Ameris Bancorp (ABCB) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the Ameris Bancorp first quarter conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎參加 Ameris Bancorp 第一季電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，此事件正在被記錄。

I would now like to hand the call to Nicole Stokes, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

現在我想把電話交給財務長 Nicole Stokes。請繼續。

Thank you, Andrea, and thank you to all who have joined our call today. During the call, we will be referencing the press release and the financial highlights that are available on the Investor Relations section of our website at amerisbank.com. I'm joined today by Palmer Proctor, our CEO; and Doug Strange, our Chief Credit Officer. Palmer will begin with some opening general comments, and then I will discuss the details of our financial results before we open up for Q&A. But before we begin, I'll remind you that our comments may include forward-looking statements.

謝謝你，安德里亞，也謝謝今天參加我們電話會議的所有人。在電話會議中，我們將參考我們網站 amerisbank.com 的投資者關係部分提供的新聞稿和財務要點。今天和我一起出席的還有我們的執行長帕爾默·普羅克特 (Palmer Proctor)；以及我們的首席信貸官 Doug Strange。帕爾默將首先發表一些開場一般性評論，然後我將討論我們的財務業績細節，最後我們再進行問答。但在開始之前，我要提醒您，我們的評論可能包含前瞻性陳述。

These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. The actual results could vary materially.

這些聲明受風險和不確定性的影響。實際結果可能會大不相同。

We've list some of the factors that might cause results to differ in our press release and in our SEC filings, which are available on our website. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, early developments or otherwise, except as required by law. Also during the call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures in reference to the company's performance. You can see our reconciliation of these measures and GAAP financial measures in the appendix to our presentation. And with that, I'll turn it over to Palmer for opening comments.

我們在新聞稿和美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 文件中列出了一些可能導致結果不同的因素，這些因素可在我們的網站上查閱。除非法律要求，我們不承擔因新資訊、早期發展或其他原因而更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務。此外，在電話會議中，我們將討論一些與公司績效相關的非公認會計準則財務指標。您可以在我們簡報的附錄中看到這些指標與 GAAP 財務指標的對帳。現在，我將把時間交給帕爾默來發表開場評論。

Thank you, Nicole, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you taking the time to join our call today. Our first quarter financial results represent a strong start to 2025. On our last earnings call, I highlighted 4 strategic focus areas for us, and our first quarter results are right in line with those. Our first focus was maintaining top-tier profitability, and we succeeded there with a 1.36% ROA, another quarter above 2% PPNR ROA and a return on tangible common equity over 13%.

謝謝你，妮可，大家早安。感謝您今天抽空參加我們的電話會議。我們第一季的財務表現代表著 2025 年的一個強勁開端。在我們上次的收益電話會議上，我強調了我們的四個策略重點領域，我們的第一季業績與這些領域完全一致。我們的首要重點是保持頂級盈利能力，並且我們成功實現了 1.36% 的 ROA，另一個季度的 PPNR ROA 超過 2%，有形普通股權益回報率超過 13%。

Our margin expanded during the quarter while we grew core deposits.

本季我們的利潤率有所擴大，同時核心存款也有所增加。

Our 3.73% net interest margin is well above most peer levels, thanks in part to our strong 30% level of noninterest-bearing deposits. Second, we focused on enhancing revenue generation and positive operating leverage. We continue to focus on maximizing earnings per share through effective balance sheet management. To reiterate my point from the fourth quarter call, when we saw external dynamics that created uncertainty, we pivoted to optimizing margin versus driving growth. We focused on profitability fundamentals such as asset mix, duration and risk profiles.

我們的淨利差為 3.73%，遠高於大多數同業的水平，部分原因在於我們 30% 的無息存款水準。其次，我們注重提升創收能力和積極的經營槓桿。我們繼續致力於透過有效的資產負債表管理實現每股收益最大化。重申我在第四季電話會議上的觀點，當我們看到造成不確定性的外部動態時，我們轉向優化利潤率而不是推動成長。我們關注獲利基本面，例如資產組合、持續時間和風險狀況。

In fact, we were able to reduce quarterly expense levels in a quarter that normally sees seasonally higher expenses.

事實上，我們能夠在通常季節性支出較高的季度中降低季度支出水準。

Our expense control led to an efficiency ratio 281 basis points better than first quarter last year. We continue to strategically lower our loan-to-deposit ratio, which is now down to 94% from 98% a year ago. Our CRE and construction concentrations continue to move lower, now down to 261% and 57%, respectively. Third, we said we would sustain a strong capital position to stay prepared for changing macroeconomic conditions. We did that through strong first quarter earnings and capital generation, which pushed our common equity Tier 1 to 12.9% and our TCE to 10.8%.

我們的費用控制使效率比率比去年第一季提高了 281 個基點。我們繼續策略性地降低貸存比，目前已從一年前的 98% 降至 94%。我們的 CRE 和建築集中度持續下降，目前分別降至 261％ 和 57％。第三，我們表示將維持強大的資本實力，為應對不斷變化的宏觀經濟條件做好準備。我們透過第一季的強勁獲利和資本創造實現了這一目標，這將我們的普通股一級資本充足率推高至 12.9%，TCE 推高至 10.8%。

And our reserve was strengthened to 1.67%.

我們的儲備金也提高了1.67%。

This excess capital position gives us optionality going forward to execute growth strategies within our attractive Southeastern footprint when we feel the time is right. We grew tangible book value this quarter by over 12.5%. We also took advantage of our share buyback, repurchasing $15 million of stock in the quarter. And finally, we said we would leverage growth opportunities within our dynamic footprint. We certainly did that through our strong deposit growth this quarter of 4% annualized, much of that noninterest bearing.

