Heritage Financial Corp (HFWA) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Heritage Financial 2024 Q2 earnings call. My name is Emily, and I'll be moderating your call today. (Operator Instructions) I will now hand the call over to our host, CEO, Jeff Deuel to begin. Please go ahead, Jeff.

大家好，歡迎參加 Heritage Financial 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。我叫艾米麗，今天我將主持您的通話。（操作員指示）我現在將電話轉交給我們的主持人、首席執行官傑夫·杜埃爾（Jeff Deuel）開始。請繼續，傑夫。

Thank you, Emily. Welcome and good morning to everyone who called in or those who may listen later. This is Jeff Deuel, CEO of Heritage Financial. Attending with me are Bryan MacDonald, President and CEO of Heritage Bank; Don Hinson, Chief Financial Officer; and Tony Chalfant, Chief Credit Officer.

謝謝你，艾米麗。歡迎各位來電或稍後收聽的人，早安。我是傑夫‧杜埃爾 (Jeff Deuel)，Heritage Financial 執行長。與我一起出席的有傳統銀行總裁兼執行長布萊恩麥克唐納 (Bryan MacDonald)；唐‧辛森 (Don Hinson)，財務長；和首席信貸官托尼·查爾凡特 (Tony Chhalfant)。

Our second quarter earnings release went out this morning premarket and hopefully you've had an opportunity to review it prior to the call. We have also posted an updated second quarter investor presentation on the Investor Relations portion of our corporate website, which includes more detail on our deposits, our loan portfolio, liquidity and credit quality.

我們的第二季財報於今天早上在盤前發布，希望您有機會在電話會議之前對其進行審查。我們也在公司網站的投資者關係部分發布了更新的第二季度投資者介紹，其中包括有關我們的存款、貸款組合、流動性和信用品質的更多詳細資訊。

We will reference this presentation during the call. Please refer to the forward-looking statements in the press release. We are pleased with our solid performance in Q2, including active balance sheet management and expense management activities. Although we continue to experience some margin pressure, our strategies are enabling us to protect core earnings, and we expect we will -- they will result in improved profitability as we transition to a more normalized rate environment.

我們將在通話期間參考此簡報。請參閱新聞稿中的前瞻性陳述。我們對第二季的穩健表現感到滿意，包括積極的資產負債表管理和費用管理活動。儘管我們繼續面臨一些利潤壓力，但我們的策略使我們能夠保護核心收益，並且我們預計，隨著我們過渡到更正常化的利率環境，它們將提高獲利能力。

Deposit balances fluctuated during the quarter and focal date balances ended slightly down from the acquired -- prior quarter. However, average total deposits increased from the prior quarter, while the mix of deposits continues to shift -- partially shift into higher rate products.

本季存款餘額波動，焦點日期餘額較上一季略有下降。然而，平均總存款較上一季有所增加，而存款結構繼續發生變化——部分轉向利率較高的產品。

Loan growth was strong in Q2, running at 9.5% annualized, credit quality remains quite stable, resulting from our conservative approach to credit and our long term practice of actively managing the loan portfolio. We have ample liquidity, relatively low loan to deposit ratio and a solid capital base. Going forward, we will continue to keep a sharp eye on expenses while we focus on growing loans and deposits.

第二季貸款成長強勁，年化成長率為 9.5%，信貸品質保持相當穩定，這得益於我們保守的信貸態度以及積極管理貸款組合的長期做法。我們流動性充裕，貸存比較低，資本基礎雄厚。展望未來，我們將繼續密切關注支出，同時專注於增加貸款和存款。

We will now move to Don who will take a few minutes to cover our financial results.

我們現在請唐（Don）發言，他將花幾分鐘時間介紹我們的財務表現。

Thank you, Jeff. I will be reviewing some of the main drivers of our performance for Q2, as I walk through our financial results. Unless otherwise noted, all the prior period comparisons will be with the first quarter of 2024.

謝謝你，傑夫。在回顧我們的財務表現時，我將回顧第二季業績的一些主要驅動因素。除非另有說明，所有前期比較均與 2024 年第一季進行。

Starting with the balance sheet, loan growth was strong again in Q2, increasing $104 million for the quarter. Yields in the loan portfolio were 5.52% for the quarter, which was 11 basis points higher than Q1. Approximately three basis points of this increase was due to interest recoveries recognized on resolved nonaccrual loans. Bryan McDonald will have an update on loan production and yields in a few minutes.

從資產負債表開始，第二季貸款成長再次強勁，該季度增加了 1.04 億美元。本季貸款組合收益率為 5.52%，較第一季高 11 個基點。這一增長的大約三個基點是由於已解決的非應計貸款確認的利息回收。布萊恩麥克唐納 (Bryan McDonald) 將在幾分鐘內通報貸款生產和收益率的最新情況。

Deposit balances are showing some stabilization, although focal date deposits decreased $17 million during the quarter, average total deposits increased $29 million from the prior quarter. Average total deposits for the quarter were about $40 million higher than quarter end balances due to some volatility that occurred at quarter end, and we consider our average deposit balances as more indicative of the trends we are experiencing.

存款餘額顯示出一定程度的穩定，儘管本季焦點日期存款減少了 1,700 萬美元，但平均總存款較上一季增加了 2,900 萬美元。由於季末出現一些波動，本季的平均存款總額比季末餘額高出約 4,000 萬美元，我們認為平均存款餘額更能反映我們正在經歷的趨勢。

There continues to be a change in the mix of deposits from non-maturity deposit balances to CDs, although at a slower pace. Non-maturity deposits decreased $120 million during the quarter, and CDs increased to $104 million, $30 million of which was in the form of additional brokered CDs. These factors contributed to an increase of 19 basis points, taking our cost of interest-bearing deposits to 1.89% for Q2. Through the current market pressures related to deposit rates, we expect to continue to experience an increase in the cost of our core deposits, although again, at a slower pace.

存款結構繼續從非到期存款餘額轉向存款證轉變，但速度較慢。本季非到期存款減少 1.2 億美元，存款證增加至 1.04 億美元，其中 3,000 萬美元是額外經紀存款證的形式。這些因素導致第二季生息存款成本上升 19 個基點，達到 1.89%。由於目前與存款利率相關的市場壓力，我們預計核心存款成本將繼續上漲，儘管成長率仍將放緩。

This is illustrated by the cost of interest-bearing deposits being 1.95% for the month of June with a spot rate of 1.96% as of June 30. Investment balances decreased $72 million, mostly due to a lost trade execution during the quarter. A loss of $1.9 million was recognized in the sale of $39 million of securities, all of which occurred in June.

截至 6 月 30 日，6 月有息存款成本為 1.95%，即期利率為 1.96%，就說明了這一點。投資餘額減少 7,200 萬美元，主要是由於本季交易執行失敗。6 月出售了 3,900 萬美元的證券，確認了 190 萬美元的損失。

These sales were done in order to continue to right size our investment portfolio and free up funds for other balance sheet initiatives. It is estimated that the annualized pretax income improvement from this lost three will be approximately $1 million, resulting in an earn-back period of about two years. We will continue to consider additional lost trades in order to defend our margins from downward pressures and reposition our balance sheet.

