Northeast Bank (NBN) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the Northeast Bank fourth-quarter fiscal year 2024 earnings call. My name is Steven, and I will be your operator for today's call. This call is being recorded.

歡迎參加東北銀行 2024 財年第四季財報電話會議。我叫史蒂文，我是今天電話的接線生。此通話正在錄音。

With us today from the bank is Rick Wayne, President and Chief Executive Officer; Richard Cohen, Chief Financial Officer; and Pat Dignan, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to the call, an investor presentation was uploaded to the bank's website, which we will reference in this morning's call.

今天與我們在一起的是銀行總裁兼執行長 Rick Wayne；理查德‧科恩，財務長；以及執行副總裁兼營運長 Pat Dignan。在電話會議之前，投資者簡報已上傳到該銀行的網站，我們將在今天上午的電話會議中引用該簡報。

The presentation can be accessed at the Investor Relations section of northeastbank.com under Events and Presentations. You may find it helpful to download this investor presentation and follow along during the call. Also, this call will be available for rebroadcast on the website for future use.

您可以在 eastbank.com 的投資者關係部分的「活動和演示」下訪問該演示。您可能會發現下載此投資者簡報並在電話會議期間跟進會很有幫助。此外，該電話會議還將在網站上重播以供將來使用。

(Operator Instructions) As a reminder, the conference is being recorded. Please note that this presentation contains forward-looking statements about Northeast Bank. Forward-looking statements are based upon the current expectations of Northeast Bank's management and are subject to risks and uncertainties.

（操作員說明）謹此提醒，會議正在錄製中。請注意，本簡報包含有關東北銀行的前瞻性陳述。前瞻性陳述是基於東北銀行管理層目前的預期，並受到風險和不確定性的影響。

Actual results may differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Northeast Bank does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. I will now turn the call over to Rick Wayne. Mr. Wayne, you may begin.

實際結果可能與前瞻性陳述中討論的結果有重大差異。東北銀行不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。我現在將把電話轉給里克·韋恩。韋恩先生，您可以開始了。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us on the call.

謝謝。大家早安。感謝您加入我們的通話。

During the call, I'm going to first give some -- go over some highlights for the quarter and the year -- our view of what the year looked like. After I finished my comments, Richard Cohen is going to talk about funding and our ATM. And then Pat is going to talk about loan activity and share some thoughts on what we see in the market.

在電話會議期間，我將首先介紹一些——回顧本季和本年度的一些亮點——我們對今年情況的看法。在我完成評論後，理查德·科恩將談論資金和我們的 ATM。然後帕特將談論貸款活動並分享一些我們在市場上看到的想法。

And then as you've just heard, we'd be happy to answer any questions. First, just some thoughts on the quarter and the year. We think it was a really strong year and a strong quarter. Almost in all of the metrics one would look at, our loan volume was very strong.

正如您剛剛聽到的，我們很樂意回答任何問題。首先，只是對季度和年度的一些想法。我們認為這是非常強勁的一年和一個強勁的季度。幾乎在所有我們關注的指標中，我們的貸款量都非常強勁。

Our margins -- our NIM was very strong. Asset quality held up really well. And of course, our return on equity at 17.46% for the year is impressive as is the ROA at just a little bit under 2%, 1.99% for the quarter and 1.98% for the year.

我們的利潤率－我們的淨利差非常強勁。資產品質保持得非常好。當然，我們今年 17.46% 的股本回報率令人印象深刻，ROA 略低於 2%，本季為 1.99%，全年為 1.98%。

Let me just highlight a few things there. I'm now referring to page 3. With respect to our national lending, the purchased loans were $160.6 million of UPB at a purchase price of 89.4% for an investment of $143.6 million and for the year, $382 million invested with UPB of $432.4 million at an 88.4% purchase price.

讓我強調一些事情。我現在指的是第 3 頁。在我們的國家貸款方面，購買的貸款為1.606 億美元的UPB，購買價為89.4%，投資額為1.436 億美元；全年投資額為3.82 億美元，UPB 投資額為4.324 億美元，購買價為88.4%。

On the origination side, we originated in the quarter $114 million for the quarter and a shade under $400 million for the year at $399.1 million. I want to just talk for a second about rates and move to page 22 in the slide deck, which takes a look at what we earned in the rates in the quarter. And this is a slide that shows what is both regularly scheduled interest and then -- plus accrued normal accretion, plus accelerated accretion and fees.

在原始資金方面，我們本季的原始資金為 1.14 億美元，全年的原始資金為 3.991 億美元，略低於 4 億美元。我想簡單談談費率，然後轉到幻燈片中的第 22 頁，該頁介紹了我們在本季度的費率中賺取的收入。這是一張投影片，顯示了定期安排的利息，以及應計的正常增值，加上加速增值和費用。

First, starting with the purchased loans, the regularly scheduled interest and accretion was $8.43. And we picked up another 104 basis points from accelerated appreciation for a total of 9.47% on the purchased loans. And on the originated loans, the regularly scheduled interest, net accretion on that was 9.65% and 3 basis points for fees.

首先，從購買的貸款開始，定期利息和增值為 8.43 美元。我們購買的貸款加速升值了 104 個基點，總計 9.47%。對於原始貸款，定期利息、淨增值為 9.65%，費用增加 3 個基點。

So overall, we earned on our loan book for the quarter 9.55%, which is, we think, an excellent number, generating a NIM for the quarter of 5.13%, which is consistent with what we did during the year, which was 5.16%. Richard will talk about the ATM, as I mentioned.

