South Plains Financial Inc (SPFI) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the South Plains Financial Inc fourth quarter, 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions). As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Steve Crockett, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of South Plains Financial. Please go ahead.

女士們、先生們，早安，歡迎參加 South Plains Financial Inc 2024 年第四季財報電話會議。（操作員指令）。提醒一下，本次電話會議正在錄音。現在我想將電話轉給 South Plains Financial 的財務長兼財務主管 Steve Crockett。請繼續。

Thank you, operator and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining our earnings conference call with me here today are Curtis Griffith, our Chairman and CEO; Cory Newsom, our President and Brent Bates, the bank's Chief Credit Officer, the related earnings press release and earnings presentation are available on the news and events section of our website SPFI.bank.

謝謝接線員，大家早安。感謝您今天與我一起參加我們的收益電話會議，在場的還有我們的董事長兼首席執行官 Curtis Griffith；我們的總裁 Cory Newsom 和銀行首席信貸官 Brent Bates，相關收益新聞稿和收益介紹可在我們網站 SPFI.bank 的新聞和事件部分找到。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that this call may contain forward-looking statements and are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated future results. Please see our safe harbor statements in our earnings press release and in our earnings presentation. All comments expressed or implied made during today's call are subject to those safe harbor statements.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒大家，本次電話會議可能包含前瞻性陳述，並受各種風險、不確定性和其他因素的影響，這些因素可能導致實際結果與預期的未來結果有重大差異。請參閱我們的收益新聞稿和收益報告中的安全港聲明。今天電話會議中表達或暗示的所有評論均受這些安全港聲明的約束。

Any forward-looking statements presented herein are made only as of today's date and we do not undertake any duty to update such forward-looking statements except as required by law. Additionally, during today's call, we may discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures which we believe are useful in evaluating our performance. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures can also be found in our earnings release and in the earnings presentation, Curtis, let me hand it over to you.

本文中提出的任何前瞻性陳述均僅在今天做出，除非法律要求，否則我們不承擔更新此類前瞻性陳述的任何義務。此外，在今天的電話會議中，我們可能會討論某些我們認為對評估我們的績效有用的非公認會計準則財務指標。這些非 GAAP 財務指標與最具可比性的 GAAP 財務指標的對帳表也可以在我們的收益報告和收益報告中找到，柯蒂斯，讓我把它交給你。

Thank you, Steve, and good morning on today's call, I will briefly review the highlights of our full year 2024 results, as well as provide an update on our capital allocation priorities. Corey will discuss our loan portfolio and the strong underlying demand that we are seeing which is being partially offset by the continued headwinds of unexpected payoffs. Steve will then conclude with a more detailed review of our fourth quarter financial results.

謝謝你，史蒂夫，早上好，在今天的電話會議上，我將簡要回顧我們 2024 年全年業績的亮點，並提供有關我們的資本配置重點的最新信息。Corey 將討論我們的貸款組合和我們所看到的強勁潛在需求，但這一需求被持續的意外還款阻力部分抵消。最後，史蒂夫將對我們的第四季財務表現進行更詳細的回顧。

To start, I am very proud of our performance this past year. As we successfully managed through a challenging environment and delivered solid financial results. We managed our liquidity to optimize our profitability and return metrics, while maintaining a conservative approach to underwriting and risk management. We believe that we are well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities that we see in the year ahead.

首先，我對我們過去一年的表現感到非常自豪。我們成功度過了充滿挑戰的環境並取得了穩健的財務表現。我們管理流動性以優化獲利能力和回報指標，同時保持保守的核保和風險管理方法。我們相信，我們已做好準備，能夠充分利用來年所面臨的機會。

As we expect the pace of economic growth to improve, while the headwinds that we all experienced in 2024 appear to be diminishing. Turning to slide four of our presentation, we delivered diluted earnings per share of $2.92 for the full year as compared to $3.62 in 2023. As a reminder, we sold Winmark, the bank's wholly owned insurance subsidiary in the second quarter of 2023 which resulted in a $22.9 million onetime gain net of charges and taxes. Our diluted earnings per share of $1.32. Excluding this onetime gain, we outperformed 2023 by $0.62 per diluted share.

我們預計經濟成長速度將會加快，而我們在 2024 年經歷的逆風似乎正在減弱。在我們簡報的第四張投影片中，我們全年的每股攤薄收益為 2.92 美元，而 2023 年為 3.62 美元。提醒一下，我們在 2023 年第二季出售了該銀行的全資保險子公司 Winmark，扣除費用和稅款後獲得了 2,290 萬美元的一次性收益。我們的每股攤薄收益為 1.32 美元。除這筆一次性收益外，我們的每股盈餘比 2023 年高出 0.62 美元。

We grew our loan portfolio 1.4% for the full year as the loan production that built through the year helped us effectively manage the decline in our indirect auto portfolio as well as heightened level of loan payoffs and paydowns. As we discussed on our third quarter call. We are seeing real optimism across our customer base that is translating into the strongest new business production pipeline that we've seen in more than two years.

我們的貸款組合全年增長了 1.4%，因為全年累積的貸款產量幫助我們有效地管理了間接汽車組合的下滑以及貸款償還和分期償還的提高。正如我們在第三季電話會議上討論的那樣。我們看到整個客戶群都表現出真正的樂觀情緒，這意味著我們兩年多來看到了最強勁的新業務生產管道。

This bodes positively for the year ahead where we expect to deliver low to mid-single digit loan growth for the full year 2025. We take pride in conservatively managing the bank as we strive to always under promise and over deliver as we did this past year. Turning to the other side of our balance sheet. Our community-based deposit franchise held steady at $3.6 billion in 2024. As compared to December 31, 2023, through the year, we carefully controlled our liquidity to optimize our margin and returns.

這對未來一年來說是一個利好訊號，我們預計 2025 年全年貸款成長率將達到低至個位數。我們對保守地管理銀行感到自豪，因為我們努力始終低調承諾、超額交付，就像我們去年所做的那樣。轉向我們的資產負債表的另一邊。到 2024 年，我們的社區存款特許經營權將穩定保持在 36 億美元。與 2023 年 12 月 31 日相比，我們全年都嚴格控制流動性，以優化利潤率和回報。

As can be seen in the fourth quarter where we managed our deposits down by approximately $50 million. While also experiencing our typical seasonal declines in our escrow accounts which decreased by approximately $35 million. Our core customer deposit accounts held steady through the quarter, and we expect to see deposit balances rebuild as loan growth occurs through the year ahead. We will carefully add liquidity to match the pace of loan growth through the year.

