FIRST BANK (Hamilton) (FRBA) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Thank you all for joining. I would like to welcome you all to the First Bank Earnings Conference Call Fourth Quarter 2022. (Operator Instructions) Now let me turn the call over to Patrick Ryan, President and CEO. So Patrick, you may begin.

謝謝大家的加入。歡迎大家參加 2022 年第四季度第一次銀行收益電話會議。（操作員說明）現在讓我將電話轉給總裁兼首席執行官帕特里克瑞安。帕特里克，你可以開始了。

Thank you. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to our fourth quarter earnings conference call. I'm joined today by Andrew Hibshman, our Chief Financial Officer; and Peter Cahill, our Chief Lending Officer. Before we begin, Andrew, can you please read the safe harbor statement.

謝謝。大家早上好。歡迎來到我們的第四季度收益電話會議。今天，我們的首席財務官 Andrew Hibshman 加入了我的行列；和我們的首席貸款官 Peter Cahill。在我們開始之前，安德魯，你能讀一讀安全港聲明嗎？

The following discussion may contain forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and business of First Bank. We caution that such statements are subject to a number of uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially, and therefore, you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements we make. We may not update any forward-looking statements we make today for future events or developments. Information about risks and uncertainties are described under Item 1A Risk Factors in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, filed with the FDIC.

以下討論可能包含有關第一銀行財務狀況、經營業績和業務的前瞻性陳述。我們提醒您，此類陳述存在許多不確定因素，實際結果可能存在重大差異，因此，您不應過分依賴我們所做的任何前瞻性陳述。我們可能不會更新我們今天為未來事件或發展所做的任何前瞻性陳述。我們向 FDIC 提交的截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日止年度的 10-K 表格年度報告的第 1A 項風險因素中描述了有關風險和不確定性的信息。

Pat, back to you.

帕特，回到你身邊。

Thank you, Andrew. I'll start with some high-level comments on the quarter and the year. I'll turn it over to Andrew to give a little more detail behind the numbers, and then he'll turn it to Peter to give a little more background on the lending side.

謝謝你，安德魯。我將從本季度和本年度的一些高級評論開始。我會把它交給安德魯，讓他提供更多數字背後的細節，然後他會把它交給彼得，讓他提供更多關於貸款方面的背景。

I'd say, overall, I think it was a decent finish to a very, very good year. Unfortunately, in Q4, the NIM expansion that we achieved in Q3 was eroded and we ended up back at margin levels more in line with where we saw things in the second quarter. But despite the margin erosion, we did have overall profitability levels that remain very strong, and we achieved tangible book value per share growth of $0.46, which was meaningful book value growth during the quarter.

我想說，總的來說，我認為這是非常非常好的一年的一個不錯的結束。不幸的是，在第四季度，我們在第三季度實現的 NIM 擴張被削弱了，我們最終回到了與第二季度看到的情況更一致的利潤率水平。但儘管利潤率下降，我們的整體盈利水平仍然非常強勁，我們實現了每股有形賬面價值增長 0.46 美元，這在本季度實現了有意義的賬面價值增長。

Our asset quality remained very good. We saw net recoveries during the period, and our levels of outperforming loans for very low. Our return on average assets was down a little bit from the third quarter, but remained very healthy at 1.35%. We continue to bring in high-quality new bankers. So only deposit generators were also brought in on the sales side during the year, and we're excited about the prospects for those teams as we move forward. And we think we'll see continuing operating leverage opportunities as we continue to scale our operations and also look to integrate the Melbourne merger later in the year. I'd like to highlight strong performance metrics. While they were down from Q3, I think they still show very, very good performance, especially relative to peers.

我們的資產質量保持良好。在此期間，我們看到了淨復甦，而我們表現出色的貸款水平非常低。我們的平均資產回報率比第三季度略有下降，但仍然非常健康，為 1.35%。我們繼續引進高質量的新銀行家。因此，這一年在銷售方面也只引入了存款生成器，我們對這些團隊的前景感到興奮，因為我們向前邁進。我們認為，隨著我們繼續擴大業務規模，並希望在今年晚些時候整合墨爾本的合併，我們將看到持續的經營槓桿機會。我想強調強大的性能指標。雖然他們比第三季度有所下降，但我認為他們仍然表現出非常非常好的表現，尤其是相對於同行而言。

Our return on tangible common equity was 13.5%. Our efficiency ratio was below 50% for an eighth straight quarter. Our pre-provision net revenue return on assets was 1.95%, just a little bit below 2%. And -- our net interest margin has been over 3.5% for the past 8 quarters. Our nonperforming assets to assets remain very low at 23 basis points. And overall, our allowance covers our nonperforming loans by over 4x.

我們的有形普通股回報率為 13.5%。我們的效率比率連續第八個季度低於 50%。我們撥備前的資產淨收入回報率為 1.95%，略低於 2%。而且——我們的淨息差在過去 8 個季度一直超過 3.5%。我們的不良資產與資產之比仍然很低，為 23 個基點。總的來說，我們的準備金覆蓋了我們超過 4 倍的不良貸款。

On the lending side, we saw $74 million in loan growth during the quarter, with over 70% of that new production coming from C&I. We have very strong asset quality with low delinquency. We're building out our capabilities in small business and asset-based lending to continue to move our ratios a little higher on the C&I side, further diversifying down a little bit from the investor real estate category. And we've seen gradual evolution of the organization as we continue to layer in attractive C&I lending niches, really building the franchise out from a traditional real estate focused community bank into more of the middle market commercial bank.

在貸款方面，本季度我們看到貸款增長了 7400 萬美元，其中超過 70% 的新產品來自 C&I。我們的資產質量非常好，拖欠率很低。我們正在增強我們在小企業和基於資產的貸款方面的能力，以繼續將我們在 C&I 方面的比率提高一點，進一步從投資者房地產類別中分散一點。隨著我們繼續在有吸引力的 C&I 貸款利基市場中分層，我們已經看到該組織的逐漸演變，真正將特許經營權從傳統的以房地產為重點的社區銀行轉變為更多的中間市場商業銀行。

On the deposit side, we obviously had some challenges. Overall, deposit growth was strong, but we did see a significant increase in our cost of deposit some of that was related to the way the timing of events played out during the quarter. As I mentioned, we had significant C&I lending opportunities. We actually had a reduction in payoffs and paydowns that we normally see on the commercial real estate side. Those 2 things together put a little pressure on funding, which caused us to have to increase the rates on our money market. Now the good news is we were able to bring in over $100 million in the deposits and deposit growth during the quarter, but we also saw a lot of excess noninterest-bearing balances move out of the noninterest-bearing accounts into interest repairing accounts here at the bank, which gave us the liquidity we needed but obviously had an impact on our cost of funds and on the margin.

