articles Market Anticipation Builds: Joby Stock Climbs Ahead of EarningsIs Intuitive Surgical a Buy After Volatile Reaction to Earnings?Seismic Shift at Intel: Massive Layoffs Precede Crucial EarningsRocket Lab Lands New Contract, Builds Momentum Ahead of EarningsAmazon's Earnings Could Fuel a Rapid Breakout Tesla Earnings Miss, But Musk Refocuses and Bulls ReactQualcomm’s Range Narrows Ahead of Earnings as Bulls Step In Upcoming Earnings Cadence Design Systems (4/28/2025)Welltower (4/28/2025)Waste Management (4/28/2025)AstraZeneca (4/29/2025)Mondelez International (4/29/2025)PayPal (4/29/2025)Starbucks (4/29/2025)DoorDash (4/29/2025)Honeywell International (4/29/2025)Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (4/29/2025) Get 30 Days of MarketBeat All Access for Free Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools. Start Your 30-Day Trial MarketBeat All Access Features Best-in-Class Portfolio Monitoring Get personalized stock ideas. Compare portfolio to indices. Check stock news, ratings, SEC filings, and more. Stock Ideas and Recommendations See daily stock ideas from top analysts. Receive short-term trading ideas from MarketBeat. Identify trending stocks on social media. Advanced Stock Screeners and Research Tools Use our seven stock screeners to find suitable stocks. Stay informed with MarketBeat's real-time news. Export data to Excel for personal analysis. Sign in to your free account to enjoy these benefits In-depth profiles and analysis for 20,000 public companies. Real-time analyst ratings, insider transactions, earnings data, and more. Our daily ratings and market update email newsletter. Sign in to your free account to enjoy all that MarketBeat has to offer. Sign In Create Account Your Email Address: Email Address Required Your Password: Password Required Log In or Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google Forgot your password? Your Email Address: Please enter your email address. Please enter a valid email address Choose a Password: Please enter your password. Your password must be at least 8 characters long and contain at least 1 number, 1 letter, and 1 special character. Create My Account (Free) or Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google By creating a free account, you agree to our terms of service. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
There are 11 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Hello, and welcome to the Popular Incorporated 2Q Earnings Call. My name is Elias, and I'll be coordinating your call today. I'd now like to hand over to Paul Cardillo, Investor Relations Officer at Popular. Please go ahead. Speaker 100:00:22Good morning, and thank you for joining us. With us on the call today is our CEO, Ignacio Alvarez our President and COO, Javier Ferrer our CFO, Jorge Garcia and our CRO, Lidio Soriano. They will review our results for the Q2 and then answer your questions. Other members of our management team will also be available during the Q and A session. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that on today's call, we may make forward looking statements regarding Popular such as projections of revenue, earnings, expenses, taxes and capital structure, as well as statements regarding Popular's plans and objectives. Speaker 100:00:56These statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward looking statements are set forth within today's earnings release and our SEC filings. You may find today's press release and our SEC filings on our webpage at popular.com. I will now turn the call over to our CEO, Ignacio Alvarez. Speaker 200:01:17Good morning, and thank you for joining the call. Before I discuss the highlights for the Q2, I am pleased to report that today we announced a 13% increase in our quarterly common stock dividend from $0.62 to $0.70 per share, commencing with a dividend payable in the Q1 of 2025 and a $500,000,000 common stock repurchase authorization. These actions evidence the strength of our capital position, which allows us to continue to invest in our franchise and serve the needs of our customers, while also returning capital to our shareholders. Please turn to Slide 3. We are pleased to report a strong Q2 achieving net income of $178,000,000 Excluding the impact of the FDIC special assessment and tax withholding matter on the results for the Q1, net income increased by 43,000,000 The results in the Q2 were driven by higher net interest income and lower provision for credit losses. Speaker 200:02:17Our ending loan balances increased by $473,000,000 during the quarter. BPPR achieved loan growth of $509,000,000 reflecting growth across almost all