當我們覺得時機成熟時，這種過剩的資本狀況使我們可以選擇在我們具有吸引力的東南部足跡內實施成長策略。本季我們的有形帳面價值成長了 12.5% 以上。我們也利用股票回購的機會，在本季回購了價值 1500 萬美元的股票。最後，我們表示我們將利用我們動態足跡內的成長機會。我們確實做到了這一點，本季我們的存款成長強勁，年化成長率達到 4%，其中大部分是無息的。

Loan balances were stable in the quarter as we continue to gauge our outlook on the economy and the changes coming from the new administration. We believe the back half of 2025 will likely allow for more growth opportunities than the first half. When I look out for the remainder of 2025 even with the macroeconomic uncertainty, I remain encouraged as we continue to benefit from a solid core deposit base, a healthy margin, a diversified revenue stream strong capital and liquidity positions, which provide optionality for strategic opportunities that may come up in an uncertain economy, a well-capitalized balance sheet, a proven culture of expense control and seasoned bankers in top southeastern markets.

由於我們繼續評估對經濟的前景和新政府帶來的變化，本季貸款餘額保持穩定。我們相信，2025 年下半年可能會比上半年有更多的成長機會。當我展望 2025 年剩餘時間時，即使宏觀經濟存在不確定性，我仍然感到鼓舞，因為我們將繼續受益於穩固的核心存款基礎、健康的利潤率、多元化的收入流、強大的資本和流動性狀況，這為不確定的經濟中可能出現的戰略機遇提供了選擇權、資本充足的資產負債表、成熟的費用控製文化和東南頂級市場的經驗。

Our discipline in creating diversification in both the loan and deposit franchise as well as our revenue streams has us very well positioned. Combined with our top financial performance, stable asset quality, strong reserves and capital levels have a lot of optimism on how we're set up for the successful remainder of 2025 and beyond. I'll stop there now and turn it over to Cole to discuss our financial results in more detail.

我們在貸款和存款特許經營以及收入來源方面創造多樣化的紀律使我們處於非常有利的地位。結合我們出色的財務表現、穩定的資產品質、強大的儲備和資本水平，我們對如何在 2025 年剩餘時間及以後取得成功充滿信心。我現在就此打住，將時間交給科爾來更詳細地討論我們的財務結果。

Great. Thank you, Palmer. For the first quarter, we reported net income of $87.9 million or $1.27 per diluted share, that's a 17% increase over the first quarter of last year. And one of the things that I'm really proud of is the fact that, that increase is fully from our growth in net interest income. Our net interest income increased $20 million this quarter compared to the first quarter of last year while our provision and noninterest expense remained relatively flat over the same period.

偉大的。謝謝你，帕爾默。第一季度，我們報告淨收入為 8,790 萬美元，即每股 1.27 美元，比去年第一季成長 17%。我真正感到自豪的一件事是，這一成長完全來自於我們的淨利息收入的成長。與去年第一季相比，本季我們的淨利息收入增加了 2,000 萬美元，而我們的撥備和非利息支出同期保持相對穩定。

So our efficiency ratio improved to 52.83% this quarter compared to 55.64% in the first quarter of last year. This quarter, our return on assets remained strong at 1.36%. Our PPNR ROA was at 2.08% and and our adjusted return on tangible common equity was 13.16%. We continue to build capital, and we remain focused on growing shareholder value. We grew tangible book value per share by $1.19 to end the quarter at $39.78, and our tangible common equity ratio increased to 10.78% at the end of the quarter.

因此，本季我們的效率比率從去年第一季的 55.64% 提高到 52.83%。本季度，我們的資產報酬率保持強勁，達到1.36%。我們的 PPNR ROA 為 2.08%，調整後的有形普通股權益報酬率為 13.16%。我們將持續累積資本，並持續致力於提高股東價值。季度末，每股有形帳面價值成長 1.19 美元至 39.78 美元，季度末有形普通股權益比率增至 10.78%。

We did repurchase approximately $15 million of common stock or 253,000 shares during the first quarter, and we have approximately $85 million remaining available to purchase through the end of October.

我們在第一季確實回購了約 1500 萬美元的普通股或 253,000 股，到 10 月底我們還剩下約 8500 萬美元可供購買。

On the revenue side of things, our net interest income for the quarter was relatively flat, which is a nice positive because of the reduced day count in the first quarter. Both interest income and interest expense both decreased about $12.5 million but that was a decline of only 6 basis points on the asset side and a much stronger 23 basis point decline on the interest-bearing deposit side. Our net interest margin expanded 9 basis points to a strong 3.73% I need to remind everyone that this margin is a core margin, we don't have any accretion left in the margin that we have to worry about going away and backfilling.

從收入方面來看，本季我們的淨利息收入相對持平，由於第一季的營業天數減少，這是一個正面的訊號。利息收入和利息支出均減少了約 1,250 萬美元，但資產方面的降幅僅為 6 個基點，而計息存款方面的降幅則更為強勁，為 23 個基點。我們的淨利差擴大了 9 個基點，達到 3.73%。我需要提醒大家，這個利潤率是核心利潤率，我們的利潤率中沒有任何剩餘的增量，我們不必擔心它會消失並重新填補。

The expansion this quarter came from 6 basis points on the asset side as well as 3 basis points from the positive deposit mix. Our bankers did a great job protecting and growing deposits this quarter. The cyclical outflow of public funds was slower than expected during the quarter, and we were able to fund what did flow out with core deposit growth rather than all wholesale funding as predicted. Also proving to be better than expected on the margin with the recent market disruption, we did not see the deposit pricing pressure that we expected due to slower-than-expected loan growth.

