Southern Missouri Bancorp Inc (SMBC) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to Southern Missouri Bancorp Earnings Conference Call. My name is Elliot, and I will be coordinating your call today. (Operator Instructions)

您好，歡迎參加南密蘇里銀行收益電話會議。我叫埃利奧特，今天我將協調您的電話。 （操作員說明）

I'd now like to hand over to Matt Funke, President, the floor is yours. Please go ahead.

現在我想請主席馬特·芬克發言，請發言。請繼續。

Thank you, Elliot, and good morning, everyone. This is Matt Funke, President of Southern Missouri. Thanks for joining us. The purpose of this call is to review the information and data presented in our quarterly earnings release dated Monday, July 24, 2023, and to take your questions. We may make certain forward-looking statements during today's call, and we refer you to our cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements contained in the press release.

謝謝你，埃利奧特，大家早上好。我是馬特·馮克，南密蘇里州總統。感謝您加入我們。本次電話會議的目的是回顧我們於 2023 年 7 月 24 日星期一發布的季度收益報告中提供的信息和數據，並回答您的問題。我們可能會在今天的電話會議中做出某些前瞻性聲明，請您參閱我們關於新聞稿中包含的前瞻性聲明的警告聲明。

I'm joined on the call today by Greg Steffens, our Chairman and CEO. And and I'll start off with some highlights on our financial results.

我們的董事長兼首席執行官 Greg Steffens 也參加了今天的電話會議。我將首先介紹我們財務業績的一些要點。

We're happy to report this morning that the June quarter, the final quarter of our fiscal year, showed a rebound in what we would call headline profitability as the March quarter had included large nonrecurring charges related to our merger with Citizens Bancshares. We still had some smaller charges related to the merger in the June quarter and some other noise on the expense side, but we also had some benefits in noninterest income to mostly offset those.

今天早上我們很高興地報告，六月季度，即我們財年的最後一個季度，我們所謂的總體盈利能力出現了反彈，因為三月季度包括了與我們與 Citizens Bancshares 合併相關的大量非經常性費用。我們仍然有一些與六月份季度的合併相關的較小費用以及費用方面的其他一些噪音，但我們在非利息收入方面也有一些好處，可以大部分抵消這些費用。

Earnings per common share diluted in the June quarter were $1.37, down $0.04 or 2.8% as compared to the same quarter a year ago and up $1.15 or 523% from the third quarter of fiscal '23, the linked quarter.

6 月季度攤薄後的每股普通股收益為 1.37 美元，比去年同期下降 0.04 美元，即 2.8%，比 23 財年第三季度（相關季度）增長 1.15 美元，即 523%。

The impact from $829,000 pretax in merger-related charges this quarter was approximately $0.06 per common share as compared to approximately $0.01 in the year-ago period due to similar charges.

本季度 829,000 美元的稅前合併相關費用的影響約為每股普通股 0.06 美元，而去年同期由於類似費用約為 0.01 美元。

Our annualized return on average assets was 1.44%, while annualized return on average common equity was 14.1%, and those are compared to 1.62% ROA and 16.2% ROE, respectively, in the same quarter a year ago. And in the March quarter, impacted by the larger merger charges, our ROA was 0.23% and the ROE was 2.3%.

我們的年化平均資產回報率為 1.44%，年化平均普通股回報率為 14.1%，而去年同期的 ROA 和 ROE 分別為 1.62% 和 16.2%。 3 月份季度，受合併費用增加的影響，我們的 ROA 為 0.23%，ROE 為 2.3%。

Net interest margin for the fourth quarter was 3.60%, down from the year-ago period of 3.66%, and up from 3.48% reported for the third quarter. The company's net interest income for the 3-month period ended June 30 was $36.2 million, which is up $8.5 million or 30.5% as compared to the same period a year ago, and up $2.5 million or 7.3% compared to the third quarter of fiscal '23, the linked quarter.

第四季度淨息差為 3.60%，低於去年同期的 3.66%，高於第三季度報告的 3.48%。截至6月30日的三個月期間，該公司的淨利息收入為3620萬美元，比去年同期增長850萬美元，增幅30.5%，比財年第三季度增長250萬美元，增幅7.3%。 '23，鏈接季度。

Year-over-year, that increase was attributable to an increase of about 1/3 in the average balance of our interest-earning assets due in large part to the Citizens merger and was partially offset by a 6 basis point decline in margin.