因此，總的來說，我們本季的貸款帳面收益率為 9.55%，我們認為這是一個非常好的數字，本季的淨利差為 5.13%，這與我們今年的表現一致，即 5.16% 。正如我所提到的，理查德將談論 ATM。

We earned in the quarter of $15.1 million and $58.2 million for the year, which is pretty even income each quarter. One of the prior quarters was a little bit lower as a result of some incentive comp that we accrued earlier than we normally do and we discussed at the last call.

我們本季的營收為 1,510 萬美元，全年營收為 5,820 萬美元，每季的營收相當平均。由於我們比平常更早累積了一些激勵補償，我們在上次電話會議中進行了討論，因此前一個季度的業績略有下降。

We earned, on a per share basis, fully diluted $1.91 for the quarter and $7.58 for the year. I did mention the ROA. The ROE was 16.6% for the quarter and 17.46% for the year. Interestingly, if we take a look at the first -- and that's a result. That difference is I should add -- the difference because we have a lot more capital now.

以完全攤薄計算，我們本季每股收益為 1.91 美元，全年每股收益為 7.58 美元。我確實提到了 ROA。本季淨資產收益率為 16.6%，全年淨資產收益率為 17.46%。有趣的是，如果我們看第一個——那就是結果。我應該補充一點，這種差異是因為我們現在擁有更多的資本。

For the quarter -- we earned $15.2 million in the first quarter. And this quarter, we earned $15.1 million, so virtually the same amount of money. But our capital was $312 million in the first quarter, and now it's $377 million. And so with same dollars on more capital, I would just remind those that have been investing with us for a while, this excess capital sounds reminiscent of all the capital that we had after the PPP.

就本季而言，我們第一季的營收為 1520 萬美元。本季度，我們賺了 1510 萬美元，幾乎是相同的金額。但我們第一季的資本是 3.12 億美元，現在是 3.77 億美元。因此，用同樣的美元購買更多的資本，我只想提醒那些已經與我們一起投資了一段時間的人，這種多餘的資本聽起來讓人想起我們在 PPP 後擁有的所有資本。

And of course, we got questions about how we were going to deploy it. And we wound up buying $1 billion million of loans in the fourth calendar quarter of 2022. I'm not predicting that we're going to do that. But I -- and Pat will touch on this a little bit more. We are of the view there are a lot of opportunities to purchased loans.

當然，我們也對如何部署它提出了疑問。我們最終在 2022 年第四季購買了 10 億美元的貸款。我並不是預測我們會這麼做。但我和帕特將進一步討論這一點。我們認為購買貸款的機會很多。

And without overpromising, of course, they're binary transactions. You win, or you don't win. And so we'll see what happens, but we are optimistic about what we see in the marketplace. And also in the highlight section, you can see that our tangible book is $46.34. I do want to comment on asset quality as well.

當然，無需過度承諾，它們是二元交易。你贏了，或者你就沒有贏。因此，我們將看看會發生什麼，但我們對市場上看到的情況感到樂觀。同樣在突出部分，您可以看到我們的有形書籍價格為 46.34 美元。我確實想對資產品質發表評論。

Our asset quality remains strong, which I think is particularly impressive in light of that -- virtually, all of our loans are commercial real estate loans, which have been under some level of concern across the board. You read about it in the paper almost every day. In our case, we have relatively low loan to values in the very low 50% range. And that has been very good for us.

我們的資產品質仍然強勁，我認為這一點尤其令人印象深刻——實際上，我們所有的貸款都是商業房地產貸款，而這些貸款一直受到一定程度的全面關注。你幾乎每天都會在報紙上讀到它。在我們的案例中，我們的貸款價值相對較低，在 50% 的範圍內。這對我們來說非常好。

I just want to find the page on the asset quality at the sector -- the other one. This is real live we're doing this, so I can -- sorry for the page flipping as I'm getting there, but I will. Well, rather than taking a lot of your time here -- well, I now have it. Thanks, (inaudible).

我只想找到有關該行業資產品質的頁面——另一個頁面。這是真實的，我們正在做這件事，所以我可以——很抱歉我到達那裡時翻頁了，但我會的。好吧，與其在這兒花很多時間——好吧，我現在有了。謝謝，（聽不清楚）。

You can see that on page 9, the nonperforming assets, we still get a fair number of resolutions. We started the quarter with $28 million, and $3 million of nonperforming assets were resolved. And then we added $4.6 million. So they come and they go, and that's what you would expect from our purchased loan book. And so those numbers remain to be strong for us.

你可以看到，在第9頁，不良資產，我們仍然得到了相當多的決議。本季伊始，我們的資產為 2,800 萬美元，並解決了 300 萬美元的不良資產。然後我們增加了 460 萬美元。所以他們來了又走了，這就是您對我們購買的貸款簿的期望。因此，這些數字對我們來說仍然強勁。

With that, I would ask Richard to follow.

有了這個，我會請理查德跟隨。

Great. Thanks very much, Rick. Pat is going to pick up the section on the loans. So I'm going to focus primarily on the deposit side.

