OceanFirst Financial Corp. (OCFC) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is John, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the OceanFirst Financial Corp., first-quarter 2026 earnings call. (Operator Instructions)

早安。我叫 John，今天將擔任各位的電話會議接線員。此刻，我謹代表 OceanFirst Financial Corp.，歡迎各位參加 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。(接線員指示)

I will now turn the call over to Alfred Goon. Please go ahead.

我現在把電話交給 Alfred Goon。請開始。

Thanks, John. Good morning, and welcome to the OceanFirst first-quarter 2026 earnings call. I'm Alfred Goon, SVP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations.

謝謝你，John。早安，歡迎各位參加 OceanFirst 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。我是 Alfred Goon，企業發展與投資人關係資深副總裁。

Before we kick off the call, we'd like to remind everyone that our quarterly earnings release and related earnings supplement can be found on the company website, oceanfirst.com.

在我們開始之前，提醒各位，我們的季度財報新聞稿及相關財報補充資料可於公司網站 oceanfirst.com 查閱。

Our remarks today may contain forward-looking statements and may refer to non-GAAP financial measures. All participants should refer to our SEC filings for a complete discussion of forward-looking statements and associated risk factors.

我們今天的發言可能包含前瞻性陳述，並可能提及非 GAAP 財務衡量指標。所有與會者請參閱我們向 SEC 提交的文件，以取得前瞻性陳述及相關風險因素的完整討論。

Thank you. And now, I'll turn the call over to Christopher Maher, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

謝謝。接下來，我把電話交給董事長兼執行長 Christopher Maher。

Thank you, Alfred. Good morning, and thank you to all who have been able to join our first-quarter 2026 earnings conference call. This morning, I'm joined by our President, Joe Lebel; and our Chief Financial Officer, Pat Barrett. We appreciate your interest in our performance and this opportunity to discuss our results with you.

謝謝你，Alfred。早安，也感謝各位撥冗參加我們 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。今天早上與我一同出席的還有總裁 Joe Lebel，以及財務長 Pat Barrett。感謝各位對我們表現的關注，也謝謝這個機會讓我們與各位討論本季結果。

This morning, we will provide brief remarks about the financial and operating performance for the quarter and some color regarding the outlook for our business. We may refer to the slides filed in connection with the earnings release throughout the call. After our discussion, we look forward to taking your questions.

今天早上，我們將簡要說明本季的財務與營運表現，並就業務展望提供一些補充說明。在電話會議過程中，我們可能會引用隨同財報新聞稿一併提交的簡報。討論結束後，我們期待回答各位的提問。

We reported solid first quarter results, which included earnings per share of $0.36 on a fully diluted GAAP basis and $0.43 on a core basis. GAAP earnings per share increased $0.01 and core earnings per share increased $0.08, or 23% as compared to the prior year's quarter.

我們公布了穩健的第一季成果，包括完全稀釋後的 GAAP 每股盈餘為 0.36 美元，核心基礎每股盈餘為 0.43 美元。與去年同期相比，GAAP 每股盈餘增加 0.01 美元，核心每股盈餘增加 0.08 美元，或 23%。

In terms of performance indicators, we delivered our fifth consecutive quarter of net interest income growth, which increased by $1 million, or 1% as compared to the linked quarter, and was up $10 million, or 11% as compared to the prior year's quarter. This performance is driven by an increase in average net loans of $268 million and net interest margin expansion to 2.93%, supported by lower cost of funds and earning asset growth.

就績效指標而言，我們連續第五季實現淨利息收入成長；相較上一季（連結季度）增加 100 萬美元或 1%，相較去年同期增加 1,000 萬美元或 11%。此表現主要受平均淨放款增加 2.68 億美元，以及淨利差擴大至 2.93% 所帶動；較低的資金成本與生息資產成長亦提供支撐。

Total loans for the quarter increased by $92 million, representing a 3% annualized growth rate, driven by $429 million in originations. Joe will have more to add regarding our growth strategy in a few minutes, but we are encouraged by the continued organic growth momentum from the second half of last year.

本季總放款增加 9,200 萬美元，折合年化成長率為 3%，主要由 4.29 億美元的放款承作所帶動。Joe 稍後將就我們的成長策略補充更多內容，但我們對去年下半年以來持續的內生成長動能感到鼓舞。

Asset quality remained exceptional as total loans classified as special mention and substandard were 1.5% of total loans, below our 10-year average of 1.8% and within the top decile of our peer group. The quarterly provision was primarily driven by loan growth and an increase in criticized and classified loans, partly offset by lower unfunded commitments.

資產品質仍維持卓越水準；被歸類為「特別關注」與「次級」的放款合計占總放款 1.5%，低於我們 10 年平均的 1.8%，並位居同業群前 10%。本季提存主要由放款成長以及受關注與分類放款增加所驅動，部分被較低的未動用承諾所抵銷。

GAAP operating expenses for the quarter were $73 million, which includes $4 million of merger-related expenses. On a core basis, operating expenses of $69 million declined by $2.1 million or 3% from the linked quarter, primarily driven by the impact of our strategic initiative to outsource the residential lending platform and disciplined expense management across the company.