與去年同期相比，這一增長歸因於我們的生息資產平均餘額增加了約 1/3，這在很大程度上是由於公民合併所致，但部分被利潤率下降 6 個基點所抵消。

Net interest income from loan discount accretion contributed 16 basis points in the current quarter, compared to 14 basis points contribution in the third quarter, the linked quarter, and a year ago, similar accretion contributed 8 basis points.

貸款折扣增加帶來的淨利息收入在本季度貢獻了 16 個基點，而第三季度（即相關季度）貢獻了 14 個基點，而一年前，類似的增加貢獻了 8 個基點。

Also, net interest income resulting from accelerated accretion of deferred origination fees on PPP loans had no impact on the net interest margin in the current quarter or in the March quarter. And last year, in the fourth quarter, $70,000 of income contributed about 1 basis point to the margin. And I am going to stop reporting on PPP origination fee income from here on out, the last time we have to comment on that one.

此外，PPP 貸款遞延啟動費加速增加帶來的淨利息收入對本季度或三月份季度的淨息差沒有影響。去年第四季度，70,000 美元的收入為利潤貢獻了約 1 個基點。從現在開始，我將停止報告 PPP 發起費收入，這是我們最後一次對此發表評論。

On what view -- on we would view as a core basis then, we see margin down about 14 basis points year-over-year and up about 10 basis points sequentially. Compared to March, the 91-day quarter in June would add about 4 basis points to our reported margin. And additionally, the full quarter impact of Citizens merged balance sheet was a benefit for this quarter relative to last.

根據我們的觀點，我們認為利潤率同比下降約 14 個基點，環比上升約 10 個基點。與 3 月份相比，6 月份為期 91 天的季度將使我們報告的利潤率增加約 4 個基點。此外，與上一季度相比，公民合併資產負債表對整個季度的影響是本季度的一個好處。

Noninterest income for the 3-month period was $9 million, an increase of $2.5 million or 37.7% compared to a year ago and up $2.7 million or 42.5% compared to the linked quarter. What we would -- what we categorize as other income was up on some annual adjustments due to tax credit investments as well as due to trust and wealth management. We had an improvement in the loan servicing line item on an MSR, mortgage servicing rights, valuation adjustment ahead of our year-end. This adjustment was a little larger this year compared to last. And generally, in the June quarter, we report some additional interchange income resulting from incentives and reimbursements from our payment processor.

三個月期間的非利息收入為 900 萬美元，較去年同期增加 250 萬美元，即 37.7%，較上一季度增加 270 萬美元，即 42.5%。由於稅收抵免投資以及信託和財富管理，我們歸類為其他收入的年度調整有所增加。我們在年底前對 MSR 的貸款服務項目、抵押貸款服務權、估值調整進行了改進。與去年相比，今年的調整幅度稍大一些。一般來說，在六月季度，我們報告了一些額外的交換收入，這些收入來自我們的支付處理器的激勵和報銷。

Noninterest expense for the 3-month period was $25 million an increase of $7.5 million or 43.5% compared to the same period of the prior year and down a little more than $2 million or almost 8% compared to the linked quarter. Direct charges totaling $829,000 related to merger and acquisition activity were reflected primarily in our data processing line item, compensation benefits and some other miscellaneous. In the March quarter, they had totaled $3.3 million. And in the year ago period, similar charges were just a little more than $100,000. Our provision for credit losses or PCL totaled just under $800,000 for the quarter. That was as compared to $240,000 in the same quarter a year ago and more than $10 million in the linked March quarter. As we discussed previously in the March quarter, $7 million was attributable to the Citizens merger as we booked an allowance for the loans that were not designated as purchase credit deteriorated and for credit commitments. The components of the PCL in the current June quarter were $2.3 million attributable to outstanding loans and a recovery of $1.5 million attributable to credit commitments. We modestly decreased adjustments related to a couple of classified hotel relationships we've talked about over the last several years as they've been slow to recover from COVID-19, and we modestly increased the ACL due to a small number of individuals individually evaluated loans.