在存款方面，我們顯然遇到了一些挑戰。總體而言，存款增長強勁，但我們確實看到我們的存款成本顯著增加，其中一些與本季度事件發生的時間方式有關。正如我提到的，我們有重要的 C&I 貸款機會。實際上，我們通常在商業房地產方面看到的回報和回報有所減少。這兩件事加在一起給融資帶來了一點壓力，導致我們不得不提高貨幣市場的利率。現在好消息是我們能夠在本季度帶來超過 1 億美元的存款和存款增長，但我們也看到大量過剩的無息餘額從無息賬戶轉移到利息修復賬戶中銀行，它為我們提供了所需的流動性，但顯然對我們的資金成本和利潤率產生了影響。

Now we were expecting some movement out apparently although it did happen a little bit quicker than we expected. We think some of that, again, was a timing issue related to the need to bump up our money market rate in order to make sure we have the dollar disease to fund the good C&I loan opportunities. But all in all, we've made a lot of good moves to make sure that we can continue to drive core deposit growth.

現在我們顯然期待一些運動，儘管它確實發生得比我們預期的要快一點。我們再次認為，其中一些是與需要提高我們的貨幣市場利率有關的時間問題，以確保我們有美元疾病來為良好的 C&I 貸款機會提供資金。但總而言之，我們已經採取了很多好的舉措來確保我們能夠繼續推動核心存款增長。

We did actually see an increase when you look at just new noninterest-bearing accounts opened during the quarter, we actually brought in more new money and new accounts than we saw money leading and closed accounts. So again, there was a lot of money moving out of noninterest-bearing into interest-bearing, which impacts the margin, but in terms of retaining customer relationships, our team did an excellent job.

當你只看本季度開設的新的無息賬戶時，我們確實看到了增長，我們實際上帶來了比我們看到的資金主導和關閉賬戶更多的新資金和新賬戶。因此，再次有大量資金從無息轉移到有息，這影響了利潤率，但在保留客戶關係方面，我們的團隊做得非常出色。

So in summary, despite some headwinds emerging in Q4, we had a very good and profitable year in 2022. We realized top quartile performance across key metrics like return on assets, return on tangible common equity, pre-provision net revenue and tangible book value per share growth. In fact, our tangible book value per share grew 10% during the year despite a lot of challenges on the interest rate side. And we achieved good high-quality loan growth and improved asset quality profile.

因此，總而言之，儘管第四季度出現了一些不利因素，但我們在 2022 年取得了非常好的盈利年度。我們在資產回報率、有形普通股回報率、撥備前淨收入和有形賬面價值等關鍵指標上實現了前四分之一的表現每股增長。事實上，儘管利率方面存在許多挑戰，但我們的每股有形賬面價值在這一年中增長了 10%。我們實現了良好的高質量貸款增長並改善了資產質量狀況。

Furthermore, we have reason for optimism as we work our way into 2023. We've been able to attract several key bankers that will help us drive core deposit growth moving forward. We've got some nice new C&I lending niches, which will help drive both portfolio diversification and an improvement in our overall commercial deposit balances, which will put less reliance on higher cost sources of funds. We're doing a nice job enhancing our digital banking capabilities to make sure that we remain competitive in that space. And we're continuing to see fallout in opportunities from M&A within the New Jersey banking market that we think will create great opportunities for both customer acquisition and banker acquisition as we move into 2023.

此外，在我們努力進入 2023 年之際，我們有理由保持樂觀。我們已經能夠吸引幾位關鍵銀行家，這將幫助我們推動核心存款增長向前發展。我們有一些不錯的新 C&I 貸款利基市場，這將有助於推動投資組合多元化和改善我們的整體商業存款餘額，這將減少對成本較高的資金來源的依賴。我們在增強數字銀行能力方面做得很好，以確保我們在該領域保持競爭力。我們繼續看到新澤西銀行市場併購機會的影響，我們認為隨著我們進入 2023 年，這將為客戶獲取和銀行家獲取創造巨大機會。

And finally, the exciting opportunity with the Malvern acquisition to integrate that, really drive some size and scale and improve profitability within our PA franchise and also drive overall improved scale benefits across the entire franchise. So certainly challenges as we look out to 2023, but also reasons for optimism as we look to continue to build and grow shareholder value here at First Bank.

最後，收購 Malvern 的令人興奮的機會可以整合這一點，真正推動我們 PA 特許經營權的規模和規模並提高盈利能力，並推動整個特許經營權的整體規模效益提高。因此，當我們展望 2023 年時，當然會面臨挑戰，但也有樂觀的理由，因為我們希望繼續在 First Bank 建立和增加股東價值。

So at this time, I'll turn it over to Andrew to give me to the numbers. Andrew?

所以此時，我會把它交給安德魯，讓他給我數字。安德魯？

Thanks, Matt. For the 3 months ended December 31, 2022, we earned $9.1 million in net income or $0.46 per diluted share, which translates to a $1.35 return on average assets or $1.40, excluding tax-affected merger-related expenses. The final factors contributing to the quarterly results were historically strong but slightly declining net interest margin, strong credit quality metrics and effective management of noninterest expenses.

謝謝，馬特。在截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日的三個月中，我們的淨收入為 910 萬美元或攤薄後每股收益為 0.46 美元，這意味著平均資產回報率為 1.35 美元或 1.40 美元，不包括受稅收影響的合併相關費用。促成季度業績的最終因素是歷史上強勁但略有下降的淨息差、強勁的信貸質量指標以及非利息支出的有效管理。

Net income declined $1.1 million from the linked third quarter but was up $1.3 million compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. Strong commercial loan growth continued in the quarter. Loans were up approximately $75 million, excluding the small decline in PPP loans compared to an increase in non-PPP loans of $36 million in Q3, $84 million in Q2 and $65 million in the first quarter of 2022.

淨收入比相關的第三季度下降了 110 萬美元，但與 2021 年第四季度相比增加了 130 萬美元。本季度商業貸款繼續強勁增長。貸款增加了約 7500 萬美元，其中不包括 PPP 貸款的小幅下降，而第三季度非 PPP 貸款增加了 3600 萬美元，第二季度增加了 8400 萬美元，2022 年第一季度增加了 6500 萬美元。

Total deposits were up $104 million during the fourth quarter of 2022, with interest-bearing deposits up $184 million and noninterest-bearing deposits down approximately $80 million. We continue to maintain key relationships. However, they have become more rate sensitive, resulting in movement of funds. We did a detailed analysis of the declining in noninterest-bearing bearing balances during the fourth quarter.

2022 年第四季度總存款增加 1.04 億美元，其中有息存款增加 1.84 億美元，無息存款減少約 8000 萬美元。我們繼續保持重要關係。然而，它們對利率變得更加敏感，導致資金流動。我們詳細分析了第四季度無息計息餘額的下降。

A very small percentage of the decline related to accounts that were closed and left the bank. But during the fourth quarter, we did experience several large relationships that maintain significant noninterest-bearing deposits moved into interest-bearing products, and we saw some normal end-of-year fluctuations.

一小部分下降與關閉和離開銀行的賬戶有關。但在第四季度，我們確實經歷了幾筆保持大量無息存款轉移到有息產品的大型關係，我們看到了一些正常的年末波動。

The growth in interest-bearing balances was due to new money CD and money market promos we initiated during the quarter, coupled with the movement of funds I just discussed. Due to the shift in the deposit mix, the repricing of certain existing customer balances and the new [money] promo during the fourth quarter, our total cost of deposits increased 7 basis points compared to the linked prior quarter. Primarily due to this increase in the deposit costs, offset somewhat by the increase in the average rate on loans, our tax equivalent net interest margin decreased to 3.69% for the quarter ended Q4 2022 compared to 3.97% in the previous quarter.