本季的擴張來自資產方面的 6 個基點以及正存款組合的 3 個基點。本季度，我們的銀行家在保護和增加存款方面做得非常出色。本季公共資金的周期性流出速度低於預期，我們能夠透過核心存款成長而不是預測的所有批發融資來為流出的資金提供資金。在最近的市場混亂中，利潤率也好於預期，我們並沒有看到由於貸款成長低於預期而導致的存款定價壓力。

We believe that we will see -- still see a margin normalize above 3.60% over the next few quarters as the remaining public fund cycle out we replaced those with wholesale funding, and we expect pressure on deposits as we see loan growth pick up second half of the year. We continue to be close to neutral on asset liability sensitivity.

我們相信，隨著剩餘公共基金週期的結束，我們用批發融資取代了公共基金，未來幾季利潤率仍將正常化在 3.60% 以上，而且隨著下半年貸款成長回升，我們預計存款將面臨壓力。我們對資產負債敏感度繼續保持接近中立的態度。

During the first quarter, we recorded a $21.9 million provision for credit losses, increase our reserve to 1.67% of loans and improving to 342% of portfolio NPLs. Our total nonperforming assets as a percentage of assets improved to 44 basis points, and our charge-offs were stable again this quarter at 18 basis points. Noninterest income decreased $4.9 million this quarter mostly with reduced gains on sale of SBA loans of $3.2 million and then a small decline in revenue in the mortgage division of $1.4 million as we've seen tightness in the housing market with volatile rates.

在第一季度，我們提列了 2,190 萬美元的信貸損失準備金，將準備金率提高到貸款的 1.67%，並將投資組合不良貸款率提高到 342%。我們的不良資產總額佔資產總額的百分比改善至 44 個基點，本季我們的沖銷額再次穩定在 18 個基點。本季非利息收入減少了 490 萬美元，主要是因為 SBA 貸款銷售收益減少了 320 萬美元，由於我們看到房地產市場緊張且利率波動，抵押貸款部門的收入也小幅下降了 140 萬美元。

A real win was our total noninterest expense. It decreased $915,000 in the first quarter, which was great to see because we usually have that first quarter bump from cyclical payroll taxes and 401(k) matching contributions. As I previously mentioned, our efficiency ratio was strong at 52.83% this quarter. On the balance sheet side, we ended the quarter with total assets of $26.5 billion compared to $26.3 billion at the end of the year. Loans were roughly stable this quarter and deposits increased $190 million.

真正的勝利是我們的總非利息支出。第一季減少了 915,000 美元，這是件好事，因為通常第一季會受到週期性工資稅和 401(k) 匹配供款的影響。正如我之前提到的，本季我們的效率比率很高，達到 52.83%。從資產負債表來看，本季末我們的總資產為 265 億美元，而去年底為 263 億美元。本季貸款基本穩定，存款增加 1.9 億美元。

That represents a 4% annualized deposit growth.

這意味著年化存款成長率為 4%。

Interest-bearing deposits fell slightly in the quarter, although we were able to grow noninterest-bearing deposits at a nice 15% annualized growth rate. This quarter's deposit growth included the headwind of the seasonal outflow of about $406 million of our cyclical municipal deposits. Brokered CDs increased only $246 million to offset those so we grew our non-brokered non-municipal deposits by $349 million. Loan balances declined slightly during the quarter, reflecting continued seasonality in our mortgage warehouse and mortgage portfolio. Total loan production in the first quarter was $1.5 billion, down slightly from the fourth quarter due to seasonality, but higher than our year-ago level.

本季度，計息存款略有下降，儘管我們的無息存款年增長率達到了 15%。本季的存款成長包括季節性流出約 4.06 億美元的周期性市政存款的阻力。經紀存單僅增加了 2.46 億美元來抵消這些損失，因此我們的非經紀非市政存款增加了 3.49 億美元。本季貸款餘額略有下降，反映出我們的抵押貸款倉庫和抵押貸款組合持續受到季節性影響。第一季的貸款總額為 15 億美元，由於季節性原因比第四季略有下降，但高於去年同期的水平。

Our noninterest-bearing deposits represent a healthy 30.8% of total deposits our brokered CDs represent less than 5% of total deposits. We continue to anticipate 2025 loan and deposit growth in the mid-single digits. I want to close by reiterating how well positioned we are and how focused we are on a successful 2025. And with that, I'll wrap it back up and turn the call over to Andrea for any questions from the group. Thank you, Andrea.

我們的無利息存款佔總存款的 30.8%，而我們的經紀存單佔總存款的不到 5%。我們繼續預期 2025 年貸款和存款成長率將達到中等個位數。最後，我想重申一下，我們已做好準備，並致力於在 2025 年取得成功。好了，我將結束本次會議，並將電話轉給安德里亞，以便回答小組提出的任何問題。謝謝你，安德里亞。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Catherine Mealor, KBW.

凱瑟琳·米勒（Catherine Mealor），KBW。

Good morning.

早安.

Good morning, Catherine.

早上好，凱瑟琳。

I want to start with the margin. And I was looking at loan yields and your lines are just so resilient over the past few quarters. Just kind of curious what was driving that. Is there any kind of mix shift in maybe where new production is or any kind of early payments that are impacting that? Just trying to kind of get a sense as to what's keeping the loan yields as high as they have been, which has been awesome to see. Thanks.