從第四季可以看出，我們的存款減少了約 5,000 萬美元。同時我們的託管帳戶也經歷了典型的季節性下滑，減少了約 3500 萬美元。我們的核心客戶存款帳戶在本季保持穩定，我們預計隨著未來一年貸款成長，存款餘額將重新恢復。我們將謹慎地補充流動性，以適應全年貸款成長的速度。

Our community-based deposit franchise remains a competitive advantage for South Plains with 79% of our deposits in our rural markets and 21% in our major metropolitan markets of Dallas Houston and El Paso. Given the makeup of our deposit franchise, we were able to reprice some of our deposits lower in the fourth quarter, which was a primary factor in driving our NIM higher by 10 basis points and which Steve will discuss more in a moment.

我們以社區為基礎的存款特許經營權仍然是南部平原的競爭優勢，我們 79% 的存款分佈在農村市場，21% 的存款分佈在達拉斯、休士頓和埃爾帕索等主要大都市市場。鑑於我們存款業務的組成，我們能夠在第四季度降低部分存款的價格，這是推動我們的淨息差上升 10 個基點的主要因素，史蒂夫稍後將對此進行進一步討論。

As we have said many times, we will never sacrifice credit quality for loan growth and I'm very pleased with the continued strong credit quality of our loan portfolio as we enter 2025. We believe that we are well positioned for varying economic conditions. For the full year, we delivered return on average assets of 1.17% and an efficiency ratio of 65.1%. Looking ahead, we also believe that we continue to be in a strong position to capitalize on opportunities to drive growth as the bank and the company each significantly exceed the minimum regulatory capital levels necessary to be deemed well, capitalized.

正如我們多次說過的，我們絕不會為了貸款增長而犧牲信用質量，而且我對我們的貸款組合在進入 2025 年時繼續保持強勁的信用質量感到非常高興。我們相信，我們已做好準備，能夠應對各種不同的經濟狀況。全年平均資產報酬率為1.17%，效率比率為65.1%。展望未來，我們也相信，由於銀行和公司均大大超過了被視為資本充足所必需的最低監管資本水平，我們將繼續處於有利地位，可以利用機會推動成長。

At December 31, 2024, our consolidated common equity tier one risk-based capital ratio was 13.53% and our tier one leverage ratio was 12.4%. Additionally, our loans held for investment to deposit ratio stood at 84% at year end. Given our capital position, we remain focused both growing the bank while also returning a steady stream of income to our shareholders through our quarterly dividend. As previously announced this week, our board of directors authorized a $0.15 per share quarterly dividend, which will be our 23rd consecutive quarterly dividend.

截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日，我們的合併普通股一級創投比率為 13.53%，一級槓桿率為 12.4%。此外，截至年底，我們的投資貸款與存款比率為 84%。鑑於我們的資本狀況，我們將繼續專注於銀行的發展，同時透過季度股利為股東帶來穩定的收入來源。正如本週稍早宣布的那樣，我們的董事會批准每股 0.15 美元的季度股息，這將是我們連續第 23 次季度股息。

We also have a $10 million stock repurchase program in place which will expire no later than February 26th 2025. Our board will consider authorizing another share repurchase plan next month as we generally believe it's important to have a buyback in place to have flexibility during volatile market environments. As we commented last quarter, we expect our buyback activity to remain more muted as we balance liquidity for growth as well as being mindful of the continued economic uncertainty that exists.

我們還制定了一項 1000 萬美元的股票回購計劃，該計劃最遲將於 2025 年 2 月 26 日到期。我們的董事會將考慮下個月批准另一項股票回購計劃，因為我們普遍認為，在動盪的市場環境中進行回購以獲得靈活性非常重要。正如我們在上個季度所評論的那樣，我們預計我們的回購活動將保持較為溫和，因為我們在平衡流動性以實現成長，同時注意到持續存在的經濟不確定性。

Looking forward, we still expect community bank M&A activity to pick up in the coming quarters with the growing optimism that deals can now be completed much quicker under the new Presidential administration. And despite unrealized securities losses on bank balance sheets growing. We expect to be even more diligent looking at potential acquisitions in this environment, but we have not yet seen an opportunity that meets our high hurdle for our team to pursue.

展望未來，我們仍然預期社區銀行的併購活動將在未來幾季回暖，因為人們越來越樂觀地認為，在新總統政府的領導下，交易可以更快完成。儘管銀行資產負債表上未實現證券損失不斷增加。我們希望在這種環境下更認真地尋找潛在的收購機會，但我們尚未看到符合我們團隊追求的高門檻的機會。

Our acquisition criteria remain focused on having a strong cultural fit with minimal dilution to our shareholders, a reasonable earn back while making real sense for the bank and our shareholders. As activity picks up, we will remain disciplined while also weighing any deal against the economics of buying back our own shares. We see substantial organic growth ahead and are comfortable staying on the sidelines and benefiting from any disruption that does occur in our markets from competitor transactions much like what we have experienced over the last few years.

我們的收購標準仍是注重與銀行的文化契合度，盡量減少對股東的稀釋，實現合理的收益回報，同時對銀行和股東真正有意義。隨著活動的增多，我們將繼續保持紀律，同時權衡任何交易與回購我們自己股票的經濟性。我們預見到未來將出現大幅的有機成長，並且我們願意保持觀望態度，並從競爭對手交易對我們市場帶來的任何干擾中獲益，就像我們在過去幾年所經歷的那樣。

Now let me turn the call over to Corey.

現在，讓我將電話轉給科里。

Thank you, Curtis and good morning, everyone. Starting on slide 6, our loan portfolio increased $17.7 million to $3.06 billion in the fourth quarter as compared to the linked quarter. We experienced loan growth in commercial owner-occupied real estate which more than offset the payoffs and paydowns that we continue to experience through the fourth quarter. Combined with the typical seasonal decline in agricultural balances.

謝謝你，柯蒂斯，大家早安。從第 6 張投影片開始，與上一季相比，我們的貸款組合在第四季增加了 1,770 萬美元，達到 30.6 億美元。我們經歷了商業自住房地產貸款的成長，這遠遠抵消了我們在第四季度繼續經歷的還款和還款。再加上農業餘額的典型季節性下降。

The yield on our loan portfolio was 6.69% in the fourth quarter and was essentially unchanged from the prior quarter. We were able to keep the yield constant despite the decline in short term rates that occurred in September through December. Looking forward, we could experience a slight decline in the yield on our loan portfolio as we continue to have maturities and repayments across a wide range of interest rate segments.