進行這些出售是為了繼續調整我們的投資組合規模，並為其他資產負債表計劃騰出資金。據估計，這三項損失的年化稅前收入改善將約為 100 萬美元，從而實現約兩年的獲利回收期。我們將繼續考慮額外的損失交易，以保護我們的利潤免受下行壓力的影響並重新定位我們的資產負債表。

Moving on to the income statement, net interest income decreased slightly from the prior quarter due to a decrease in the net interest margin. The net interest margin decreased to 3.29% in Q2 from 3.32% in the prior quarter. This decrease is primarily due to the cost of interest-bearing deposits increasing more rapidly than the yields on earning assets. Also impacting the margin Q2 was a 48 basis point increase in our cost of borrowings from the prior quarter, resulting in a $600,000 increase in interest expense, which is more than the overall decrease in net interest income we experienced for the quarter.

來看損益表，由於淨利差下降，淨利息收入較上季略有下降。第二季淨利差從上季的 3.32%下降至 3.29%。這一下降主要是由於生息存款成本的成長速度快於生息資產收益率的成長速度。同樣影響第二季利潤率的是我們的借貸成本比上一季增加了 48 個基點，導致利息支出增加了 60 萬美元，比我們本季淨利息收入的總體下降還要多。

This occurred due to the repricing of $400 million of BTFP debt that matured in early May. The increase in borrowing costs negatively impacted the margin by four basis points in Q2. The margin was positively impacted by two basis points due to the loan interest recoveries previously mentioned, the combined net impact of increased borrowing costs and low interest -- loan interest recoveries made up two of the total three basis points in margin compression in Q2.

這是由於 5 月初到期的 4 億美元 BTFP 債務重新定價。借貸成本的增加對第二季的利潤率產生了四個基點的負面影響。由於前面提到的貸款利息回收，利潤率受到兩個基點的正面影響，借貸成本增加和低利息的綜合淨影響——貸款利息回收佔第二季利潤率壓縮的三個基點中的兩個。

The pace and duration of our margin compression will be highly dependent on the rate of increase in our cost of interest bearing deposits as well as maintaining deposit balances as both our cost of deposits and deposit balances level off, we expect to experience margin stabilization due to the repricing of adjustable rate loans in addition to higher origination rates on new loans, based on current trends and market conditions we are expecting the margin to bottom out in the low to mid 320's before the end of the year.

我們的保證金壓縮的速度和持續時間將在很大程度上取決於我們的計息存款成本的增長率以及維持存款餘額的速度，因為我們的存款成本和存款餘額都趨於平穩，我們預計保證金將保持穩定，因為可調利率貸款的重新定價以及新貸款發放率的提高，根據當前趨勢和市場狀況，我們預計利潤率將在年底前觸底至 320 美元左右。

We recognized provision for credit losses in the amount of $1.3 million during Q2, which is a slight decrease from $1.4 million in the prior quarter. The provision expense was due substantially to loan growth experienced during the quarter. Non-interest expense decreased in the prior quarter due mostly to lower compensation expense as we had lower FTE in Q2, and we recognized $1.1 million of severance costs in Q1 as a result of staff reductions. Average FTE count was 748 in Q2 compared to 765 in Q1, a reduction of 17 FTE.

我們在第二季確認了 130 萬美元的信貸損失撥備，比上一季的 140 萬美元略有下降。撥備費用主要歸因於本季的貸款成長。上一季的非利息支出有所下降，主要是由於第二季度 FTE 較低而導致薪酬支出減少，而且由於裁員，我們在第一季確認了 110 萬美元的遣散費。第二季的平均 FTE 人數為 748 人，而第一季為 765 人，減少了 17 人。

And finally, moving on to capital. All of our regulatory capital ratios remain comfortably above well-capitalized thresholds and our TCE ratio was 8.9%, up slightly from the prior quarter. Our strong capital ratios have allowed us to be active in loss rates on investments and in stock buybacks.

最後，轉向資本。我們所有的監管資本比率仍然輕鬆高於資本充足的門檻，我們的 TCE 比率為 8.9%，比上一季略有上升。我們強大的資本比率使我們能夠積極應對投資損失率和股票回購。

During Q2, we repurchased 236,000 shares as part of our stock repurchase program at a weighted average price of [$1819] or 104% of June 30, tangible book value per share. As a reminder, we completed our previous stock repurchase plan and approved a new plan in April. We have 1.5 million shares available for repurchase under the new plan as of the end of Q2.

在第二季度，作為股票回購計畫的一部分，我們回購了 236,000 股股票，加權平均價格為 [1,819 美元]，即 6 月 30 日每股有形帳面價值的 104%。提醒一下，我們完成了先前的股票回購計劃，並在四月批准了新的計劃。截至第二季末，根據新計劃，我們有 150 萬股可供回購。

I will now pass the call to Tony, who we'll have an update on our credit quality metrics.

我現在將把電話轉給托尼，我們將向他通報我們信用品質指標的最新情況。

Thank you, Don. I'm pleased to report that credit quality at quarter end remained strong and stable. Non-accrual loans totaled just over $3.8 million, and we do not hold any OREO. This represents 0.08% of total loans and compares to 0.11% at the end of the first quarter.

謝謝你，唐。我很高興地報告，季度末的信貸品質仍然強勁且穩定。非應計貸款總額略高於 380 萬美元，我們不持有任何奧利奧。這佔貸款總額的 0.08%，而第一季末為 0.11%。

I would also note that adjusting for government guarantees, our non-accrual loans would be just under $1 million. Overall, nonaccrual loans declined by [$966,000] during the quarter. There was one relationship placed on non-accrual status early in the quarter, that was partially charged off near the end of the quarter. Most of the improvement came from the final resolution of two problem loan relationships that were fully repaired -- repaid from the sale of collateral to secure the loans.

我還要指出的是，根據政府擔保進行調整後，我們的非應計貸款將略低於 100 萬美元。總體而言，本季非應計貸款下降了 [966,000 美元]。有一種關係在本季度初被置於非應計狀態，但在本季度末被部分沖銷。大部分改善來自於兩個問題貸款關係的最終解決，並完全修復——透過出售抵押品來償還貸款以獲得貸款。

Page 18 of the investor presentation reflects the stability in our nonaccrual loans over the past two years-plus. Within our nonperforming loans, total, we have seen an increase in loans past due more than 90 days and still accruing through the first half of the year.

投資者介紹的第 18 頁反映了過去兩年多我們非應計貸款的穩定性。在我們的不良貸款總額中，逾期超過 90 天的貸款增加，而且今年上半年仍在累積。

The majority of the $4.3 million in balances is attributed to one classified C&I relationship that is being actively managed by our special assets team. The loans remain on accrual status as they are well secured and in the process of collection. Criticized loans those rated special mention and substandard totaled just over $176 million at quarter end, rising by a modest 2.2% during the quarter. This is an increase of $26.5 million since year end 2023 or just under 18%.