生息餘額的增長是由於我們在本季度發起的新貨幣 CD 和貨幣市場促銷活動，以及我剛才討論的資金流動。由於第四季度存款組合的變化、某些現有客戶餘額的重新定價以及新的 [money] 促銷活動，我們的總存款成本與上一季度相比增加了 7 個基點。主要是由於存款成本的增加，在一定程度上被貸款平均利率的增加所抵消，我們的稅收等值淨息差在截至 2022 年第四季度的季度下降至 3.69%，而上一季度為 3.97%。

The decline in the margin in the fourth quarter was exacerbated by low PPP fee income and prepayment penalty income during the fourth quarter of 2022. Excluding PPP fee income and prepayment penalty income, the margin would have been approximately 3.67% in Q4 versus 3.89% in the third quarter of 2022.

2022 年第四季度較低的 PPP 費用收入和預付款罰款收入加劇了第四季度利潤率的下降。不包括 PPP 費用收入和預付款罰款收入，第四季度的利潤率約為 3.67%，而第四季度為 3.89% 2022 年第三季度。

Our asset liability management approach continues to be conservative, but we have taken steps in the fourth quarter and plan to continue to shift our balance sheet to a more liability-sensitive GAAP position. In the current rate environment, we expect continued pressure on the margin in the short term, but we believe the quarterly decline will not be as severe as the decline was in the fourth quarter of 2022. Liquidity levels increased slightly during the fourth quarter due to our deposit gathering initiatives. We were also able to slightly reduce borrowings and broker deposit balances during the fourth quarter.

我們的資產負債管理方法繼續保持保守，但我們已在第四季度採取措施，併計劃繼續將我們的資產負債表轉移到對負債更敏感的 GAAP 位置。在當前的利率環境下，我們預計短期內利潤率將繼續面臨壓力，但我們認為季度下滑不會像 2022 年第四季度那樣嚴重。第四季度流動性水平略有上升，原因是我們的存款收集計劃。我們還能夠在第四季度略微減少借款和經紀人存款餘額。

As we have mentioned in our previous calls, our strong organic loan growth has lowered our liquidity recovers, but has also contributed to our investment portfolio being relatively small when compared to peers. The size and low-risk nature of our investment portfolio has limited our unrealized losses compared to some of our peers.

正如我們在之前的電話會議中提到的那樣，我們強勁的有機貸款增長降低了我們的流動性恢復，但也導致我們的投資組合與同行相比相對較小。與我們的一些同行相比，我們投資組合的規模和低風險性質限制了我們的未實現損失。

During the first 3 quarters of 2022, unrealized losses increased, but unrealized losses actually declined slightly during the fourth quarter. Due to our strong net income, we were able to increase our tangible book value per share by $0.46 during the current quarter. Based on net recoveries during the quarter and a strong asset quality profile, we maintained our allowance for loan losses as a percentage of loans to 1.09% at December 31, 2022, compared to the same percentage at the end of September. This was supported by only a very slight increase in nonperforming loans compared to the end of the third quarter. And we are also currently finalizing our CECL calculation and expect our allowance as a percentage of loans to increase by approximately 5% to 10% upon adoption during the first quarter of 2023.

2022年前三季度，未實現虧損有所增加，但第四季度未實現虧損實際上略有下降。由於我們強勁的淨收入，我們能夠在本季度將每股有形賬面價值增加 0.46 美元。基於本季度的淨回收率和強勁的資產質量狀況，我們將 2022 年 12 月 31 日的貸款損失準備金佔貸款的百分比維持在 1.09%，而 9 月底則為同一百分比。與第三季度末相比，不良貸款僅略有增加，對此提供了支持。我們目前還在完成我們的 CECL 計算，預計在 2023 年第一季度採用後，我們的津貼佔貸款的百分比將增加約 5% 至 10%。

In the fourth quarter of 2022, total noninterest income increased to $1.4 million from $934,000 in the third quarter of 2022. The increase from the third quarter of 2022 was primarily due to an increase in loan fees, which was principally related from this latest onetime loan fee. Our SBA loan activity and pipelines continue to be strong. However, sales activity has been slower than expected, primarily due to the rising interest rate environment, which has reduced the premiums earned on sales. And in most cases, we are attaining the loans on our balance sheet.

2022 年第四季度，非利息收入總額從 2022 年第三季度的 934,000 美元增加到 140 萬美元。與 2022 年第三季度相比增加的主要原因是貸款費用增加，這主要與這筆最新的一次性貸款有關費用。我們的 SBA 貸款活動和管道繼續保持強勁。然而，銷售活動低於預期，這主要是由於利率環境上升，這降低了銷售所賺取的保費。在大多數情況下，我們正在獲得資產負債表上的貸款。

Loan swap activity also continues to be slow. While noninterest income levels may continue to fluctuate, we do not expect a significant increase in noninterest income over the next several quarters. Annualized Q4 2022 noninterest expenses were 1.84% of average assets or 1.78%, excluding merger-related expenses compared to a peer average of 2.1%. The -- in total, noninsurance expenses were $12.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, up $728,000 or 6.2% compared to the third quarter of 2022. The increase was primarily due to merger-related expenses associated with the merger agreement we finalized in December and higher salaries and employee benefits.

貸款互換活動也繼續緩慢。雖然非利息收入水平可能會繼續波動，但我們預計未來幾個季度非利息收入不會顯著增加。 2022 年第四季度年化非利息支出占平均資產的 1.84% 或 1.78%，不包括與合併相關的支出，而同行平均水平為 2.1%。 2022 年第四季度非保險費用總額為 1250 萬美元，比 2022 年第三季度增加 728,000 美元或 6.2%。增加的主要原因是與我們在 12 月敲定的合併協議相關的合併相關費用以及更高的薪水和員工福利。

Excluding merger-related expenses, noninterest expenses increased only 2.4% compared to the linked third quarter. With a difficult interest rate environment, we continue to be laser-focused on expense control, but we do anticipate our quarterly expenses will continue to increase slightly from the core Q4 2022 levels as we continue to add this stat and inflationary pressure continues to affect other expense items.

剔除與合併相關的費用，非利息費用與第三季度相比僅增長 2.4%。在艱難的利率環境下，我們繼續高度關注費用控制，但我們確實預計，隨著我們繼續增加這一統計數據，並且通脹壓力繼續影響其他方面，我們的季度費用將繼續從 2022 年第四季度的核心水平略有增加開支項目。

While we believe the current interest rate environment will continue to put pressure on our margin, we are still generating historically high levels of net interest income and operating efficiency results. We believe we can continue to generate core loan and deposit growth and combined with very strong credit quality metrics and effective management of noninterest expenses, we are well positioned to continue our strong core profitability trends in 2023.