lending segments. Popular Bank saw a $36,000,000 decrease in loan balances driven by $140,000,000 commercial loan payoff that offset growth in construction loans. Deposit balances increased by approximately $1,700,000,000 driven by higher level of Puerto Rico government deposits. Our net interest margin increased by 6 basis points to 3.22 percent mainly driven by higher average loan balances and the repricing of loans and reinvestment of securities in a higher interest rate environment. Speaker 200:03:03This was partially offset by higher deposit costs. Non interest income increased by 2,000,000 dollars to $166,000,000 Excluding the additional FDIC special assessment and the expenses associated with the prior period tax expense, operating expenses increased by $7,000,000 driven by professional fees and transaction related costs. Credit quality trends improved in the quarter with lower net charge offs, NPLs and NPL inflows. The credit trends in the Puerto Rico unsecured consumer segment have stabilized. Tangible book value per share of 62 point $7.1 increased by $2.65 driven by our quarterly net income and lower unrealized losses in our investment portfolio. Speaker 200:03:52Please turn to Slide 4. Consumer spending remained healthy. Combined credit and debit card sales increased by 5% compared to the Q2 of 2023. Our auto loan and lease balances increased by $129,000,000 compared to the Q1 as demand for new cars continue to be strong in Puerto Rico. Mortgage loan balances at BPPR increased by $107,000,000 in the 2nd quarter, driven primarily by home purchase activity and our existing strategy to retain FHA loans in portfolio. Speaker 200:04:28Business activity in Puerto Rico remains solid as reflected in the positive trends in total employment, consumer spending and other economic data. The tourism and hospitality sector continues to be a source of strength for the local economy. Passenger traffic at the San Juan International Airport increased by 8% in the Q2 compared to the Q2 of 2023. Hotel occupancy was flat year over year in the first half of twenty twenty four and the average daily rate and RevPAR were up slightly year to date compared to the same period a year ago. There is a significant amount of committed federal funds that have yet to be dispersed. Speaker 200:05:11The pace of disbursement of these funds has accelerated and we anticipate that they will support economic activity for several years. We remain optimistic about the future of our primary market and are well positioned to support our clients during the coming years. In short, we are pleased with our financial performance for the quarter, particularly in Puerto Rico, where continued loan growth and improved credit metrics helped contribute to our increase in net interest income and support our optimistic outlook for the balance of the year. On that note, I now turn the call over to Jorge for more details on our financial results. Speaker 300:05:48Thank you, Ignacio. Good morning and thank you all for joining the call today. As Ignacio stated, we reported net income of $178,000,000 in the Q2, dollars 43,000,000 higher than the prior period's adjusted results. We're pleased with the core results, particularly the NII growth and the expansion of the NIM. Net interest income increased by $18,000,000 Our net interest margin increased by 6 basis points on a GAAP basis and 10 basis points on a tax equivalent basis, driven by the repricing of loans and securities and higher balances. Speaker 300:06:22Loan growth improved this quarter to 1.5% year to date driven by BBBR where we saw loan growth across nearly all categories, led by commercial, lending, auto and mortgage originations. The underlying economic activity in Puerto Rico remains strong. However, the demand for credit in our U. S. Market continues to be less than we had anticipated at the beginning of the year. Speaker 300:06:44As a result, we now expect consolidated loan growth to be towards the low end of our original 3% to 6% guidance. Consolidated customer deposit balances, excluding Puerto Rico public deposits were flat as increases in time deposits at Popular Bank were offset by outflows at BPPR. However, average customer balances during the quarter were higher, including non interest bearing demand deposits. At the end of the Q2, Puerto Rico public deposits were $19,700,000,000 up $1,700,000,000 compared to Q1 and above the upper end of our year end guidance range. Q2 is typically the peak in public deposit balances and is mostly related to tax receipts. Speaker 300:07:26Normal annual seasonality should result in these balances trending lower for the rest