本季 GAAP 營業費用為 7,300 萬美元，其中包含 400 萬美元的併購相關費用。以核心基礎計算，營業費用為 6,900 萬美元，較上一季下降 210 萬美元或 3%，主要受我們將住宅放款平台外包的策略性計畫影響，以及全公司嚴謹的費用管理所帶動。

Looking forward, we've worked diligently to restructure our core IT infrastructure and position the bank to benefit from the deployment of artificial intelligence across all departments. We've invested in AI through existing vendor relationships and have started to see the efficiency benefits in legacy bank processes while looking to further enhance our capabilities. We see significant opportunities to-date and these efforts will enable our ability to improve operating leverage, building further scalability as the bank grows.

展望未來，我們已努力重整核心 IT 基礎架構，並讓銀行能夠受益於在各部門部署人工智慧。我們透過既有供應商合作關係投資 AI，並已開始在傳統銀行流程中看到效率效益，同時也將進一步強化我們的能力。截至目前我們看到顯著機會，這些努力將提升我們改善營運槓桿的能力，並在銀行成長之際建立更高的可擴展性。

Pat will provide additional commentary on our financial outlook in a moment. Capital levels remain strong with an estimated common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 10.7% and tangible book value per share increasing to $19.86.

Pat 稍後將就我們的財務展望提供更多評論。資本水準仍然強勁，估計普通股權益第一類資本比率（CET1）為 10.7%，每股有形帳面價值提升至 19.86 美元。

During the quarter, we also repurchased a modest number of shares, solely related to the vesting of employee equity awards. We did not repurchase any shares under the Board-approved authorization. As previously announced, the quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per common share was declared, marking the company's 117th consecutive quarterly cash dividend.

本季我們也回購了少量股份，僅與員工股權獎酬歸屬（vesting）相關。我們未在董事會核准的授權額度下進行任何股份回購。如先前所宣布，每股普通股 0.20 美元的季度現金股利已宣告發放，這也是公司連續第 117 次季度現金股利。

Finally, on December 29, 2025, we announced our merger agreement with Flushing Financial Corporation and an investment agreement with Warburg Pincus. To date, both companies have received shareholder approval.

最後，於 2025 年 12 月 29 日，我們宣布與 Flushing Financial Corporation 的合併協議，以及與 Warburg Pincus 的投資協議。截至目前，兩家公司均已取得股東核准。

In addition, we have received regulatory approvals from the state of New York Department of Financial Services and from the OCC. Approval from the Federal Reserve remains the final outstanding regulatory requirement to complete the merger. We continue to work towards an expected closing in the second quarter of 2026 and a full systems integration and rebranding in the third quarter of 2026.

此外，我們已取得紐約州金融服務署（New York Department of Financial Services）以及美國貨幣監理署（OCC）的監理核准。聯邦準備理事會（Federal Reserve）的核准仍是完成合併前最後尚待取得的監理要求。我們持續朝 2026 年第二季預期完成交割邁進，並預計於 2026 年第三季完成全系統整合與品牌重塑。

Importantly, we have made arrangements to accommodate branch transactions for all customers in all branches effective in our first day of operation. We've undertaken that work as we believe that the additional Flushing branches will provide an immediate and meaningful competitive advantage.

重要的是，我們已安排自營運首日起，讓所有客戶可在所有分行辦理分行交易。我們之所以進行這項工作，是因為我們相信新增的 Flushing 分行將立即帶來實質且有意義的競爭優勢。

We plan to provide a detailed financial update on the Flushing merger in connection with our second quarter earnings, which will include a discussion on the pro forma balance sheet and other projections from our latest view of the merger model. In the meantime, we remain focused on executing our organic growth strategy, which is clearly reflected in our results of this quarter.

我們計畫在第二季財報發布時，提供關於 Flushing 合併案的詳細財務更新，內容將包括依我們最新合併模型觀點所編製的備考資產負債表及其他預測。在此同時，我們仍專注於執行內生成長策略，而這在本季結果中已清楚反映。

At this point, I'll turn the call over to Joe for additional color on these business.

接下來，我把電話交給 Joe，請他就這些業務提供更多補充說明。

Thanks, Chris. I'll start with loan originations for the quarter, which totaled $429 million and resulted in quarterly loan growth of $92 million, which was in line with our expectations given typical first-quarter seasonality and a handful of customer-accelerated closings at the end of Q4.

謝謝你，Chris。我先從本季放款承作談起，總額為 4.29 億美元，帶動本季放款成長 9,200 萬美元；考量第一季典型的季節性因素，以及少數客戶在第四季末加速完成結案，這與我們的預期一致。

Our C&I business grew 19% on an annualized basis from the linked quarter, with closed loan volume in C&I and commercial real estate up 81% year over year, reflecting continued momentum from our recruitment of talent added in 2024 and 2025. We added another three C&I bankers in Q1 2026 with plans for more in the coming quarters.

我們的工商金融（C&I）業務相較上一季以年化計算成長 19%；C&I 與商用不動產的結案放款量年增 81%，反映我們在 2024 與 2025 年招募新增人才所帶來的持續動能。我們在 2026 年第一季又新增 3 位 C&I 銀行業務人員，並計畫在接下來幾季持續增聘。

Total deposits grew by $192 million or 2% in the quarter. Excluding broker deposits, deposits increased $314 million, driven by broad-based organic growth across our core business lines and institutional deposits.