我想從邊距開始。我查看了貸款收益率，發現過去幾季你們的貸款額度非常有彈性。只是有點好奇是什麼導致了這種情況。新產品的生產地點或任何形式的提前付款是否有任何影響？只是想了解是什麼讓貸款收益率保持如此之高，這真是太棒了。謝謝。

Sure. So our loan production for the quarter came in for the whole company right at about 6.86%. And that was really the bank kind of coming in right around 8%. Premium finance, right about 6.75% mortgage at 6.64% and then the warehouse lines coming in around 6.71%. So when you really kind of look at all those averages, you can see that the core bank coming in at 8% has definitely helped as well as the mortgage rates staying high where they are.

當然。因此，本季我們整個公司的貸款產出率約為 6.86%。而銀行的實際利率大約是 8%。優質融資，約 6.75% 的抵押貸款為 6.64%，然後倉庫線約為 6.71%。因此，當你真正看一下所有這些平均值時，你會發現核心銀行利率達到 8% 肯定有所幫助，而且抵押貸款利率也保持在高位。

So that was -- has been great for us. And then I would also remind everybody that as things are rolling off like our premium finance division.

所以這對我們來說非常棒。然後我還要提醒大家，隨著我們的優質金融部門等業務的順利進行。

They have about a 10-month maturity. So while they are technically fixed rate and they are acting a little bit more variable. So they're coming on strong, similar to what they were 10 months ago. We haven't really seen that decline, which has been great.

它們的成熟期約為10個月。因此，雖然從技術上來說它們是固定利率，但它們的行為卻更具可變性。因此，他們正在強勢發展，與 10 個月前的情況類似。我們實際上並沒有看到這種下降，這很好。

Okay, Great. And so absent any rate cuts, do you think -- would you expect loan yields to actually improve from these levels?

好的，太好了。那麼，如果不降息，您認為—您是否預期貸款收益率會從目前的水平真正提高？

I think, Catherine, I think that the loan yields are pretty consistent. They've been fairly consistent. I think the bigger driver of margin compression is going to come from the deposit side. I think as we see loan growth pick up in the second half of the year, that we'll start seeing a little bit more competition on the deposit side. But right now, we've been very happy with where our -- kind of our margin has been accretive to growth up to this point.

凱瑟琳，我認為貸款收益率相當穩定。他們一直相當一致。我認為利潤率壓縮的更大驅動力將來自存款方面。我認為，隨著下半年貸款成長回升，我們將開始看到存款方面的競爭更加激烈。但目前，我們對我們的利潤率到目前為止的成長感到非常滿意。

When you look at the production for the quarter, loan production kind of came in around at $686 million and then our interest-bearing deposit came in at 3.13%. So that's right out of 3.73% spread, which is in line with where our margin was for the quarter.

當您查看本季的產量時，貸款產量約為 6.86 億美元，而我們的計息存款利率為 3.13%。這就是 3.73% 的利差，與我們本季的利潤率一致。

Okay. That's great. And I know -- I mean the margin came in a lot better than your guidance. It seems like you're saying the surprise is more on the funding side. But as growth improves, that will normalize back to that 3.60% kind of margin range.

好的。那太棒了。我知道——我的意思是利潤率比你的預期好得多。看起來您說的驚喜更多的是在資金方面。但隨著經濟成長的改善，這一利潤率將恢復到 3.60% 的正常水平。

That's right. And we have previously been cautious to guide. And last quarter when we were at 3.64% and I did guide down. I think we thought the deposit pressure was going to be a little bit tighter. That we didn't see that.

這是正確的。我們之前也一直謹慎引導。上個季度我們的利率為 3.64%，而我確實做出了下調的預期。我認為我們認為存款壓力將會變得更大一些。我們沒有看到這一點。

And then we also, in our modeling had all of those cyclical public funds that we're rolling out, we expected to replenish those with wholesale, and we really only have to go about half wholesale, the rest was core deposit and then we have those noninterest-bearing. So those were all wins.

然後，在我們的模型中，我們還包含了我們正在推出的所有周期性公共基金，我們預計將用批發資金來補充這些資金，而我們實際上只需要進行大約一半的批發，其餘的是核心存款，然後是那些無息的。所以這些都是勝利。

Our bankers did a great job there. So we're still saying -- and our March margin just for comparison with the 3.69%. So our quarter-to-date was higher than the March number. So that's why we're kind of guiding back down a little bit that we know we have we have some of that normalizing with our deposit base.

我們的銀行家在那裡做得很好。所以我們仍然說——我們的 3 月份利潤率只是為了與 3.69% 進行比較。因此，我們本季迄今的業績高於三月的業績。所以這就是為什麼我們要稍微降低一點，我們知道我們的存款基礎已經有些正常化了。

Great. Okay. Very helpful. Thanks, Nicole.

偉大的。好的。非常有幫助。謝謝，妮可。

Stephen Scouten, Piper Sandler.

史蒂芬·斯考頓，派珀·桑德勒。

Yeah, good morning, everyone. I just wanted to start maybe kind of high level I think the goal you said you guys feel like you're very well positioned for 2025, and I would definitely agree. I mean a lot of capital, high reserves. How do you think about this balance of the economic uncertainty that we have and then probably some desire to be relatively aggressive given how you guys are positioned for success, whether that's hiring activity, ramping up loan growth. Just kind of maybe just high level how you guys are thinking about that balance of aggressiveness versus patients given the uncertainty.