偉大的。非常感謝，瑞克。帕特將繼續討論貸款部分。所以我將主要關注存款方面。

In terms of the 2024 financial year, our deposits increased $402 million. That is an increase up to $2.34 billion from its previous level of $1.94 billion. The most significant trend on the deposit side is our deliberate substitution between borrowings and increasing our brokered CDs. I referred to this on our previous call, and we continue to do so.

就2024財年而言，我們的存款增加了4.02億美元。這比之前的 19.4 億美元增加了 23.4 億美元。存款方面最重要的趨勢是我們在藉款和增加經紀存款之間進行有意的替代。我在上次電話會議中提到了這一點，我們將繼續這樣做。

So for the financial year, our brokered CDs are up by $241 million to a level of $871 million, whereas our borrowings are down $217 million to a level of $345 million. The reason that we're doing that, to reiterate, is we want to increase our capacity for off-balance sheet funding. Our community bank -- to close off the picture on the deposit side, the community bank is up $219 million to a level of $1.4 billion.

因此，在本財年，我們的經紀 CD 增加了 2.41 億美元，達到 8.71 億美元，而我們的借款減少了 2.17 億美元，達到 3.45 億美元。重申一下，我們這樣做的原因是我們希望提高表外融資的能力。我們的社區銀行—為了結束存款方面的情況，社區銀行增加了 2.19 億美元，達到 14 億美元的水準。

Taking a look at the cost of our funding, you can refer to slide 15, which refers to the quarterly costs. It shows you the rates for each of the quarters historically, as well as the current spot rate. I think what's worth pointing out over there is that the cost of deposits you will have seen rising steadily from the 2023 financial year right through to the end of 2024.

看一下我們的資金成本，你可以參考投影片15，它指的是季度成本。它會向您顯示歷史上每季的匯率以及目前的即期匯率。我認為值得指出的是，從 2023 財年到 2024 年底，您將看到存款成本穩定上升。

What's noteworthy, though, is that the spot interest rate at the end of our financial year decreased to 4.26% from its average for the fourth quarter of 4.36%. That's an indication, of course, that rates are coming down, and I'll speak about that next.

但值得注意的是，本財年末的即期利率從第四季的平均利率 4.36% 降至 4.26%。當然，這表明利率正在下降，我接下來會談到這一點。

We're very careful to focus on our interest rate risk in the banking book. We continue to monitor and manage that to make sure we're not excessively exposed to rates going up or down. We get a lot of questions about what will happen in a rate-down environment. And the answer that we give is that we are likely to benefit from a decrease in interest rates.

我們非常謹慎地關注銀行帳戶的利率風險。我們將繼續監控和管理這一點，以確保我們不會過度受到利率上漲或下跌的影響。我們收到很多關於降息環境下會發生什麼的問題。我們給出的答案是，我們可能會從利率下降中受益。

There are a few reasons for that. The first one is that we have certain floors on our originated loans. Secondly, of course, our deposits will reprice and, therefore, reduce the cost of funding. In other words, you'll see us move in the opposite direction to that indicator on slide 15.

這有幾個原因。第一個是我們對原始貸款有一定的底線。其次，當然，我們的存款將重新定價，從而降低融資成本。換句話說，您會看到我們朝著與幻燈片 15 上的指標相反的方向移動。

And then finally, there's a prepay benefit. As rates go up, prepayments may increase. If that does happen, that will accrue to income. And Rick has referred to some of the uplift we get in terms of higher revenue from that perspective.

最後，還有預付福利。隨著利率上升，預付款可能會增加。如果這種情況確實發生，這將計入收入。里克（Rick）提到了從這個角度來看我們在收入增加方面所獲得的一些提升。

Having said all of that, we do not deliberately position ourselves to take excessive exposure in either direction because we're conscious that rates cannot perfectly be predicted. I refer you also to slide 19, which you may find interesting. That speaks about revenue and noninterest expense.

話雖如此，我們並沒有故意讓自己在任何一個方向上承受過多的風險，因為我們意識到利率無法完美預測。我也請您參考投影片 19，您可能會覺得它很有趣。這涉及收入和非利息支出。

I think what's most noteworthy about that, if you look at the chart, is it's a very useful visual way to see that our revenue is growing faster than our operating expenses. Expressing that differently, you would have seen that we regularly report our efficiency ratio. And you will have noticed a trend on that, which is for that to improve over time.

我認為最值得注意的是，如果你看一下圖表，你會發現這是一種非常有用的直觀方式，可以看出我們的收入成長速度快於營運支出。換句話說，您會看到我們定期報告我們的效率比率。您會注意到這方面的趨勢，即隨著時間的推移而改善。

I'm going to turn quickly to the ATM. You'll recall, and as I mentioned in the previous quarter, the ATM is where we sell shares in the open market. And we do so in order to raise additional capital, so as to increase our common equity Tier 1.

我要快速轉向 ATM。您會記得，正如我在上一季提到的，ATM 是我們在公開市場上出售股票的地方。我們這樣做是為了籌集額外資本，從而增加我們的一級普通股。

The reason we do that is, as Pat will refer to, we see opportunities in the market. And we see the ATM as one of the tools that we can use to raise capital to allow us to take advantage of those opportunities without putting undue stress on our capital adequacy.