本季總存款增加 1.92 億美元或 2%。若排除經紀存款，存款增加 3.14 億美元，主要由核心業務線與機構存款的廣泛內生成長所帶動。

The Premier Bank deposits grew $9 million, or 3% from the linked quarter. The team has brought in over 1,500 new accounts across 400 relationships since the May 2025 inception, with approximately 20% representing noninterest-bearing accounts. As an added benefit, the teams contributed $21 million in loan originations for the quarter, and the loan pipeline in Premier stands at $40 million.

Premier Bank 存款較上一季增加 900 萬美元，或 3%。自 2025 年 5 月成立以來，團隊已在 400 個往來關係中帶來超過 1,500 個新帳戶，其中約 20% 為不計息帳戶。此外，團隊本季也貢獻了 2,100 萬美元的放款承作，而 Premier 的放款管線目前為 4,000 萬美元。

Customer engagement and calling activity has been significant and the addition of the Flushing branch footprint will provide a meaningful tailwind moving forward. We remain confident in our 2026 Premier deposit targets and have recently added two new Premier teams located in Manhattan and Long Island, with a few more on the horizon.

客戶互動與外撥聯繫活動一直相當顯著，而新增的法拉盛（Flushing）分行據點將在未來提供有意義的順風助力。我們仍對 2026 年 Premier 存款目標充滿信心，且近期已新增兩支位於曼哈頓與長島的 Premier 團隊，未來還會再增設幾支。

Lastly, noninterest income decreased by $2.7 million to $7 million during the quarter, primarily driven by a lower gain on sale of loans of $779,000 relating to the Q4 2025 outsourcing of our residential platform.

最後，本季非利息收入減少 270 萬美元至 700 萬美元，主要是因為貸款出售收益較低，減少了 77.9 萬美元，與我們在 2025 年第四季將住宅平台外包相關。

Additionally, we saw some reductions in commercial loan swap income due to lower swap origination volume for the quarter. That should improve through the year as seasonal origination volumes increase. Overall, noninterest income levels were in line with our expectations and as guided in the previous quarter.

此外，由於本季換匯（swap）承作量較低，我們也看到商業貸款換匯收入有所下降。隨著季節性承作量增加，這應會在今年逐步改善。整體而言，非利息收入水準符合我們的預期，也與上一季所提供的指引一致。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Pat to review the remaining areas.

接下來，我把電話交給 Pat，請他說明其餘部分。

Thanks, Joe. As Chris noted, net interest income increased and margin expanded in line with our previous guidance.

謝謝，Joe。如 Chris 所提，淨利息收入增加、利差擴大，均符合我們先前的指引。

Compared to the previous year's quarter, net interest income grew $10 million, or 11%, attributed to the tremendous loan growth in the latter half of 2025. Pretax pre-provision core earnings grew 4%, or $1.2 million from the prior quarter, driven by earning asset growth during the quarter and in the second half of 2025.

與去年同期相比，淨利息收入增加 1,000 萬美元，或 11%，主要歸因於 2025 年下半年強勁的貸款成長。稅前、提存前的核心盈餘較前一季成長 4%，或增加 120 萬美元，係由本季及 2025 年下半年生息資產成長所帶動。

Loan yields decreased modestly, reflecting both lower rates and continued mix shift within the portfolio. Total deposit costs decreased 16 basis points (sic - see press release, "9 basis points"), driven by disciplined pricing across our relationship base and reflecting the positive impact of the Fed's rate cuts in late 2025.

貸款收益率小幅下降，反映利率走低以及投資組合內部持續的結構（mix）轉移。總存款成本下降 16 個基點（原文如此——請參閱新聞稿，「9 個基點」），係因我們在關係客群上採取嚴謹的定價策略，並反映聯準會於 2025 年底降息的正面影響。

Looking ahead, we expect positive expansion in net interest income in line with our loan growth and a stable to modest increase in margin over the next quarters. As Chris mentioned, asset quality remained very strong with nonperforming loans to total loans and nonperforming assets to total assets, both at 0.31%.

展望未來，我們預期淨利息收入將隨貸款成長而正向擴張，且未來幾季利差將維持穩定至小幅上升。如 Chris 所提，資產品質仍非常強勁，不良貸款占總貸款比率及不良資產占總資產比率皆為 0.31%。

Criticized and classified loans increased during the quarter, driven by one large commercial relationship that remains current and well collateralized. Even including this increase, asset quality continues to remain at the low end of historical levels for criticized and classified loans. And lastly, net charge-offs were de minimis, representing only 3 basis points of average total loans on an annualized basis.

本季受評級為「受批評」與「分類」的貸款增加，主要由一筆大型商業往來關係所致；該筆仍正常繳息且擔保充足。即便納入這項增加，受批評與分類貸款的資產品質仍處於歷史低檔區間。最後，淨沖銷金額可忽略不計，年化後僅相當於平均總貸款的 3 個基點。

Turning to expenses. Core noninterest expense decreased from $71 million to $69 million, driven by our initiative to outsource the residential business. Noncore items in the first quarter were almost entirely Flushing merger-related costs. Looking ahead, we expect our second quarter core operating expense run rate to remain in the range of $70 million to $71 million. Capital levels remain strong with our estimated CET1 ratio of 10.7%.