是的，大家早安。我只是想從高層次開始，我認為你們所說的目標讓你們感覺自己已經為 2025 年做好了充分的準備，我絕對同意。我的意思是大量的資本，高儲備。您如何看待我們所面臨的經濟不確定性之間的平衡？考慮到你們的成功定位，無論是招募活動，還是增加貸款成長，我們可能希望採取相對積極的措施。或許只是從高層次的角度來考慮，在存在不確定性的情況下，你們是如何看待攻擊性和耐心之間的平衡的。

Yeah, Good question. I think the -- when we look at it, I don't think you're going to see us be aggressive in this kind of environment. We'll be measured, which is exactly what we've been over the last couple of quarters in our comments and in our delivery. I do think that environments like this do create opportunity if that's where you're going.

是的，好問題。我認為——當我們審視它時，我認為你不會看到我們在這種環境下表現出攻擊性。我們會進行衡量，這正是我們在過去幾季的評論和交付中所採取的措施。我確實認為，如果你要去那裡的話，這樣的環境確實會創造機會。

So we're certainly well positioned there from a capital standpoint, a liquidity standpoint and an opportunistic standpoint.

因此，從資本角度、流動性角度和機會主義角度來看，我們肯定處於有利地位。

The growth side of it, as we have said all along, we've got the right people in the right places to hit the accelerator when we deem appropriate. This quarter, we hired another 8 bankers net up 2 because we -- one of the things we keep focusing on is making sure that we're we're getting the production out of the bankers that we have. So we've been very efficient in that, and that's reflected, obviously, in our overhead and expenses. But I think the -- I love the way we're positioned right now.

就成長方面而言，正如我們一直所說的，我們在合適的職位上安排了合適的人才，以便在我們認為合適的時候加大力度。本季度，我們又僱用了 8 名銀行家，淨增 2 名，因為我們——我們一直關注的事情之一就是確保我們能夠從現有的銀行家那裡獲得生產力。因此，我們在這方面非常高效，這顯然反映在我們的管理費用和開支上。但我認為——我喜歡我們現在的定位。

So, to your point, when we start seeing a little more clarity out there or we see any sort of opportunity, we're probably in a better position we've ever been in terms of being able to capitalize on that with the balance sheet management we have and with the team we already have in place. We don't have to go out and hire teams of people to hit our growth targets or -- and in the meantime, we've got the ability to continuing to deliver.

所以，正如您所說，當我們開始看到更清晰的前景或看到任何機會時，我們可能處於比以往任何時候都更好的位置，能夠利用我們現有的資產負債表管理和已經到位的團隊來利用這些機會。我們不需要出去僱用團隊來實現我們的成長目標，或者——同時，我們有能力繼續實現目標。

That's perfect. Yeah, that was definitely along the line of the way I was asking Palmer.And then on the expense side, really nice quarter here. Is there anything in terms of whether it's incentive comp or other things that kind of kept that number below what you were expecting maybe even seasonally that should pick back up in the rest of the year? Or is this kind of a fair run rate to work from as we move forward?

那很完美。是的，這絕對和我問帕爾默的問題一致。然後在費用方面，這個季度真的很棒。是否有任何因素，無論是激勵性補償還是其他因素，使得該數字低於您的預期，甚至可能是季節性因素，在今年剩餘時間內應該會回升？或者說，這是我們未來工作的一個公平的運作率嗎？

I think on the expense side, we did have a great quarter as far as expense control. But I wouldn't say there's anything necessarily like a big credit or a reduced incentive comp, anything that drove that. It was just overall expense control. I look at kind of the expense guide. So for the quarter, we came in at about $151 million consensus had us a little bit higher than that.

我認為在費用方面，就費用控製而言，我們確實度過了一個很棒的季度。但我不會說一定有什麼因素推動了這個過程，例如巨額信貸或減少激勵補償。這只是整體費用控制。我看了一下費用指南。因此，本季我們的銷售額約為 1.51 億美元，市場普遍預期這一數字會略高一些。

But our mortgage revenues were a little bit below consensus.

但我們的抵押貸款收入略低於預期。

So when I look at kind of the second and third quarter, I think second quarter consensus is is good, especially with the increased mortgage revenue in consensus, and I think the expenses match that. And then we also do our merit increases in April. So we've got about $1.7 million a quarter of merit increases that are going to kick in. So that will help offset some of those higher payroll taxes in the first quarter. So I feel like the second quarter consensus is pretty close to expectations.

因此，當我回顧第二季和第三季時，我認為第二季的預期是好的，特別是抵押貸款收入預期增加，而且我認為支出也與此相符。然後我們也會在四月增加績效工資。因此，我們每季將獲得約 170 萬美元的績效加薪。因此，這將有助於抵消第一季部分較高的工資稅。所以我覺得第二季的共識與預期非常接近。

Got it. That's very helpful. And then last thing for me, just on the reserve, it's kind of surprised to see it take up, to be honest with you given how strong the actual underlying metrics appear. Were there any changes in either how you guys handle your weightings on your scenarios or qualitative reserves embedded within that? And based on what you've seen maybe with the April data and April scenarios, any expected changes from what you're seeing so far this quarter?

知道了。這非常有幫助。最後，對我來說，就儲備而言，看到它被接受有點令人驚訝，老實說，考慮到實際的基礎指標看起來有多強勁。你們處理場景權重或其中嵌入的定性儲備的方式有什麼變化嗎？根據您所看到的 4 月份數據和情景，預計本季迄今的情況會有什麼變化嗎？

Stephen, this is Doug. Good question. So you're right. The reserve build had nothing to do with asset quality, as I'm sure as you saw, we improved NPAs criticized and classifieds for the quarter. However, there were some pretty extraordinary economic data that hit us the last week of the quarter.