430 萬美元餘額中的大部分歸因於一項分類 C&I 關係，該關係由我們的特殊資產團隊積極管理。這些貸款仍處於應計狀態，因為它們有良好的擔保且正在催收過程中。截至季末，被評為特別關注和次級標準的批評貸款總額略高於 1.76 億美元，本季小幅增加 2.2%。自 2023 年底以來，這一數字增加了 2,650 萬美元，即略低於 18%。

The largest single driver of this increase was the downgrade of one multifamily construction loan that represented just over $15 million of the total. This loan has migrated from past to substandard over the course of the last six months. Overall criticized loans remain in line with our historical performance during good economic conditions. It is worth noting that loans in the more severe substandard category were 1.8% of total loans at quarter end versus 1.6% at year-end 2022 and 2023.

這一增長的最大單一推動因素是一筆多戶建築貸款的降級，該貸款佔貸款總額略高於 1500 萬美元。在過去六個月中，這筆貸款已從過去的貸款轉為次級貸款。總體而言，受到批評的貸款與我們在經濟狀況良好時的歷史表現保持一致。值得注意的是，季末較嚴重次級類別的貸款佔貸款總額的 1.8%，而 2022 年和 2023 年年底則為 1.6%。

The credit quality of our office loan portfolio remained stable and largely unchanged during the quarter, this loan segment represents $552 million or 12.2% of total loans and is split evenly between owner and non-owner occupied properties. The average loan size is $1 million. They are diversified by geographic location and we have little exposure to the core downtown markets. Criticize office loans are limited to just under $19 million or 3.4% of total office loans.

本季我們辦公大樓貸款組合的信貸品質保持穩定，基本上沒有變化，該貸款部分佔貸款總額 5.52 億美元，佔貸款總額的 12.2%，由業主和非業主佔用的房產平均分配。平均貸款規模為 100 萬美元。它們因地理位置而多樣化，而我們對核心市中心市場的接觸很少。批評辦公室貸款僅限於不到 1,900 萬美元，佔辦公室貸款總額的 3.4%。

Page 17 of the investor presentation provides more detailed information about our office loan portfolio. During the quarter, we experienced total charge-offs of $550,000 that were split fairly evenly between commercial and consumer loans. The losses were offset by $563,000 in recoveries, leading to net recoveries of $13,000 for the quarter.

投資者簡報第 17 頁提供了有關我們辦公室貸款組合的更多詳細資訊。本季度，我們的核銷總額為 550,000 美元，商業貸款和消費者貸款相當平均分配。損失被 563,000 美元的回收金額所抵消，導致本季淨回收金額為 13,000 美元。

Most of the recovery was tied to one of the same loan payoffs that lowered our nonaccrual loans. Through the first six months of the year, we are in a net recovery position of $46,000. While we continue to see movement back to a more normalized credit environment, the pace has been slower than expected.

大部分復甦與降低我們的非應計貸款的相同貸款償還額之一有關。今年前六個月，我們的淨復甦部位為 46,000 美元。雖然我們繼續看到信貸環境回歸更正常化的趨勢，但步伐卻慢於預期。

While our credit metrics remained strong, we remain watchful of the potential weaknesses in the broader economic environment. We are confident that our consistent and disciplined approach to credit underwriting and concentration management will continue to serve us well in a wide variety of business cycles.

儘管我們的信用指標仍然強勁，但我們仍對更廣泛的經濟環境中的潛在弱點保持警惕。我們相信，我們一貫且嚴格的信貸承銷和集中管理方法將繼續在各種商業週期中為我們提供良好的服務。

I'll now turn the call over to Bryan for an update on loan production.

我現在將把電話轉給布萊恩，以了解貸款生產的最新情況。

Thanks, Tony. I'm going to provide detail on our second quarter loan production results starting with our commercial lending group. For the quarter, our commercial teams closed $218 million in new commitments up from $133 million last quarter and up from $212 million closed in the second quarter of 2023. Please refer to page 13 in the investor presentation for additional detail on new originated loans over the past five quarters.

謝謝，托尼。我將從我們的商業貸款集團開始提供有關第二季貸款生產結果的詳細資訊。本季度，我們的商業團隊完成了 2.18 億美元的新承諾，高於上季的 1.33 億美元，也高於 2023 年第二季的 2.12 億美元。請參閱投資者介紹中的第 13 頁，以了解有關過去五個季度新發放貸款的更多詳細資訊。

The commercial loan pipeline in the second quarter at $480 million, up from $409 million last quarter and up from $473 million at the end of the second quarter of 2023. Loan demand remained steady in the second quarter with new opportunities replacing closed business.

第二季的商業貸款管道為 4.8 億美元，高於上季的 4.09 億美元，也高於 2023 年第二季末的 4.73 億美元。第二季貸款需求保持穩定，新的機會取代了關閉的業務。

The growth of the loan pipeline versus first quarter was largely caused by the seasonality of new opportunities in our low income housing construction business. Competition has continued at an elevated level for both real estate and commercial business loans, and we anticipate our pipeline will flatten from here or potentially decline to first quarter levels as the low-income housing related loan opportunities cycled through.

與第一季相比，貸款管道的成長主要是由於我們的低收入住房建設業務的新機會的季節性所致。房地產和商業企業貸款的競爭持續加劇，我們預計，隨著低收入住房相關貸款機會的循環，我們的貸款管道將從此趨於平緩，或可能下降至第一季的水平。

Loan growth for the second quarter was $104.5 million, up from $92.5 million last quarter. The growth was driven by a mortgage loan pool purchase of $25 million and $44 million of net advances on existing loans, most of which were construction loan advances. Please see slides 14 and 16 of the investor presentation for further detail on the change in loans during the quarter. We are unlikely to do additional mortgage pool purchases and expect higher construction loan payoffs going forward versus what we experienced in the first half of 2024.

第二季貸款成長 1.045 億美元，高於上季的 9,250 萬美元。這一增長是由 2500 萬美元的抵押貸款池購買和 4400 萬美元的現有貸款淨預付款推動的，其中大部分是建築貸款預付款。有關本季度貸款變化的更多詳細信息，請參閱投資者演示文稿的幻燈片 14 和 16。我們不太可能進行額外的抵押貸款池購買，並預計未來的建築貸款回報將高於 2024 年上半年的水平。

Based on these factors in our pipeline expectations, we anticipate our loan growth rate will average low single digits for the remainder of the year. The deposit pipeline ended the quarter at $231 million compared to $191 million last quarter. And average balances on new deposit accounts opened during the quarter are estimated at $77 million compared to $40 million last quarter. Moving to interest rates.

根據我們管道預期中的這些因素，我們預計今年剩餘時間我們的貸款成長率平均將為低個位數。本季末的存款管道為 2.31 億美元，而上季為 1.91 億美元。本季新開設存款帳戶的平均餘額估計為 7,700 萬美元，而上季為 4,000 萬美元。轉向利率。

Our average second quarter interest rate for new commercial loans was 6.88%, which is down 17 basis points versus the 7.05% average for last quarter. The decline was due to more competitive market conditions and lower rates in owner-occupied commercial real estate, nonowner-occupied commercial real estate and C&I segments versus the first quarter.