接著談費用。核心非利息費用由 7,100 萬美元降至 6,900 萬美元，主要受我們將住宅業務外包的措施所帶動。第一季的非核心項目幾乎全部為法拉盛併購相關成本。展望未來，我們預期第二季核心營運費用的常態化水準將維持在 7,000 萬至 7,100 萬美元區間。資本水準仍然強勁，我們估計 CET1 比率為 10.7%。

A word on taxes. We expect our effective tax rate, which was 24% in the first quarter, to remain in the 23% to 25% range, absent any tax policy changes. This will change with the impact of the Flushing acquisition, and we'll update you accordingly once the transaction closes.

補充一下稅務。在沒有任何稅制政策變動的情況下，我們預期有效稅率（第一季為 24%）將維持在 23% 至 25% 的區間。法拉盛收購案的影響將使此情況改變，交易完成後我們會再向各位更新。

There are no changes to our full-year guidance as stated in the previous quarter, although we have removed the modest impact of further Fed rate cuts from our outlook.

我們對先前一季所述的全年指引沒有變動，但已將進一步聯準會降息的些微影響自展望中移除。

To recap, our guidance is for mid- to high-single-digit loan and deposit growth; NIM growing past 3% in the back half of the year; other income ranging from $7 million to $9 million per quarter; and expenses stable at $70 million to $71 million per quarter.

總結而言，我們的指引為：貸款與存款成長為中至高個位數；NIM 在下半年提升至 3% 以上；其他收入每季介於 700 萬至 900 萬美元；費用每季穩定在 7,000 萬至 7,100 萬美元。

Note that these are stand-alone expectations and do not reflect the impact of the Flushing acquisition. We've also added our second-quarter outlook for your convenience.

請注意，以上為單體（stand-alone）預期，未反映法拉盛收購案的影響。我們也為方便各位，補充了第二季展望。

At this point, we'll begin the question-and-answer portion of the call.

接下來，我們將進入問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Daniel Tamayo, Raymond James.

(接線員指示) Daniel Tamayo，Raymond James。

Thank you. Good morning, guys. Maybe starting first on the deposit side, nice quarter of growth for you, guys, had some positive mix shift. It sounds like the Premier folks are making an impact there. Maybe just some detail on -- you touched on -- in the prepared remarks a little bit, but how sustainable you think this is if there's any seasonality in the first quarter numbers if you're able to maintain the mix shift that you've had? Any color on the deposit side would be great. Thanks.

謝謝。各位早安。也許先從存款端開始，你們這一季成長不錯，也看到一些正向的結構（mix）轉移。聽起來 Premier 團隊在這方面確實帶來影響。能否再多談一些細節——你們在事先準備的講稿中有稍微提到——你們認為這樣的趨勢有多可持續？第一季數字是否有任何季節性？以及你們是否能維持目前的結構轉移？若能就存款端提供一些補充說明會很有幫助。謝謝。

Dan, I think you see some seasonality -- it's not uncommon for us in our space to see some given where our geography is. And quite frankly, I think that Premier guys' momentum, we're going to see more in Q2 and Q3. We're still pretty bullish there. It's a little bit slow start to the year for them, but it was more than made up for in other areas of the company. So we're pretty happy with the trajectory. More work to do, but overall, I think we're generally optimistic.

Dan，我認為你確實會看到一些季節性——以我們所處的市場而言，考量我們的地理分布，出現一些季節性並不罕見。坦白說，我們預期 Premier 團隊的動能會在第二季與第三季更明顯。我們對此仍相當樂觀。他們今年開局稍慢一些，但公司其他領域的表現已充分彌補。所以我們對目前的走勢相當滿意。還有更多工作要做，但整體而言，我們大致上是樂觀的。

Okay. And the reiteration of the net interest income guide, despite pulling the cuts out, is that -- and correct me if I'm wrong, but I guess the read there that competition is increasing and impacting loan spreads, or is it something else?

了解。另外，儘管把降息因素拿掉，你們仍重申淨利息收入指引；這是否——如果我理解沒錯——代表競爭正在加劇並影響貸款利差？還是有其他原因？

Yeah. I would say, yes, competition is pretty intense. You see that in our loan yields stable versus expanding. So any benefit from maturities and rollovers is being competed away for new originations and, of course, the yield curve is playing a little bit ahead with repricing.

是的。我會說，沒錯，競爭相當激烈。你可以從我們的貸款收益率維持穩定、而非擴張看出來。因此，到期與展期（rollover）帶來的任何好處，都在新承作時被競爭壓縮掉了；當然，殖利率曲線也在重定價上稍微領先。

But we've been positioned relatively neutral for several quarters on interest rates and the impact of the Fed cuts is less of a thing that rolls through our balance sheet than it is a reason that gives us the ability to cut or reduce deposit costs. So -- and it's about a quarter lag on seeing the benefit of that when we do it.