雖然我們認為當前的利率環境將繼續對我們的利潤率構成壓力，但我們仍在創造歷史最高水平的淨利息收入和運營效率結果。我們相信我們可以繼續實現核心貸款和存款增長，並結合非常強大的信貸質量指標和對非利息支出的有效管理，我們有能力在 2023 年繼續保持強勁的核心盈利趨勢。

At this time, I'll turn it over to Peter Cahill, our Chief Lending Officer, for his remarks. Peter?

此時，我將把它轉交給我們的首席貸款官 Peter Cahill，聽取他的意見。彼得？

Thank you, Andrew. I'll try to provide some additional information not already covered by Pat or Andrew. From a lending perspective, 2022 was pretty clean from the standpoint of noise in the numbers. My comments will focus only on organic results, PPP loans, as you mentioned, are about done with slightly over $3 million or so remaining in their payments agreed. Regarding the fourth quarter, I think the results were excellent. Approximately 29% of our growth for the year took place in Q4, just slightly behind Q2, our largest quarter, up nicely from the third quarter, which was the slowest.

謝謝你，安德魯。我將嘗試提供一些 Pat 或 Andrew 尚未涵蓋的附加信息。從貸款的角度來看，從數字噪音的角度來看，2022 年非常乾淨。我的評論將只關注有機結果，正如你提到的，PPP 貸款即將完成，他們同意的付款中還剩下略多於 300 萬美元左右。關於第四季度，我認為結果非常好。我們全年增長的大約 29% 發生在第四季度，略低於我們最大的第二季度，比最慢的第三季度好很多。

Total loan growth for the year, again absent PPP, was around $260 million. This exceeded our total loan growth goal of $200 million by 30% and overall kept us in double-digit loan growth for the year. Loan generation continues to be good in all areas of the bank. One thing of interest was that new loans closed and funded during the fourth quarter declined from an average of $126 million in the first 3 quarters of the year to $83 million in Q4.

當年的貸款總額增長，同樣沒有購買力平價，約為 2.6 億美元。這比我們 2 億美元的總貸款增長目標高出 30%，總體上使我們在這一年保持了兩位數的貸款增長。貸款產生在銀行的所有領域繼續良好。一件有趣的事情是，第四季度關閉和融資的新貸款從今年前三個季度的平均 1.26 億美元下降到第四季度的 8300 萬美元。

There are a number of factors at play here. First, we are well ahead of plan throughout the year, which meant we could be a bit more selective. Also, through the first 6 months, loan growth was weighted towards investor real estate loans. So again, we were selective about what we pursued in the second half of the year and for the fourth quarter. Then with the impact of the economy on interest rates helping cool loan growth on the investor real estate side a bit, we experienced a reduction in loan payoffs that I think both Pat and Andrew mentioned during the fourth quarter.

這裡有許多因素在起作用。首先，我們全年都超前完成了計劃，這意味著我們可以更有選擇性。此外，在前 6 個月，貸款增長主要集中在投資者房地產貸款上。因此，我們再次對下半年和第四季度的追求進行了選擇。然後，隨著經濟對利率的影響幫助投資者房地產方面的貸款增長降溫，我們經歷了貸款償還的減少，我認為帕特和安德魯在第四季度都提到了這一點。

All of this resulted in good growth in the C&I side of the portfolio for the quarter, which brings in, as you know, more floating rate loans as well as relationship deposits. Payoffs in the fourth quarter totaled only $14 million compared to $177 million or a quarterly average of $59 million per quarter during the first 3 quarters of the year.

所有這些都導致本季度投資組合的 C&I 方面取得良好增長，如您所知，這帶來了更多的浮動利率貸款和關係存款。與今年前 3 季度的 1.77 億美元或每季度平均 5900 萬美元相比，第四季度的收益總額僅為 1400 萬美元。

In the total for the year, C&I into a much lesser extent, consumer made up 47% of all new loans closed and funded and investor real estate made up the difference. The positive news we saw moving into the fourth quarter was that the percentage of new loans coming from C&I rose to 70% of total loans closed and funded. Looking at the reason for loan payoffs. In Q4, 62% of payoffs reduced to the underlying asset being sold and 25% of total payoffs were refinanced by another bank. The entire year, the kind of "refinance outnumber" was higher at around 38%.

在今年的總額中，C&I 的影響要小得多，消費者佔所有已關閉和融資的新貸款的 47%，投資者房地產彌補了差額。我們看到進入第四季度的利好消息是，來自 C&I 的新貸款佔已關閉和融資貸款總額的比例上升至 70%。查看還清貸款的原因。在第四季度，62% 的收益減少到出售的標的資產，總收益的 25% 由另一家銀行再融資。全年，這種“再融資數量超過”的比例更高，在 38% 左右。

At this point, I'll talk a little bit about our loan pipeline, which continues to look good. The numbers we discuss here are based upon probable funding, which means we project first year usage and multiply that by a probability factor based upon where we are in the approval process. That means, for example, loan that's already approved, will have a much higher probability of closing if there on just underwriting.

在這一點上，我將談談我們的貸款渠道，它看起來仍然不錯。我們在這裡討論的數字是基於可能的資金，這意味著我們預測第一年的使用情況，並將其乘以一個基於我們在審批過程中所處位置的概率因子。這意味著，例如，如果只是承銷，已經批准的貸款將有更高的可能性關閉。

At December 31, our loan pipe stood at $233 million, down slightly from $240 million at the end of Q3. The total number of individual loans in the pipeline rose, however, from 211 at the end of Q3 with $222 at year-end. The average pipeline finger for the 12 months this past year was $244 million. So December -- at December, we were around 4.5% off the average for the year.

截至 12 月 31 日，我們的貸款渠道為 2.33 億美元，略低於第三季度末的 2.4 億美元。然而，籌備中的個人貸款總數從第三季度末的 211 筆增加到年末的 222 美元。去年 12 個月的平均管道手指為 2.44 億美元。所以 12 月——在 12 月，我們比全年平均水平低 4.5% 左右。

Factors that impact the monthly number is include the number and size of loans that have already closed and funded and therefore get moved off the pipeline. For example, we closed and funded $45 million in loans in December. This is above the average month and those deals steam off the pipeline at 12/31. Overall, I'm satisfied with what we're seeing in the pipeline. Things seem to have slowed a bit, but we're still seeing a lot of activity based upon economic uncertainty that we see, it change every day. We're taking a cost approach to underwriting new business, especially in investor real estate and construction lending as well as with any new prospective customer coming in for the bank.

影響月度數字的因素包括已經關閉和資助並因此被移出管道的貸款的數量和規模。例如，我們在 12 月關閉並提供了 4500 萬美元的貸款。這高於平均月份，這些交易在 12 月 31 日結束。總的來說，我對我們在管道中看到的內容感到滿意。事情似乎有所放緩，但我們仍然看到許多基於我們看到的經濟不確定性的活動，它每天都在變化。我們正在採取成本方法來承保新業務，特別是在投資者房地產和建築貸款以及任何新的潛在客戶進入銀行時。

As loans move through the pipeline, it eventually hit our projected loan funding report, which we've talked about here before, this report looks at 60 days and projects funding and prepayments for Andrew's team in finance.