第二季新增商業貸款平均利率為 6.88%，較上季 7.05% 的平均利率下降 17 個基點。下降的原因是市場環境競爭更加激烈，以及自用商業房地產、非自用商業房地產和工商業房地產領域的利率較第一季下降。

In addition, the second quarter rate for all new loans was 6.89%, down 26 basis points from 7.15% last quarter. The decline was due to the lower average rates on commercial loans, which I just commented on, plus the impact of the mortgage pool, which had an average rate of 6.73%.

此外，第二季所有新增貸款利率為6.89%，較上季的7.15%下降26個基點。下降的原因是我剛剛評論過的商業貸款平均利率較低，加上平均利率為 6.73% 的抵押貸款池的影響。

Before passing the call back to Jeff, I'd like to provide an update on the new teams we hired in 2022 and 2023 and a plan we are deploying now to expand our building banking business. We have 25 bankers on the three commercial teams we added in 2022. These bankers are located in Vancouver Washington, Portland, Oregon and Eugene, Oregon. The teams are performing ahead of our original projection, reaching a breakeven level this year, which is one year earlier than we anticipated.

在將電話轉回 Jeff 之前，我想介紹我們在 2022 年和 2023 年聘用的新團隊的最新情況，以及我們現在正在部署的擴大建築銀行業務的計劃。我們在 2022 年新增的三個商業團隊中有 25 位銀行家。這些銀行家位於華盛頓州溫哥華、俄勒岡州波特蘭和俄勒岡州尤金。這些團隊的表現超出了我們最初的預測，今年達到了盈虧平衡水平，比我們的預期早了一年。

We have nine bankers on our Boise commercial team, which was fully formed and moved into their space last summer. This team has not yet nickel (inaudible) , but is also performing well ahead of our original projection. Combined, the costs associated with these teams accounted for $1.85 million of our noninterest expense in the second quarter.

我們的博伊西商業團隊有九名銀行家，該團隊於去年夏天完全組建並搬入他們的空間。團隊尚未獲得鎳幣（聽不清楚），但表現也遠遠超出了我們最初的預測。與這些團隊相關的成本總計佔第二季我們非利息支出的 185 萬美元。

Moving onto our planned expansion of builder banking. Heritage Bank has had a builder banking business supported by a small dedicated team for many years. Current loan balances associated with the business line are about $70 million and we plan to increase this to $170 million over the next few years.

繼續我們計劃的建築商銀行業務擴張。Heritage Bank 多年來一直擁有由小型專業團隊支援的建築商銀行業務。目前與該業務相關的貸款餘額約為 7,000 萬美元，我們計劃在未來幾年內將其增加至 1.7 億美元。

We will accomplish this by expanding the team, including the addition of a very well-known local senior leader with experience in this business line who started with Heritage in early July. We plan to add a couple of additional bankers to the sales team in Boise from Greater Seattle to support this effort.

我們將透過擴大團隊來實現這一目標，包括增加一位在該業務領域擁有豐富經驗的當地知名高級領導者，他於 7 月初加入 Heritage。我們計劃在大西雅圖地區博伊西的銷售團隊中增加幾名銀行家來支持這項工作。

I will now turn the call back to Jeff.

我現在將把電話轉回給傑夫。

Thank you, Bryan. As I mentioned earlier, we're pleased with our solid performance in the second quarter of 2024. While we continue to experience challenges -- the challenges of the rate environment, we're confident that the strength of our franchise will continue to benefit us over the long term, are relatively low loan to deposit ratio positions us well to continue to support our existing customers as well as pursuing new high-quality relationships.

謝謝你，布萊恩。正如我之前提到的，我們對 2024 年第二季的穩健表現感到滿意。雖然我們繼續面臨挑戰——利率環境的挑戰，但我們相信，從長遠來看，我們特許經營的實力將繼續使我們受益，相對較低的貸存比使我們能夠繼續支持我們的業務。客戶以及尋求新的高品質關係。

We will also continue to benefit from our solid risk management practices and our strong capital position and we'll continue to focus on expense management and improving efficiencies within the organization. Overall, we believe we are well positioned to navigate the challenges ahead and to take advantage of any potential dislocations or markets that may occur.

我們也將繼續受益於我們可靠的風險管理實踐和強大的資本狀況，我們將繼續專注於費用管理和提高組織內的效率。總的來說，我們相信我們有能力應對未來的挑戰，並利用任何可能發生的潛在混亂或市場。

Before we move to questions, I would like to take a minute to talk about the June 25 announcement about CEO succession and answer a few questions I received following the announcement. As you know, historically, we have taken a very measured approach to CEO succession, and we plan well in advance. For additional perspective, the current process got underway in mid-2022.

在我們開始提問之前，我想花一點時間談談 6 月 25 日關於 CEO 繼任者的公告，並回答我在公告後收到的一些問題。如您所知，從歷史上看，我們對執行長繼任採取了非常謹慎的方法，並且我們提前做好了計劃。為了獲得更多視角，目前流程於 2022 年中期開始。

At that time, we considered all options and felt Bryan MacDonald was a great candidate for the role. Over the past several quarters, Bryan has taken on more and more responsibility for running the bank and leading strategic initiatives with good success. As we have done in the past, Bryan became CEO of the bank on July 1, '24, and I will remain Chief Executive Office of Heritage Financial until May 6, 2025, a date that is designed to line up with our annual shareholders meeting. I will not remain on the Board at that point.

當時，我們考慮了所有選擇，並認為布萊恩麥克唐納是這個角色的最佳人選。在過去的幾個季度中，布萊恩承擔了越來越多的責任來運營銀行並領導戰略計劃，並取得了巨大成功。正如我們過去所做的那樣，布萊恩於24 年7 月1 日成為該銀行的首席執行官，而我將繼續擔任Heritage Financial 的首席執行官，直至2025 年5 月6 日，該日期旨在與我們的年度股東大會一致。屆時我將不再留在董事會。

However, I will take on an advisory role for a period of time to provide extra capacity has needed. I don't believe Bryan and the team will need the extra capacity. However, that plan is consistent with our conservative approach. I will -- I have been asked about the timing of the announcement. First, as I mentioned earlier, we started this process in mid '22, and I've taken the time to that Bryan, as my successor he has proven to be quite capable in the next 10 months provides us time for a smooth transition.

不過，我將在一段時間內擔任顧問角色，以提供所需的額外能力。我不相信布萊恩和他的團隊需要額外的能力。然而，該計劃與我們保守的做法是一致的。我會——有人問我宣布這一消息的時間。首先，正如我之前提到的，我們在22 年中期開始了這一過程，我已經花時間請布萊恩了，作為我的繼任者，他在接下來的10 個月中證明了自己的能力，為我們提供了順利過渡的時間。

Second, my age has been driving the decision from the standpoint that I will be 67 years old when May 6, 2025 rolls around. And I think it's time for me to pass the baton. I look forward to watching Bryan lead the bank and continue to build upon the foundational work we have done over the past few years to prepare for the future.