但我們在利率與聯準會降息影響方面，已連續幾季維持相對中性的部位；聯準會降息對我們資產負債表的傳導影響相對較小，反而更像是一個讓我們有能力下調或降低存款成本的理由。而當我們這麼做時，通常約有一季的落後期才會看到效益。

So we saw a nice benefit from the Fed rate cuts in September, November, December, rolling through this quarter. We had only modeled, I think, a September rate cut and a December rate cut previously. So when we take that out, because we tend to track with consensus where the market views and predicts rates to be, it was less than $0.5 million of impact on the year. It's a little bit more on an annualized basis for next year, but pretty much de minimis for this year.

因此，我們在本季看到 9 月、11 月、12 月的聯準會降息帶來不錯的效益並逐步反映出來。先前我們的模型大概只納入 9 月與 12 月各一次降息。所以當我們把這部分拿掉時，因為我們通常會跟隨市場共識（即市場對利率的看法與預測），對全年影響不到 50 萬美元。以明年年化來看影響會稍大一些，但對今年基本上可忽略不計。

Got it. Okay. Thanks for the color, Pat. And then maybe one for you, Chris. Just on the portfolio sale for Flushing. Any update there on potential size, timing, anything you can give us in terms of where you stand with that now.

了解。好的。謝謝你的補充說明，Pat。接著想問 Chris 一題。關於法拉盛的投資組合出售。目前在可能的規模、時程等方面有沒有任何更新？你能否分享一下目前進度？

Yeah. So the only thing I can tell you is that when we work through legal day one and have all those answers, we'll promptly share them out with folks. There's nothing that's changed our outlook since either the last time that we spoke. The merger model is holding up. So there's really no deviation in terms of March earn backs, anything like that.

好的。我唯一能說的是，等我們完成法律交割日（day one）的相關作業並取得所有答案後，我們會立即對外分享。自上次我們溝通以來，沒有任何事情改變我們的展望。併購模型仍然站得住腳。因此在 3 月的回收（earn backs）等方面，並沒有任何偏離或變動。

So I think we're pretty much on track to where we thought we would be. But I leave the details around the balance sheet restructure for legal day one, and we'll talk to you then. And I would note that certainly, there are some loan segments we're looking at. But it even goes deeper than that. We're looking at hedges and liability structures and securities portfolio.

所以我認為我們基本上正按我們原先預期的方向推進。但關於資產負債表重整的細節，我會留到法律上的第一天再談，到時候我們再跟各位說明。我也要指出，當然，我們正在檢視一些貸款分項。但其實不只如此。我們也在檢視避險、負債結構以及證券投資組合。

So it's an all-encompassing review to make sure we have the right balance sheet coming together as a combined company. So there's a lot of different things we would tick and tie, but we will report them out to you guys promptly.

所以這是一個全方位的檢視，以確保作為合併後公司，我們能整合出正確的資產負債表。因此有很多不同的事項需要我們逐一核對與勾稽，但我們會及時向各位回報。

But our views haven't changed and the merger model is on track, no reason to have any concern about either marks or earn back periods at this point.

但我們的看法沒有改變，併購模型也按計畫進行；就目前而言，無論是評價調整（marks）或回收期（earn back periods），都沒有任何需要擔心的理由。

All right. I appreciate it. Thanks, guys. I'll step back.

好的。感謝。謝謝各位。我先退下。

Tim Switzer, KBW.

KBW 的 Tim Switzer。

Hey. Good morning. Thanks for taking the question.

嗨。各位早安。謝謝讓我提問。

Good morning, Tim.

早安，Tim。

So you guys mentioned you've hired a few C&I bankers already, two other Premier Bank teams, and looking to maybe do a little bit more hiring, like any goals in terms of how many bankers you'd like to add? And how should we think about this impacting the expense outlook?

所以你們提到已經聘了幾位 C&I 銀行家、另外兩個 Premier Bank 團隊，並且可能還會再多招一些人；在想新增的銀行家人數方面，有沒有什麼目標？另外，我們應該如何看待這對費用展望的影響？

Tim, the way I think about it is we're really bullish on the opportunity to be building out our franchise in New York. We think there's so much opportunity there that the more qualified bankers we can bring on, the better. So I think that as we see that opportunity, it's getting us interested in adding a few more bankers.

Tim，我的看法是，我們非常看好在紐約擴建我們特許經營版圖的機會。我們認為那裡的機會非常多，因此能引進越多合格的銀行家越好。所以當我們看到這些機會時，也會讓我們更有興趣再多增聘幾位銀行家。

But Joe, you might talk a little bit about the work you're doing now, and this is key hiring season. So why don't you take it from there?

不過 Joe，你可以談談你目前在做的工作；而且現在正是關鍵的招募季。所以就交給你接著說吧？

Yeah, Tim, there's a lot of irons in the fire. I'm a big believer that you hire talent when talent is available to you. So we were fortunate to get a couple of folks just ahead of the hiring season. We're in the thick of it today. I think you'll see more from us in the coming quarters.

好的，Tim，目前同時在推進的事情很多。我一直相信，有人才可用時就應該把人才招進來。所以我們很幸運在招募季開始前就先延攬到幾位同仁。而現在我們正處於招募旺季的核心階段。我想你會在接下來幾個季度看到我們有更多動作。

But we're pretty bullish. A lot of that talent is going to come in the C&I section of the bank, which I think is where you're going to see the vast majority of the loan growth as we diversify the mix over time. But there's good talent to be held -- or had across the geographies that we're in.