我們貸款組合的收益率在第四季為6.69%，與上一季基本持平。儘管 9 月至 12 月短期利率下降，我們仍能維持收益率不變。展望未來，由於我們的貸款到期和還款將繼續涵蓋廣泛的利率區間，因此我們的貸款組合收益率可能會略有下降。

Skipping to slide 8, loans in our major metropolitan markets of Dallas Houston and El Paso increased by $9 million in the fourth quarter to $1.6 billion. Our major metro markets also experienced elevated loan payoffs again this quarter which impacted growth. That said, underlying loan demand has been strong across El Paso and Houston as well as in our permian markets at Midland and Odessa. At quarter end, our major metro loan portfolio represented 34.6% of our total loan portfolio continued to demonstrate not only the scale that our lenders have achieved but also the opportunity that lays ahead for organic loan growth.

跳到第 8 頁，我們主要大都市市場的達拉斯、休士頓和埃爾帕索的貸款在第四季度增加了 900 萬美元，達到 16 億美元。本季度，我們的主要大都市市場的貸款償還也再次增加，這影響了成長。儘管如此，埃爾帕索和休士頓以及米德蘭和敖德薩的二疊紀市場的潛在貸款需求一直強勁。截至季度末，我們的主要大都會貸款組合占我們總貸款組合的 34.6%，這不僅繼續展示了我們的貸款人所取得的規模，也展示了未來有機貸款成長的機會。

Skipping to slide10, our indirect auto portfolio held relatively steady at $236 million at the end of the fourth quarter, as compared to $235 million at the end of the linked quarter. We've carefully managed the portfolio through the year with a focus on maintaining its credit quality as competitors have been more aggressive at the higher or better end of the credit spectrum. While volumes have declined. This has resulted in $15 million decline in loan balances through 2024. And while we anticipated this decline, it has been a significant headwind to low growth.

跳到投影片 10，我們的間接汽車投資組合在第四季末保持相對穩定，為 2.36 億美元，而上一季末為 2.35 億美元。由於競爭對手在信用範圍的高端或更好端表現得更為積極，我們全年都謹慎地管理投資組合，重點是保持其信用品質。儘管交易量有所下降。這導致2024年貸款餘額減少1500萬美元。雖然我們預料到了這種下降，但它對低成長來說是一個重大阻力。

Importantly, we are confident that the portfolio can stabilize at current levels given the recent decline in rates combined with improved volumes and more rational pricing. This stabilization will allow our strong underlying CRE and C&I loan demand that we are seeing begin to translate to growing loan balances. I would also add that the credit quality of our indirect auto portfolio has remained strong through the CACCO with 30 plus days past due at 47 basis points. A modest rise from the 34 basis points in the third quarter.

重要的是，鑑於近期利率下降、交易量增加和定價更加合理，我們相信投資組合可以穩定在當前水準。這種穩定性將使我們看到的強勁的基礎 CRE 和 C&I 貸款需求開始轉化為不斷增長的貸款餘額。我還要補充一點，透過 CACCO，我們的間接汽車投資組合的信用品質一直保持強勁，逾期超過 30 天，利率為 47 個基點。較第三季的34個基點小幅上升。

Looking ahead to the first quarter, we expect our loan growth to be relatively flat as we typically see agricultural loans continue to pay off seasonally early in the year. While loan payoffs could be continued at an elevated pace. Importantly, the underlying momentum in our business continues to build as our customers are becoming more optimistic and activity is accelerating. It can also be seen in our new business pipeline which continues to be at the highest level since the middle of 2022.

展望第一季度，我們預計貸款成長將相對平穩，因為我們通常看到農業貸款在年初繼續季節性償還。同時，貸款償還速度仍可持續加快。重要的是，隨著我們的客戶變得更加樂觀並且活動正在加速，我們業務的潛在勢頭也在繼續增強。從我們的新業務管道中也可以看出這一點，自 2022 年中期以來，我們的新業務管道一直處於最高水準。

Turning to slide 11, we generated $13.3 million of non-interest income in the fourth quarter as compared to $10.6 million in the length quarter. This was primarily due to an increase of $3.1 billion in mortgage banking revenues resulting mainly from an increase of $3.5 billion in the fair value adjustment of mortgage servicing rights as interest rates that affected the value increased in the fourth quarter. The growth in the mortgage income was partially offset by approximately $700,000 of Non reoccurring insurance proceeds received for the property damage in the third quarter of 2024.

轉到第 11 張投影片，我們在第四季產生了 1,330 萬美元的非利息收入，而上季為 1,060 萬美元。這主要是由於抵押貸款銀行收入增加了 31 億美元，而這主要由於第四季度影響價值的利率上升導致抵押貸款服務權的公允價值調整增加了 35 億美元。抵押貸款收入的成長被 2024 年第三季收到的約 70 萬美元的財產損失非經常性保險收益部分抵銷。

Overall, we have effectively managed the decline in mortgage volumes having kept the business profitable at the trough of the cycle through disciplined expense management. We believe our mortgage business is well positioned to take advantage of the eventual pickup in residential purchase volumes when rates gradually decline and we're optimistic looking to the spring selling season. For the fourth quarter, non-interest income was 26% of bank revenues as compared to 22% in the third quarter. Continue to grow our non-interest income remains a focus for our team.

總體而言，我們透過嚴格的費用管理，在周期低穀保持業務盈利，有效地控制了抵押貸款量的下降。我們相信，當利率逐漸下降時，我們的抵押貸款業務將能夠利用住宅購買量最終回升的優勢，我們對春季銷售季節持樂觀態度。第四季度，非利息收入佔銀行收入的26%，而第三季為22%。繼續增加我們的非利息收入仍然是我們團隊關注的重點。

I'd now like to turn the call over to Steve.

現在我想把電話轉給史蒂夫。

Thanks, Cory. For the fourth quarter diluted earnings per share was $0.96 compared to $0.66 from the linked quarter. Of note, our fourth quarter earnings were positively impacted by $0.07 per share after tax for the fair value adjustment of the mortgage servicing rights assets as mortgage interest rates rose in the fourth quarter. Turning to slide 13 net interest income was $38.5 million for the fourth quarter. As compared to $37.3 million for the length quarter.

謝謝，科里。第四季每股攤薄收益為 0.96 美元，上季為 0.66 美元。值得注意的是，由於第四季度抵押貸款利率上升，抵押貸款服務權資產的公允價值調整對我們第四季度的收益產生了 0.07 美元/股稅後積極影響。第 13 張投影片顯示，第四季淨利息收入為 3,850 萬美元。相比之下，本季的長度季度為 3,730 萬美元。

The rise in net interest income was largely due to a $1.6 million decline in interest expense partially offset by a decrease of $243,000 in loan interest income. Our net interest margin calculated on a tax equivalent basis was 3.75% in the fourth quarter. As compared to 3.65% in the linked quarter. The 10 basis points increase to our nim was primarily due to an 18 basis points decline in our cost of deposits in the quarter as compared to the prior quarter. As we effectively repriced our interest-bearing deposits as the Fed reduced their short-term interest rate.