其次，我的年齡一直在推動我做出這個決定，因為到 2025 年 5 月 6 日到來時，我將年滿 67 歲。我認為現在是我傳遞接力棒的時候了。我期待看到布萊恩領導銀行並繼續在我們過去幾年所做的基礎工作的基礎上為未來做好準備。

I am happy to provide an additional color on this, if there are further questions about CEO succession. But with that said, Emily, I think we can now open up the line for questions from the call attendees.

如果對執行長繼任者還有其他疑問，我很樂意對此提供補充說明。但話雖如此，艾米麗，我想我們現在可以開放電話會議與會者提問的線路了。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。（操作員說明）

Eric Specter, Raymond James.

艾瑞克·斯佩克特、雷蒙·詹姆斯。

Hey, everybody. This is Eric calling in for David Feaster, appreciate you taking the questions started off. I was just curious, if you could talk about deposit trends on starting with non-interest bearings. Curious maybe some of the trends you saw throughout the quarter and the pace of [NIOBE] declines and how that's trended thus far in the third quarter. Just curious your sense of expectations for core deposit growth going forward and what initiatives you have in place to drive core deposit growth?

嘿，大家。我是埃里克 (Eric) 給大衛·菲斯特 (David Feaster) 打電話，感謝您一開始就提出問題。我只是很好奇，您能否談談從無息開始的存款趨勢。也許您對整個季度看到的一些趨勢和 [NIOBE] 下降的速度以及第三季迄今為止的趨勢感到好奇。只是好奇您對未來核心存款成長的預期以及您採取了哪些舉措來推動核心存款成長？

That's a lot Eric, good morning. Thank you for the question. As we pointed out earlier on the narrative that we've started to see deposits stabilize. One of the things that we do every month actually is putting the organization through the branches and through the various commercial offices to see what is driving the transactions that exist under the surface and what I'm happy to tell you is for the last couple of quarters, the other than those may be seeking a higher rate for excess cash reserves that operating accounts have remained fairly stable.

就這麼多了，艾瑞克，早安。謝謝你的提問。正如我們之前在敘述中指出的那樣，我們已經開始看到存款穩定下來。實際上，我們每個月所做的一件事就是讓該組織透過分支機構和各個商業辦事處，了解是什麼推動了表面下存在的交易，我很高興地告訴您的是最近幾年的情況。

And really the activity that we've seen under the surface has mostly been pretty traditional banking people buying things, selling things, tax issues that they might have as a result of selling a business, for example. But money movement has been much more normalized in the last couple of quarters than maybe what we saw mid last year and Don or Bryan, anything you want to add to that?

實際上，我們看到的表面下的活動大多是非常傳統的銀行人員購買東西、出售東西、例如因出售業務而可能遇到的稅務問題。但過去幾季的資金流動比我們去年年中所看到的更加正常化，唐或布萊恩，您有什麼要補充的嗎？

Sure. I would just add deposit deposits have been a real focus of ours all year. We've it's part of our strategic and one of our strategic initiatives this year. So a lot of focus on retention as well as expansion. And in addition to what Jeff mentioned, we're watching the deposit pipeline very closely and why we're winning or not winning relationships and we've made good progress on adding new relationships this year, and we'll continue to focus on it.

當然。我只想補充一點，存款是我們全年的真正焦點。這是我們策略的一部分，也是我們今年的策略舉措之一。因此，我們非常關注保留和擴展。除了傑夫提到的之外，我們正在非常密切地關注存款管道以及為什麼我們贏得或沒有贏得關係，今年我們在增加新關係方面取得了良好進展，我們將繼續關注它。

Our average, it's the rates, as Jeff noted, that's driving the migration or our average cost of interest bearing, which Don mentioned, is 189 and so there is some incentive there for customers to be more judicious in managing balances that they might have in their accounts migrating to higher cost options that are available out in the market. So I'm really happy with what the team has done to influence the things that we can control with the customer base. And obviously, we'd much rather migrate them into something here at Heritage versus have them go elsewhere at the same time, a lot of attention focused on new relationships.

我們的平均利率，正如 Jeff 指出的那樣，推動了遷移，或者我們的平均利息成本（Don 提到的）是 189，因此，客戶有一定的動機更加明智地管理他們可能擁有的餘額。遷移到市場上可用的成本較高的選項。因此，我對團隊為影響我們可以透過客戶群控制的事情所做的努力感到非常滿意。顯然，我們寧願將他們遷移到 Heritage 的某個地方，也不願讓他們同時去其他地方，因為我們將許多注意力集中在新的關係上。

That's helpful color. And then just maybe touching on the growth side, you've done a great job accelerating growth. I appreciate the guidance on the low single digits for the rest of the year, just given you had diversified production, just curious where you're seeing good opportunities maybe looking out the next few years and where you see the most growth?

這是有用的顏色。也許在成長方面，你們在加速成長方面做得很好。我很欣賞今年剩餘時間對低個位數的指導，只是考慮到你們有多元化的生產，只是好奇你們在哪裡看到了好的機會，也許展望未來幾年，你們在哪裡看到了最大的增長？

Bryan, you want to take that?

布萊恩，你想要那個嗎？

Yeah, sure. I would just point you to slide 13 in the investor deck, it gives it a real nice breakout of the loan types and you can see in Q4 of '23, Q1 and then Q2 of '24 are our highest production segment for new business was in C&I, and that's by design. We really shifted last spring. C&I has always been a key component of our strategy, but particularly with the rate changes and some of the deposit outflows.

是的，當然。我只想向您指出投資者平台中的幻燈片13，它提供了貸款類型的真正良好突破，您可以在23 年第4 季看到，24 年第1 季和第2 季是我們新業務的最高生產部分在 C&I 中，這是設計使然的。去年春天我們確實發生了轉變。C&I 一直是我們策略的關鍵組成部分，尤其是在利率變化和部分存款外流的情況下。

But we've really had a renewed focus on calling on commercial relationship. So you can see the success on that slide, and that is our focus going forward as well. It gives us great granularity, great diversity and of course, comes with strong relationship core deposits, which are always critical, but even more so in this environment with the current curve.

但我們確實重新關注了建立商業關係。所以你可以在這張投影片上看到成功，這也是我們未來的重點。它為我們提供了極大的粒度、極大的多樣性，當然，還具有強大的關係核心存款，這始終至關重要，但在當前曲線的環境中更是如此。

Yeah, that's helpful. And then maybe just touching on the hiring side. I appreciate your color on the build-out of the new builder banking team, and there's obviously been a lot of disruption across your footprint. Just curious, where are you -- what you're seeing on the hiring front, your appetite for hires? And if there's any other markets or segments you'd be interested in kind of parlay that into your capital priorities as well? Any color there would be helpful.