但我們相當樂觀。其中很多人才會進入本行的 C&I（商業與工業）部門；我認為隨著我們逐步分散組合，未來絕大多數的放款成長會來自這裡。不過在我們所涵蓋的各個地理區域，也都有不錯的人才可以延攬——或說可以爭取到。

I'd also note -- and we mentioned this in the prepared remarks, that we've made a lot of progress on a few things that relate to the infrastructure costs around the company. So we did guide on stand-alone expenses, and those reflect us being able to add a significant amount of talent but not have expenses go up. So we're seeing material decreases in some of the operations areas, which is helping us fund the new folks that we're bringing on board.

我也要補充——我們在事先準備的講稿中提到——我們在幾個與公司基礎設施成本相關的事項上已取得很大進展。因此我們也提供了獨立公司（stand-alone）的費用指引；該指引反映出我們即使能新增相當多的人才，費用也不必上升。我們在部分營運領域看到顯著的成本下降，這有助於我們為新加入的同仁提供資金來源。

So I think we're going to have a brisk hiring season and we're going to be able to comply with the expense guidance that we put out earlier. So don't look for expenses to move up if we were able to hire several more high-quality bankers. We've got room to do that.

所以我認為我們會有一個節奏很快的招募季，同時也能符合我們先前提出的費用指引。因此，即便我們再聘用幾位高品質的銀行家，也不要預期費用會上升。我們有空間可以這麼做。

But don't be surprised if you see comp expenses go up and data processing expenses go down and the net would be a push.

但如果你看到薪酬費用上升、資料處理費用下降，而淨額大致持平，也不用太意外。

Got it. Good to hear. And you touched on this in your comments earlier, but there was some slight credit migration across some of the more forward-looking metrics, nothing crazy and all from like low levels, but just to check the box. Is there anything systemic in there or concentrations in certain sectors?

了解。很高興聽到。另外你們先前的評論也提到，在一些較前瞻的指標上，信用狀況有些微遷移，幅度不大、而且都是從很低的水準起來；但我還是確認一下。裡面是否有任何系統性因素，或集中在特定產業？

No, it was really just -- it was a single customer who had a weak year last year. So you look at your risk ratings on that basis. So at this point, it looks like that they've got runway to recover and migrate back out of that over a foreseeable time period. But we were watching closely, but it was only one credit, and it was not something that had a pattern or anything that we would be concerned about bleeding from there.

沒有，真的只是——單一客戶去年表現較弱。所以你會基於這個情況去看它的風險評等。就目前來看，他們似乎有足夠的緩衝與時間來復原，並在可預見的期間內把狀況改善、回到原本的水準。我們會密切觀察，但只有這一筆授信，並沒有任何模式或會讓我們擔心會從那裡擴散的情況。

Okay. Great. And one last quick one for me. Like the timing of close for the merger, should we be thinking like end of Q2?

好的。了解。我最後一個簡短問題。關於併購完成（close）的時間點，我們是否應該以第二季末來思考？

So we're going to close pretty promptly after we received the final regulatory approval, but we've got to respect their process and understand where they are. There is a -- typically, you're not really able to close for about 15 days after you receive the final Fed approval. So we would be hopeful that we're doing it earlier in the quarter, but who knows. And we've got to just respect that process and see how things fall out.

我們會在收到最終監管核准後相當迅速地完成交割，但我們必須尊重他們的流程並理解他們目前的進度。一般來說，在收到聯準會（Fed）最終核准後，大約 15 天內通常無法完成交割。所以我們希望能在該季度較早的時間完成，但誰也說不準。我們只能尊重流程，看看最後會如何發展。

Yeah. Okay. Totally understand. Thank you.

是的。好的。完全理解。謝謝。

David Bishop, Hovde Group.

Hovde Group 的 David Bishop。

Hey. Good morning, gentlemen.

嗨。各位早安，先生們。

Good morning, David.

早安，David。

Hey, Chris, Joe, I'm just curious as you get to know the legacy Flushing franchise and their customer and deposit base. Any update on your assumptions in terms of your ability to go in there and maybe reprice and resystemize, remap some of their deposit products and realize some of the maybe deposit cost saves you guys may have contemplated on first pass?

嗨，Chris、Joe，我只是好奇，隨著你們逐步了解原 Flushing 的特許經營與其客戶及存款基礎，你們對於能否進去重新定價、重新系統化、重新映射他們的一些存款產品，並實現你們初步評估時所設想的部分存款成本節省，有沒有任何假設上的更新？

Yeah. I think there's opportunity, Dave, in a lot of different ways. First, we've been very pleased as we've -- you can do all your work in diligence, but as you start working face-to-face with people in broad numbers and get to know them better, we've got hundreds of people with OceanFirst and Flushing working together and preparing for not just the closing but the integration and how we're going to run the business together and really enjoyed that opportunity, a lot of good talent there.