三個月期間的非利息支出為 2500 萬美元，與去年同期相比增加了 750 萬美元，即 43.5%，與上一季度相比，減少了略多於 200 萬美元，即近 8%。與併購活動相關的直接費用總計 829,000 美元，主要反映在我們的數據處理項目、薪酬福利和其他一些雜項中。 3 月份季度的總收入為 330 萬美元。而去年同期，類似費用僅略高於 10 萬美元。本季度我們的信貸損失或 PCL 撥備總額略低於 800,000 美元。相比之下，去年同期為 24 萬美元，3 月份相關季度則超過 1,000 萬美元。正如我們之前在三月份季度所討論的，700 萬美元歸因於 Citizens 合併，因為我們為未指定為購買信貸惡化的貸款和信貸承諾預留了準備金。當前 6 月季度的 PCL 組成部分為 230 萬美元，歸因於未償貸款，回收了 150 萬美元，歸因於信貸承諾。我們適度減少了與過去幾年我們討論過的一些分類酒店關係相關的調整，因為它們從 COVID-19 中恢復緩慢，並且由於少數個人進行了單獨評估，我們適度增加了 ACL貸款。

Net charge-offs remained at low levels during the quarter, holding the trailing 12-month figure to 2 basis points, which is consistent with our previous several quarters.

本季度淨沖銷保持在較低水平，使過去 12 個月的數字保持在 2 個基點，這與我們前幾個季度的情況一致。

The allowance for credit losses or ACL at June 30 totaled $47.8 million, which was 1.32% of gross loans and 625% of nonperformers as compared to $45.7 million, which was 1.31% of gross loans and 618% of nonperformers at March 31st.

截至 6 月 30 日，信貸損失準備金或 ACL 總額為 4,780 萬美元，佔貸款總額的 1.32%，佔不良貸款的 625%；而 3 月 31 日，信貸損失準備金或 ACL 為 4,570 萬美元，佔貸款總額的 1.31%，佔不良貸款的 618%。

A year ago, our ACL of $33.2 million represented 1.22% of gross loans and just over 800% of nonperformers.

一年前，我們的 ACL 為 3,320 萬美元，佔貸款總額的 1.22%，略高於不良貸款的 800%。

On the balance sheet, our gross loan balances increased by almost $139 million during the fourth quarter and by $900 million for all of fiscal '23 that included $447 million net of fair value adjustments from the Citizens merger, which was added during the third quarter of the fiscal year.

在資產負債表上，我們的總貸款餘額在第四季度增加了近 1.39 億美元，在整個 23 財年增加了 9 億美元，其中扣除公民合併公允價值調整後的 4.47 億美元，該調整是在 2013 年第三季度增加的。財政年度。

Organic growth was approximately 16.5% and that was somewhat front-loaded early in fiscal '23, although we did have strong growth numbers in this final quarter of the year too.

有機增長約為 16.5%，儘管我們在今年最後一個季度也實現了強勁的增長數字，但在 23 財年初期，這一增長有些超前。

Our June and September quarters are usually soft for our deposit growth. Deposit balances decreased by almost $30 million during the fourth quarter, and they increased by $910 million for all of fiscal '23, which included an $851 million increase net of fair value adjustments attributable to Citizens. We have seen depositors migrate to time deposits, and we supplemented growth we've seen in our branch-generated CDs with wholesale funding this quarter to maintain available liquidity. We'll touch on that in a little more detail later.

我們的六月和九月季度的存款增長通常較為疲軟。第四季度存款餘額減少了近 3000 萬美元，23 財年全年存款餘額增加了 9.1 億美元，其中扣除歸屬於公民的公允價值調整後增加了 8.51 億美元。我們已經看到儲戶轉向定期存款，並且本季度我們通過批發資金補充了我們在分行生成的存款證中看到的增長，以維持可用的流動性。稍後我們將更詳細地討論這一點。

I'll now hand it over to Greg for some discussion on credit.

現在我將把它交給格雷格進行一些關於信用的討論。

Thank you, Matt, and good morning, everyone. Overall, our asset quality remains quite strong, with adversely client supplied loans at $46.3 million or 1.28% of total loans at June 30th, decreasing a little more than $0.5 million or 7 basis points during the quarter.

謝謝你，馬特，大家早上好。總體而言，我們的資產質量仍然相當強勁，截至 6 月 30 日，客戶提供的不利貸款為 4,630 萬美元，佔貸款總額的 1.28%，本季度減少略高於 50 萬美元，即 7 個基點。

Nonperforming loans were $7.7 million at June 30, up slightly in dollar terms, but overall steady at 0.21% of gross loans.