正如帕特將提到的，我們這樣做的原因是，我們看到了市場上的機會。我們將 ATM 視為我們可以用來籌集資金的工具之一，使我們能夠利用這些機會，而不會對我們的資本充足率造成過度壓力。

Speaking quickly of the ATM, the ATM, when we initially commenced this, we had a $50 million capacity. $27 million of that has been utilized to date in both the current and prior financial years. We, therefore, have $23 million left in the ATM.

簡單來說一下 ATM，當我們最初開始使用 ATM 時，我們有 5000 萬美元的容量。迄今為止，其中 2,700 萬美元已在本財政年度和上一財政年度使用。因此，我們的 ATM 機裡還剩下 2,300 萬美元。

To speak about the activity in the fourth quarter, we sold 150,000 shares at an average of $55.13 on a net basis per share. That added $8.3 million to our capital for the quarter. Speaking quickly about the year, the ATM for the year added $0.29 per share to our tangible book value.

說到第四季的活動，我們以每股淨值平均 55.13 美元的價格出售了 150,000 股。這為我們本季的資本增加了 830 萬美元。快速回顧這一年，今年的 ATM 使我們的有形帳面價值每股增加了 0.29 美元。

Let me hand over to Pat Dignan.

讓我把任務交給帕特‧迪格南 (Pat Dignan)。

Thanks, Richard. There's not really a lot new this quarter -- over last quarter, except that there's a continued increase in real estate transactions, which provides more confidence on the investor side.

謝謝，理查。與上季相比，本季並沒有太多新變化，只是房地產交易持續增加，這為投資者提供了更多信心。

And also on the purchase side, banks have had the opportunity to write down some of their loans. And what we've seen is a real uptick in purchased loan opportunities. We think that the next quarter will be strong on the purchase side.

在購買方面，銀行也有機會減記部分貸款。我們看到的是購買貸款機會的真正增加。我們認為下季採購方面將會強勁。

Just in the general market, office and multifamily continue to be a concern. Beyond that, we keep an eye on expenses and -- again, more of the same. So we think there's a lot of opportunity, and we expect to be positioned well for it.

就一般市場而言，辦公大樓和多戶住宅仍然是一個令人擔憂的問題。除此之外，我們還密切關注支出——同樣，更多的是相同的。因此，我們認為存在著許多機會，並且我們希望能夠為此做好準備。

Pat, do you want to comment for a little bit on the increase in the originated loans in this quarter over some of the preceding ones, what you're seeing aside from more activity, but just looking at the numbers on us?

帕特，您想對本季原始貸款相對於之前的一些貸款的增加發表一下評論嗎？

We've been very successful on the lender finance side. It's been -- we've increased the number of groups that we transact with. And there's been a growing -- for multiple reasons, a lot of migration toward nonbank lenders. And we benefited from that, increasing the number of transactions and the number of counterparties. We were able to really boost that business.

我們在貸方融資方面非常成功。我們增加了與之交易的團體數量。由於多種原因，越來越多的人轉向非銀行貸款機構。我們從中受益，增加了交易數量和交易對手數量。我們能夠真正促進這項業務。

I just want to -- just describe that business for a second -- thank you, Pat -- describe that for a second in the event there are some callers on that have not been investors for a while and may not know exactly what that business means in our case. Because there's lots of ways people talk about portfolio finance or lender finance.

我只是想——簡單描述一下這項業務——謝謝你，帕特——描述一下，如果有一些來電者已經有一段時間不是投資者了，可能不知道這項業務到底是什麼在我們的例子中意味著。因為人們談論投資組合融資或貸方融資的方式有很多。

We have a significant number of groups that are nonbank lenders, that we leverage their lending by providing financing to them. They're typically structured as guidance lines where -- meaning, that every advance that they want to lend money to their borrowers secured by commercial real estate, we underwrite at the same time, just as if we were going to make the loan.

我們有大量非銀行貸款機構，我們透過向他們提供融資來利用他們的貸款。它們通常被建構為指導線，這意味著，他們想要藉錢給以商業房地產為擔保的借款人的每一筆預付款，我們都會同時承保，就像我們要發放貸款一樣。

It's been a really strong part of our business. So -- because you have a couple of layers of protection in the capital stack. If you have the original property owner that borrows money from the nonbank lender, maybe with 30% equity and borrowing 70% from the nonbank lender, we then would lend -- if we wanted to advance on that alone, we might advance 70% or so to the nonbank lender, so that our loan, 70% times 70%, is 49% against the underlying commercial real estate loan.

這是我們業務的一個非常強大的部分。所以——因為你的資本堆疊中有幾層保護。如果你的原始財產所有者向非銀行貸款機構借錢，可能擁有30% 的股權，並向非銀行貸款機構借款70%，那麼我們就會放貸——如果我們想單獨預支這一點，我們可能會預支70% 或因此，對於非銀行貸款人來說，我們的貸款，70%乘以70%，是針對基礎商業房地產貸款的49%。

They're structured typically in bankruptcy-remote entities, with all of the loans cross-collateralized. All of the advances, to be clear, cross-collateralized, cross-defaulted with the highest default rate permitted under law. In the case of New York, it's 24%.

它們的結構通常是遠離破產的實體，所有貸款都有交叉抵押。需要明確的是，所有預付款都是交叉抵押、交叉違約的，違約率達到法律允許的最高水準。就紐約而言，這一比例為 24%。

Our borrowers are experienced and very capable in the area of lending, even if the underlying borrower may be great at making widgets, so to speak, proverbial widgets. But they may not be as sharp in the financial area, but we have that party in between us.