是的。Dave，我認為在很多不同面向都有機會。首先，我們一直很滿意——你在盡職調查時可以做很多工作，但當你開始與大量人員面對面合作、並更深入了解彼此時——目前 OceanFirst 與 Flushing 已有數百位同仁一起合作，為不只是交割、也包括整合以及未來如何共同營運業務做準備；我們很享受這個機會，那裡也有很多優秀人才。

Particularly, call out, we think the branch folks are fantastic. We're working through a process of integrating the commercial bankers as well.

特別要點名的是，我們認為分行端的同仁非常出色。我們也正在推進商業銀行家團隊的整合流程。

I think in terms of deposit pricing, I think that some of that will be a little bit market-driven. We've got to just understand where the market comes. The yield curve bouncing around the last few weeks is at least raised the question in our mind about how much you could reprice. But the model was not especially dependent upon that. So I think we have an opportunity.

至於存款定價，我認為其中一部分會比較受市場驅動。我們必須了解市場會走到哪裡。過去幾週殖利率曲線的波動，至少讓我們開始思考到底能重新定價到什麼程度。但我們的模型並不特別依賴這一點。所以我認為我們是有機會的。

And look, we're looking at the whole balance sheet because if we have an opportunity to restructure the balance sheet. We may be able to be less dependent on certain sources of funding. That could give us some options as well.

而且你看，我們正在檢視整張資產負債表，因為如果我們有機會重整資產負債表，我們可能就能降低對某些資金來源的依賴。這也可能給我們一些選項。

So we still feel good about it, but we're also watching the broader world and where short-term rates are and what that policy becomes because that will probably make a little bit of a difference over the next couple of quarters. So as Pat pointed out, it's not going to make a big difference in our full-year earnings or the NIM, but around the margins to go better.

所以我們對此仍然感覺良好，但我們也在關注更廣泛的外部環境、短期利率目前的位置，以及相關政策將如何演變，因為這在未來幾個季度可能會帶來些許差異。因此，正如 Pat 所指出的，這不會對我們全年盈餘或淨利差（NIM）造成重大影響，但在邊際上可能會有所改善。

Got it. And then maybe one follow-up question. Obviously, the focus with the merger, obviously, in the New York Metro area, but a lot of disruption from integration from M&A down in the greater Baltimore, D.C. region. Still looking to potentially add talent down in this Metro area as well as Boston. Thanks.

了解。然後也許再追問一個問題。顯然，這次合併的重點是在紐約都會區，但在大巴爾的摩、華盛頓特區一帶，併購整合帶來了不少動盪。你們是否仍在考慮在這個都會區以及波士頓增聘人才？謝謝。

Absolutely. I was just down with that team a couple of weeks ago, and we think there's a great opportunity there. But Joe, maybe you can walk through that a little more.

當然。我幾週前才剛和那個團隊在當地一起工作，我們認為那裡有很好的機會。不過 Joe，也許你可以再多說一些。

Yeah, Dave, we have almost a dozen folks down there now. We've continued to build that team out in the last 18 months, and remain out there looking for more. I think we're still just scratching the surface of our opportunities down there.

是的，Dave，我們現在在那邊已經有將近一打的人員。過去 18 個月我們持續擴編那個團隊，也仍在當地尋找更多人選。我認為我們在那邊的機會其實才剛開始挖掘而已。

I think one of the things we're seeing, Dave, is the advent of technology. There are a lot of smaller technology players that are working in the mission-critical government space, everything from defense to cybersecurity, and all that.

Dave，我認為我們看到的一件事是科技的興起。有很多較小型的科技業者在關鍵任務的政府領域運作，涵蓋從國防到資安等各方面。

And because they're smaller companies, they have -- it really particularly suits our banking model, where the relationship matters a great deal, where they're looking to align themselves with the bank over the long term in a bank that can grow with them because they may be small today, but have aspirations to grow very quickly.

而因為他們是較小的公司，這——其實特別符合我們的銀行模式：關係非常重要；他們希望與銀行建立長期合作，並選擇一家能與他們一起成長的銀行，因為他們今天可能規模不大，但有志於非常快速地成長。

So really enjoyed meeting and working with a lot of those clients, and we think we can grow that pretty nicely in the coming years.

所以我很享受與許多這類客戶見面並合作，我們也認為未來幾年可以把這塊業務相當不錯地做大。

Great. I appreciate the color.

很好。感謝你提供的補充說明。

All right. Thanks, Dave.

好。謝謝你，Dave。

Christopher Marinac, Brean Capital Research.

接下來是 Christopher Marinac，Brean Capital Research。

Thanks. Good morning. Wanted to ask a little bit about the non-New York geography and new C&I business that you're just doing an Philadelphia and Boston and the D.C. corridor and how that -- those markets can complement what you're building out with Flushing and the combined OceanFirst footprint?

謝謝。早安。我想請教一下關於非紐約地區的布局，以及你們在費城、波士頓與華盛頓特區走廊正在拓展的新 C&I（商業與工業）業務；以及這些市場如何與你們在 Flushing 以及合併後 OceanFirst 版圖所打造的布局相互補強？

Chris, I'll start with Boston, just to give you a little bit of flavor, the three C&I hires this year were in the Boston footprint. We're pretty happy with that addition. That team is now eight folks or so. I mentioned earlier, were almost a dozen down in the D.C. Baltimore metro. Philly has always been a constant performer to a book that's north of $2 billion today. So we're really bullish on all three markets, continuing to add people in those segments.

