Northeast Bank (NBN) 2025 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Hello and welcome to the Northeast Bank fourth quarter and fiscal year 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce CEO, Rick Wayne.

您好，歡迎參加東北銀行第四季及2025財年財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。現在我很高興介紹執行長里克·韋恩 (Rick Wayne)。

Thank you and good afternoon to all of you that are listening to this call with me. Our Pat Dignan, our Chief Operating Officer, and Head of Commercial Credit for the bank, and Richard Cohen, our CFO after I make some comments, Pat will follow up in a lively conversation about our loan book.

謝謝大家，大家下午好。我們的營運長兼銀行商業信貸主管 Pat Dignan 和我們的財務長 Richard Cohen 在我發表一些評論後，Pat 將就我們的貸款帳簿進行熱烈的討論。

Both about commercial real estate loans and the SBA, and some very helpful information about our multi-family portfolio in New York City, I think you'll find all that quite interesting and after Pat's comments, Richard, Pat and I are available for any questions that you might have.

關於商業房地產貸款和 SBA，以及有關我們在紐約市的多戶型投資組合的一些非常有用的信息，我想你會發現所有這些都非常有趣，在 Pat 的評論之後，Richard、Pat 和我都可以回答您可能遇到的任何問題。

Let me start by looking at Page number one of the investor deck, that was uploaded yesterday. My opening comment and headline for the quarter, it was a great quarter on all cylinders, it was a great quarter, and I'm going to just highlight a few things about the quarter and perhaps a few other items about the year, because our fiscal year ended June 30, so it's a big quarter and also a year end for the quarter.

首先，我來看看昨天上傳的投資人簡報的第一頁。我對本季度的開場白和標題是，這是一個各方面都很棒的季度，這是一個很棒的季度，我將只強調關於本季度的幾個事情，也許還會強調關於本年度的其他一些事項，因為我們的財政年度於 6 月 30 日結束，所以這是一個重要的季度，也是本季度的年度結束。

First, net income was $25.2 million. Now, as indicated in the earnings release. If we exclude the quarter, in which we had a large sale of triple loans. This was a record $25.2 million excluding the kind of one time or two times it may have been during the year sale of this of [triple p] loans $25.2 million was a record.

首先，淨收入為2520萬美元。現在，正如收益報告所指出的。如果我們排除那個季度，我們有大量三重貸款的銷售。這是創紀錄的 2520 萬美元，不包括當年出售的一次或兩次（三重 p）貸款，2520 萬美元創下了紀錄。

It -- and something we're very proud of. If I take a look at the loan activity for the quarter. All originations and purchases total $362.6 million for the quarter and $2.1 billion for the fiscal year. The breakout of the loan volume for the quarter was $41.7 million invested in the purchase loan book on purchases of $44.4 million of UPB at a purchase price of 93.8%, that's 41.7 million.

這是——也是我們非常自豪的事。如果我看一下本季的貸款活動。本季所有發起和購買總額為 3.626 億美元，本財年為 21 億美元。本季貸款額為 4,170 萬美元，投資於購買貸款帳簿，購買了 4,440 萬美元的 UPB，購買價格為 93.8%，即 4,170 萬美元。

On the originated side, very substantially we had $216.6 million. The weighted average rate as of March 31 for the loan book was 7.99% or we can call that eight -- for the year we originated $807.9 million. On the SBA front, very strong, we originated $107.3 million for the quarter or $408.5 million for the year.

在起源方面，我們有 2.166 億美元。截至 3 月 31 日的貸款加權平均利率為 7.99%，或者我們可以稱之為 8——今年我們發放了 8.079 億美元的貸款。在 SBA 方面，我們表現非常強勁，本季我們籌集了 1.073 億美元，全年籌集了 4.085 億美元。

We sold $107.6 million for the quarter which you may be asking how that could be if we originated $107.3 million or a slightly smaller number and the answer to that is that some of the sales in the in Q4 related to loans that were originated in the preceding porter.

我們本季的銷售額為 1.076 億美元，您可能會問，如果我們發放的金額為 1.073 億美元或略少一些，那怎麼可能呢？答案是，第四季度的部分銷售額與前一季發放的貸款有關。

And the gain on the sale of those loans sold was $8.2 million. All in counting everything our net interest market. The margin was a very strong 5.1% and the return on our purchase loans was 8.76%. We did not issue any shares under the at the market offering. Which had availability at the end of June of $65.4 million and our loan capacity, something we pay a lot of attention to at the end of June was $1.1 million.