我們的借款人在貸款領域經驗豐富且非常有能力，即使底層借款人可能擅長製造小部件，可以說是眾所周知的小部件。但他們在金融領域可能沒有那麼敏銳，但我們之間有那個政黨。

To date, we have done a lot of it. We have not lost one penny of principal on it. And it's a business line we like very much. Last quarter, out of the origination volume, 90% of those loans were portfolio finance loans.

到目前為止，我們已經做了很多工作。我們沒有因此損失一分錢本金。這是我們非常喜歡的業務線。上季度，在發放量中，90% 的貸款是投資組合融資貸款。

As Pat mentioned, we're looking to expand that business with more groups. And our borrowers are very comfortable with us as their lender, and so we like it. I just wanted to expand on that in case someone who's not as familiar with it.

正如帕特所提到的，我們希望與更多的團體擴大業務。我們的借款人對我們作為他們的貸款人感到非常滿意，所以我們喜歡它。我只是想擴展一下，以防有人不熟悉它。

Another point is on that business is the LTVs are generally lower. And in the environment we've been in the last year, with fewer real estate transactions and a little more subjectivity with respect to real estate valuations, we've been not quite as competitive on the direct side.

另一點是，該業務的生命週期價值普遍較低。在我們去年所處的環境中，房地產交易較少，房地產估值的主觀性更強，我們在直接方面的競爭力也不那麼強。

But as the new normal sets in and there's more and more real estate trades, I feel we'll be -- in addition to growing this business, also be more competitive on the direct lending space.

但隨著新常態的到來，房地產交易越來越多，我覺得除了發展這項業務外，我們還將在直接貸款領域更具競爭力。

That's right. I just want to amplify another point Pat made on the purchased loan in the pipeline. You've heard the forward-looking statements, so I promise I won't read it to you again.

這是正確的。我只是想強調帕特就正在購買的貸款提出的另一點。您已經聽過這些前瞻性陳述，所以我保證不會再讀給您聽。

But there seems to be a lot of dollar transactions in the market now of the kind of assets that we like to buy, meaning performing loans secured by cash flow and collateral, generally, in liquid markets. And we have -- one of the things, of course, when you have a seller, execution risk is an issue that they care about a lot. When they want to sell, they want to make sure they have a counterpart that's going to perform.

但現在市場上似乎有很多我們喜歡購買的資產的美元交易，這意味著通常在流動市場中以現金流和抵押品擔保的貸款。當然，其中一件事是，當你有賣家時，執行風險是他們非常關心的問題。當他們想要出售時，他們希望確保擁有一個能夠表現出色的對手。

We've been at this at a very long time, 14 years at Northeast Bank. And 18 years before that, it's Capital Crossing Bank. And we have developed and, I'd say, humbly earned that reputation in doing that. And we're seeing a lot now.

我們在這方面已經做了很長時間了，在東北銀行已經有 14 年了。18 年前，它是 Capital Crossing Bank。我們已經發展起來，而且我想說，我們在這樣做的過程中謙虛地贏得了聲譽。我們現在看到了很多。

And then I would just point out as Pat did, just to make sure it's clear, it doesn't mean we're going to win anything. The transactions -- you win or you lose. But of course, seeing a lot of activity there is much better than not seeing it. And so we will keep you informed around that as we have these calls.

然後我會像帕特一樣指出，只是為了確保這一點清楚，這並不意味著我們會贏得任何東西。交易——要嘛贏，要嘛輸。但當然，看到那裡有很多活動比沒有看到要好得多。因此，當我們接到這些電話時，我們隨時會向您通報相關情況。

I think that's all that we have in our presentation, and I would ask if there are any questions out there.

我想這就是我們演示中的全部內容，我會詢問是否還有任何問題。

I would point out that our former analyst, Alex Twerdahl at Piper Sandler, who was -- really understood our bank and typically, the one's asking questions, has left Piper Sandler. And temporarily, they have suspended coverage of us until they can find a replacement for him, which is not -- I think they did that with all of the banks that -- the companies that Alex covered. It was not personal to what -- feels personal, but it wasn't.

我想指出的是，我們的前分析師、Piper Sandler 的 Alex Twerdahl 確實了解我們的銀行，並且通常會提出問題，但他已經離開了 Piper Sandler。暫時，他們暫停了對我們的報道，直到找到他的替代者，這不是 - 我認為他們對所有銀行 - 亞歷克斯報道的公司都這樣做了。這不是個人的——感覺是個人的，但事實並非如此。

So we may not have as active questions. But I will see anyone have anything that they would like to ask us?

所以我們可能沒有那麼活躍的問題。但我會看到有人有什麼想問我們的嗎？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

David Minkoff, this is the perfect time for you to join in.

大衛明可夫，現在是您加入的最佳時機。

(Operator Instructions) Okay. It appears there are no questions at this time. I would now like to turn the call back over to Rick Wayne for closing remarks.

（操作員指示）好的。目前看來沒有任何問題。我現在想將電話轉回給里克·韋恩 (Rick Wayne)，讓其致閉幕詞。

Well, there's two ways to take the lack of questions. I'm going to go with the most positive outlook that we did such a good job explaining what we're doing that we have answered any questions you might have. There might be another way to think about it, but I'm not going there.