Chris，我先從波士頓談起，給你一些背景。今年我們新增的三位 C&I 招募都在波士頓版圖內。我們對這些增補相當滿意。那個團隊現在大約有八位左右。我先前也提到，我們在華盛頓特區—巴爾的摩都會區那邊接近一打人員。費城一直是穩定的貢獻者，目前業務規模已超過 20 億美元。所以我們對這三個市場都非常看好，並會持續在這些領域增聘人員。

The C&I business is growing in all three segments. If you recall, initially, the CRE business was very strong in Philly and Boston. But the focus for us has been to diversify the books, and I think we've done a really good job there. But as I mentioned earlier, we're just touching the surface. I think there's a wealth of opportunity going forward.

C&I 業務在這三個區塊都在成長。如果你還記得，一開始費城與波士頓的 CRE（商用不動產）業務非常強。但我們的重點一直是讓資產組合更多元化，我認為我們在這方面做得很好。不過如我先前所說，我們其實才剛觸及表面。我認為未來仍有大量機會。

Great, Joe. Thank you for that. And Chris or Joe, if you go back to when Signature failed a couple of years ago, how much business is still out there to move if you had to ballpark it in terms of today, do you think?

很好，Joe，謝謝你的說明。另外，Chris 或 Joe，如果回到幾年前 Signature 倒閉那段時間，若要大概估算一下，現在市場上還有多少業務可能會轉移？你們怎麼看？

Look, there's always some opportunity there, but we're really focused on is winning share across a wider group of a lot of different competitors. And in fact, the hires we made, including the number of the hires we made into the Premier Group this year, came from other banks and have other targets.

你看，那裡一直都會有一些機會，但我們真正聚焦的是在更廣泛的一群、各式各樣的競爭對手之間去爭取市占。事實上，我們今年的招募——包括我們今年在 Premier Group 的多位招募——都來自其他銀行，也有其他目標客群。

So I think what we tried to build when we brought our teams over was to build out the folks that had a history of working in this model and hiring anchors from a variety of different institutions and bringing them into the Premier model and making it work. So I think we're less dependent upon any particular competitor, but there is still opportunity out there.

所以我認為，當我們把團隊帶進來時，我們想打造的是：找來過去有在這種模式下工作的成員，並從多家不同機構招募具指標性的核心人才，把他們納入 Premier 模式並讓它運作起來。因此我認為我們對任何單一競爭對手的依賴較低，但市場上仍然存在機會。

So if we go back pre-pandemic and the hires you were doing in those years, Chris, it's going to look more like that, a real diverse set of institutions that bring their customers over?

所以如果回到疫情前、你們在那些年份的招募方式，Chris，會更像那樣：來自非常多元的機構，並把他們的客戶帶過來？

That's exactly. Although, I will say that we continue to focus the Premier group, although it's recruiting from a variety of resources, is still a deposit -- heavy deposit-centric hire. So the bankers we're looking at there are bankers that have can bring cash management portfolios with them, which is a slightly different focus. The C&I folks bring cash management with them as well.

沒錯。不過我會說，我們仍然把 Premier 團隊的重點放在——雖然招募來源多元——但仍是以存款為核心、偏重存款的招募。因此我們在那邊尋找的銀行家，是能夠帶來現金管理（cash management）組合的銀行家，這是稍微不同的重點。C&I 的同仁也會帶來現金管理。

And in fact, we're really happy. Our C&I bankers are funding almost 50% of their asset growth with their own deposits, which is -- exceeds our expectations in that segment. But in the Premier segment, we expect it to be more -- they would be funding -- contribute excess funding. So it's a slightly different candidate but would look very similar to what we've done over the years.

事實上，我們非常滿意。我們的 C&I 銀行家以自有存款為其資產成長提供了將近 50% 的資金來源，這——在該領域超出我們的預期。但在 Premier 這個區塊，我們預期會更——他們會提供——貢獻超額資金來源。所以候選人類型略有不同，但整體看起來會非常類似我們多年來的做法。

Great. Thank you, Chris. I appreciate the background here.

很好。謝謝你，Chris。感謝這些背景說明。

All right. Thanks, Chris.

好。謝謝你，Chris。

Thank you. And at this time, we have no further questions. I will now turn the call back over to Christopher Maher for closing remarks.

謝謝。目前我們沒有其他問題。我現在把電話交回給 Christopher Maher 作結語。

All right. Thank you. We appreciate your time today and your continued support of OceanFirst Financial Corp. We look forward to speaking with you in July about our second-quarter results and hope we'll have the opportunity to go a little deeper in the Flushing merger model at that time as well. So thanks, everyone.

好。謝謝。感謝各位今天撥冗參與，以及持續支持 OceanFirst Financial Corp.。我們期待在七月與各位就第二季業績再度交流，也希望屆時能有機會更深入討論 Flushing 的合併模型。謝謝大家。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation, and have a pleasant day.

各位女士先生，今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以掛斷電話線。感謝您的參與，祝您有美好的一天。