出售這些貸款的收益為 820 萬美元。總的來說，我們的淨利率市場化。利潤率高達 5.1%，購買貸款的回報率為 8.76%。我們沒有發行任何以市場發行的股票。截至 6 月底，其可用資金為 6,540 萬美元，而我們非常關注的貸款能力為 110 萬美元。

Earnings per share basic was $3.06 and fully diluted was $3. Return on equity was a strong 20.73%. Return on assets was a very strong 2.38%. And tangible book value per share at the end of June was $57.98 or [$58] of tangible book value per share with a little bit of rounding. I now want to just talk about a few slides which I hope that you will find interesting.

每股基本收益為 3.06 美元，每股攤薄收益為 3 美元。股本回報率高達20.73%。資產報酬率高達2.38%。6 月底每股有形帳面價值為 57.98 美元，略加四捨五入後為每股有形帳面價值 [58 美元]。我現在只想講幾張投影片，希望你們會有興趣。

First on the asset quality metrics. The allowance for credit losses over gross loans was 1.28% at the end of June, which is up slightly from March 31 at 1.23%. And up very substantially compared to two years ago at June 30, '23 when the allowance was point to 9%.

首先是資產品質指標。6 月底信貸損失準備金佔貸款總額的 1.28%，較 3 月 31 日的 1.23% 略有上升。與兩年前的 23 年 6 月 30 日相比，這一數字大幅上升，當時的津貼率為 9%。

On page 20 is a slide that shows our revenue for the quarter, our non-interest expense. And I would want to point out that total revenue included. Net interest income before provision and non-interest income so you can see in the group of bars at the far right in the quarter label Q4 FY25, the revenue for the quarter was $62.7 million. And again, if we look back at preceding quarters and carve out the gain from the sale of loans that was also a record revenue.

第 20 頁的投影片顯示了我們本季的收入和非利息支出。我想指出的是，其中包括總收入。扣除撥備和非利息收入前的淨利息收入，您可以在季度標籤 Q4 FY25 最右側的一組條形圖中看到，該季度的收入為 6270 萬美元。如果我們回顧前幾季度，並剔除貸款銷售收益，這也是一項創紀錄的收入。

And non-interest expense for the quarter was $21.5 million, which you can see on here is higher than in the preceding Q3, Q2, Q1 and Q4 of FY24. Reason for that is that in the quarter we had a true up of our compensation expense which had a which had a big impact. But we're still growing, prepack net interest income, which was $41.2 million. Why should be more specific total revenue as I've described minus.

本季的非利息支出為 2,150 萬美元，您可以看到，該支出高於 24 財年之前的第三季、第二季、第一季和第四季。原因在於本季我們的薪資支出增加，這產生了很大的影響。但我們仍在成長，預包裝淨利息收入為 4,120 萬美元。為什麼要更具體地說總收入正如我所描述的那樣減去。

Non-interest expenses $41.2 million and again excluding the quarter in which we had triple P was a record if we now go to slide 21. I want to point out that our NIM was 5.1%. Substantially higher than the preceding quarter and primarily due to the fact that we generated a fair amount of transactional incomes in the quarter, and if you look to the slot of the charts on the right you can see that our average loan balance for the June 30 quarter was [$3,767 billion] of comparing favourably with the lean quarter at [$3,650 billion].

非利息支出 4,120 萬美元（再次不包括我們擁有三重 P 的季度）如果我們現在轉到第 21 張幻燈片，這是一個記錄。我想指出的是，我們的淨利差為 5.1%。大幅高於上一季度，主要是因為我們在本季度產生了相當數量的交易收入，如果你看一下右側的圖表，你可以看到，6 月 30 日當季的平均貸款餘額為 [3,7670 億美元]，與去年同期相比有所改善。[36500億美元]。

If we go to slide 22, I just want to highlight that in the last bar we have $216 million of discount for the quarter ending June 30 of which $179.1 million is the interest rate mark, and $36 million is the credit mark. I will remind you that we don't really suffer there was historically have not suffered many dollars and, credit losses, in this portfolio.