好吧，有兩種方法可以解決缺乏問題的問題。我將以最積極的態度去看待，我們很好地解釋了我們正在做的事情，我們已經回答了您可能提出的任何問題。可能還有另一種思考方式，但我不會這麼做。

But all of you that listened and all of you that will listen to the call on our website, we thank you for your interest, continued support, and look forward to talking to you again after the end of the following quarter.

但是，所有收聽的人和所有將在我們網站上收聽電話會議的人，我們感謝您的興趣和持續的支持，並期待在下個季度結束後再次與您交談。

And with that, I wish you all a happy weekend soon and a really enjoyable summer. Thank you.

在此，我祝大家週末愉快，夏天愉快。謝謝。

Can you hear me?

你聽得到我嗎？

David Minkoff, DCM Asset Management.

David Minkoff，DCM 資產管理公司。

Yes. I was -- I think we were cut off before. Can you hear me now?

是的。我——我想我們之前就被切斷了聯繫。現在你能聽到我說話嗎？

Yes, we can, David. Good morning.

是的，我們可以，大衛。早安.

Great. Congratulations to you, Richard and Pat, on another great quarter. So I do have one question. But before I ask the question, I've got to say that, Rick, you and your team, have done a phenomenal job with this company. I was with this company -- I stumbled across it by accident actually 10 years ago, about a month after you went public.

偉大的。理查德和帕特，祝賀你們又一個偉大的季度。所以我確實有一個問題。但在我提出問題之前，我必須說，Rick、你和你的團隊在這家公司做得非常好。我在這家公司工作——實際上是在 10 年前，大約在你們上市一個月後，我偶然發現了這家公司。

And so I've listened to 40 conference calls, and I haven't missed a one. And you deliver these consistent beautiful results quarter after quarter. And when you think about it, this is basically a seven-branch bank located in Maine that nobody's ever heard of, with the help of some loan acquisition and servicing. And you've delivered phenomenal results time and time again.

我已經聽了 40 場電話會議，沒有錯過任何一場。並且您每季都能交付這些一致的美麗結果。當你仔細想想，這基本上是一家位於緬因州的七家分行銀行，沒有人聽說過，並在一些貸款收購和服務的幫助下。您一次又一次地取得了驚人的成果。

Now to put this in perspective, in 2020 when COVID hit, the stock got knocked down from [$24] in 2019, down to [$6] in 2020 due to COVID and as well as everything else that have gotten hit along with it. I mean, it was almost an act-of-God-type of situation.

現在來看看，2020 年新冠疫情來襲時，由於新冠疫情以及其他所有因素的影響，該股從 2019 年的 [24 美元] 下跌至 2020 年的 [6 美元]。我的意思是，這幾乎是一種天災。

So the results from then, you've engineered the stock going from a low of [$6] in COVID in March 2020 to [$72] today. We call that a 12-bagger in Wall Street. The stock is up from the low of COVID, 1,200%, 1,200% in four short years. This is totally miraculous.

因此，從那時起，您將股票從 2020 年 3 月新冠疫情期間的低點 [6 美元] 升至今天的 [72 美元]。在華爾街，我們稱之為「12 袋」。該股在短短四年內就從新冠疫情期間的低點上漲了 1,200%，上漲了 1,200%。這真是太神奇了。

And you come out quarter after quarter -- I've listened to 40 of them. I haven't missed a one. And you come out in a humble manner, giving us the results, no attitude, no arrogance, almost apologetic for these stupendous numbers quarter after quarter.

你一季又一季度地出來——我已經聽了其中的 40 個。我沒有錯過任何一個。你們以謙虛的態度向我們提供了結果，沒有任何態度，沒有傲慢，幾乎每個季度都對這些驚人的數字表示歉意。

Now I'll remember, three -- seven years ago -- six years ago, when your base earnings were $2 a share, you would come out with, let's say, $0.50 for the quarter and caution us to not annualize those numbers because the quarter-to-quarter numbers could be choppy and not to take -- not to assume that you're going to have another $0.50 quarter.

現在我會記得，三、七年前、六年前，當你的基本收益為每股2 美元時，你會得出，比方說，該季度0.50 美元，並警告我們不要對這些數字進行年度化，因為季度與季度之間的數字可能會波動很大，因此不要假設您將再獲得 0.50 美元的季度收益。

Well, I'm listening to this for 40 quarters. I haven't seen one disappointment yet, with a down quarter or something, that caused any aggravation. I would -- if there were a Wall Street hall of fame, I would nominate you for that -- for entrance into that organization along with Jamie Dimon, who's done a good job, of course, with JPMorgan, but with the proviso that Jamie Dimon takes his marching orders from you.

好吧，我已經聽了 40 個季度了。我還沒有看到任何令人失望的事情，例如季度下滑或其他什麼導致任何惡化的事情。我會 - 如果有一個華爾街名人堂，我會提名你 - 與傑米·戴蒙一起進入該組織，當然，傑米·戴蒙在摩根大通做得很好，但條件是傑米·戴蒙戴蒙接受了你的行軍命令。

That's my comment. You called on me to ask a question, and I've given a long dissertation. I hope you don't need two pillows for your head tonight. But if you do, you deserve it.