截至 6 月 30 日，不良貸款為 770 萬美元，按美元計算略有上升，但總體穩定在貸款總額的 0.21%。

In comparison to fiscal year 2022, nonperforming loans increased $3.5 million or 6 basis points with the significant majority of the increase resulting from our merger with Citizens.

與 2022 財年相比，不良貸款增加了 350 萬美元，即增加了 6 個基點，其中大部分增加來自我們與 Citizens 的合併。

Loans past due 30 days or more were $10.7 million or -- up $3.4 million from March 31st, and then 30 basis points on gross loans, they were up 9 basis points compared to the linked quarter, and up 13 basis points compared to the very low levels of the prior year. Most of our increase, again, is attributed to the Citizens merger. From March 31, ag real estate loans and other loans to farmers increased by a total of $31.6 million, with ag real estate balances up a little more than $8 million over the quarter, and ag production balance is up $23.5 million. Compared to a year ago, combined balances are up $53 million, split pretty evenly between real estate and operating rooms. And then some of the increase was attributable to the Citizens acquisition.

逾期 30 天或以上的貸款為 1070 萬美元，較 3 月 31 日增加了 340 萬美元，貸款總額增加了 30 個基點，與上一季度相比增加了 9 個基點，與上一季度相比增加了 13 個基點較上年低水平。我們的增長大部分歸功於公民合併。自3月31日起，農業房地產貸款和向農民提供的其他貸款總計增加了3160萬美元，本季度農業房地產餘額增加了800萬美元多一點，農業生產餘額增加了2350萬美元。與一年前相比，合併餘額增加了 5300 萬美元，其中房地產和手術室的餘額相當平均。部分增長歸因於對公民的收購。

For an update on our ag customers, they are in the mid-season for the 2023 crop production year. Our lenders are reporting that farmers were able to get off to an earlier-than-usual planning season due to the drier spring and most crops were in the ground by the end of May. Dry conditions have continued, but fortunately, most of our ag customers have irrigated land to help mitigate drought conditions. However, this does drive expenses higher and acquires a lot more manual effort for managing the irrigation.

有關我們農業客戶的最新情況，他們正處於 2023 年農作物生產的中期。我們的貸方報告說，由於春季乾燥，農民能夠比平常更早地進入計劃季節，並且大多數農作物在五月底就已經播種。乾旱狀況仍在持續，但幸運的是，我們的大多數農業客戶都灌溉了土地，以幫助緩解乾旱狀況。然而，這確實會導致費用更高，並且需要更多的人力來管理灌溉。

Other expenses are higher for the year as well due to fuel, fertilizer and chemicals all being up from costs in 2022. Farm suppliers are spending more to maintain inventories and paying more to do so, which has also been passed along to the farmer. We completed underwriting this year conservatively, estimating these impacts and worked with our borrowers to make sure that their financial position will support additional lines if needed. We are seeing that in many situations as they are now utilizing these additional lines, driven especially by the aforementioned irrigation cost.

由於燃料、化肥和化學品的成本均高於 2022 年，今年其他費用也有所增加。農場供應商花費更多資金來維持庫存，並為此支付更多費用，這也轉嫁到了農民身上。我們今年保守地完成了承保，估計了這些影響，並與借款人合作，確保他們的財務狀況能夠在需要時支持額外的額度。我們看到，在許多情況下，他們現在正在利用這些額外的線路，尤其是受到上述灌溉成本的推動。

This year, we see consistent mix of our crop acreage this year with about 30% of our acres in corn, 25% soybeans, 20% rice, 20% cotton and then roughly 5% in other specialty crops, including popcorn, peanuts, sorghum. Rice and soybean crops at this time are looking at least as good or slightly better than last year at this point. With corn, we're monitoring closely the hot temperatures that we've expected, which may have some negative effect on pollination. But at this point, most of our farmers feel good about the corn crop and do expect an early harvest. We're still too early in the year to get a good read on cotton, but at this stage, it's looking comparable to prior years. Pricing compared to our underwriting is as expected on cotton a little bit lower than expected on corn and 10% or more above expectations for soybeans and rice. Overall, our borrowers feel pretty good about the turn crop year and have been contracting for some of this year's production to lock in prices and gains to offset some of the higher expenses.