史蒂芬，這是道格。好問題。所以你是對的。儲備金的增加與資產品質無關，我相信正如您所見，我們在本季度改善了受到批評的不良資產和分類資產。然而，本季最後一週公佈了一些相當出色的經濟數據。

So the reserve is purely model-driven, and it was influenced by our weightings on the economic forecast. We've moved to a 1/3 baseline, 2/3 downside in that scenario.

因此，儲備純粹是由模型驅動的，並且受到我們對經濟預測的權重的影響。在這種情況下，我們已經轉向 1/3 基線，2/3 下行。

Got it. Extremely helpful. Thanks for all the.

知道了。非常有幫助。謝謝大家的。

Time this morning. Great quarter.

今天早上的時間。很棒的一個季度。

Russell Gunther, Stephens.

拉塞爾·岡瑟，史蒂芬斯。

Hey, good morning, guys. I wanted to --

嘿，大家早安。我想--

Good morning, Nicole.

早安，妮可。

I wanted to follow up on the margin discussion, if I could, particularly around the loan yield resilience this quarter. Could you guys share just where Balboa alone balances ended up for the quarter and then your guys' expectation for related balance sheet growth.

如果可以的話，我想跟進有關保證金的討論，特別是有關本季貸款收益率彈性的討論。你們能否分享一下本季 Balboa 的餘額狀況，以及你們對相關資產負債表成長的預期。

Yes, So Balboa ended right at about 1.5. I want to make sure I'm giving you the right number. Give me one second. Yes.

是的，所以巴爾博亞最終以 1.5 左右結束。我想確保我給你的號碼是正確的。給我一秒鐘。是的。

Balboa was up to $1.5 billion, and that was up 7.2% of our total. And then we are still saying that loan growth for the year is going to come kind of mid-single digit. So that's 5% to 6% range, and we think that it's going to be back half of the year loaded kind of third, fourth quarter.

巴爾博亞達到了 15 億美元，占我們總額的 7.2%。我們仍然認為今年的貸款成長率將達到中等個位數。所以這是 5% 到 6% 的範圍，我們認為它將在今年下半年的第三季、第四季恢復成長。

Okay. And would Balbo kind of continue to track along those lines? Just trying to get a sense for the contribution of that 5% to 6% growth.

好的。那麼巴爾博會繼續沿著這些路線前進嗎？只是想了解 5% 到 6% 的成長貢獻。

Yeah, I mean we -- they would grow kind of in line with the company. So they've been hanging right around that 6.8% to 7.2% of the total portfolio. for the last 2 or 3 quarters. So -- but we see significant pickups in some of the CRE, which we've been a little bit gun shy there, we've been hanging back on some CRE growth.

是的，我的意思是，他們會隨著公司的發展而成長。因此，它們一直佔據總投資組合的 6.8% 到 7.2% 左右。過去 2 或 3 個季度。所以 — — 但我們看到部分 CRE 出現了顯著回升，而我們此前一直對此持謹慎態度，對部分 CRE 的增長有所保留。

But if we saw that if we started getting comfortable there and seeing liking what we see in the market and we got more into some CRE growth, you could see the Balboa growth being not as quite -- so you could see that 7.2% become a little bit diluted. But for right now, they're kind of growing in proportion to the company.

但如果我們看到，如果我們開始在那裡感到舒服，並且看到我們在市場上看到的東西，並且我們更關註一些 CRE 增長，你會發現 Balboa 的增長並不那麼快 - 所以你會看到 7.2％ 變得有點稀釋。但就目前而言，他們相對於公司而言還是在不斷成長的。

And the other thing to remember, too, if we start seeing an improvement in the market in terms of that type of opportunity in that vertical, we also have the ability with conduits, we have set up to start doing some of the loan sales. And so that would always keep it from a balance sheet management standpoint intact and in line with our expectations.

另外要記住的是，如果我們開始看到市場在垂直領域中此類機會的改善，我們也有能力透過我們已經建立的管道開始進行一些貸款銷售。因此，從資產負債表管理的角度來看，這始終會保持其完整併符合我們的預期。

Okay great thank you both for that. And then just last one for me, switching gears to capital deployment. I understand that growth is expected to pick up here for you guys. You did put some buyback to us.

好的，非常感謝你們。對我來說，最後一個主題是轉向資本部署。我知道你們這裡的經濟成長預計會加快。您確實給我們回購了一些。

So just I'd love to get a sense for how you're thinking about that going forward as well as the likelihood of taking a look at the sub debt that will flip to float and become callable.

因此，我很想了解您對未來的看法，以及研究浮動和可贖回的次級債務的可能性。

Yeah. No, there's a lot of, once again, optionality there. First and foremost, we prefer the organic growth and grow into that capital. Then we do have the sub debt, as you mentioned, that will be coming due. We'll be able to take a look at that.

是的。不，再說一次，那裡有很多可選性。首先，我們更喜歡有機成長並發展成為資本。那麼我們確實有次級債務，正如您所提到的，它將到期。我們將能夠看一下。

and then buybacks. We were active this past quarter. We'll see what happens this quarter, but that's certainly an option as well. But I will tell you, we feel very good about the capital that we've been able to accrete and then also, more importantly, in this type of environment, to have it for offensive as well as defensive purposes.

然後回購。我們上個季度非常活躍。我們將看看本季會發生什麼，但這當然也是一種選擇。但我要告訴你，我們對已經能夠累積的資本感到非常高興，更重要的是，在這種環境下，我們能夠將其用於進攻和防禦目的。

Alright, great, very good, that's it from me guys thanks for taking my question.