of the year. By the end of 2024, we expect public deposits to be near the upper end of our $15,000,000,000 to $18,000,000,000 guidance. While higher balances of public deposits contribute to higher NII, approximately CAD 800,000,000 of low cost government related accounts managed by our Fiduciary Services Group were repriced during the quarter to market linked rates, offsetting in part the benefit of the higher balances. As a result of the shift of the deposit mix toward higher cost deposits, along with a slower loan growth in the U. S, we now expect our year over year growth in NII to be 8% to 10%. Speaker 300:08:08Non interest income was $166,000,000 an increase of $2,000,000 from Q1, driven primarily by higher credit card and debit card fees from customer transaction activity. We continue to expect non interest income to be approximately $160,000,000 to $165,000,000 per quarter. During the Q2, we were also very pleased to see the continued improvement in credit metrics. The provision for credit losses of $47,000,000 was CAD 26,000,000 lower than the Q1. Total operating expenses were CAD470,000,000 or CAD7 1,000,000 higher than last quarter's adjusted operating expense. Speaker 300:08:46The increase was driven by professional fees due to advisory related expenses, an increase to reserves for operational losses and higher transactional expenses tied to client activity. These increases were offset in part by lower personnel expenses, which are traditionally higher during the Q1 of the year due to annual incentive awards and payroll taxes. We continue to expect total 2024 expenses in a range of $1,89,000,000 to $1,950,000,000 Our effective tax rate for the quarter was 19% compared to a 25% adjusted tax rate in the prior quarter as we benefited from higher tax exempt income and certain tax credit during the quarter. We continue to expect the effective tax rate for the year to be in the range of 21% to 23%. Please turn to Slide 6. Speaker 300:09:36Net interest margin increased by 6 basis points. On a taxable equivalent basis, NIM was 3.48%, an increase of 10 basis points. The increase was driven by higher earning asset yields and balances. This benefit was partially offset by higher interest expense on deposits due to increased average balances of public deposits at BPPR and time deposits at Popular Bank. During the quarter, we continue to see the benefits in the contribution of the investment portfolio as low yielding maturities are reinvested in short term fee bills that are tax exempt in Puerto Rico. Speaker 300:10:09This improved the tax affected yield of securities portfolio by 24 basis points to 3.47%. In BPPR, the cost of total deposits increased by 2 basis points to 1.83%. The total deposit cost at BPPR continued to be impacted by the proportion of public deposits to total deposits. At Popular Bank, deposit costs increased by 3 basis points during the quarter. This change reflected a significant stabilization when compared to an increase of 23 basis points in Q1. Speaker 300:10:40We expect to continue NIM expansion throughout the rest of 2024. Please turn to Slide 7. Regulatory capital levels remain strong. Our CET ratio of 16.5% increased by 12 basis points from Q1. Tangible value per share at the end of the quarter was $62.71 an increase of $2.65 per share from Q1. Speaker 300:11:04Return on tangible common equity improved by nearly 500 basis points in the quarter to 11.8%. We continue to target a sustainable 14% return on tangible common equity by the end of 2025. As Ignacio mentioned, we announced an increase in our quarterly common dividend of $0.08 per share to 0 point 7 $0 We expect our Board to approve and declare this dividend in Q4 for payment in the Q1 of 2025 and a CAD 500,000,000 common stock repurchase authorization. We expect to execute the stock repurchases in the open market. The timing and quantity of the repurchases will be subject to various factors, including market conditions, our capital position and financial performance. Speaker 300:11:44We will provide quarterly updates on our activity as part of our earnings webcast and SEC filings. With that, I turn over the call to Lidio. Speaker 400:11:51Thank you, Jorge, and good morning. Credit quality metrics improved from the Q1 with the corporation's mortgage and commercial portfolios continue to reflect credit metrics significantly below pre pandemic levels, while credit quality metrics continue to normalize for Puerto Rico's consumer portfolios. We continue to closely monitor changes in the macroeconomic environment and on borrower performance. Given higher interest rate and inflationary pressures, we remain