淨利息收入的成長主要是由於利息支出減少 160 萬美元，但貸款利息收入減少 243,000 美元，部分抵消了這一減少。我們第四季以稅收等價基礎計算的淨利差為3.75%。相比之下，上一季這一數字為 3.65%。我們的淨利潤增加 10 個基點，主要是因為本季我們的存款成本與上一季相比下降了 18 個基點。隨著聯準會降低短期利率，我們有效地重新定價了我們的有利息存款。

At year end, our non-interest-bearing deposits decreased to 25.8% of total deposits as compared to 26.9% in the linked quarter. Largely due to the seasonal decline in mortgage escrow balances. As outlined on slide, 14 deposits decreased by $94.8 million to $3.62 billion at December 31st. Our cost of deposits was 229 basis points in the fourth quarter, a decrease of 18 basis points from the linked quarter.

截至年底，我們的無息存款佔總存款的比例從上季的 26.9% 下降至 25.8%。主要是由於抵押貸款託管餘額的季節性下降。如幻燈片所示，截至 12 月 31 日，14 筆存款減少了 9,480 萬美元，至 36.2 億美元。我們第四季的存款成本為229個基點，較上季下降了18個基點。

Turning to slide 15, a ratio of allowance for credit losses to total loans held for investment was 1.42% at December 31st, 2024. An increase of one basis point from the end of the prior quarter. We recorded a $1.2 million provision for credit losses in the fourth quarter. Which was largely attributable to net charge off activity and by increased loan balances during the quarter. Our non-performing loans totaled $24 million at the end of the fourth quarter, a slight decrease from $24.7 million in the third quarter.

請至投影片 15，截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日，信貸損失準備金與投資持有的貸款總額比率為 1.42%。較上一季末增加一個基點。我們在第四季提列了 120 萬美元的信貸損失準備金。這主要歸因於本季度的淨核銷活動和貸款餘額的增加。截至第四季末，我們的不良貸款總額為 2,400 萬美元，較第三季的 2,470 萬美元略有下降。

Skipping ahead to slide 18, our non-interest expense was $29.9 million in the fourth quarter. As compared to $33.1 million in the linked quarter. The $3.2 million decrease from the third quarter, 2024 was largely a result of a decline of $1.4 million in personnel expenses. Primarily from decreased health insurance costs of approximately $675,000 as annual rebates were received in the current quarter. Additionally, we had a $400,000 reduction in mortgage commissions as mortgage activity slowed in the current quarter. Given the rise in mortgage interest rates.

跳到第 18 頁，我們第四季的非利息支出為 2,990 萬美元。相比之下，上一季的銷售額為 3,310 萬美元。與 2024 年第三季相比，減少 320 萬美元主要是因為人員費用減少 140 萬美元。主要是由於本季收到年度回扣，導致健康保險費用減少約 675,000 美元。此外，由於本季抵押貸款活動放緩，我們的抵押貸款佣金減少了 40 萬美元。鑑於抵押貸款利率上升。

Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2025 we expect non-interest expense to be more in line with the third quarter's level. Given the number of onetime benefits that we experience in the fourth quarter and including annual salary adjustments. Moving to slide 21, we remain well capitalized with tangible common equity to tangible assets of 9.92% at the end of the fourth quarter. An increase of 15 basis points from the end of the third quarter. Tangible book value per share decreased to $25.40 as of December 31st, 2024, compared to $25.75 as of September 30th, 2024.

展望 2025 年第一季度，我們預期非利息支出將與第三季度的水準更加一致。考慮到我們在第四季度經歷的一次性福利數量以及年度薪資調整。轉到第 21 張投影片，我們仍然資本充足，截至第四季末，有形普通股本與有形資產之比為 9.92％。較第三季末增加15個基點。截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日，每股有形帳面價值下降至 25.40 美元，截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日為 25.75 美元。

The decrease was primarily driven by an $18.2 million decrease in accumulated other comprehensive income as the fair value of available for sale securities decreased. Partially offset by $14 million of net income after dividends paid.

下降的主要原因是可供出售證券的公允價值下降，導致累計其他綜合收入減少 1,820 萬美元。部分抵銷了支付股息後的 1,400 萬美元淨收入。

I'll give the call back to Curtis for concluding remarks.

我會把電話回給柯蒂斯，請他做最後發言。

Thank you, Steve. To conclude, and as I said, I am very proud of our financial results. We have effectively managed our liquidity to optimize our profitability and returns while taking proactive steps to ensure that we maintain the credit quality of our loan portfolio. Importantly, we are experiencing strong underlying loan demand which we believe will begin to come through as our payoffs begin to return to more normal levels.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。最後，正如我所說，我對我們的財務表現感到非常自豪。我們有效地管理我們的流動性，以優化我們的盈利能力和回報，同時採取積極措施，確保維持我們貸款組合的信用品質。重要的是，我們正經歷強勁的潛在貸款需求，我們相信，隨著我們的還款開始恢復到更正常的水平，這種需求將開始顯現。

We remain optimistic that economic growth is set to accelerate under the new administration and are well positioned to drive organic growth across both our community and metropolitan markets as we focus on expanding the bank and delivering value to all of our stakeholders.

我們仍然樂觀地認為，在新政府的領導下，經濟成長將會加速，我們有能力推動社區和大都會市場的有機成長，因為我們專注於擴大銀行規模，為所有利害關係人創造價值。

I would also like to thank our employees for their hard work over the last year. They are the key to our success and I am grateful for their continued commitment to our bank and our customers. Thank you again for your time today. Operator, please open the line for any questions.

我還要感謝我們的員工在過去一年的辛勤工作。他們是我們成功的關鍵，我感謝他們對我們銀行和客戶的持續承諾。再次感謝您今天抽出時間。接線員，如果您有任何問題請撥打電話。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指令）

Woody Lay, KBW.

伍迪·萊（Woody Lay），KBW。

Hey, good morning guys.

嘿，大家早安。

Hey, Woody, good morning.

嘿，伍迪，早安。

We wanted to start with the loan yield in the fourth quarter. I mean, it was pretty impressive to see that the relatively flat quarter-over-quarter, given the rate cuts. Any color on what allowed the loan yield to remain stable? There wasn't a sort of onetime interest benefit was there?