隨著貸款通過管道，它最終達到了我們之前在這裡討論過的預計貸款資金報告，該報告著眼於 60 天以及安德魯的財務團隊的項目資金和預付款。

Our review of loan funding report over the next 60 days shows continued good activity right in line with previous quarters. Regarding asset quality, there's not much more to say beyond that Andy's comments and what's in the earnings release, things from my perspective, continue to look very good. Credit metrics are solid, loan delinquencies, which were at roughly loans at the end of Q3 or even low in December.

我們對未來 60 天貸款融資報告的審查顯示，與前幾個季度一致，活動持續良好。關於資產質量，除了安迪的評論和收益發布中的內容之外，沒有什麼可說的了，從我的角度來看，事情看起來仍然非常好。信貸指標是可靠的，貸款拖欠率在第三季度末大致處於貸款水平，甚至在 12 月份處於較低水平。

That's my recap in the fourth quarter in 2022. We're planning on continued growth and meeting our goals and objectives going into 2023 from the lending side, we have a number of priorities, some of which we have previously announced, but which really haven't had a chance to positively impact performance yet. Obviously, number one on our list is the pending merger with Malvern that's the top priority when we discussed that on previous calls.

這是我在 2022 年第四季度的回顧。我們計劃在貸款方面繼續增長並實現我們進入 2023 年的目標和目標，我們有許多優先事項，其中一些我們之前已經宣布，但實際上還沒有' 有機會對性能產生積極影響。顯然，我們名單上的第一位是與 Malvern 的未決合併，這是我們在之前的電話會議上討論的重中之重。

We have a new regional office and opening up in Westchester, Pennsylvania right before the end of first quarter here. Right now, we're running that market out in a very small space on the 1st floor of a building downtown. In a few weeks, we're going to the full service bank branch in Westchester, which will provide room to grow as well as be a better retail location drive up et cetera.

我們在賓夕法尼亞州韋斯特切斯特開設了一個新的區域辦事處，就在第一季度末之前。現在，我們正在市中心一棟大樓一樓的一個非常小的空間裡經營這個市場。幾週後，我們將前往 Westchester 的全方位服務銀行分行，這將提供增長空間以及更好的零售地點等。

Similarly, in Northern New Jersey, we've located a new Northern (inaudible) office in Essex County. We are tentatively scheduled to have our relationship management team in the new space by the end of the quarter with retail space to follow in Q2. Late last year, we announced our equity fund banking initiative, lending to private equity funds in our market. This team is doing well, and that's a strong pipeline.

同樣，在新澤西州北部，我們在埃塞克斯縣設立了一個新的北部（聽不清）辦公室。我們暫定在本季度末讓我們的關係管理團隊進入新的空間，零售空間將在第二季度跟進。去年年底，我們宣布了我們的股票基金銀行計劃，向我們市場上的私募股權基金提供貸款。這個團隊做得很好，這是一個強大的管道。

Pat and Andrew mentioned SBA lending. I'm satisfied with the results the team had in 2022 despite the impact on sales of the guaranteed portion of 7(a) loans. We expect even better performance this year in SBA, and we're looking to add to staff there if we can find the right people. I'm also happy to report that we've recently hired seasoned banker to build out and develop an asset-based lending team that made reference to that in his comments. This person has many years of experience in asset-based lending and in our market and will add to our product set. We expect the team to be up to running by early second quarter.

Pat 和 Andrew 提到了 SBA 貸款。儘管 7(a) 貸款的擔保部分的銷售受到影響，但我對團隊在 2022 年的結果感到滿意。我們預計今年 SBA 的表現會更好，如果我們能找到合適的人選，我們希望在那裡增加員工。我也很高興地報告，我們最近聘請了經驗豐富的銀行家來建立和發展一個基於資產的貸款團隊，他在評論中提到了這一點。此人在基於資產的貸款和我們的市場上擁有多年經驗，並將添加到我們的產品集中。我們預計該團隊將在第二季度初開始運行。

So we're excited about all these projects, each in its own way will enable us to continue to grow successfully in 2023 and years to come. And that concludes my report for lending.

因此，我們對所有這些項目感到興奮，每個項目都以自己的方式使我們能夠在 2023 年和未來幾年繼續成功發展。我的貸款報告到此結束。

I'll turn things back over to Pat for some final comments.

我會將事情轉回給 Pat 以徵求一些最終意見。

Thank you, Peter, and thank you, Andrew. At this point, I'd like to open it up for the Q&A session for the call.

謝謝你，彼得，謝謝你，安德魯。在這一點上，我想打開它進行電話問答環節。

Thank you. {operator Instructions) the first question we have on the phone line comes from David Bishop of Hovde Group.

謝謝。 {操作員說明）我們在電話線上遇到的第一個問題來自 Hovde Group 的 David Bishop。

Close (inaudible) I think you noted you exited the year a little bit plus of cash. Was there is obviously noted the decline in BBA (inaudible). Was there any (inaudible) come aggressive maybe sort of prefund some of the loan growth in 2023 and trying to get ahead of the market further rate increases and just be a little bit more aggressive to position yourself from a liquidity perspective of kind of 2023?

關閉（聽不清）我想你注意到你退出了這一年一點點現金。是否明顯注意到 BBA 下降（聽不清）。是否有任何（聽不清）積極進取，可能會在 2023 年為部分貸款增長提供資金，並試圖領先於市場進一步加息，並從 2023 年的流動性角度更積極地定位自己？

Yes, listen, I think there's always a variety of reasons why certain actions are taken. I mean, the practical reality is you put a product out there or you tweak a rate and you don't know exactly the extent of the activity it will generate. And I think as we were taking a look at our product design and setting our rates, and we thought there might be an opportunity if we were going to err on the side of one or the other, we wanted to maybe bring in a few more dollars than not enough dollars. And that's ultimately how it played out.

是的，聽著，我認為採取某些行動總是有多種原因。我的意思是，實際情況是你將產品投放市場或調整利率，但你並不確切知道它將產生的活動範圍。而且我認為當我們審視我們的產品設計和設定我們的費率時，我們認為如果我們要在其中一個或另一個方面犯錯可能會有機會，我們可能想引入更多美元比不夠美元。這就是最終的結果。

I think we put out rates that at the time were decent rates. I think they've subsequently been surpassed by competitors based on subsequent Fed moves, but it did give us an opportunity to retain business that was getting competitively corded, if you will, and then also bringing some additional dollars. And listen, to your point, will we love highest margin possible, you don't want to play gains on the liquidity front. You have to make sure you're dealing from a position of strength on the liquidity side. So yes, that obviously plays a role.

我認為我們推出的利率在當時是不錯的。我認為根據美聯儲隨後的舉措，他們隨後被競爭對手超越，但它確實讓我們有機會保留那些競爭激烈的業務，如果你願意的話，然後也帶來了一些額外的美元。聽聽你的觀點，我們會喜歡盡可能高的利潤率嗎，你不想在流動性方面獲利。你必須確保你在流動性方面處於有利地位。所以是的，這顯然發揮了作用。

And I'm just curious, Pat or Andy, when you look at the overall cost of deposits maybe from -- I don't know if there's a way to quantify or are you seeing maybe that trending to over the next couple of quarters and what you're seeing in terms of average loan yields under production.