這是我的評論。你叫我問一個問題，我已經做了一篇很長的論文。我希望你今晚不需要兩個枕頭。但如果你這樣做了，那是你應得的。

Here's the question. Can I ask the question now? What are you going to do for an encore? That's the question.

這是問題所在。現在可以提問嗎？你打算為安可做什麼？這就是問題所在。

Well, we -- the best thing we can do with our capital, of course, is to be able to leverage it with high-quality, higher-yielding assets. That's what we would hope and expect to do. We have a lot of capital now and a lot of loan capacity left.

當然，我們能用我們的資本做的最好的事情就是能夠利用高品質、高收益的資產來利用它。這就是我們希望和期待做的事情。我們現在有很多資金，還有很多貸款能力。

That's why I made the reference earlier to PPP when we had roughly $1 billion of loan capacity and patient investors. They were patient, but they wanted to know what we were going to do. Because we doubled our capital and sort of, definitionally, our ROE would go down when you have that much capital.

這就是為什麼我之前提到 PPP，當時我們擁有大約 10 億美元的貸款能力和耐心的投資者。他們很有耐心，但他們想知道我們要做什麼。因為我們的資本增加了一倍，從定義上來說，當你擁有這麼多資本時，我們的股本報酬率就會下降。

And with the excess capital, we're hoping that we can leverage it with the kind of loans that we like. But of course, we're not going to be careless or reckless or put loans on the balance sheet just to have a lower loan book. And we would hope we would be able to do that.

有了多餘的資本，我們希望能夠透過我們喜歡的貸款來利用它。但當然，我們不會粗心或魯莽，也不會只是為了減少貸款帳簿而將貸款列入資產負債表。我們希望能夠做到這一點。

So I would point out -- I know you know this, David. But for others that may not know that, when we have excess capital over some number of years, we return it to shareholders in the period of around, years, maybe 13 through 16, roughly.

所以我要指出──我知道你知道這一點，大衛。但對於其他人來說，他們可能不知道，當我們在一段時間內擁有過剩資本時，我們會在大約 13 至 16 年左右將其返還給股東。

We bought back roughly half of the stock -- another half, a third of the stock in the bank for an average price of somewhere $17 or $18. And on the other hand, we've recently been selling stock at a number that -- I'm talking about this quarter. We don't have anything to say about what we might do in the current quarter. But in the previous quarters, Richard mentioned, we bought back -- sold stock, rather, at $50.

我們回購了大約一半的股票——另一半，即銀行股票的三分之一，平均價格約為 17 或 18 美元。另一方面，我們最近以這個數字出售股票——我指的是本季。對於本季度我們可能會做什麼，我們沒有任何可說的。但理查德提到，在前幾個季度，我們以 50 美元的價格回購或出售了股票。

So in terms of an encore, as you say, that would be one thing. And I would also plan -- I think most of you know, we were unsuccessful on this, but we tend to be opportunistic when things present themselves. We made a lot of money with PPP, which was not a lot.

所以就安可而言，正如你所說，那是一回事。我也會計劃——我想你們大多數人都知道，我們在這方面沒有成功，但當事情出現時我們往往會投機取巧。我們透過PPP賺了很多錢，但錢不多。

We were not even in a related -- we didn't have even a related product, I should say, but we wound up originating $3 billion of that and purchasing another $8 billion and making 65 basis points along with NEWITY, which was a partner of ours in that activity.

我們甚至沒有參與相關產品——我應該說，我們甚至沒有相關產品，但我們最終籌集了 30 億美元，併購買了另外 80 億美元，並與合作夥伴 NEWITY 一起賺取了 65 個基點我們在那次活動中。

And then we also -- when there was an opportunity, we bid on buying Signature Bank and also what was previously Boston Private Bank, part of Silicon Valley Bank. Unfortunately, we didn't win those. But -- so we look for -- and those are not predictable, those kinds of opportunities. But we like to pay attention and if it's something makes sense to look at it.

然後，當有機會時，我們競標收購 Signature Bank 以及以前的波士頓私人銀行（矽谷銀行的一部分）。不幸的是，我們沒有贏得這些。但是——所以我們尋找——那些是不可預測的機會。但我們喜歡關注，如果有什麼有意義的事情就去看看。

Finally, I think I really need to make a point and ask you to confirm this, David. When I called your name, it was not because I had any idea -- we haven't spoken for a while -- that you were going to -- and I appreciate your really kind words. I really do.

最後，我想我真的需要指出一點並請你確認這一點，大衛。當我叫出你的名字時，並不是因為我知道——我們已經有一段時間沒有說話了——你會這麼做——我很欣賞你的善意之言。我真的這麼做。

And it's not just me, of course. It's a big team we have here that delivers these consistently good results. But this was not preplanned. It sounds like I called on David, and then he gives me a compliment. I didn't know that was coming (multiple speakers) --

當然，不只是我。我們擁有一支龐大的團隊，能夠始終如一地取得良好的成果。但這並不是預先計劃好的。聽起來好像是我拜訪了大衛，然後他對我進行了恭維。我不知道那會到來（多位發言者）——

We haven't spoken probably a year or so, but I am on the conference calls every quarter. But you're right; I had no questions.