我們想從第四季的貸款收益率開始。我的意思是，考慮到降息，看到季度環比增長相對持平還是相當令人印象深刻的。有什麼具體原因使得貸款收益率保持穩定？不存在某種一次性利息福利，是嗎？

Hey, Woody, this is Steve. There was a little bit less than less than $200,000 of non-accrued interest that we got not necessarily out of line with what we see in other quarters. Really, -- you between that and just having loans pay off, we had some loans paying off that were at the, at lower rates quite frankly, which we were glad to see even some of the 4%, 5% loans pay off and then some of the new loans being booked that are at rates higher than what the average is. So overall, again we were very pleased with where that ended up but no real one bigtime non-recurring item.

嘿，伍迪，我是史蒂夫。我們獲得的未計利息略少於 20 萬美元，但這與其他季度的情況並不一定不一致。真的，在這和貸款償還之間，我們有一些貸款償還了，坦白說，這些貸款的利率較低，我們很高興看到甚至一些 4%、5% 的貸款也償還了，然後一些新貸款的利率高於平均水平。因此，總體而言，我們對最終結果感到非常滿意，但並沒有出現任何重大的非經常性項目。

Got it. That's helpful. And then any expectations near term for the margin, do you think it can remain stable aro around the 375 level or is there a chance that, it could even move higher?

知道了。這很有幫助。那麼，您對近期的利潤率有何預期呢？您認為它能保持穩定在 375 左右嗎？或者有沒有可能甚至走高？

That we've had a lot of discussion about that. We're going to be more conservative as you, and what we would, what we would say, I mean, I would hope we could keep it where it's at and hopefully incrementally improve, but a lot of that's really going to depend on loan growth and where that kind of ends up. I mean, you'll see us deposit costs will still come down just a little bit as.

我們已經對此進行了大量討論。我們會像你們一樣更加保守，我們會說，我的意思是，我希望我們能夠保持現狀，並希望逐步改善，但這在很大程度上取決於貸款成長及其最終結果。我的意思是，你會看到我們的存款成本仍然會下降一點點。

We flush out the rate cuts that were done mid-way through the quarter and things like that. And loan yields may trend down slightly just depending on where, how that ends up for a full quarter after those cuts. But we overall we would, -- with the right loan growth, I think we could see it stabilize and maybe grow incrementally.

我們將消除本季中期實施的降息措施以及類似措施。貸款收益率可能略有下降，具體取決於降息後整個季度的結果。但總體而言，如果貸款成長合理，我認為我們可以看到貸款穩定下來，甚至可能逐步成長。

We do this as Cory. I think the one thing that's going to help us do that is the fact that our liquidity position is where it is. It just gives us some opportunities to -- make sure we're not over pricing on the cost side.

我們以 Cory 的身份這樣做。我認為能夠幫助我們做到這一點的一件事就是我們的流動性狀況。這只是給我們一些機會——確保我們的成本方面定價不過高。

We Discourage. And like for everybody, this a lot's going to depend on what the fed decides to do. If they move forward with more rate cuts and the third President indicated, he'd sure like to see that. We'll see where we go but certainly rate cuts in our case will likely help our them. It may not be, again, one for one, but I think we would continue to gain by lower short-term rates, but we'll just have to see where that goes. But I kind of agree with Corey and Steve.

我們不鼓勵。對所有人來說，這很大程度上取決於聯準會的決定。如果他們繼續削減利率，第三任總統表示，他肯定樂意看到這一點。我們將拭目以待，但就我們的情況而言，降息肯定會對他們有所幫助。這也許不會再次出現一對一的情況，但我認為，較低的短期利率將繼續為我們帶來收益，但我們只需要看看情況會如何發展。但我有點同意 Corey 和 Steve 的看法。

We've got a lot of things in place that we should still see minor improvements in the NIM but may not be quite as strong as what we saw in the fourth quarter. But I think we'll continue to get some improvements through the year.

我們已經做好了很多準備，我們仍然應該看到 NIM 略有改善，但可能不如我們在第四季度看到的那麼強勁。但我認為我們今年會繼續取得一些進步。

Right. Well, you all consistently been beating the NIM guide. So we'll see how it turns out. Lastly on the loan pipeline, I mean it's great to hear all the color around the new customer activity just I, that concentrated in any one segment and then is it a reflection of new hires or is it just, a reflection of hard work?

正確的。好吧，你們一直在不斷超越 NIM 指南。我們看看結果如何。最後，關於貸款管道，我的意思是，我很高興聽到有關新客戶活動的所有信息，這些活動集中在任何一個部分，那麼這是新員工的反映，還是辛勤工作的反映？

Yes, Woody, this is Brent. It's a combination, I think of all those factors we have. A good production from new hires, but really, I think we've got a lot of optimism we're seeing from our clients. And capital outlays that they're planning to make, and our pipeline is much better than it was this time last year. So we feel optimistic about it too.

是的，伍迪，這是布倫特。我認為這是我們擁有的所有這些因素的結合。新員工的業績表現不錯，但實際上，我認為我們的客戶對我們抱持著很大的樂觀態度。他們計劃進行資本支出，而且我們的管道比去年同期好得多。因此我們對此也感到樂觀。

All right, that's all for me. Thanks for taking my questions.

好的，我就說這麼多了。感謝您回答我的問題。

Brett Rabatin, Hovde Group.

布雷特‧拉巴廷 (Brett Rabatin)，霍夫德集團 (Hovde Group)。

Hey, guys, good morning. Wanted to start on the payoffs if you talked about it quite a bit, but if you gave it, I missed the number but the number of or dollar amount of payoffs that you guys had in the quarter. And then it sounds like that, the pipeline continues to build. I guess I'm a little surprised you're being a little conservative and saying low to mid-single digit loan growth. I thought that number might be more mid to high single digits. So I was just hoping for some additional color on that.

嘿，大家早安。如果您談論了很多，我想從收益開始，但如果您給出了數字，我錯過了您本季收益的數量或金額。然後聽起來，管道正在繼續建造。我猜我有點驚訝您竟然有點保守，並說貸款成長率會低至中位數個位數。我認為該數字可能為中高個位數。所以我只是希望能對此添加一些色彩。

Hey, Brent, you're surprised we're being conservative.

嘿，布倫特，你對我們的保守態度感到驚訝。

Brett, I mean, we are striving to overdeliver on that, but payments were higher in the fourth quarter and frankly, some of that's nothing to apologize for our clients had, experienced some liquidity events. We had several that, had liquidity events, either decided to sell their real estate or had a significant excess liquidity and decided to reduce and that's good for them and we're fine with that.