是的，這很有幫助。然後也許只是觸及招募方面。我很欣賞您對新建築商銀行團隊建設的貢獻，而且您的足跡顯然受到了很多幹擾。只是好奇，你在哪裡——你在招募方面看到了什麼，你對招募的興趣是什麼？如果還有任何其他市場或細分市場，您也有興趣將其納入您的資本優先事項中？任何顏色都會有幫助。

Jeff, you want me to take that one?

傑夫，你想讓我拿那個嗎？

Sure Bryan, thank you.

當然，布萊恩，謝謝你。

Yeah, the leader that joined us in July was a long-time member of another regional community bank here. He was there for 17 years and know him -- we know him well here at Heritage and so we are, as I mentioned in my comments, looking to add another couple team members to that team and in the greater Seattle market Boise market, I'd like to add some additional sales -- some members of the sales team to drive that additional $100 million more broadly, we're always talking to bankers in the market and extent there's any sort of dislocation.

是的，七月加入我們的領導者是這裡另一家地區社區銀行的長期成員。他在那裡工作了17 年，了解他——我們在Heritage 很了解他，所以正如我在評論中提到的，我們正在尋求為該團隊增加另外幾位團隊成員，並且在更大的西雅圖市場博伊西市場，我希望增加一些額外的銷售額 - 銷售團隊的一些成員可以更廣泛地推動額外的 1 億美元銷售額，我們一直在與市場上的銀行家討論以及是否存在任何類型的混亂。

We feel like we're in a good spot to be considered for those employees, good track record with the groups that we've done in the past, including the teams we picked up in 2022. Just getting integration in the company from a cultural standpoint and good salespeople.

我們覺得我們處於一個很好的位置，可以考慮這些員工，與我們過去做過的團隊（包括我們在 2022 年挑選的團隊）有著良好的往績記錄。只是從文化角度和優秀的銷售人員融入公司。

Okay. Thanks for taking my questions. I'll step back.

好的。感謝您回答我的問題。我會退後一步。

Thanks, Eric.

謝謝，埃里克。

Jeff Rulis, D.A. Davidson.

傑夫·魯利斯，D.A.戴維森。

Thanks, good morning. (multiple speakers) Tony mentioned talking about the balance sheet, repositioning and continuing to look at that. I guess trying to follow up on that is, are we, if anything in the kind of the late innings of this repositioning? Just trying to see it more as planned? And if it is, how much more I that's a tough question to ask or to answer, I suppose, but just checking back in on the strategy there?

謝謝，早安。（多名發言者）托尼提到談論資產負債表、重新定位並繼續關注這一點。我想嘗試跟進的是，我們是否處於這種重新定位的後期階段？只是想照計畫看到更多嗎？如果是的話，我想，這是一個很難提出或回答的問題，但只是回顧一下那裡的策略？

Yes, Jeff, I think growth, we will continue to look at it these if it makes sense, we'll every quarter will and we'll take a look at where we're at and where we think we would like to be long term. And if it makes sense like it did. They were obviously we it was a smaller trade in Q2 than it was the previous two quarters.

是的，傑夫，我認為成長，如果有意義的話，我們將繼續關注這些問題，我們每個季度都會關注，我們會看看我們現在的處境以及我們認為我們希望長期做多的地方學期。如果它像以前那樣有意義的話。顯然，我們第二季的交易量比前兩季要小。

And so, I'm not sure we'll hit the size of the what we did in Q -- Q4 and Q1. But at this point out, it wouldn't surprise me if we continue to do this to again right size I would say are certain aspects of our balance sheet, the investment portfolio and our borrowing levels. And if the earn backs makes sense that we will -- it will continue to be a plan going forward.

因此，我不確定我們是否會達到我們在 Q4 和 Q1 中所做的規模。但在這一點上，如果我們繼續這樣做以再次達到正確的規模，我想說的是我們的資產負債表、投資組合和借款水平的某些方面，我不會感到驚訝。如果獲利回報有意義，我們將繼續將其作為未來的計劃。

I guess as a follow-on, I'm just trying to get a sense for earning asset growth and where -- do you think that tracks with loan growth or I'm trying to sense what you're going to do with the securities portfolio, I suppose.

我想作為後續，我只是想了解收益資產增長以及您認為這會隨著貸款增長而變化還是我想了解您將如何處理證券投資組合，我想。

(multiple speakers) Yeah, I can see recovering on this. It's I guess there's a chance that they are earning assets could actually come down some. But if they come down measurably, we're at -- we're actually probably it being made up in the margin more than made up in the margin, right? So we wouldn't be doing this with us not being accretive to earnings and net interest income. So I think that (multiple speakers) we might we may see some of the borrowings decreased and therefore there's a chance that you might see the overall earning assets decrease.

（多個發言者）是的，我可以看到這一點正在恢復。我猜他們的收入資產實際上可能會下降一些。但如果它們顯著下降，我們實際上可能在利潤中彌補的比在利潤中彌補的要多，對嗎？因此，如果我們不增加收益和淨利息收入，我們就不會這樣做。因此，我認為（多位發言者）我們可能會看到一些借款減少，因此您可能會看到整體盈利資產減少。

Okay. And did you have that the June NIM average?

好的。你有六月的 NIM 平均值嗎？

Yeah, it's [326] versus the quarter of [329].

是的，這是 [326] 與四分之一[329]。

Got it. And then well, maybe just over to Jeff, I just on M&A check in lift in valuations and interested in just kind of checking back in with you on how those conversations are going?

知道了。然後，好吧，也許傑夫，我只是在檢查併購估值的提升，並且有興趣與您一起檢查這些對話的進展嗎？

Just increase in our currency is pretty recent. I'm not sure it's changed the dialogue yet, but I will tell you that we have had some more confidential conversations in the last couple of quarters that have really come to a conclusion from the standpoint that we didn't think it was a good time for us to be buying and maybe a target was not feeling like it was a good time to sell it.

我們的貨幣升值是最近才發生的事。我不確定這是否改變了對話，但我會告訴你，我們在過去幾個季度進行了一些更保密的對話，從我們認為這不是一個好的角度來看，這些對話確實得出了結論我們是時候買進了，但也許某個目標感覺現在不是賣出的好時機。

I think that's sort of the environment we're in. I think that's what I'm picking up on is and I guess this goes more for the smaller side of the potential opportunities -- an opportunity for them to maybe see things get back to normal and see what they can do, in a more normalized environment and give it a little bit of time to see how that might turn out.

我認為這就是我們所處的環境。我認為這就是我所注意到的，我想這更多的是潛在機會中較小的一面——對他們來說，這是一個機會，讓他們可以看到事情恢復正常，看看他們能做什麼，以一種更正常化的方式環境並給它一點時間看看結果如何。

That's sort of what I've been hearing. So I think creating opportunities for us are probably later in '25. In the meantime, there's still disruption. You can see there's one slide in here that shows M&A and lift-outs. And I think that we're just as excited about doing more adds to the team through disruption as we are doing M&A. So I think I call it, it's on the table, but I think M&A is often in the near future, I guess next year sometime maybe.