我只是好奇，帕特或安迪，當你查看存款的總體成本時，我不知道是否有量化的方法，或者你是否看到未來幾個季度的趨勢和你在生產中看到的平均貸款收益率。

Yes. I mean, great question. Obviously, we have visibility into rates that are currently being offered and what's that generating in terms of new business. The piece that's a little harder to forecast is money that's been sitting on the sidelines, folks that maybe don't need it in their operating accounts that when yields were low, they didn't want to bother making the move over.

是的。我的意思是，很好的問題。顯然，我們可以了解當前提供的費率以及在新業務方面產生的影響。有點難以預測的是一直在觀望的資金，人們可能不需要在他們的經營賬戶中看到當收益率低時，他們不想費心轉移。

Now those folks are looking to put some of that money to work either with us at a higher rate or into the market. And I think we saw a fair amount of that happened in Q4. Our hope is a lot of the money that was looking to move, made the move and that what we'll see going forward will be significant reductions in that shift out of [NIB] into interest bearing. And at least so far in January, the noninterest-bearing balances are holding up.

現在，這些人希望將其中的一部分資金以更高的利率與我們合作或投入市場。而且我認為我們在第四季度看到了相當多的情況。我們希望有很多資金希望轉移，並採取行動，我們將看到未來將顯著減少從 [NIB] 轉向生息。至少到 1 月為止，無息餘額保持不變。

So a little hard to say with a lot of certainty, but we think every bank will reach a point where depending on their liquidity position, they may need to make a move. And when they make that move on the rate side, it will cause a short-term jolt, but then things will normalize. And I think we believe, based on the efforts we're making on the quarterfinal generation side that jolt came for us in Q4. And that's not to say deposit costs will continue to move higher, but we're optimistic they'll move higher at a much slower pace.

所以有點難以確定，但我們認為每家銀行都會達到一定程度，根據他們的流動性狀況，他們可能需要採取行動。當他們在利率方面採取行動時，會引起短期震盪，但隨後一切都會正常化。而且我認為我們相信，基於我們在第四季度為我們帶來的四分之一決賽一代方面所做的努力。這並不是說存款成本會繼續走高，但我們樂觀地認為它們會以更慢的速度走高。

Got it. And then just one final question, and I'll hop back into the queue. Outlook for loan growth. Just curious, I mean, you're double digit this year. It sounds like a decent pipeline you think there's enough demand and bankable credits out there to support that or consider little bit from the low double-digit range.

知道了。然後是最後一個問題，我會跳回到隊列中。貸款增長前景。只是好奇，我的意思是，你今年是兩位數。這聽起來像是一個不錯的管道，你認為那裡有足夠的需求和可融資的信貸來支持它，或者考慮從低兩位數的範圍中一點點。

Yes, sure, David. I think given some of our new initiatives and given what we're seeing in terms of significant slowdowns in terms of prepayments and payoffs I think hitting our plus or minus $200 million loan growth goal will be manageable. It will likely be done with less new business, right, maybe not as much churn as in prior years. And certainly, we expect it will be done a lot more with C&I and floating rate commercial deals and a little less on the commercial real estate side. But I just think because we'll see fewer payoffs and pay downs, achieving a net growth goal of in that $200 million range I suspect we'll do what we have.

是的，當然，大衛。我認為，考慮到我們的一些新舉措，以及我們所看到的預付款和還款顯著放緩的情況，我認為達到我們正負 2 億美元的貸款增長目標是可控的。它可能會在新業務減少的情況下完成，對，也許不像前幾年那麼多。當然，我們預計在 C&I 和浮動利率商業交易方面會做得更多，而在商業房地產方面會做得更少。但我只是認為，因為我們會看到更少的回報和減少，實現 2 億美元範圍內的淨增長目標，我懷疑我們會盡我們所能。

Our next question comes from the line of Manuel Nevas of D.A. Davidson.

我們的下一個問題來自 D.A. 的 Manuel Nevas。戴維森。

Could you give a little bit more color on kind of the NIM trajectory? And I know you had your deal closing too and just kind of -- you have a little bit less pressure this coming quarter, what's kind of thought process after that?

你能給 NIM 軌跡多一點顏色嗎？而且我知道你也完成了交易，只是有點——你在下個季度的壓力要小一些，那之後的思考過程是怎樣的？

Yes. Great question. I'd love to have better visibility than we do. Obviously, there's a lot of moving pieces right now, and it's a little tough to predict. I think we expect there'll probably be some continued pressure on the margin. We're sort of targeting a margin over the next couple of quarters is somewhere in the 3.50% to 3.60% range. We're going to or like to try to get it up closer to the higher end of that range, but that's sort of the best I could predict at this point.

是的。很好的問題。我希望比我們有更好的知名度。顯然，現在有很多動人的事情，而且有點難以預測。我認為我們預計利潤率可能會持續受到壓力。我們的目標是未來幾個季度的利潤率在 3.50% 至 3.60% 的範圍內。我們打算或想嘗試讓它更接近該範圍的高端，但這是我目前可以預測的最好結果。

And then when you look out to the back half of the year, largely because of the idiosyncrasies of merger accounting, will almost certainly see a sizable margin pickup on the back end because of how you take the upfront marks and you accrete back into income. I don't know, you have anything you want to add there, but I know based on some preliminary numbers you are showing the margin. So in up quite a bit on the back half, but more a function of the merger accounting than anything else.

然後當你展望今年下半年時，主要是由於合併會計的特殊性，幾乎肯定會看到後端的利潤率大幅回升，因為你如何獲得前期標記並重新計入收入。我不知道，你有什麼要添加的，但我知道根據一些初步數字你顯示了利潤率。所以在後半部分增加了很多，但更多的是合併會計的功能而不是其他任何東西。

Yes, that's right. I mean, obviously, a lot will depend on the shape of the yield curve and what happens. It seems like the Fed is going to move a little bit more gradually here over the next couple of meetings, and we'll see what happens there. But yes, it's going to get a little complicated later in the year with all the purchase accounting. But we'll make sure to do a good job of disclosing the impact of the different purchase accounting things that are flowing through the margin. So you'll see that. But I think Pat's got kind of guidance on the margin coming down slightly again early in the year.

恩，那就對了。我的意思是，很明顯，很大程度上取決於收益率曲線的形狀以及會發生什麼。在接下來的幾次會議上，美聯儲似乎將在這方面採取更緩慢的行動，我們將拭目以待。但是，是的，今年晚些時候所有的採購會計都會變得有點複雜。但我們一定要做好披露不同採購會計事項的影響，這些事項將流經利潤率。所以你會看到的。但我認為 Pat 在今年年初再次獲得了關於利潤率略有下降的指導。

And then hopefully, we get a little bit of a better yield curve over the back half of the year, and hopefully, we can kind of maintain that kind of core margin. And then with the Malvern integration, you'll see some significant fluctuations because of those interest rate marks that get accreted back into interest income.

然後希望我們在今年下半年獲得更好的收益率曲線，希望我們能夠保持這種核心利潤率。然後通過 Malvern 集成，您會看到一些顯著的波動，因為這些利率標記會重新計入利息收入。

That's really helpful. I -- you kind of talked a little bit about deposit costs in a big picture. Are you targeting certain data for the year? And anything that can kind of help with seeing where they're going to go? Or is it just such a moving target at the current moment.