布雷特，我的意思是，我們正在努力超額完成這一目標，但第四季度的付款更高，坦白說，這沒什麼好道歉的，因為我們的客戶經歷了一些流動性事件。我們遇到過幾起流動性事件，他們要么決定出售房地產，要么在流動性過剩的情況下決定減少，這對他們來說是好事，我們對此感到滿意。

I mean, we want to see our clients succeed in what they do. So we may see a little bit more of that with customers selling assets and that could be, I think we're thinking that that could be repeated in the first, maybe second quarter. But, we still feel confident in our pipeline and ability to that production will pace those if that makes sense.

我的意思是，我們希望看到我們的客戶在他們所做的事情上取得成功。因此，我們可能會看到更多客戶出售資產的情況，我認為這種情況可能會在第一季或第二季重複出現。但是，我們仍然對我們的流程和生產能力充滿信心，如果這有意義的話，我們的生產將會跟上這些步伐。

For one of the things that I was kind of pleased to see on a number of the payoffs that we had. I mean, you're going to have the seasonal stuff that comes along, you're going to have the stuff that we have no control over. But what was really nice is to see some of the transactions we had that were life events that actually happened to people that converted into investment opportunities for us on the other side that stayed here. And it goes back to the relationship aspect of what we fight for daily.

其中一件讓我感到高興的事就是我們取得了一些成果。我的意思是，你會遇到季節性的東西，你會遇到我們無法控制的東西。但真正令人高興的是，我們看到一些交易實際上是發生在人們身上的人生大事，而這些交易又轉化為我們留在這裡的投資機會。這又回到了我們每天為之奮鬥的關係面。

Okay. And then the other thing I wanted to ask about was just M&A and your capital ratio has gotten pretty healthy. And I don't know if you're thinking about using the buyback more at some point, but just you briefly mentioned M&A and talking about that, can you talk maybe a little bit more about what you're seeing from maybe potential partners? And is there a lot of interest from community banks at this point? What your outlook is for the potential acquisition market?

好的。然後我想問的另一件事是關於併購，你們的資本比率已經變得相當健康。我不知道您是否考慮過在某個時候更多地使用回購，但您剛才簡要提到了併購，談到這一點，您能否再談談您從潛在合作夥伴那裡看到的情況？目前社區銀行對此是否有很大興趣？您對潛在的收購市場有何展望？

And this Curtis. We continue to see an increase, I think in the number of ideas that are pitched to us by the investment bankers. They're looking at this as a real opportunity that as you well know it a couple of pretty lean years. So far, we haven't really seen anything that we liked quite well enough to get down to really trying to negotiate pricing on it. Indications are that you've got a lot of sellers of good banks that are still expecting probably a higher multiple than the market's ready to give, right now.

還有這個柯蒂斯。我認為，我們持續看到投資銀行家向我們提出的想法數量正在增加。他們將此視為一個真正的機會，但正如你們所知道的，接下來的幾年將是相當艱難的幾年。到目前為止，我們還沒有真正看到足夠讓我們喜歡的產品，以便真正嘗試就其價格進行協商。有跡象表明，許多優質銀行的賣家仍期望獲得比市場目前願意給出的更高的本益比。

And as we keep saying, we want the right deal, we'd rather not do anything at all rather than do one that's not going to benefit our shareholder's long term. And, something that there's, and that's not just banking, but if you look at it, so many businesses out there make a larger acquisition and their stock suffers for quite a while. And so we see no point in doing that.

正如我們一直說的，我們想要達成正確的交易，我們寧願什麼都不做，也不願意做一份無利於我們股東長期利益的交易。而且，存在這樣的情況，而且這不僅僅是銀行業，如果你看一下，你會發現很多企業進行了更大規模的收購，而他們的股票卻在相當長的一段時間內受到影響。因此我們認為這樣做毫無意義。

We want to do something that everybody's going to like and see the real value of and that the acquired institution would be very happy to be joining our fold. So we're going to keep our eyes out and we do continue to see more and more opportunities out there both in our part of the state and other parts of taxes well. So, my guestimation is we'll probably have something to talk about maybe later in the year, but we don't know until we really see it. It's that the environment for doing something is certainly better than what it's been.

我們希望做一些每個人都會喜歡並看到其真正價值的事情，而被收購的機構也會非常高興加入我們的行列。因此，我們會密切關注，我們確實會繼續看到，無論是在我們所在的州，還是在其他稅收地區，都有越來越多的機會。因此，我估計我們可能會在今年晚些時候談論一些事情，但我們只有真正看到它才會知道。做某事的環境肯定比以前更好了。

This is Cory. I think the one thing that I would tell you though is if you look at it, I don't think we ever been as well positioned as we are today to do an acquisition. And that's, we just got to find the right one and we are very, very much focused on it.

這是科里。我想告訴你的一件事是，如果你仔細想想，你會發現我們從來沒有像今天這樣具備進行收購的條件。那就是，我們只需要找到正確的一個，我們非常非常專注於它。

Okay. Appreciate the call guys.

好的。感謝你們的來電。

Stephen Scouten, Piper Sandler.

史蒂芬·斯考頓，派珀·桑德勒。

Hey, good morning, everyone. Thanks. I'm not sure Steve if you gave this data earlier to one of the questions, I might have missed it. But can you give us a feel for where new loan yields are coming on versus maybe some of the where the portfolio yields are rolling off at?

嘿，大家早安。謝謝。我不確定史蒂夫，如果你早些時候將這些數據提供給其中一個問題，我可能會錯過它。但是，您能否讓我們感受一下新貸款收益率的成長情況以及投資組合收益率的下降？

Yes, I would say, they're in the seven range. It could be all over in the sevens but generally probably in the low to mid, some there'd be some in the high but that low lower end probably.

是的，我想說，它們在七個範圍內。它可能在七分之內，但通常可能在低到中分，有些會有一些在高分，但可能在低端。

Got you. And that's coming off the books. Where is some of the fixed rate loans repriced on the average?

明白了。這已經不存在了。一些固定利率貸款的平均重新定價在哪裡？

Yes, I think so. I mean, help me understand your question again.

是的，我認為是這樣。我的意思是，請幫我再次理解你的問題。

Yes. So I mean, what is it, your total average yield is like 669, but I imagine some of the fixed rate loans that are coming off the books and repricing in that 7% range are probably more in the, I don't know, 4% to 5% range. I would guess there's probably some five-year-old loans that are in that range but just trying to get a feel for that kind of on off field dynamic.

是的。所以我的意思是，你的總平均收益率是 669，但我想一些從賬面上消失的固定利率貸款和在 7% 範圍內重新定價的貸款可能更多地在 4% 到 5% 的範圍內，我不知道。我猜可能有一些五年期的貸款在這個範圍內，但只是想感受一下這種場外動態。

Yes, we've got some there but quite frankly, we've had some, we've had some payoffs of loans at the higher yield as well. So but the fixed rate stuff generally is going to be in the upper fours and fives that have been coming off.