好的，太好了，我的回答就到這裡，謝謝大家回答我的問題。

Manuel Navas, DA Davidson.

曼努埃爾·納瓦斯、DA 戴維森。

Hey, if -- on the reserve build, if it's skewed even more to the worst scenario, what would drop the baseline? What would the increase to reserves roughly be?

嘿，如果——在儲備建設方面，如果它更加偏向最壞的情況，那麼基線會下降嗎？儲備金大概會增加多少？

Manuel, good question. So the last week of the quarter, we subscribed to Moody's and their economic forecast, and they issued an addendum to their forecast that week. And basically, the tariffs that were announced were I guess, broader and deeper than they had originally contemplated in their forecast, which were issued some 2 or 3 weeks earlier. And in that addendum, my interpretation or our interpretation was there was more wrong than right in the baseline, and so we took that to heart. And so we did reduce our weighting to the baseline as a result of that.

曼努埃爾，問得好。因此，在本季度的最後一周，我們訂閱了穆迪及其經濟預測，他們在那一周發布了其預測的附錄。基本上，我猜想，宣布的關稅比他們最初在兩三週前發布的預測中考慮的要廣泛和深入。在該附錄中，我的解釋或我們的解釋是，基線中的錯誤多於正確，因此我們將其牢記在心。因此，我們確實減少了對基線的權重。

And if there was no weighting to the baseline?

如果基線沒有加權會怎麼樣？

There was one.

有一個。

You mean if it was -- if we did 100% baseline?

您的意思是，如果我們做到了 100% 的基準？

No, 100% worse.

不，糟糕100%。

100% adverse. So right now, we have baseline1/3, adverse F2 and then 1/3 adverse S3. So you're saying if we went kind of 50-50 adverse 2 and 3. Is that right?

100% 不利。所以現在，我們有基線 1/3、不利的 F2 和 1/3 不利的 S3。所以您的意思是，如果我們採用 50-50 的不利 2 和 3 的情況。是嗎？

Sure, or yeah.

當然，或者說是的。

Well, I mean, obviously, it would have increased the provisioning. I don't know what the calculation comes out to, but been considerably more than what we Yes.

嗯，我的意思是，顯然它會增加配置。我不知道計算結果如何，但比我們想像的要多得多。是的。

We, yeah, And there are some things in the baseline that we still feel are --

是的，我們仍然覺得有些事情--

Yeah, we did not totally remove the baseline, but there were just certain key components in there that, again, Moody's came out and said, "Hey, we we didn't think it's going to be this deep on the tariffs." And then you get the domino impact of the tariffs through a lot of other economic data. So that's why we move down to 1/3 as opposed to moving it to 0. We still thought it had some merit.

是的，我們並沒有完全消除基線，但其中確實存在某些關鍵因素，穆迪再次出面表示，“嘿，我們沒想到關稅會這麼深。”然後，您可以透過許多其他經濟數據來了解關稅的骨牌效應。所以這就是為什麼我們將其降至 1/3 而不是降至 0。我們仍然認為它有一定價值。

How much sentiment around tariffs? Are you -- is it even showing up in any of your pipelines to date in your customer base?

圍繞關稅的情緒有多大？您—它是否出現在您客戶群中的任何管道中？

It's not really. It's -- I mean, Manuel, it's really too soon to tell. The jury is still out, if you will, that narrative on the tariff seems to change daily. But now we've had extensive conversations with customers. We keep in touch with them, and that's the art we're getting back.

事實並非如此。我的意思是，曼努埃爾，現在下結論還為時過早。目前尚無定論，但有關關稅的敘述似乎每天都在變化。但現在我們已經與客戶進行了廣泛的對話。我們與他們保持聯繫，這就是我們所得到的藝術回報。

We just don't know yet. So but we did feel we needed to consider that some of our reserve data.

我們只是還不知道。但我們確實覺得我們需要考慮一些儲備數據。

Okay. And then my last question is on the securities build. Can you just talk about the balance sheet for a moment and kind of where where you're adding? And if you could, like what the new securities yields are?

好的。我的最後一個問題是關於證券建設的。您能否簡單談一下資產負債表以及您要新增的內容？如果可以的話，您知道新證券的收益率是多少嗎？

Sure. So if you remember back in the 2022ish, 2021 when rates were so anemic, we did not win the bond portfolio. So we let our bond portfolio run down to about 3% of earning assets. and we've gradually been building that back up. So we did take some of that deposit growth this quarter and go as our mortgages pay down, we put that back into the bond portfolio.

當然。因此，如果您還記得 2022 年左右、2021 年利率如此低迷的時候，我們並沒有贏得債券投資組合。因此，我們將債券投資組合的佔比降至約 3% 的獲利資產。我們正在逐步重建這體系。因此，我們確實在本季提取了部分存款成長，隨著抵押貸款的償還，我們將其重新放回債券投資組合中。

So -- we had -- we bought about $285 million, and that came in at about [ 4.62%, ] and we had about $26 million mature off at [ 3.75%. ] So that certainly helps.

因此，我們買了約 2.85 億美元的債券，利率約為 [ 4.62% ]，還有約 2,600 萬美元到期，利率為 [ 3.75% ]。 ] 所以這肯定有幫助。

And then looking forward into the next quarter, we have about $283 million maturing in the second quarter, and that's at a [ 2.83%, ] so we definitely have a little bit of room to pick up some extra margin and some extra interest income on the bond portfolio. We have about $430 million maturing in the whole year at 3.18% with, again, $293 million of it. So a little over half maturing in the second quarter. So we'll have a little bit of pickup there.