今年，我們的農作物種植面積保持一致，其中約 30% 種植玉米、25% 大豆、20% 稻米、20% 棉花，然後約 5% 種植其他特種作物，包括爆米花、花生、高粱。此時的水稻和大豆作物看起來至少與去年一樣好或略好。對於玉米，我們正在密切監測我們預期的高溫，這可能會對授粉產生一些負面影響。但目前，我們大多數農民對玉米收成感覺良好，並期望早日收穫。今年我們對棉花進行深入解讀還為時過早，但在現階段，它看起來與往年相當。與我們的承保相比，棉花的定價略低於玉米的預期，大豆和大米的定價比預期高 10% 或更多。總體而言，我們的借款人對輪作年感覺良好，並已簽訂了今年的部分產量合同，以鎖定價格和收益，以抵消一些較高的費用。

Speaking to the loan portfolio as a whole, the portfolio grew again $136 million net of ACL during the quarter and increased $437.5 million during the fiscal year, excluding the Citizens merger. So organic growth was a little over 16%. This loan growth was led by our West region centered in Springfield, Missouri, and our South region was very -- closed second. Our East region, which includes much of our ag activity saw increased loan balances during the quarter due to the seasonal pickup in ag and is expected for that trend to continue into the fall. Other than ag, we expect growth to slow somewhat in the next quarter for the current quarter that we're in today, with our pipeline for loans to fund in the next 90 days, totaling $135 million at June 30 as compared to $164 million at March 31st and $122 million at June 30, 2022.

就整個貸款組合而言，該投資組合在本季度扣除 ACL 後再次增長了 1.36 億美元，在本財年（不包括 Citizens 合併）增加了 4.375 億美元。因此，有機增長略高於 16%。貸款增長主要由以密蘇里州斯普林菲爾德為中心的西部地區帶動，而南部地區位居第二。由於農業季節性回升，我們東部地區（包括我們的大部分農業活動）在本季度的貸款餘額有所增加，預計這一趨勢將持續到秋季。除農業以外，我們預計當前季度的增長將在下個季度有所放緩，未來 90 天內融資的貸款渠道截至 6 月 30 日總計 1.35 億美元，而 6 月 30 日為 1.64 億美元。截至 3 月 31 日，截至 2022 年 6 月 30 日為 1.22 億美元。

Speaking the growth in the quarter just ended. Much of our growth was primarily an owner-occupied commercial real estate of $40 million, nonowner occupied commercial real estate of $15 million, and then aforementioned growth in ag representing most of the remainder of our growth during the quarter.

說到本季度的增長剛剛結束。我們的增長主要來自 4000 萬美元的業主自用商業房地產、1500 萬美元的非業主自用商業房地產，以及前面提到的農業增長，代表了我們本季度剩餘增長的大部分。

Our volume of loan originations was approximately $272.5 million in the June quarter, an increase of $61 million from the $212 million originated in the March quarter. In the June quarter a year ago, we originated $308 million. The rating categories, again, for growth this quarter were nonresidential real estate and the ag we mentioned earlier.

6 月份季度我們的貸款發放量約為 2.725 億美元，比 3 月份季度的 2.12 億美元增加了 6100 萬美元。一年前的 6 月季度，我們籌集了 3.08 億美元。同樣，本季度增長的評級類別是非住宅房地產和我們之前提到的農業。

Our nonowner-occupied CRE concentration at the bank level was approximately 327% of regulatory capital at June 30th, down 7 basis points compared to March 31st and as compared to 313% 1 year ago.

截至 6 月 30 日，我們在銀行層面的非自住型商業地產集中度約為監管資本的 327%，較 3 月 31 日下降了 7 個基點，較一年前的 313% 下降了 7 個基點。

Matt, other comments?

馬特，還有其他評論嗎？

Thanks, Greg.

謝謝，格雷格。

Our earnings release did include a more detailed table on deposit trends over the last year. Of course, in March, (inaudible) jumped with the Citizens merger, but we did see outflows as compared to December 31 outside of the merger impact. On a monthly basis for total deposits outside of the merger, and outside of any brokerage funding. We had positive months in January and February, followed by negative months in March and April and then relatively stable balances in May and June. We were up a little bit for the year outside of the merger, but down just a little for the year if you exclude brokered funding.