encouraged by the performance of our loan book. Turning to Slide number 8. Speaker 400:12:28Non performing assets and non performing loans decreased during the quarter driven by the BBPR segment. NPLs in BBPR decreased by $12,000,000 reflecting improvements across most loan categories. NPLs in the Popular Bank segment remained flat, driven by the return to accrual of a $17,000,000 mortgage loan offset by a $17,000,000 commercial NPL inflow. OREO decreased in BBPR by $10,000,000 driven by the sale of a commercial real estate property. Inflows of NPLs decreased by $2,000,000 In DBPR, total inflows increased by $8,000,000 driven by higher mortgage inflows, while in Popular Bank, inflows decreased by $9,000,000 as last quarter activity included a single 17,000,000 dollars mortgage loan that enter NPL, offset in part by higher commercial inflows by $7,000,000 The ratio of NPL to total loans held in portfolio remained flat at 1%. Speaker 400:13:33Turning to Slide number 9. Net charge off amounted to 54,000,000 dollars or annualized 61 basis points of average loans held in portfolio compared to $62,000,000 or 71 basis points in the prior quarter. Net charge off in DDPR decreased by $7,000,000 driven by lower consumer by $5,000,000 and lower commercial by $2,000,000 The decrease in consumer net charge off were driven by lower auto by $4,000,000 dollars and lower personal loans by $1,000,000 In Popular Bank, net charge off decreased by $1,000,000 due to lower consumer net charge offs. Given the credit performance in the first half of the year and our outlook for the second half, we now expect net charge off to be near the low end of our initial full year guidance of 65 basis points to 85 basis points. Please turn to Slide 10. Speaker 400:14:35The allowance for loan losses decreased by $9,000,000 to $730,000,000 In BBTR, the AECL remained flat as increases driven by higher commercial loan volumes, higher qualitative reserves and changes in credit quality were offset by changes in the macroeconomic scenarios and net charge off. In Popular Bank, the ACL decreased by $9,000,000 mainly driven by lower reserves for the commercial portfolio due to risk rating improvements. The corporation ratio of ACL to loans held in portfolio decreased slightly from 2.11 percent to 2.05%, while the ratio of ACL to NPLs improved slightly from 209% in the previous quarter to 214% this quarter. Deposition for loan losses was $44,000,000 compared to $72,000,000 in the prior quarter, reflecting lower losses, changes to credit quality and improvements in macroeconomic scenarios. In BBBR, the provision was $49,000,000 compared to $61,000,000 dollars while in Popular Bank, the provision was a benefit of $4,000,000,000 compared to an expense of $11,000,000 in the Q1. Speaker 400:15:53To summarize, credit quality metrics improved during the Q2 and we remain encouraged by the performance of our loan book. With that, I would like to turn the call over to Ignacio for his concluding remarks. Speaker 200:16:06Thank you, Lidio and Jorge for your update. Our results for the first half of twenty twenty four were strong, driven by higher net interest income and expanding net interest margin and improved credit quality. We are continuing to execute on our transformation to better serve our customers and drive returns over time. We are investing in talent and technology to deepen our relationships with clients and maximize the opportunities inherent in our unique franchise. I am optimistic about our prospects for the remainder of the year. Speaker 200:16:36Business trends in Puerto Rico continue to be positive and we are well positioned to participate in the economic activity that is expected to be generated in the coming years. We are mindful of the responsibility we have to Puerto Rico as the leading banking institution and to all the communities that we proudly serve. In June, we released our annual corporate sustainability report. We continue to focus on providing opportunity for progress, protecting the environment and promoting trust. One of the highlights of the report included the financing of 1 of the largest transactions to date in the renewable energy sector in Puerto Rico, a solar farm that produces enough electricity to supply the needs of approximately 7,000 homes in Puerto Rico. Speaker 200:17:20Finally, providing opportunity in our community starts with ensuring Popular remains a great place to work. I want to thank all our colleagues for their continued education and commitment to serve our customers and contribute to our success. We are now ready to answer your questions. Operator00:17:40Thank Our first question comes from Kelly Motta with KBW. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Speaker 500:18:02Hi, good morning. Thanks for the question. Good morning, Kelly. I would like to start out with the capital plan. It certainly came at least a quarter sooner than I had expected. Speaker 500:18:16Just wondering, I know you guys were waiting for some clarity on the outlook before coming out with something. Has anything changed in terms of your comfort level with where you're viewing the capital position and the outlook ahead that allowed you to come out with this in July? And also wondering any guideposts we should be thinking about in terms of what your constraining capital ratio is and how you're thinking about stepping in with the buyback, especially with the run we've had in the stock? Thanks. Speaker 200:18:55Yes. Obviously, we hear our investors and our Board and management is very conscious that people wanted a statement from us on where we were on a capital return. We worked very hard with our group. We went through some analysis of our credit book and what we thought about the future and we thought that the $500,000,000 authorization was the appropriate amount appropriate amount given the circumstances. We also thought given our view that the dividend increase was important, I think that's an important piece of the puzzle. Speaker 200:19:27So obviously, that shows our confidence in the future. In terms of where we're going, we're going to do open market purchases. We still think that the stock is fairly valued. So we I really have more insight than that, but we still believe that the stock is fairly valued, especially relative to our peers and others in the industry. Speaker 500:19:50Got it. Okay. That's really helpful. And then with the NII outlook being reduced, just a point of clarification, the 8% to 10% growth that you're currently projecting for this year, is that on a GAAP basis or an FTE, because there are some moving parts with the FTE adjustment this year that does make it somewhat meaningful? Speaker 300:20:21Yes. Thank you for the question, Kelly. All of our guidance is GAAP basis. Speaker 500:20:27Got it. That's helpful. And with your outlook, for government deposits to decline off of that $19,700,000,000 level where we're at now. As we look ahead, should we be thinking about the balance sheet as being relatively flat from here given the movement in government funds between now year end? Speaker 300:20:55I mean, certainly, if I would expect the movement. If you see a decrease in deposits, we would not be leveraging up the balance sheet with alternative sources of liquidity. So I think that's a fair statement in terms of more or less around that level of decrease of public funds. Speaker 500:21:13Got it. Thank you. I'll step back. Operator00:21:19We now turn to Timo Braziler with Wells Fargo. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Speaker 600:21:27Hi, good morning. Speaker 200:21:29Good morning. Speaker 600:21:33Wondering on the $800,000,000 of low cost government deposits managed by fiduciary services that were repriced this quarter. Just wondering what drove that? When did that happen in the quarter? And how much of a headwind from an average standpoint will flow into 3Q from those actions? Speaker 300:21:55Thank you, Timur. First, the repricing is baked into our guidelines. So our updated guidance takes into account this repricing. It happened towards the end of the quarter and I think at the beginning of June. So I mean, I don't know if there's any other part of the question there, Timur. Speaker 300:22:18I think I missed the part. Speaker 600:22:22Just what drove that decision? Speaker 300:22:28As you know, I mean these are client relationships. We have communications and conversation with our clients and we react to market conditions and client expectations. Speaker 600:22:42Okay. And then maybe just following up on Kelly's FTE question. Can you just give us an update on where you expect FTE for the year in context of the updated guide? How much of that revision was driven by the issuance? Yes, we Speaker 300:22:59don't usually get guidance on an FTE basis. Our guidance is all GAAP basis. The tax rate, we do provide you the tax rate, so it allows you to at least get a sense of the flow to EPS. Speaker 600:23:16Okay. But should we expect further reinvestment into tax advantage T bills or has that remixing largely played out? Speaker 300:23:29Now as you probably remember, we have about $1,000,000,000 a quarter in maturities in our investment portfolio. We currently continue to invest in T bills or fund loan growth. So ultimately, the we haven't