如果我們轉到第 22 張投影片，我只想強調，在最後一條長條圖中，截至 6 月 30 日的季度我們有 2.16 億美元的折扣，其中 1.791 億美元是利率標記，3600 萬美元是信用標記。我要提醒你們，我們實際上並沒有遭受損失，從歷史上看，這個投資組合併沒有遭受太多的美元和信貸損失。

And on slide 25, we take a look at net income for the trailing five quarters. And you can see that at $25.2 million for the June 30 quarter we are substantially ahead of the proceeding or trailing five quarters and I think with that I will ask Pat to talk to you about our real estate our portfolio or SPA business. Okay.

在第 25 張投影片上，我們來看看過去五個季度的淨收入。您可以看到，6 月 30 日當季的營業額為 2520 萬美元，大大領先於前五個季度或過去五個季度，因此我想請 Pat 與您談談我們的房地產投資組合或 SPA 業務。好的。

Thanks Rick. It was a strong finish to the year. The loan portfolio grew by 36% overall with purchase loan growth at 40%, originated growth at 27%, and SBA growth over 200%. For purchases this quarter, we bought 14 loans in four transactions. That's brought purchase loan volume to $863 million for the year.

謝謝里克。這是今年的圓滿結束。貸款組合整體成長了 36%，其中購買貸款成長了 40%，發放貸款成長了 27%，SBA 成長了 200% 以上。本季度，我們透過四筆交易購買了 14 筆貸款。這使得今年的購屋貸款金額達到了 8.63 億美元。

There's a lot of purchase loan opportunities currently in the market, and we expect a lot more to come this year. There's also a lot more competition in the space, more capital, cheaper leverage, and with larger pools being the most competitive. Having said that, The purchase loan market is large and we will continue to look at every opportunity, be active but disciplined bidders and expect to win our share.

目前市面上有許多購屋貸款機會，我們預計今年還會有更多的購屋貸款機會。該領域的競爭也更加激烈，資本更多，槓桿更便宜，而且資金池越大，競爭越激烈。話雖如此，購買貸款市場規模很大，我們將繼續尋找每一個機會，積極但有紀律的競標者，並期望贏得我們的份額。

In our origination business, we closed 24 loans with an average balance of $9 million secured with a variety of collateral types and LTV is just over 50%. Like last quarter, most of these loans were in our lender finance product, which continues to show strong demand from non-bank lenders who are being squeezed on yield with all new capital entering the market and then more and more desiring of leverage.

在我們的貸款業務中，我們完成了 24 筆貸款，平均餘額為 900 萬美元，以多種抵押品類型擔保，LTV 略高於 50%。與上一季一樣，這些貸款大部分都屬於我們的貸款人融資產品，該產品繼續顯示出來自非銀行貸款人的強勁需求，隨著所有新資本進入市場，他們的收益率受到擠壓，並且越來越渴望槓桿。

We expect lender finance to continue dominating our origination business into next quarter as competition for direct opportunities continues to heat up. In the SBA business we originated $107 million of loans compared with $121 million in the quarter. On last quarter's call, we discussed that the SBA had tightened their eligibility requirements effective June 1, so the impact from those changes on volume this quarter is somewhat muted.

隨著直接機會競爭的持續升溫，我們預計貸款融資將在下個季度繼續主導我們的發起業務。在 SBA 業務中，我們發放了 1.07 億美元的貸款，而本季為 1.21 億美元。在上個季度的電話會議上，我們討論了 SBA 已從 6 月 1 日起收緊了其資格要求，因此這些變化對本季度交易量的影響比較小。

Recall that we anticipate a temporary dip in SBA lending volume over the next quarter or two due to a smaller strike zone at the top of the funnel and more required documentation and longer processing times for new loans. As we adjust to these changes, volume could dip as much as 50% this quarter.

回想一下，我們預計未來一兩個季度 SBA 貸款量將暫時下降，原因是漏斗頂部的打擊區較小，而且新貸款所需的文件更多且處理時間更長。隨著我們適應這些變化，本季的交易量可能會下降 50%。

Fortunately, the market for small business loans is enormous, and we remain very positive about this line of business and believe we will continue to be a national leader in small business lending. Finally, a quick note on asset quality. We've been watching the New York City mayoral race and are aware of its potential impact on rent controlled and rent stabilized multi-family properties.