我們的收益發布確實包含了有關去年存款趨勢的更詳細表格。當然，在 3 月份，（聽不清）隨著 Citizens 的合併而大幅上漲，但與 12 月 31 日相比，我們確實看到了合併影響之外的資金外流。按月計算合併之外以及任何經紀資金之外的總存款。我們在一月和二月出現了正數月份，隨後在三月和四月出現了負數月份，然後在五月和六月出現了相對穩定的餘額。在合併之外的一年，我們的業績有所上升，但如果排除經紀融資，這一年的業績只會下降一點。

Given this rate environment, we're pleased to see our noninterest-bearing balances are behaving pretty well. Our interest-bearing transaction accounts have moved down, and we see consumers and businesses alike holding lower average balances than they did a year ago. We don't have hard stats on it, the tax payment outflows this year in both April and June seem to -- maybe to catch up after a few years of stimulus. We do have a lot of customer migration to time deposits within our portfolio.

鑑於這種利率環境，我們很高興看到我們的無息餘額表現良好。我們的計息交易賬戶有所下降，我們看到消費者和企業的平均餘額都低於一年前。我們沒有硬性統計數據，今年 4 月和 6 月的納稅流出似乎——可能會在幾年的刺激措施之後趕上。我們的投資組合中確實有很多客戶轉向定期存款。

Public units have been the most notable outflows. Some of that is seasonal, some of that is cyclical. We had some public units that were holding excess funds. They've invested some of those with deposit brokers or in short-term securities and others who were holding some grant funds over the last few years have deployed some of those balances. And unfortunately, we did lose a couple of relationships over the first half of the year as well. We have picked up even more relationships in number terms recently, but the total balance picked up will probably be about a wash as far as those old relationships versus several more new ones. But those new relationships generally hadn't moved their balances by June 30. So while September is always a tougher quarter for us on public unit balances just due to seasonality, some of these new inflows may help offset some of those seasonal drawdowns.

公共單位是最引人注目的資金外流。其中一些是季節性的，一些是周期性的。我們有一些公共單位持有多餘的資金。他們將其中一些投資於存款經紀人或短期證券，而過去幾年持有一些贈款基金的其他人則部署了其中的一些餘額。不幸的是，我們在今年上半年也失去了一些關係。我們最近在數量上建立了更多的關係，但就這些舊關係與更多新關係而言，所獲得的總餘額可能會被洗掉。但到 6 月 30 日，這些新關係通常還沒有改變其餘額。因此，儘管由於季節性原因，9 月對於我們的公共單位餘額來說始終是一個更加困難的季度，但其中一些新的資金流入可能有助於抵消一些季節性下降。

Any closing thoughts, Greg?

格雷格，有什麼結束的想法嗎？

Yes. Just an update on the Citizens Bancshares. We're now 6 months past our merger and 5 months past the systems conversion. We continue to remain focused on integration, expansion and service and deposits for those markets and elsewhere. We're not currently actively pursuing additional merger opportunities and would expect that other than a very unique circumstance, we'll stay on the sidelines for a little bit longer. We have basically achieved most of the cost savings we had anticipated in the merger, and from here forward, there could actually be a slight pickup in compensation as we look to recruit community bankers in some of the new markets that we've entered. We're looking forward to achieving the same success we've achieved in banking rural and middle market communities as well as in the [Kansas] City northern area.

是的。只是公民銀行股份的最新情況。現在，我們的合併已過去 6 個月，系統轉換也已過去 5 個月。我們繼續專注於這些市場和其他市場的整合、擴張以及服務和存款。我們目前並沒有積極尋求更多的合併機會，並且預計除了非常獨特的情況之外，我們將保持觀望一段時間。我們基本上已經實現了合併中預期的大部分成本節約，從現在開始，隨著我們希望在我們進入的一些新市場中招募社區銀行家，薪酬實際上可能會略有上升。我們期待在農村和中等市場社區以及[堪薩斯]城北部地區的銀行業務中取得同樣的成功。

Thanks, Greg.

謝謝，格雷格。

Elliot, at this time, we're ready to take questions from participants. So if you could please remind them how they can queue for questions, we'll be ready for those.

埃利奧特，現在我們準備回答參與者的問題。因此，如果您能提醒他們如何排隊提問，我們將做好準備。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Andrew Liesch with Piper Sandler.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Andrew Liesch 和 Piper Sandler。

I just wanted to focus on the margin here, surprising to see the increase, nice to see there. But has the benefit -- for the full quarter benefit from Citizens deal, or if the Citizens deal already played itself out and you think of what you're seeing on funding cost is going to result in the margin trending down from here?