這就是我所聽到的。所以我認為為我們創造機會可能會在 25 年晚些時候。同時，幹擾仍然存在。您可以看到這裡有一張幻燈片顯示了併購和剝離。我認為，我們對透過顛覆為團隊帶來更多的幫助和進行併購一樣感到興奮。所以我想我稱之為，它已經擺在桌面上了，但我認為併購通常是在不久的將來，我想也許是明年的某個時候。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Matthew Clark, Piper Sandler.

馬修·克拉克，派珀·桑德勒。

Good morning everyone.

大家早安。

Good morning Matt.

早安，馬特。

Just a follow-up on the borrowings. The ones you used to replace the BTFP were those overnight and then how quickly might that $500 million come down. I know it somewhat depends on securities loss trades and the cash flow that you're generating off the portfolio. But just trying to get a sense for how much the $500 million might come down over the next year?

只是藉款的後續行動。你用來取代 BTFP 的那些是一夜之間的，那麼這 5 億美元要多快才能下降。我知道這在某種程度上取決於證券損失交易和您從投資組合中產生的現金流。但只是想了解明年這 5 億美元可能會減少多少？

Well, I could see it if you are about like the next four or five quarters, I could definitely see it coming down by about $400 million. If things worked is we're trying to work it down over time. Part of that is going to be coming from investment -- normal investment activity as far as the payments on those, but maybe some lost rates could be in there. So and then deposit growth that would offset that. So that's kind of what we agreed to get it down that far now.

好吧，如果你在接下來的四、五個季度裡，我可以看到它，我肯定會看到它會下降約 4 億美元。如果事情有效的話，我們會努力隨著時間的推移逐步解決它。其中一部分將來自投資——就這些付款而言是正常的投資活動，但也許其中可能存在一些利率損失。那麼存款成長就會抵消這一點。這就是我們現在同意將其落實到此為止的原因。

I will tell you the spot, we talked about the borrowings. This might help you solve as part of the cost for was 521 and for Q2. But we did that $400 million did go initially overnight. We did spread out some maturities, nothing over a year later in the quarter, it brought down a little bit that the spot rate of overall borrowings right now is 532 as of the end of the quarter.

我會告訴你現場，我們談到了借款。這可能會幫助您解決 521 和第二季度成本的一部分。但我們做到了，4 億美元最初確實是一夜之間就花光了。我們確實分散了一些期限，在本季度沒有超過一年的時間，這使得截至本季末的整體借款即期利率為 532 一點點下降。

So that may help you as you think about that. The impact on, as I mentioned in my comments, the impact on NIM borrowings was four basis points as far as the increase in for the decrease in them was four basis points from the borrowing costs. I don't expect it to be about one basis point in Q3.

所以當你思考這個問題時，這可能會對你有幫助。正如我在評論中提到的，對淨利差借款的影響是四個基點，因為借款成本的減少增加了四個基點。我預計第三季不會出現大約一個基點。

Yeah, got it. Okay. And then, the brokered deposits, those balances, I think they're $115 million last quarter. I didn't see in the release or the deck?

是的，明白了。好的。然後，我認為上個季度的經紀存款和余額為 1.15 億美元。我在發布或甲板上沒有看到？

There were $145 million in the quarter, we added $30 million. One nice thing about brokered deposit rates is that we actually see the rates come down, though. So that's kind of help offset maybe other pressures.

本季有 1.45 億美元，我們增加了 3000 萬美元。不過，經紀存款利率的一個好處是我們實際上看到利率下降了。所以這可能有助於抵消其他壓力。

Okay. Got it. And then just on expenses, your outlook for the run rate there here, maybe 3Q, 4Q, and I think we've talked in the past about trying to hold expenses flat next year, if possible? Just any updated thoughts there?

好的。知道了。然後就費用而言，您對這裡的運行率的展望，也許是第三季度、第四季度，我想我們過去曾討論過如果可能的話，嘗試在明年保持費用持平？有什麼更新的想法嗎？

Sure. And thanks for asking. I was a little concerned. No one was going to ask about expenses here. So I think that we -- expenses were much lower in Q2 and a part of that was due to higher than normal. I would say, open positions that we have. In addition to that, we did have some FTE cuts. We also had a lot of open positions.

當然。感謝您的提問。我有點擔心。沒有人會詢問這裡的費用。所以我認為我們第二季的支出要低得多，部分原因是高於正常。我想說的是，我們有空缺職位。除此之外，我們確實削減了一些 FTE。我們還有很多空缺職位。

We also benefited from kind of a few miscellaneous expense items savings that we had not expected to repeat. And looking ahead, we are going to play out. We've got the builder banking business. We're looking to add and we have some other initiatives, which we'll probably increase expenses some still looking forward, guiding in the $40 million to $41 million range, although it would likely be maybe in the low end of that range going forward.

我們也受益於一些我們預計不會重複的雜項費用節省。展望未來，我們將繼續努力。我們有建築商銀行業務。我們正在尋求增加，並且還有一些其他舉措，我們可能會增加一些仍在期待的費用，指導金額在 4000 萬至 4100 萬美元範圍內，儘管未來可能會處於該範圍的低端。

And thoughts about next year?

對明年有什麼想法？

Well, next year, we would (inaudible) think that wouldn't -- if there's an increase it would be minimal. We're going to hold as best we can to those levels, but there's a chance we will have a minimal increase next year.

好吧，明年，我們（聽不清楚）認為不會——如果有增加，那也是最小的。我們將盡最大努力保持這些水平，但明年我們有可能會有最小的成長。

Okay. And then just on the builder banking I mean, historically, you guys have been very conservative or cautious around construction and I think construction's about 10% of your portfolio today. If any thoughts on kind of limitations to that business in terms of contribution to the mix?

好的。然後就建築商銀行業務而言，我的意思是，從歷史上看，你們對建築業一直非常保守或謹慎，我認為建築業目前約佔你們投資組合的 10%。對於該業務在對組合的貢獻方面的限制有何想法？

Bryan, you want to take that?

布萊恩，你想要那個嗎？

Sure, as I said in my comments, we were -- our target is to grow it from about $70 million to $170 million, so potentially adding about $100 million. We'd spent quite a bit of time looking at our concentration levels and what makes up the construction category now and what it might look like with this addition. So I'll pass it to Tony and let him make some comments relative to the concentration levels and capital positions that we might be in?

當然，正如我在評論中所說，我們的目標是將其從約 7,000 萬美元增加到 1.7 億美元，因此可能會增加約 1 億美元。我們花了相當多的時間來研究我們的濃度水平以及現在的建築類別的組成以及添加後它可能會是什麼樣子。那麼我會將其傳遞給托尼，讓他就我們可能所處的集中度和資本狀況發表一些評論？

Yeah, thanks Bryan, we've modeled this out and the reality is we're starting from a pretty low level in that -- in those categories right now. And obviously going forward, we skew the mix more towards construction than the lot development, but there'd be a little bit of both in there but we -- as we model it out where -- we're (inaudible) feeling pretty comfortable that it is not going to add a lot to our concentration levels going forward and it will keep us still well below the regulatory thresholds from a capitals to a capital standpoint.