這真的很有幫助。我——你從大局上談了一點存款成本。您是否針對當年的某些數據？有什麼可以幫助了解他們要去的地方嗎？或者它只是當前的一個移動目標。

Yes, listen, obviously, we I mean we obviously have deposit betas built into our budgets and our forecast. I'd say they were coming in a lot lower than expected as we move through the year. And then I think they've jumped up a little bit higher than was anticipated towards the back end of the year. So I think the short answer is yes, we're looking at those betas, but they're a bit of a moving target right now.

是的，聽著，很明顯，我們的意思是我們的預算和預測中顯然有存款貝塔。我會說他們的收入比我們在這一年中的預期要低很多。然後我認為他們的漲幅比年底時的預期高了一點。所以我認為簡短的回答是肯定的，我們正在研究這些測試版，但它們現在是一個移動的目標。

We're trying to look at the margin overall and what we can do to keep it at. And I think if we can keep it in that 3.50% to 3.60% range, that's a very healthy level, and that's a level at which I think we can generate really strong returns on assets and equity and -- we obviously have other levers to pull if the deposit costs move higher than we anticipate.

我們正在嘗試查看整體利潤率以及我們可以做些什麼來保持它。而且我認為，如果我們能夠將其保持在 3.50% 至 3.60% 的範圍內，那將是一個非常健康的水平，而且我認為我們可以在這一水平上產生非常強勁的資產和股權回報，而且 - 我們顯然還有其他槓桿如果存款成本高於我們的預期，則拉動。

We're going to have to get a little leaner on the operating side, but there's always opportunities there if you look hard enough. So it just becomes a function of 2010 to maintain those deposit costs while maintaining your liquidity. And if you got to end up pushing them a little higher than you like, then you got to find other ways to make sure you can keep your profitability at sustainable levels.

我們將不得不在運營方面精簡一點，但如果你足夠努力，總會有機會的。因此，在保持流動性的同時維持這些存款成本只是 2010 年的一個功能。如果你最終不得不將它們推得比你喜歡的高一點，那麼你必須找到其他方法來確保你可以將盈利能力保持在可持續的水平。

That's helpful. And I think I might have missed this in the expense discussion, but is there kind of a core run rate expectation for 2023?

這很有幫助。而且我想我可能在費用討論中錯過了這一點，但是是否有 2023 年的核心運行率預期？

So I think Andrew broke out what we estimated as kind of the core for Q4 one and then indicated there'd be what we think would be modest increases from that core level. So I don't know, Andrew, if there's details you didn't already provide them, but I thought you gave some good guidance in terms of what kind of the core expense base look like. In fourth quarter, things always move around a little bit as you true up accruals and other things. But there certainly is continued pressure on the expense side. I think the good news there is those pressures are subsiding and we're hopeful that what used to be a sort of a 2% to 5% expense growth world that kind of jumps more to 8% to 10%, will come back into that plus or minus 5% range.

因此，我認為安德魯打破了我們估計的第四季度核心水平，然後表示我們認為該核心水平會適度增加。所以我不知道，安德魯，如果有你還沒有提供的細節，但我認為你在什麼樣的核心費用基礎方面給出了一些很好的指導。在第四季度，當你調整應計利潤和其他事情時，事情總是會發生一些變化。但在費用方面肯定存在持續的壓力。我認為好消息是這些壓力正在消退，我們希望過去 2% 至 5% 的支出增長會躍升至 8% 至 10%，並將回歸正負 5% 範圍內。

Yes, I think that's right, Pat. I mean we have -- Peter mentioned some we have the new Westchester location, but that's really just a movement of the location. So expenses aren't going up significantly there. We do have the new Fairfield location, which will add to our occupancy expense. But we don't have any other significant initiatives that are going to drive our expenses up significantly early in 2023, but then obviously, we have the Malvern deal, which will drive up expenses when we closed that deal in the middle of the year.

是的，我認為這是正確的，帕特。我的意思是我們 - 彼得提到了一些我們有新的 Westchester 位置，但這實際上只是位置的移動。所以那裡的費用不會顯著增加。我們確實有新的 Fairfield 位置，這將增加我們的入住費用。但我們沒有任何其他重大舉措會在 2023 年初大幅增加我們的開支，但顯然，我們有 Malvern 交易，當我們在年中完成該交易時，這將增加開支。

(Operator Instructions) We now have the next question from Christian Ross Haberman of RLH.

（操作員說明）我們現在有來自 RLH 的 Christian Ross Haberman 的下一個問題。

Could you talk a little bit about the merger with Malvern? And will you close up any of their branches? And can you talk about the revenue enhancements possibly?

您能談談與 Malvern 的合併嗎？你會關閉他們的任何分支機構嗎？你能談談收入的增加嗎？

Sure. Thanks, Ross. Yes, I mean, listen, we're obviously looking closely at opportunities. I think there are some things that they had underway that we're going to work with them to continue to finish up on. There are some branches that are near some of our locations, the branch in Florida that is a market we haven't been in that will obviously take a look at to see how that's performing. But there's nothing that we've announced to date, but we're certainly going to take a good hard look at that.

當然。謝謝，羅斯。是的，我的意思是，聽著，我們顯然正在密切關注機會。我認為他們正在進行一些事情，我們將與他們合作以繼續完成。我們的一些地點附近有一些分支機構，佛羅里達州的分支機構是我們尚未進入的市場，顯然會看看它的表現如何。但到目前為止我們還沒有宣布任何事情，但我們肯定會仔細研究一下。

And the other thing is there's some spots that we had our eye on from a strategic growth perspective and some of these new locations will allow us to hold off on some expenditures that we had planned in those markets. So I think the branch profile is something we always look at. We're always looking at our own branch profile, quite honestly, we see there's opportunities there as well. There is some back office space that we may not need. There's some old buildings that have some open space that could be opportunities for sales or for lease up.

另一件事是，從戰略增長的角度來看，我們關注了一些地方，其中一些新地點將使我們能夠推遲我們在這些市場計劃的一些支出。所以我認為分支簡介是我們一直關注的內容。我們一直在關注我們自己的分支機構概況，老實說，我們看到那裡也有機會。有一些我們可能不需要的後台辦公空間。有些舊建築有一些空地，可能是出售或出租的機會。

So I do think there's opportunities on the expense side. And then we did a deep dive into sort of the SG&A side of things, and we uncovered a number of line items that just quite honestly, we're a lot higher than we would have expected for a bank that size and a lot higher than what we think we'll need on a pro forma basis going forward. So we feel pretty good about our ability to hit on our guidance we provided in terms of the overall cost savings.

所以我確實認為在費用方面有機會。然後我們深入研究了 SG&A 方面的事情，我們發現了一些行項目，老實說，我們比我們對這種規模的銀行的預期要高得多，也比我們預期的要高得多我們認為我們在未來的備考基礎上需要什麼。因此，我們對實現我們在總體成本節約方面提供的指導的能力感到非常滿意。

And then as you talk about revenue enhancements, certainly they have some things that we don't currently offer on the wealth management and insurance side. I think it's important to point out we didn't build in any revenue enhancements into our pro forma earnings model. But certainly, we'll take a hard look at what's happening there in terms of those ancillary products and services and what can be done either from a growth or a cross-sale perspective.