幸運的是，小型企業貸款市場非常巨大，我們對這一業務領域仍然非常樂觀，並相信我們將繼續成為小型企業貸款領域的全國領導者。最後，簡要說明一下資產品質。我們一直在關注紐約市長競選，並意識到其對租金管制和租金穩定的多戶住宅的潛在影響。

So we thought we'd share some detail on our multi-family exposure in New York City. Referencing slide 11, we had 676 million of total multi-family exposure in New York City as of 6:30. Of that 378 million has no rent controls or rent stabilized units.

因此，我們想分享一些有關我們在紐約市的多戶型住宅投資的細節。參考投影片 11，截至 6:30，我們在紐約市的多戶型住宅總曝光量為 6.76 億美元。其中 3.78 億沒有租金管製或租金穩定單位。

We've divided the remaining $297 million into two buckets. First, $214 million where there is some exposure, but where we believe it to be very low risk given the collateral's ability to continue demonstrating strong debt service coverage even in the event of a rent freeze. And second, $44 million which excludes $39 million that paid off in early July, spread across seven loans where a rent freeze could impact that service coverage if in place for an extended period of time.

我們將剩餘的 2.97 億美元分成兩部分。首先，2.14 億美元存在一定風險，但我們認為風險非常低，因為即使在租金凍結的情況下，抵押品仍能繼續提供強大的債務償還能力。第二，4,400 萬美元（不包括 7 月初償還的 3,900 萬美元）分佈在七筆貸款中，如果長期凍結租金，可能會影響服務範圍。

It's our view that our focus on low LTVs will provide a significant buffer against any headwinds from this issue. We also believe New York City will remain one of the strongest multi-family markets in the country and provide a lot of opportunity for us going forward.

我們認為，對低 LTV 的關注將為抵禦該問題帶來的任何不利因素提供顯著的緩衝。我們也相信紐約市仍將是全國最強大的多戶型住宅市場之一，並為我們的未來發展提供大量機會。

Back to you right.

回到你右邊。

Thank you Pat. That was excellent. Now if there are any questions we would be happy to entertain them.

謝謝你，帕特。那太棒了。如果有任何問題，我們將非常樂意解答。

(Operator Instructions) Mark Fitzgibbon, Piper Sandler.

（操作員指示）Mark Fitzgibbon，Piper Sandler。

Hey guys, good afternoon.

大家好，下午好。

Hi Mark.

你好，馬克。

Just first, a couple of clarification questions, Pat, regarding your comments on the SBA, declining by potentially as much as 50% in the third quarter, when does that snap back, do you think? Is that a fourth quarter event or is it not until next year where you see SBA volumes come back, and you sort of adjust to the new process?

首先，帕特，關於您對 SBA 的評論，有幾個澄清問題，第三季可能下降高達 50%，您認為什麼時候會恢復？這是第四季發生的事件嗎？還是要等到明年，您才能看到 SBA 交易量回升，然後您才能適應新的流程？

It's hard to say exactly. I believe we will climb back both from in this particular product and we're also looking at adding new verticals to our stable, but there's a number of factors involved in the top of the funnel.

很難確切地說。我相信我們會從這個特定的產品中恢復過來，我們也在考慮為我們的穩定產品添加新的垂直產品，但漏斗頂部涉及許多因素。

First of all, the SBA has decreased the cap from $500,000 to $350, so that excludes a lot of borrowers right there. They also increased the minimum credit scores for borrowers, which excludes a lot of other borrowers, and they've added and there's been some deterioration of credit generally in certain sectors due to the tariffs and other economic factors. So that's going to require us to change the annuity to change the marketing efforts at the top of the funnel to be more surgical about attracting the right kinds of business.

首先，小型企業管理局已將上限從 50 萬美元降至 35 萬美元，因此許多藉款人被排除在外。他們還提高了借款人的最低信用評分，從而將許多其他借款人排除在外，而且由於關稅和其他經濟因素，某些行業的信用普遍有所惡化。因此，這將要求我們改變年金，改變漏斗頂端的行銷工作，以便更有針對性地吸引合適的業務。

Keep in mind that this market is enormous and so we have no doubt that we'll be able to do this. It's just a question of how quickly we can set this up. And then on the processing side, there's new collateral requirements and new capital requirements which requires a lot more documentation and information collection from borrowers and verification, and that's just going to take longer.