我只是想關注這裡的利潤，令人驚訝地看到增長，很高興看到那裡。但是有好處嗎——從公民交易中獲得整個季度的利益，或者如果公民交易已經完成，並且你認為你所看到的融資成本將導致利潤率從這裡開始下降？

Yes, there wouldn't be any additional benefit as far as the timing of the merger going forward. Their balance sheet was set up a little better than ours for rising rates. So we'll have some continued benefit from the fact that the merger has happened, as we said, maybe raises rates tomorrow or further from there. But on an ongoing basis, yes, we're -- we would be looking to the deposit costs as the big driver and any changes from here.

是的，就未來合併的時間而言，不會有任何額外的好處。對於利率上升，他們的資產負債表比我們的要好一些。因此，正如我們所說，合併已經發生，我們將持續受益，也許明天或以後會加息。但在持續的基礎上，是的，我們將把存款成本視為主要驅動因素，並從這裡開始進行任何變化。

Got it. All right. And then on -- there are a few onetime items that ran through fee income that you mentioned. I guess what should be the right run rate on this line on noninterest income going forward, backing up with some of the seasonal or onetime items that may have affected fourth quarter -- or your fourth quarter results?

知道了。好的。然後，有一些一次性項目涉及您提到的費用收入。我猜想未來非利息收入這條線的正確運行率應該是多少，支持一些可能影響第四季度或您第四季度業績的季節性或一次性項目？

Yes. So while we don't want to provide any forward guidance, the number that we reported here would be probably a little heavier than what's sustainable. We tried to lay those out in the release as far as what those impacts are, but expect it would trend down from here a little bit over the near term.

是的。因此，雖然我們不想提供任何前瞻性指導，但我們在此報告的數字可能會比可持續的數字稍重一些。我們試圖在新聞稿中列出這些影響的具體情況，但預計短期內影響會略有下降。

Interchange was up quite a bit, and then so was the other loan fees, so (inaudible) turned back down to where they were -- before this quarter, or is there some benefit from Citizens that might (inaudible) through there?

交換費上漲了不少，然後其他貸款費用也上漲了很多，所以（聽不清）又回到了本季度之前的水平，或者公民可能（聽不清）那裡有一些好處嗎？

There would be some benefit from Citizens. Their trust and wealth management was an add for us. I think that interchange income benefit was north of $300,000. We had the tax credits. I think we're $700,000 some of the mortgage servicing rights. That was $300,000 plus this year, up from last year. Loan fees were a little heavy this quarter compared to our normal run rate.

公民將會得到一些好處。他們的信任和財富管理對我們來說是一個補充。我認為交換收入福利超過 30 萬美元。我們有稅收抵免。我認為我們有 70 萬美元的抵押貸款服務權。今年比去年增加了 30 萬美元。與我們的正常運行率相比，本季度的貸款費用有點高。

(Operator Instructions) We now turn to Kelly Motta with KBW.

（操作員說明）我們現在請 KBW 的凱利·莫塔 (Kelly Motta) 發言。

Congrats on a quarter. Wondering growth, just finished -- finishing year really strong and it was really strong into the -- through the fourth quarter. Just wondering if you're starting to see higher rates impact our demand and any maybe potential pullback you might be having in terms of tightening up underwriting in this environment as we think about the growth rate ahead?

恭喜四分之一。想知道剛剛結束的增長——去年非常強勁，進入第四季度也非常強勁。只是想知道您是否開始看到更高的利率影響我們的需求，以及在我們考慮未來的增長率時，在這種環境下收緊承保方面可能會出現任何潛在的回調？

We have definitely tightened our underwriting criteria some, and we are -- loans are much harder to get today than what they were 6 months ago, 3 months ago, in part due to liquidity and then just concerns about the future. We're not looking at near as many loan opportunities for people that we have not banked before. We're limiting more activity to customers we have a relationship with. And then just overall, we're taking a tougher look at credit underwriting requirements, more equity down payments than what we had done before. We do have a fair construction pipeline that is still working through the process that we anticipate a lot of those loans will be funding over the back 3 to 6 months, but we'll be having less new originations, will have more draw activity. And then we also are anticipating a little bit slower prepayment activity on our existing book than what we had before. So when we're looking forward, I would anticipate that we'll have more front-end loaded growth for this current fiscal year, and then growth will taper off as the year goes on.