我們可能有一年左右沒有說過話了，但我每季都會參加電話會議。但你是對的；我沒有問題。

Alex asked great questions every quarter, and kudos to him for his good coverage of the company. Not only that; a quarter ago, when the stock was in the mid-50s, he had -- probably, he raised his price target to [$72]. So he wasn't surprised to see this. That was a great call on his thought.

亞歷克斯每季都會提出一些很好的問題，並且對他對公司的良好報導表示讚賞。不僅如此；一個季度前，當股價在 50 多美元左右時，他可能將目標價提高到了 [72 美元]。所以他看到這一幕並不感到驚訝。這對他的思想來說是一個偉大的呼籲。

So you surround yourself in the company -- and your analysts -- with just high-quality people that are just getting the job done. And I just -- I don't know what -- I'm doing this for 40 years, trying to find or finding good companies to invest in. And I can count on one hand the number of companies that have done as good as you have in 40 years that I'm doing this.

因此，你在公司和你的分析師周圍都是剛完成工作的高素質人員。我只是——我不知道是什麼——我已經這樣做了 40 年，試圖尋找或尋找好的公司來投資。在我從事這項工作的 40 年裡，我一隻手就能數出有多少家公司做得和你們一樣好。

So I'm on conference calls all the time. I've never had a discussion like this. I usually ask the question that's pertinent, and that's all. I've never said this about any company, but it really has to be called out. And I'm thinking this, and I felt the need to verbalize it.

所以我一直在參加電話會議。我從來沒有進行過這樣的討論。我通常會問相關的問題，僅此而已。我從來沒有對任何公司說過這樣的話，但確實必須指出。我在想這個，並且覺得有必要用語言表達出來。

And I'm sure I'm speaking for everyone else on this call. There's nobody that could possibly have a loss in this company. Whether you paid $8 a share or $68 a share, the stock hit a new all-time high yesterday. So you're talking to everybody that's a happy camper on this call.

我確信我代表這次電話會議的其他所有人發言。這家公司沒有人可能會遭受損失。無論你支付每股 8 美元還是每股 68 美元，該股昨天都創下了歷史新高。因此，您正在與參加本次電話會議的所有快樂露營者交談。

It's just phenomenal. It's really remarkable and deserves to be called. The words that I'm using aren't strong enough. I don't know how -- and I look for a manager like you to -- I look for companies that are managed by people like you that are qualified, no attitude, just deliver the good results, and just in a transparent way.

這真是太神奇了。這確實是非凡的，值得被稱為。我使用的字眼不夠強。我不知道如何——我尋找像你這樣的經理——我尋找由像你這樣的人管理的公司，他們有資格，沒有態度，只是以透明的方式交付良好的結果。

It's just a pleasure to have dealt with for 10 years. That's all I can tell you. I know I have no aggravation with this company and its actions in 10 years.

能一起相處10年真是太開心了。我只能告訴你這些。我知道十年來我對這家公司及其行為沒有任何不滿。

And one other kind of aside here, when I turn on my screen every day, I have my stock that I own in different columns. The banks are in one column, and industrials are in another. Drugs are in another, and high tech are in another.

還有另一種情況是，當我每天打開螢幕時，我在不同的列中都有我擁有的股票。銀行位於一列，工業股位於另一列。毒品是另一個，高科技是另一個。

The high tech may consist of Amazon, Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta, Apple. After this conference call, I'm going to remove Northeast Bank, NBN, from the banking column and put it in the high-tech column with the Meta and Nvidia and Amazon where it belongs, so it has some decent competition. So that's all I can tell you. It competes with those groups.

高科技可能包括亞馬遜、Nvidia、微軟、Meta、蘋果。在這次電話會議之後，我將把東北銀行、NBN從銀行業欄位中刪除，並將其與Meta、Nvidia和亞馬遜一起放在高科技專欄中，這樣它就有了一些不錯的競爭。這就是我能告訴你的。它與這些群體競爭。

I mean, I'm almost thinking you're going to discover the cure cancer or something. Or it's just -- I don't know what to say. It's just really something to behold. And it's a pleasure to have made your acquaintance for 10 years. I just looked out, I guess, by getting involved here. So I don't know what to say, but keep up the good work.

我的意思是，我幾乎認為你會發現治癒癌症之類的方法。或者只是——我不知道該說什麼。這確實是值得一看的東西。很高興與您相識10年。我想，我只是透過參與這裡來觀察。所以我不知道該說什麼，但繼續努力。

David -- thank you very much, David. Those are really kind comments. And all the people working in the bank who listen to this, I'm sure, will appreciate -- it's not just me. It's a great team. Let me just -- thank you, David.

大衛——非常感謝你，大衛。這些都是非常友善的評論。我相信，所有在銀行工作的人只要聽到這句話，都會感激不已──不只是我。這是一支很棒的團隊。讓我——謝謝你，大衛。

Anyone else have any compliments? No, I mean, any questions? Before -- when David was disconnected, I had thanked you all, and I won't repeat that again to you.

還有人有什麼讚美的嗎？不，我是說，還有什麼問題嗎？之前——當大衛斷線時，我已經感謝過你們所有人，我不會再向你們重複。

But have a good weekend, everybody, and thank you very much. I think, operator, we're all set.

但祝大家週末愉快，非常感謝。我想，接線員，我們都準備好了。

All right. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This concludes today's conference. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

好的。謝謝你們，女士們、先生們。今天的會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。