請記住，這個市場是巨大的，因此我們毫不懷疑我們能夠做到這一點。問題只是我們能多快完成這個設定。然後在處理方面，有新的抵押品要求和新的資本要求，這需要從借款人那裡收集更多的文件和資訊並進行驗證，而這將需要更長的時間。

So you've got some adjustment at the top of the funnel and then a longer processing period and it'll take some time before we catch up to that to that slowdown. So we want -- we don't want to overstate or understate what we'll be able to do. But again, this is an enormous market, and you know we're the same issue is affecting every other lender, we're pretty confident that we'll be able to navigate through it.

因此，您需要在漏斗頂部進行一些調整，然後需要更長的處理時間，我們需要一些時間才能趕上這種放緩。因此，我們不想誇大或低估我們能夠做的事情。但再說一次，這是一個巨大的市場，你知道同樣的問題也影響著其他所有貸款機構，我們非常有信心能夠解決這個問題。

Okay great and then secondly, I was curious if you could sort of size for the pool of loans, that you're looking at today for loan purchases. How does that maybe stack up versus this time last quarter?

好的，太好了，其次，我很好奇您是否可以對您今天考慮的用於貸款購買的貸款池的規模進行分類。與上個季度同期相比，情況如何？

Pretty good, there's a lot of activity out there, and we, well, while we purchased $41 million, we bid on a lot more than that in the June 30 quarter we saw a lot of action and we see. A lot of action now, which is a good sign because it's not, a lot of times the summer is a little slower, we know, we also see more competition now on some of the larger transactions that are out there from some of the bigger banks that are buying, these are big transactions I'm describing, they're buying and securitizing, in our, in the field we, mostly play in.

非常好，那裡有很多活動，雖然我們購買了 4100 萬美元，但我們在 6 月 30 日季度的出價遠不止於此，我們看到了很多行動，我們看到了。現在有很多行動，這是一個好兆頭，因為很多時候夏季會稍微慢一些，我們知道，我們現在也看到一些大型交易的競爭更加激烈，一些大型銀行正在購買，這些就是我所描述的大型交易，他們在我們主要涉足的領域進行購買和證券化。

You know there's a lot for us to look at and underwrite and bid and so we are optimistic about it you know I. Maybe a little bit before your time mark when Alex was at Piper Sandler, but for a lot of years our purchase volume was in the range of [$150 million to $2 million] and in fact our origination business was greater. What, no guarantee on this, I won't bore you by reading the forward-looking statement, but we're expecting kind of the base business, that I just described will continue and if we're able to buy a large transaction.

您知道，我們有很多事情要考慮、承保和投標，因此我們對此持樂觀態度。也許比 Alex 在 Piper Sandler 任職的時間早一點，但多年來，我們的購買量一直在 [1.5 億美元到 200 萬美元] 的範圍內，事實上，我們的發起業務更大。什麼，對此沒有任何保證，我不會透過閱讀前瞻性聲明讓您感到厭煩，但我們預計我剛才描述的那種基礎業務將會繼續下去，如果我們能夠購買一筆大額交易。

Sometimes referred to as a whale, then we'll, it'll look more like it did in the preceding years where in September of '24, we bought $700 million in December of '22, we bought a billion and so we will wait and see, but that's a long answer to your question, which is a lot of volume a lot of activity out there now.

有時被稱為鯨魚，那麼我們看起來會更像前幾年那樣，在 24 年 9 月，我們購買了 7 億美元，在 22 年 12 月，我們購買了 10 億美元，所以我們會拭目以待，但這對你的問題有一個很長的回答，那就是現在有很多交易量和很多活動。

Fair enough. And then Rick, you had mentioned there was some transactional income in the net interest margin this quarter. Could you, tell us how much that was, how much it impacted the margin?

很公平。然後里克，你提到本季淨利差中有一些交易收入。您能告訴我們這是多少嗎？對利潤有多大影響？

I can tell you that the -- I'm now looking at slide number 11, and you can see there was a originated loans there was a total of $494,000 of transactional income which is pretty high for the originated book. It stemmed from a loan we had made six or seven years ago, that had been a non accrual for quite a while and we got paid in full on that loan which generated a lot of interest income.