我們確實收緊了一些承保標準，而且我們確實——今天獲得貸款比 6 個月前、3 個月前更難，部分原因是流動性，以及對未來的擔憂。我們不會為那些我們以前沒有銀行業務的人提供盡可能多的貸款機會。我們正在限制與我們有關係的客戶進行更多活動。總體而言，我們正在更加嚴格地審視信貸承保要求，比以前支付更多的股本首付。我們確實有一個公平的建設管道，仍在整個過程中進行，我們預計許多貸款將在未來 3 到 6 個月內提供資金，但我們的新貸款將減少，抽籤活動將更多。然後，我們還預計現有賬簿上的預付款活動會比以前慢一些。因此，當我們展望未來時，我預計本財年我們將有更多的前端負載增長，然後隨著時間的推移增長將逐漸減弱。

Great. That's super helpful. Got it. And then with margin definitely surprised the upside this quarter and rebounded nicely. At this higher level of profitability, I did see you maintained your dividend this month, but just wondering any high-level thoughts on capital return, and how you're viewing capital? I know in your commentary, you mentioned the M&A might be slowing, but wondering if you have any updated thoughts on dividends as well as buybacks, especially for what you recently issued in (inaudible).

偉大的。這非常有幫助。知道了。然後，本季度的利潤率確實令人驚訝，並且反彈良好。在這種較高的盈利水平下，我確實看到您本月維持了股息，但只是想知道對資本回報的任何高層想法，以及您如何看待資本？我知道在您的評論中，您提到併購可能會放緩，但想知道您對股息和回購是否有任何最新的想法，特別是對於您最近發行的股票（聽不清）。

I didn't quite catch the end of that, Kelly, but just speaking to the maintaining of the dividend. We spent a lot of time talking about that with our board. Just decided that in the current environment, it was best to maintain that and be a little more conservative. We do have an approved share repurchase program out there. Should we see balance sheet growth slow a lot, capital ratios pick up too much, we could always deploy that. But we just want to maintain a strong balance sheet and be a little bit cautious in this current environment.

凱利，我沒聽清楚，只是談到維持股息。我們花了很多時間與董事會討論這個問題。只是決定，在目前的環境下，最好維持現狀，保守一點。我們確實有一個已批准的股票回購計劃。如果我們看到資產負債表增長大幅放緩，資本比率上升太多，我們總是可以進行部署。但我們只想保持強勁的資產負債表，並在當前環境下保持謹慎。

Got it. Appreciate it...

知道了。欣賞它...

Higher capital ratios at the moment.

目前資本比率較高。

Understood. Last question from me. You really benefited from that higher level of liquidity from Citizens, and you brought your loan-to-deposit ratio up, and cash levels are down. Are you comfortable with this level of cash and kind of any more room on the loan-to-deposit side, especially with deposits being more under pressure at least across the industry.

明白了。我的最後一個問題。你確實受益於公民更高水平的流動性，你提高了貸存比，而現金水平卻下降了。您對這種水平的現金以及貸存方面的更多空間感到滿意嗎？尤其是在至少整個行業的存款面臨更大壓力的情況下。

Well, overall, we would like to have more deposits. We just have to be mindful of what the cost of the deposits are versus...

嗯，總的來說，我們希望有更多的存款。我們只需要注意存款成本與...

Wholesale funding.

批發資金。

Yes. But overall, I mean, our loan-to-deposit ratio is reaching higher levels than where we would like to be in this environment that I think that we're likely to continue to maintain levels at this level or maybe even grow slightly over the near term.

是的。但總體而言，我的意思是，我們的貸存比率正在達到比我們希望在這種環境下達到的水平更高的水平，我認為我們可能會繼續維持在這個水平，甚至可能會在短期。

This concludes our Q&A. I'll now hand back to Matt Funke, President, for closing remarks.

我們的問答到此結束。現在我將請主席馬特·馮克致閉幕詞。

Thank you again, Elliot, and thank you, everyone, for joining us. We appreciate interest and pleased to report on the quarter, and we'll talk to you again in 3 months.

再次感謝你，埃利奧特，也感謝大家加入我們。我們感謝您的興趣，並很高興報告本季度的情況，我們將在 3 個月後再次與您交談。

Thank you all ladies and gentlemen.

謝謝各位女士們、先生們。

Ladies and gentlemen, today's call is now concluded. We'd like to thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。我們衷心感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開線路。