是的，我們在那裡有一些，但坦白說，我們也有一些以較高收益償還的貸款。但固定利率一般會處於已經出現的四到五個百分點的較高水準。

Okay. So still potentially getting a 152 basis points pick up on some of that fixed rate loan book as it reprices.

好的。因此，在重新定價時，部分固定利率貸款仍有可能獲得 152 個基點的收益。

Yes. And I think one thing Steven keep in mind, if you look at the quality of our portfolio, it's never going to be the highest portfolio out there because the credit quality is good. And so I mean, we really try to stay competitive, we try to profit to market and I really do feel good about the stuff that we're seeing coming in, whether it's the spreads around prime, that's what we really a lot of our stuff off of.

是的。我認為史蒂文要記住一件事，如果你看看我們的投資組合的質量，它永遠不會成為最高的投資組合，因為信用品質很好。所以我的意思是，我們確實努力保持競爭力，我們努力從市場中獲利，我對我們所看到的產品確實感到很滿意，無論是圍繞主要價格的利差，這都是我們真正獲得很多產品的基礎。

No, for sure. And I'm just kind of thinking about the NIM dynamic, I know obviously I think your name would respond best with some lower rates given slight liability sensitivity. But with the fixed rate loan book, I would think you could still see some nim expansion throughout the year in a stable rate environment. Would you agree with that?

不，當然。我只是在思考 NIM 動態，我顯然認為，考慮到輕微的責任敏感性，您的名字會對一些較低的利率做出最好的反應。但是有了固定利率貸款，我認為在穩定的利率環境下，全年仍然可以看到一定的淨利率擴張。你同意嗎？

Yes, this Curtis. I absolutely would. That's the reason I still feel confident we'll get some NIM expansion moving through '25. Because again, just with keep rates exactly where they are. And if our business pipeline moves as we think it will, you'll see a lot, a moderate increase in NIM. Nothing dramatic, but we'll continue to move up, probably not down. And if we got slightly lower short-term rates, it should move a little more in our favor, I think.

是的，就是這個柯蒂斯。我絕對會的。這就是我仍然相信到25年我們將實現一些 NIM 擴展的原因。因為再說一遍，只要將利率維持現狀不變即可。如果我們的業務管道按照我們想像的那樣發展，你會看到 NIM 會有很大的適度成長。沒有什麼戲劇性的事情，但我們會繼續上升，可能不會下降。我認為，如果我們的短期利率稍微降低一些，這應該會對我們更有利。

No, that's great. Okay, and maybe just for me, in full Honestly, I've been getting most of my Texas economic information from the show Landman. So I'd love to get kind of your thoughts on. What the potential drilling activity down in the Gulf of America could do for, in your view, your economies kind of, I mean, how that price of oil could affect your economies and overall loan demand, how you're thinking about that?

不，那太好了。好吧，也許只是對我來說，老實說，我的大部分德克薩斯州經濟資訊都是從《Landman》節目中獲取的。所以我很想聽聽你的想法。您認為美國灣的潛在鑽探活動會對你們的經濟產生什麼影響，我的意思是，油價會對你們的經濟和整體貸款需求產生什麼影響，你們對此有何看法？

Everybody's having to buy more insurance for these oil blowouts that are happening apparently now. So that's probably going to impact it. The price of oil is right now. We're seeing our service guys are, I mean, they're very optimistic about what their future is right now.

顯然，現在每個人都必須為發生的石油井噴購買更多的保險。所以這可能會對其產生影響。現在油價正好。我們看到我們的服務人員對他們現在的未來非常樂觀。

Yes, I would 100% agree with that. I think there's a lot of optimism in the Permian and in our markets just in part because of just energy prices, that this region is probably the lowest cost producer area in the country. And obviously, the highest volume so there is a lot of activity, and you see it when you drive there, it's just so I think we'll have opportunities around that. And frankly, that's a part of the reason, why our pipeline has expanded so much I think is just optimism around general economies.

是的，我完全同意。我認為人們對二疊紀盆地和我們的市場充滿樂觀情緒，部分原因是能源價格，這個地區可能是全國成本最低的生產區。顯然，這裡交通量最大，所以活動也很多，當你開車去那裡的時候你會看到它，所以我認為我們會有機會。坦白說，這也是我們的產品線擴張如此之多的原因之一，我認為這只是對整體經濟的樂觀情緒。

And I think if you look at this, I mean, if you look at the size of the bank, if you look at the size of customers that we actually bank in those markets. There are a lot of times the lower-class provider and they're seeing good opportunities in the markets right now. I mean, we're continuing to see good lending opportunities as a result of it as well.

我認為，如果你看看這個，我的意思是，如果你看看銀行的規模，如果你看看我們在這些市場實際銀行的客戶規模。很多時候，下層階級的供應商現在看到了市場上的好機會。我的意思是，我們也因此繼續看到良好的借貸機會。

On a more macro scale that again. Now nobody wants to see oil price down in the 50s, at least in our parts of Texas. But so I don't think we'll see that, but as we know, one of Mr. Trump's new good friends apparently is going to get arm twisted to push the world rate down some, we'll see where it goes. But realistically, if all I stay about where they are, the somewhat relaxed regulations, we'll see more drilling than what we've seen and you make a good point well.

從更宏觀的角度來看，情況也是如此。現在沒有人希望看到油價跌至 50 多美元，至少在我們德克薩斯州部分地區是如此。但我不認為我們會見到這種情況，但正如我們所知，川普先生的一位新朋友顯然會被迫將世界匯率壓低一些，我們拭目以待。但實際上，如果我保持現狀，稍微放鬆一些規定，我們將會看到比現在更多的鑽探，你說得很對。

We don't win into that market as such, you can really see offshore drilling pick up for the next 2 years to 4 years and for places like Houston generally that's a good macro event for that economy. It will really help drive overall business in the Houston market.

我們並沒有贏得該市場，但你確實可以看到未來 2 至 4 年海上鑽井活動將會增加，而對於休士頓這樣的地方來說，這對該經濟體來說通常是一件好事。這將真正有助於推動休士頓市場的整體業務。

Stephen. Just one last thing. Just know that we underwrite a much cheaper role.

史蒂芬。還有最後一件事。只知道我們承保了一個更便宜的角色。

Got it. Yes, that's helpful. And that's kind of what I was hoping to hear is in it and that's helpful. That sounds like the Permian maybe in and of itself as an area could do a little bit better given its lower cost to produce. So let's say drilling activity, it hasn't happened yet, but it does take down the price per barrel in the 60s or whatever the premium should be more insulated from any negative impacts in other parts of the country. Is what I hear you saying.