展望下一季度，我們在第二季度有大約 2.83 億美元的債券到期，利率為 [ 2.83% ]，因此我們肯定還有一點空間從債券投資組合中獲得一些額外的保證金和一些額外的利息收入。我們全年約有 4.3 億美元到期，利率為 3.18%，其中又有 2.93 億美元。因此，第二季有一半多一點的債券到期。因此，我們會在那裡得到一些幫助。

That's great I appreciate the color. I'll step back into the queue.

太棒了，我很欣賞這個顏色。我將回到隊列中。

Perfect.

完美的。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Christopher Marinac, Janney Montgomery Scott.

克里斯多福·馬裡納克、珍妮·蒙哥馬利·史考特。

Hey, thanks. Good morning, Nicole, you mentioned higher deposit costs possibly due to competition as this year rolls on. And I'm curious kind of how you think about the trade-off between a lower margin and faster balance sheet growth. And it's not just this year, but also, I guess, as you think about as Ameris goes the next few years.

嘿，謝謝。早安，妮可，您提到存款成本可能會因為今年的競爭而上升。我很好奇您如何看待較低利潤率和較快資產負債表成長之間的權衡。而且這不只是今年的問題，我想，這也是 Ameris 未來幾年的發展方向。

No, I think that one of the biggest things in our mind is that we want profitable growth and so we're looking at that every day of what -- and I also think that being at a 3.73% margin, we have the availability that if we need to compete on margin. And so what we're seeing right now is that we haven't had to necessarily compete and give it away. And we don't always want to be the low-cost leader either. And so -- we do think that there could be some deposit pressure. Our deposit rates have come in really, really well.

不，我認為我們心中最重要的事情之一就是我們想要實現盈利增長，所以我們每天都在關注這一點——而且我還認為，在 3.73% 的利潤率下，如果我們需要在利潤率上進行競爭，我們就有可用性。所以我們現在看到的是，我們沒有必要去競爭和放棄它。我們也不總是想成為低成本的領導者。因此，我們確實認為可能會存在一些存款壓力。我們的存款利率確實非常好。

We were very aggressive on the front end as soon as the Fed cut to go down, such that I think there's still a little bit of a loan lag to pick up, which is kind of in my margin guidance as well. But when you look at the quarter deposits, the spot deposit rate we were pleased with them, the March number was very similar to the quarter number. So we kind of saw those stabilize throughout the quarter as well.

聯準會降息後，我們在前端非常積極，因此我認為仍有一些貸款滯後需要解決，這也符合我的保證金指導。但是當你查看季度存款時，我們對現貨存款利率感到滿意，三月的數字與季度數字非常相似。因此，我們也看到這些在整個季度中趨於穩定。

Great, thank you for that. Great. And then Doug, just a question for you. As the commitment lines build over time, is that going to further drive the allowance build in future quarters? Or could that actually be another area where you're conservative and perhaps that could give you flexibility down the road?

太好了，謝謝你。偉大的。然後道格，我只想問你一個問題。隨著承諾額度的不斷增加，這是否會進一步推動未來幾季的配額增加？或者這實際上是您比較保守的另一個領域，也許可以為您將來帶來靈活性？

Yeah, Well, I mean, as we grow commitments, it does impact the reserve as well. So you kind of -- you grow into that through loan growth. So yes, the answer is sure.

是的，嗯，我的意思是，隨著我們承諾的增加，它也會對儲備產生影響。因此，您可以透過貸款成長來實現這一目標。是的，答案是肯定的。

Chris, that's a great, very insightful, because when you look at what happened over the last 18 months, with the economic uncertainty and as we kind of backed off a little bit from construction and some of those construction unfunded came down. that reserve kind of moved out of the unfunded and went over.

克里斯，這很棒，非常有見地，因為當你回顧過去 18 個月發生的事情時，由於經濟的不確定性，我們稍微放棄了建設，一些沒有資金支持的建設項目就減少了。那種儲備金已經從無資金狀態中轉移出來並超出了資金範圍。

And as you just kind of pick up the accelerator and start rebuilding those unfunded, you will see that reserve kind of come back on the unfunded. So that was a very insightful question.

當你踩下油門並開始重建那些沒有資金的項目時，你會看到儲備金又回到了沒有資金的項目上。這是一個非常有見地的問題。

Good deal thank you so much for all the background this morning.

非常好，非常感謝您今天早上提供的所有背景資訊。

Thank you.

謝謝。

This concludes our question and answer session. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Palmer Proctor for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議交還給帕爾默·普羅克特 (Palmer Proctor) 做結束語。

Great. Thank you, Andrea. And once again, I want to thank everybody for joining our call today. And I also want to thank our teammates for another incredible quarter. We remain focused on producing top-tier results, growing our strong core deposit base and maintaining strong levels of capital reserves given the current economic uncertainty.

偉大的。謝謝你，安德里亞。我再次感謝大家今天參加我們的電話會議。我還要感謝我們的隊友們又一個令人難以置信的季度。鑑於當前的經濟不確定性，我們仍然專注於創造一流的業績，擴大我們強大的核心存款基礎，並維持強勁的資本儲備水準。

Ameris is very well positioned to take advantage of our attractive southeastern markets and grow organically over the long term, and we appreciate your participation in today's call, and we thank you for your time and your interest in Ameris Bank.

Ameris 完全有能力利用我們具有吸引力的東南市場並實現長期有機增長，我們感謝您參加今天的電話會議，感謝您抽出時間並對 Ameris Bank 感興趣。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation, and you may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演示，現在您可以斷開連接了。