我可以告訴你——我現在正在看第 11 張投影片，你可以看到有一筆發放的貸款，交易收入總計 494,000 美元，對於發放的帳簿來說，這個數字相當高。它源自於我們六、七年前的一筆貸款，這筆貸款已經有很長一段時間沒有提列了，我們已經全額償還了這筆貸款，從而產生了大量利息收入。

Which we're categorizing as transactional.

我們將其歸類為交易性的。

So if we were to back most of that out of next quarter's numbers, we'd be in the ballpark for what you'd expect the margin to look like.

因此，如果我們將下個季度的數據中的大部分內容剔除，我們就會大致了解您預期的利潤率。

Yes, it well, that that was worth what I just described was worth 1.4%, on the return and so if that came out, it would be 8.5%. But I don't think it's the right way to think about it is going to zero because we always have some that just happened to be a loan that had been around for quite a while, and a shout out to our brilliant asset manager Chris Higgy, resolved that credit, really thoughtfully and creatively.

是的，嗯，我剛剛描述的那個值 1.4%，如果算出來的話，回報率將是 8.5%。但我不認為將其歸零是正確的思考方式，因為我們總是有一些恰好已經存在很長一段時間的貸款，並且向我們出色的資產經理克里斯·希吉 (Chris Higgy) 致謝，他非常周到且富有創意地解決了該貸款問題。

Okay, great. And then thank you for the information on page 11. It was really helpful. Just one question on those elevated loans, the $44 million, should we read into that that those are loans that are either classified or may sort of migrate to non-accrual or be potentially problematic or not necessarily?

好的，太好了。然後感謝您提供第 11 頁的資訊。這真的很有幫助。關於這些 4,400 萬美元的高額貸款，我只想問一個問題，我們是否應該將其解讀為這些貸款要么是被分類的，要么是可能轉為非應計貸款，要么是可能有問題，或者不一定有問題？

Not necessarily. There are loans that, given the -- they're in northern Manhattan, where rent increases have not kept up with expense increases and all the $2.5 million of those are performing and most of the $2.5 million is performing as a loan where it's really not a cash flow issue with the borrowers fighting with each other, but the -- you know. Right now these loans are cash flowing and there's not an issue.

未必。有些貸款是在曼哈頓北部，那裡的租金上漲跟不上費用的上漲，而這 250 萬美元中的大部分都是正常貸款，這實際上不是藉款人相互爭鬥的現金流問題，而是——你知道的。目前這些貸款都有現金流，沒有任何問題。

I was simply pointing out that if there turns out to be a rent freeze on rent control or rent stabilized units for more than for an extended period of time, these are properties that are vulnerable to compression on cash flow, and we're going to keep an eye on it. But right now, there's nothing no concern at all.

我只是指出，如果租金管製或租金穩定單位的租金凍結持續較長時間，這些房產的現金流就很容易受到壓縮，我們將密切關注。但目前，沒有什麼好擔心的。

Okay, and then just one last quick one on the effective tax rate going forward, does it, Richard -- does it kind of migrate back to sort of 36.5% on a go forward basis would you say?

好的，然後最後一個關於未來有效稅率的快速問題，理查德——您認為它是否會在未來回落至 36.5% 左右？

No, that's a good question.

不，這是個好問題。

So there's been a few moving parts on the effective tax rate, mainly about state taxes and there's there have been some changes in both California as well as Massachusetts. Massachusetts tax rate for us was favourable. The moving to one factor. And in California, the movement to one factor was, increased our tax rates. Those two were relatively offset. We think as it stands, 33% to 34% seems expected.

因此，有效稅率發生了一些變化，主要是州稅，加州和麻薩諸塞州都發生了一些變化。馬薩諸塞州的稅率對我們來說很優惠。轉向一個因素。在加州，其中一個因素就是提高了稅率。這兩者相對而言是錯開的。我們認為，就目前情況而言，33%至34%似乎是預期。

Great, thank you very much

太好了，非常感謝

Thank you, Mark. Thanks, Mark.

謝謝你，馬克。謝謝，馬克。

(Operator Instructions) Matt Rank, KBW.