exhausted our potential for taxes and securities. Okay. But again, all this and that I can go as hard. Speaker 300:23:58And tax effective rate. Speaker 700:24:02Okay, got it. Speaker 600:24:02And then just last for me, just around the cadence for buybacks, is the expectation that we go back to a January authorization as we've seen in the past? Or is this $500,000,000 more or less for a year and the next Board authorization or Board decision will take place a year from now in July? Speaker 200:24:28No, no. This is an open ended authorization. We don't have a time limit on it. And we will execute under this authorization. And if things change, we'll let you know. Speaker 200:24:42But this Speaker 300:24:42is an open end authorization with no specific time limit. And we're not expecting to go back to the annual January cadence. We want to have the flexibility to react to market conditions. Operator00:24:56Great. Thanks, Matt. Our next question comes from Jared Shaw with Barclays. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Speaker 700:25:07Hey, good morning. Maybe first just Speaker 800:25:12if we Speaker 700:25:12look at the fees and expenses to get into your guidance range, where should we, I guess, expect to see lower fees and where should we expect to see a faster pace of expense growth? Speaker 300:25:30Let's talk about the expenses first. There is seasonality in expenses, for example, merit increases, our personnel costs are a significant portion of our expenses. Our merit increase schedule is in the summer. So that is an expense that will be accretive or an incremental expense that we'll see in the second half of the year. We continue to have efforts around the transformation, professional fees, technology. Speaker 300:25:57These are not symmetric throughout the year. So in terms of fee income, there is there are a lot of components to that fee income. Some of it comes from our equity pickup investment in Banco Biachare in the Dominican Republic. There's transactional activity from clients. I There are a lot of variances and frankly $2,000,000 or $3,000,000 up or down any quarter, it's not an unusual variance. Speaker 700:26:31Okay. All right. Thanks. And then when we look at credit, good trends in credit charge offs, do you think that we've seen peak consumer charge offs here? And where should we expect to see the ACL settle out? Speaker 700:26:48Is this a good rate as a ratio of loans? Or is there still room for that to move lower? Speaker 900:26:58A lot of that what you have is going to be economy dependent. We feel and we're comfortable with the state of the economy and the outlook for the economy going forward. So I'll leave it at that. I mean, the rate and net charge off on the top of the Asia will depend on the economy. Speaker 700:27:22Okay. But so right now though, you still feel pretty confident on the general trajectory at this point, it sounds like? Speaker 900:27:30We do, yes. Speaker 700:27:33Great. Thank you. Operator00:27:37We now turn to Jared Cassidy with RBC. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Speaker 800:27:46Hi, good morning. This is Thomas Leddy calling on behalf of Gerard. Loan growth has remained pretty solid now for range. As you look ahead given the remaining sort of idiosyncratic tailwinds for the island specifically, could loan growth for BPPR actually accelerate from here as some of the construction projects you guys have referenced historically sort of come online? Speaker 200:28:20This is Ignacio. I think we would reiterate the guidance we've given. I think we feel pretty good about the economic activity in Puerto Rico. We are seeing a lot of positive economic activity, investment from outside the island, entrepreneurs locally. So we feel pretty good. Speaker 200:28:36And if you saw the results, we are seeing long growth in Puerto Rico. What's holding us back a little bit is that the U. S, like many of our peers in the U. S, especially that focused a lot on commercial real estate, that loan growth has been slower and slower than we expected. So again, in general, we reiterate the guidance, we feel good about Puerto Rico, but we feel that the U. Speaker 200:28:59S. Has been a bit slower than we actually had expected. Speaker 800:29:04Okay, that's helpful. And then I guess just more broadly, can you give us some color regarding your appetite for actually growing that Mainland portfolio in the face of what's expected to remain a pretty uncertain credit environment in the back end of this year and into early next year? Speaker 200:29:20I would say generally, I don't really think we have some there. We're comfortable with the