是的，謝謝布萊恩，我們已經對此進行了建模，而現實是我們現在在這些類別中從相當低的水平開始。顯然，展望未來，我們將混合更多地偏向於建設而不是地段開發，但是兩者都會有一點，但我們——當我們建模時——我們（聽不清）感覺很舒服它不會大幅提高我們未來的集中度，而且從資本到資本的角度，它將使我們仍遠低於監管門檻。

So depending on sort of what happens in the other construction categories, which we think are have slowed a little bit the larger like multifamily, industrial, things like that. We'll have plenty of room to accommodate this amount of growth over the next two to three years. So anyway, hopefully, that answers your question.

因此，取決於其他建築類別中發生的情況，我們認為這些建築類別的發展速度有所放緩，例如多戶住宅、工業建築等。我們將有足夠的空間來適應未來兩到三年的成長量。無論如何，希望這能回答你的問題。

Yeah, that is. That's helpful. And then last one, just on the buyback, you still have some amount that's authorized. I guess, what's your appetite from here given the move in the shares of (inaudible)

是的，就是這樣。這很有幫助。最後一項，就在回購時，您仍然擁有一些授權金額。我想，考慮到股價的變動，你對這裡有什麼興趣？（聽不清楚）

Well, it's certainly not as attractive as it was a month ago, but I think we're still going to looking to manage our capital levels. So I think we should we still have nice path ahead or stock price has nice path ahead of it going forward is NIM stabilizes and actually starts growing as we would expected it to do into next year. So I think it's still a good buy. It's just obviously, we're going to be watching it and making those decisions on a kind of quarterly basis, I would expect it to be somewhat active -- modestly active going forward.

嗯，它肯定不如一個月前那麼有吸引力，但我認為我們仍然會尋求管理我們的資本水平。因此，我認為我們應該仍然有良好的前進道路，或者股價有良好的前進道路，因為淨息差穩定並實際上開始增長，正如我們預期的那樣到明年。所以我認為它仍然是一個不錯的選擇。很明顯，我們將關注它並按季度做出這些決定，我預計它會有點活躍——未來會適度活躍。

Okay, great. Thank you.

好的，太好了。謝謝。

Thanks, Matt.

謝謝，馬特。

Kelly Motta, KBW.

凱利·莫塔，KBW。

Hi, thanks so much for the question. I thought -- I would start with the loan to deposit ratio. You're a lot lower still than peers. But it has been creeping up. Wondering, it sounds like the loan growth is following about from what what's been a really robust first half of the year, but wondering if there's any guideposts as to how we should be thinking about the funding of growth ahead and the flexibility on the balance sheet for that to potentially creep up. But that more from here?

你好，非常感謝你的提問。我想——我會從貸存比率開始。你比同齡人低很多。但它一直在蔓延。想知道，聽起來貸款增長是在今年上半年非常強勁的情況下進行的，但想知道是否有任何指導方針可以指導我們如何考慮未來增長的融資和資產負債表的靈活性因為這種情況可能會蔓延。但從這裡開始還有更多嗎？

Well, Kelly, and I'm sure Don may want to add to this. But I think historically, we've always stated that we wanted to stay in that range that 85, maybe a little bit higher than that, but not really loving the idea of getting close to 90, we're happy to see that what we've been able to do so far. But I think we're managing that closely. We're managing our concentration levels as well. So I don't think you're going to see us go crazy there. But I think you'll see us keep working and chipping away at it. Don, anything you want to add?

好吧，凱利，我確信唐可能想補充這一點。但我認為從歷史上看，我們一直表示我們希望保持在 85 的範圍內，也許比這個高一點，但並不真正喜歡接​​近 90 的想法，我們很高興看到我們所做的到目前為止已經能夠做到了。但我認為我們正在密切管理這一點。我們也在管理我們的注意力水平。所以我認為你不會看到我們在那裡發瘋。但我想你會看到我們繼續努力並不斷努力。唐，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

No, I think as you said, Jeff, I think getting up to 85 is that is the more immediate goal over the next year or so, right. So it's not going to happen overnight, but I think possibly by the end of 2025 to get up to 85 and when that's with having deposit growth, right. So deposit growth is really a focus at this point, but we still want to get -- we still want to leverage the balance sheet to (inaudible) profitable.

不，我認為正如你所說，傑夫，我認為達到 85 歲是未來一年左右更近期的目標，對吧。所以這不會在一夜之間發生，但我認為到 2025 年底可能會達到 85，那時存款就會增長，對吧。因此，存款成長確實是目前的一個焦點，但我們仍然希望——我們仍然希望利用資產負債表來實現（聽不清楚）獲利。

Got it. Okay. That's helpful. And looking at -- I appreciate all the work you guys have been doing on the large trades, looking at the average balance sheet, you guys do have some high cost sub-debt in there. I know it's relatively small amount. Is that redeemable yet? And if so, any thoughts on potentially, especially with the stock price up redeeming some of that?

知道了。好的。這很有幫助。我感謝你們在大型交易上所做的所有工作，看看平均資產負債表，你們確實有一些高成本的次級債務。我知道這個金額相對較小。那還可以贖回嗎？如果是這樣，有什麼潛在的想法，特別是隨著股價上漲贖回其中的一部分？

Yes, Kelly, (inaudible) has a par value on that. We've acquired that sub debt and the par value is $25 million. So we take a really big hit to offset that. And if rates come back down a little bit lower because it's based off of so for now. So we have (multiple speakers) to do it.

是的，凱利（聽不清楚）對此有一定的價值。我們已經收購了該次級債務，票面價值為 2,500 萬美元。因此，我們承受了巨大的打擊來抵消這一影響。如果利率回落得稍微低一些，因為目前這是基於此。所以我們有（多個發言者）來做這件事。

Got it. Okay. That's helpful. Last just a housekeeping question for me, what's the good tax rate from here? It's bounced around a little.

知道了。好的。這很有幫助。最後問我一個內務問題，這裡的稅率是多少？它有一點反彈。

Yeah, it's been a busy year so far. And that I would say 13% for this year.

是的，到目前為止，這是忙碌的一年。我想說今年是 13%。

(multiple speakers) Thank you so much. Got it.

（多名發言者）非常感謝。知道了。

Thanks, Kelly.

謝謝，凱利。

At this time, we have no further questions. So I'll hand the call back to the management team for any closing comments.

目前，我們沒有其他問題了。因此，我會將電話轉回管理團隊以徵求結束意見。

Thanks Emily, if there is no more questions. So we'll wrap up this quarter's call. We thank you all for your time, your support and your interest in our ongoing performance, and we look forward to seeing some of you next week. Thank you.

謝謝艾米麗，如果沒有其他問題的話。我們將結束本季的電話會議。我們感謝大家的時間、支持以及對我們持續表現的興趣，我們期待下週見到你們中的一些人。謝謝。

Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. This concludes our call. (Operator Instructions) Thank you all for joining us today. You may now disconnect your lines.

謝謝大家今天加入我們。我們的通話到此結束。（操作員說明）感謝大家今天加入我們。現在您可以斷開線路。