知道了。是的，這很有幫助。這正是我希望聽到的，這很有幫助。這聽起來好像二疊紀盆地本身可能會表現得更好一些，因為其生產成本較低。假設鑽探活動還沒有發生，但它確實將每桶價格拉低到 60 多美元，或者無論溢價如何，都應該能更好地抵禦對該國其他地區的任何負面影響。這就是我聽到你說的話。

Yes, absolutely sure.

是的，絕對確定。

Got it. That's super helpful. Thank you, guys, for the color. Congrats on a great '24.

知道了。這非常有幫助。謝謝你們，謝謝你們帶給我的顏色。恭喜你度過了美好的24年。

Joseph Yanchunis, Raymond James.

約瑟夫揚丘尼斯、雷蒙德詹姆斯。

Good morning,

早安,

Joe, how are you?

喬，你好嗎？

Oh, I'm doing great. So kind of want to start, on loans here for a moment. I appreciate the detail in the deck on the loans coming up for renewal. But as they come up for renewal, do you have a sense kind of historically speaking, for how much of these loans you typically retain versus what's being rolled off just trying to get, a little deeper sense into that repricing opportunity with how much stays with the bank.

噢，我很好。因此，我想先在這裡開始討論貸款問題。我很欣賞簡報中有關即將續借的貸款的詳細資訊。但是，當這些貸款需要續約時，從歷史角度來說，您是否能了解，這些貸款中有多少是您通常會保留的，有多少是被展期的，您是否能更深入地了解重新定價的機會以及有多少貸款留在銀行。

Before. I mean, the good thing for us though is we have a lot to come up for repricing that are not up for renewal, which plays a big role in what we do.

前。我的意思是，對我們來說好消息是，我們有很多東西需要重新定價，而這些東西不需要續約，這對我們的工作起著很大的作用。

That's right. Yes, that's so that's repricing, those aren't all maturing. I mean, we've so far been pretty successful at retention of repriced loans of course. There are times and that's part of the payoff experience we've had in the fourth quarter. Where customers have just decided to take advantage of gains and recapture equity and projects and that's okay too.

這是正確的。是的，這就是重新定價，這些還沒有全部到期。我的意思是，到目前為止，我們在保留重新定價貸款方面相當成功。有時候，這是我們在第四季度獲得回報的經驗的一部分。客戶剛剛決定利用收益並重新獲得股權和項目，這也是可以的。

I mean, we retain those relationships that may have lost the loan but retain the relationship. So it's kind of tough to predict who's going to decide to do that, but as far as the ones that we wanted to retain, we've retained them.

我的意思是，我們保留了那些可能失去貸款但保留了關係的人。因此很難預測誰會決定這麼做，但就我們想要保留的人來說，我們已經保留了他們。

And Jim, one thing that helps us is the ones that are up for repricing and not necessarily maturity, the refi penalty still stays. So that's always on the table. So we at least have that try to help us from a negotiation standpoint. We don't wait until these things are right at maturity, we're working them way early.

吉姆，對我們有幫助的一件事是，那些需要重新定價但不一定到期的貸款，再融資罰款仍然存在。因此我們始終會考慮這個。因此，我們至少可以從談判的角度嘗試幫助我們。我們不會等到這些事情成熟後才開始行動，而是很早就開始著手。

No, that's very helpful and then just kind of shifting over to credit, in the prior quarters, you've discussed optimism around resolving, rather chunky multifamily pro problem loan. Can you provide an update on how that process is progressing?

不，這非常有幫助，然後轉到信貸問題，在前幾個季度，您已經討論了對解決相當龐大的多戶型問題貸款的樂觀態度。能否介紹一下該進程的進展？

Yes, it's paying and it's, we're working the plan just like we'd expected. So I mean, I still feel really good about our credit quality and the trends and direction. I mean, we're not unique in the fact that I mean, we'll see other challenges, I'm sure and we'll work through those as we get them and, -- but as far as where we're at today and kind of, I'm optimistic with not only what we've done but what I expect we'll do in the future.

是的，這是有回報的，我們正在按照我們預期的那樣執行計劃。所以我的意思是，我仍然對我們的信用品質、趨勢和方向感到非常滿意。我的意思是，我們並不是獨一無二的，我們還會面臨其他挑戰，我確信我們會努力解決它們，但就我們目前的狀況而言，我不僅對我們已經做的事情感到樂觀，而且對我預計我們未來會做的事情也感到樂觀。

I think we've done a good job of trying to identify what challenges we think we're going to have and start working them early.

我認為，我們在確定我們將要面臨的挑戰並儘早開始解決這些挑戰方面做得很好。

Understood. That's all for me. Thank you for any more questions.

明白了。對我來說這就是全部了。謝謝您提出更多問題。

Thanks Joe.

謝謝喬。

Thank you, Mr Griffith, we have no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the floor back over to you for closing comments.

謝謝您，格里菲斯先生，我們現在沒有其他問題了。我想把發言權交還給您，請您發表最後評論。

Thank you, operator. As we've said today, South Plains Financial is well positioned for many opportunities and for what we believe, multiple economic scenarios. Our customer optimism is the best in a long time. I've seen some material, I'll give credit to Mr Tom Brown's newsletter last week. A national survey data shows that small business optimism is at its highest since 2018. And we do think that's going to translate into some loan growth for us and just better economic conditions all over.

謝謝您，接線生。正如我們今天所說的，South Plains Financial 已為眾多機會以及我們認為的多種經濟狀況做好了準備。我們的客戶樂觀度是長期以來最好的。我看過一些資料，我要感謝湯姆布朗先生上週的新聞通訊。一項全國性調查數據顯示，小型企業樂觀情緒達到2018年以來的最高水準。我們確實認為這將轉化為我們的貸款成長和總體經濟狀況的改善。

So our credit quality remains strong. we're always aware of the risks out there. We're going to continue to work on that. We'll continue to focus on controlling expenses and increasing them and we'll be ready if the right M&A deal comes along and we'll continue to be looking for opportunities in all those sectors. We thank you for your time today and I look forward to visiting with you if you ever have any questions for us. Thank you.

因此我們的信用品質仍然強勁。我們始終意識到存在的風險。我們將繼續努力。我們將繼續專注於控制費用並增加費用，如果有合適的併購交易出現，我們將做好準備，並將繼續在所有這些領域尋找機會。感謝您今天抽出時間，如果您有任何問題想問我們，我期待與您會面。謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation and have a wonderful day.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。現在您可以斷開您的線路。感謝您的參與並祝您有美好的一天。