portfolio that we have, but obviously we've been as most banks, we have been prudently looking at the market and we are being careful, especially in the commercial real estate sector, but we're very comfortable with the portfolio we had. So again, there is a lot of pressure in general from regulators and others to sort of make sure your growth in that area is cautious. So we'll be cautious like the rest of the market commercial real estate. But we have other areas that we're hopeful. Speaker 200:29:56The condominium association, I think, is an area we're expecting to see some more growth from. But yes, we'll be cautious with the commercial real estate just like everyone else. Speaker 800:30:08Okay. That's helpful. Thank you for taking my questions. Operator00:30:20We now turn to Samuel Bargo with UBS. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Speaker 1000:30:27Good morning. I just wanted to turn back to those lower cost of government deposits for your question. After the $800,000,000 that's already been repriced, how much more do you have in lower cost balances? And can you give any sense for the sort of difference between the reset yield and the original one? Speaker 300:30:50Yes. We not going to give specific information on the reset. I would tell you that you can see in the levels and yield, these deposits are categorized as time deposits, so you can get a sense of the increase in the cost in that segment of our levels and yield schedule. In terms of other large low cost, I'm not aware of any significant amount that would reprice or subject to repricing. Speaker 1000:31:21Got it. Thank you very much. Operator00:31:26We have a follow-up question from Kelly Motta with KBW. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Speaker 500:31:33Hey, thank you so much for letting me back in. I have, two questions, if I could sneak in. The first is on, just a clarification on the tax rate. The tax advantage income brought down the tax rate considerably this quarter from last and I think you also had some discrete items impacting last quarter. I know you guide on a full year basis, but would it be fair to say within that range, 2Q is a good starting point to for forecasting the back half of this year? Speaker 300:32:11I think as you mentioned, the quarter did have some discrete events that may not recur. So that is something that I wouldn't certainly not multiply times 3, I guess. Got it. So I mean, we've given the guidance, I think you can work on to it's GAAP guidance, so you know what the Q1 was, Q2, and I think you can get a sense of what the risk of the asset has to achieve it. Speaker 500:32:42Fair enough. And then, I was hoping, if you could spend a minute talking about your insurance subsidiary. We've seen a couple of banks sell those at a considerable gain as well as your stake in the Dominican Bank. Just wondering if how management is viewing these businesses and if there's any potential gains that could be harvested from that? Speaker 200:33:12Yes. Let me start by saying we don't have any current plans to sell either of those investments. Obviously, like any business, we always we look at every opportunity, but it is not in our current plans. In terms of the BHD, that's been a very successful investment for us. It produces a steady amount of income every quarter. Speaker 200:33:32As mentioned, Otis mentioned, the equity pickup has been very good. They also produce a cash dividend, which brings money to the holding company. It's a well run bank in a growing economy. So we'd have to have a much better use for our money. The tax implication of selling that would not be great, the Dominican Republic does. Speaker 200:33:55So it wouldn't be right now, we've looked at it, but really, I think we're going to hold that investment. And our insurance, it's very important for us. It's one of those things. And one of our thesis is how we can become more embedded in the lives of our clients. And I think insurance is an area in Puerto Rico where many of our citizens are underinsured and we think we can add value to them by bringing a comprehensive suite of services. Speaker 200:34:19So that's not something that in my mind right now we would sell. I think it's an important part of our fee business and we like it. Speaker 500:34:28Great. Thanks for taking the time. Operator00:34:34This concludes our Q and A. I will now hand back to Ignacio Alvarez, CEO for closing remarks. Speaker 200:34:42Thank you very much for joining us today and for your questions. And we look forward to updating you and talking to you again on our Q3 results in October. Thank you very much.Read morePowered by