然後當你談到增加收入時，當然他們有一些我們目前在財富管理和保險方面沒有提供的東西。我認為重要的是要指出我們沒有在我們的預估收益模型中增加任何收入。但可以肯定的是，我們會仔細研究那些輔助產品和服務方面發生的事情，以及從增長或交叉銷售的角度可以做些什麼。

And I also think there's just going to be opportunities as a larger bank to basically make sure we're getting more looks at more deals, which allow us to be a little more selective, a little more disciplined to allow us to get our rate on certain deals that maybe before you had that feel like you had to be a little more competitive to win the business. And so that's an area, quite honestly, that we've seen in our prior deals that we never model in, but just by virtue of having a little bit of extra pricing discipline, we found we've been able to improve the loan yields for the combined franchise pretty nicely.

而且我還認為，作為一家更大的銀行，將會有機會基本上確保我們更多地關注更多交易，這使我們能夠更有選擇性、更有紀律地讓我們獲得利率某些交易可能在您之前感覺您必須更具競爭力才能贏得業務。老實說，這是我們在之前的交易中看到的一個領域，我們從未模擬過，但僅僅憑藉一些額外的定價紀律，我們發現我們已經能夠提高貸款收益率對於合併後的特許經營權非常好。

Okay. And going back to the your expense growth. Could you just touch on I got on a little late, what kind of net expense growth you expect over and above the ‘22 basis -- your noninterest expense?

好的。回到你的費用增長。你能不能談談我來晚了一點，你預計在“22 基礎”之上會有什麼樣的淨支出增長——你的非利息支出？

Yes. Andrew, do you want to take that? I know you gave a range on a percentage basis above the core, but maybe you can just spell that out here.

是的。安德魯，你想接受嗎？我知道你給出了一個高於核心的百分比範圍，但也許你可以在這裡拼寫出來。

Yes. I think we talked about I think 5% to 8% is kind of a reasonable number. Now you got to factor in, we're going to have a bunch of merger-related type expenses over the next couple of quarters until we get this thing closed. But I think our core rate, we expect to be around that range because we are seeing some pressure, but we don't have any major cost initiatives here outside of the Malvern acquisition.

是的。我想我們談過我認為 5% 到 8% 是一個合理的數字。現在你必須考慮到，在我們關閉這件事之前，我們將在接下來的幾個季度中產生大量與合併相關的費用。但我認為我們的核心利率，我們預計會在這個範圍內，因為我們看到了一些壓力，但除了收購 Malvern 之外，我們沒有任何重大的成本舉措。

Okay. And just one final. I just thought about this question as last thought. Would you consider buying back some shares if your stock continues to trade what seems to be a actually low inexpensive level?

好的。只有一場決賽。我只是把這個問題當作最後一個想法。如果您的股票繼續交易似乎實際上很便宜的水平，您會考慮回購一些股票嗎？

Yes. So the short answer is, absent any constraints, we'd love to be buyers of our stock at these levels. Now there are challenges when you announce a merger and what that means for your 10b5 plans and exactly when you're allowed to be in the market and how much you can buy when you are in the market.

是的。所以簡短的回答是，在沒有任何限制的情況下，我們很樂意在這些水平上成為我們股票的買家。現在，當您宣布合併時會遇到挑戰，這對您的 10b5 計劃意味著什麼，以及您何時被允許進入市場以及您在市場上可以購買多少。

So we're not as free to do perhaps as much as we would want on the buyback front right now, just given the rules there. But objectively or said differently, on a personal level, I'll be really looking at the opportunities as we get out of blackout here because, listen, we're growing book value, we're earning good money. I'm really excited about the opportunities ahead of us. I'm not pretending that there are challenges as well. But I think the way we've shown we can drive core earnings and book value growth, I think it's distracted with these levels.

因此，鑑於那裡的規則，我們現在在回購方面沒有像我們想做的那樣自由。但客觀地或換句話說，在個人層面上，當我們在這裡擺脫停電時，我真的會尋找機會，因為，聽著，我們正在增加賬面價值，我們賺了很多錢。我對我們面前的機會感到非常興奮。我並不是假裝也有挑戰。但我認為我們所展示的我們可以推動核心收益和賬面價值增長的方式，我認為這些水平分散了注意力。

When does the black out end, if I may ask? That's my final question.

如果我可以問，停電什麼時候結束？這是我的最後一個問題。

Yes, that's something we're working on and discussing with counsel. There's a few different rules and obviously blackouts tie into not just what's already been disclosed, but here in possession of material nonpublic information that can create new blackout periods. And what you're allowed to do once the merger has been announced before it has regulatory shareholder approval, those rules are a little different. And then you may have one set of approvals and not the other, and what does that mean in terms of your ability to get in and out of the market. So it's something we'll be monitoring closely with counsel, but there's no simple lines out there.

是的，這是我們正在努力並與律師討論的事情。有一些不同的規則，很明顯，封鎖不僅與已經披露的內容有關，還與擁有重要的非公開信息有關，這些信息可以創造新的封鎖期。一旦合併在獲得監管股東批准之前宣布，你可以做什麼，這些規則有點不同。然後你可能有一組批准而不是另一組，這對你進入和退出市場的能力意味著什麼。所以這是我們將與律師密切監控的事情，但沒有簡單的界限。

Sorry, I just add to -- yes, it's very nuanced. The rules are very nuanced once you announce an acquisition. So even if you get out of blackout, they're very limited in how much you can do. So it's going to be difficult for us to get any meaningful shares, but we're going to take a look at this because if we have any opportunity to get shares, as Pat mentioned, I think we'll be very interested in buying shares back at this price.

抱歉，我只是補充——是的，它非常微妙。一旦您宣布收購，規則就會非常微妙。所以即使你擺脫了停電，他們能做的事情也非常有限。因此，我們很難獲得任何有意義的股份，但我們將對此進行研究，因為如果我們有任何機會獲得股份，就像帕特提到的那樣，我認為我們會對購買股份非常感興趣回到這個價格。

I can confirm we've no further questions registered. So I'd like to hand it back to Patrick for any closing remarks.

我可以確認我們沒有登記更多問題。所以我想把它交還給帕特里克，聽取任何結束語。

Okay. Thank you very much. Appreciate everybody who took the time to dial in and let it appreciate the great questions, and we look forward to bringing everybody a fresh update as we get through the first quarter and announce our earnings in about 90 days. So thank you, everybody. Have a great day.

好的。非常感謝。感謝所有花時間撥入並讓它感謝偉大問題的人，我們期待在我們度過第一季度並在大約 90 天后公佈我們的收益時為大家帶來新的更新。所以謝謝大家。祝你有美好的一天。

Thank you for joining. And that concludes today's call. Please have a lovely day. You may now disconnect your lines.

感謝您的加入。今天的電話會議到此結束。請有一個美好的一天。您現在可以斷開線路。