（操作員指示）Matt Rank，KBW。

Hey guys, Matt Rak filling in for Damon DelMonte. Hope everybody's doing well today. Just as a follow up to the SBA income, I was just wondering in the next couple quarters, is there any offset on the expense side as volumes are lower or what you have to do on the back end with the new process is kind of outweigh any reduction in volume.

嘿，大家好，Matt Rak 代替 Damon DelMonte。希望大家今天都一切順利。作為對 SBA 收入的跟踪，我只是想知道在接下來的幾個季度中，由於交易量較低，費用方面是否會有任何抵消，或者您在新流程的後端所做的事情是否會超過交易量的減少。

I'm happy to take that. So, a fairly significant amount of the cost would be variable. In other words, if the income was to reduce, so would the cost, so the loan expense would fall if the volume in SBA were to fall. I think that's the short answer to your question.

我很高興接受這個。因此，相當大一部分成本是可變的。換句話說，如果收入減少，成本也會減少，因此如果 SBA 的交易量下降，貸款費用也會下降。我想這就是對你的問題的簡短回答。

We've obviously got some fixed cost that relates to the SBA business for example in in the payroll line and that clearly would not change.

顯然，我們有一些與 SBA 業務相關的固定成本，例如在薪資方面，這些成本顯然不會改變。

Okay great and then just to follow up I mean you guys are pretty efficiently run bank. I'm just kind of curious if you're investing in any new technologies whether it be automation or different types of processes that you see driving, additional efficiency gains over the coming years.

好的，太好了，然後只是想跟進一下，我的意思是你們的銀行經營得相當有效率。我只是有點好奇，您是否正在投資任何新技術，無論是自動化還是不同類型的流程，您認為這些技術將在未來幾年推動額外的效率提升。

We, it's a timely question we're going to be do that going to in the current year in a fairly major way.

這是一個及時的問題，我們將在今年以相當重要的方式來解決這個問題。

This is a follow up in a fairly major way does that it means you expect a big uptake in expenses, or do you think you'll be able to leverage it and know it'll kind of work itself out in the efficiency ratio.

這是一個相當重要的後續行動，這是否意味著您預計費用會大幅增加，或者您是否認為您將能夠利用它並知道它會在效率比率方面發揮作用。

I think our expenses will increase we just have made a very significant higher in the role of innovation -- chief or chief of innovation so that we're going to be able to take a look at workflow. AI in all areas of the bank. And we, I would expect that we'll have some more hires in that area as well as some investments in technology as we have a better handle on what that might be, we will cover that in a subsequent fall, not necessarily the next one, but we'll have a disclosure around that.

我認為我們的開支會增加，因為我們在創新方面做出了非常顯著的提升——首席或創新主管，這樣我們就能看看工作流程了。銀行各領域的人工智慧。而且，我預計我們會在該領域招募更多員工，並在技術方面進行一些投資，因為我們對未來有更好的把握，我們將在接下來的秋季涵蓋這一內容，不一定是下一個秋季，但我們會對此進行披露。

Okay great that's all for me thanks guys.

好的，太好了，謝謝大家。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Thank you, and I'm showing no further questions, so with that, I'll hand the call back over to CEO, Rick Wayne for any closing remarks.

謝謝，我沒有其他問題了，因此，我將把電話交還給首席執行官里克·韋恩 (Rick Wayne)，讓他做最後發言。

Thank you, Mark and Matt for your thoughtful questions, and others for dialling in and those that listen to the call on our website. After today, thank you as well. Look forward to talking again, and at our next meeting, which would be in October, towards the end of October, and on that note, I wish you all stay cool. We're in New York City today. It's very warm and wish you a nice week and a nice weekend that's when it approaches. Thank you very much operator, we're all set.

感謝馬克和馬特提出的深思熟慮的問題，也感謝其他人撥打電話以及在我們網站上收聽電話會議的人們。今天之後也謝謝你們。期待再次交談，並期待我們的下一次會議，會議將在十月，十月底舉行，就此而言，我希望大家保持冷靜。我們今天在紐約市。天氣很溫暖，祝您有個愉快的一周和一個即將到來的愉快的週末。非常感謝接線員，我們已經一切就緒。

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating. This does conclude today's program, and you may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，感謝你們的參與。今天的節目到此結束，大家可以斷開連結了。