Alan Villalon
Analyst · those indicated in the forward-looking statements are listed in the earnings release and the company's SEC filings. I would now like to turn the conference over to Alerus Financial Corporation President and CEO, Katie O'Neill Lorenson. Please go ahead
Thanks, Katie. Let's start on Page 9 of our investor deck, which is posted on the Investor Relations section of our website. I want to frame the quarter around 3 themes: strong loan growth funded by relationship deposits, a stable to improving core margin and continued excellent credit and shareholder value creation. We reported diluted EPS of $0.76 and adjusted diluted EPS of $0.71. The difference is primarily a $1.6 million net gain on the sale of premises, which we exclude from adjusted results. Compared to the third quarter of last year, reported EPS increased 17% and adjusted EPS increased 8%. Return on average tangible common equity was 17.35% and return on average assets was 1.45%. The linked quarter comparison is affected by 2 items from the second quarter that did not repeat. A $1.6 million onetime interest income recovery on a nonaccrual loan resolution and higher payoff-related purchase accounting of accretion. We also recorded a $2.2 million provision in the third quarter, reflecting strong loan growth in the quarter and updates to qualitative factors. Excluding those items, the underlying earnings engine continued to strengthen. Adjusted pre-provision net revenue was up 17% from a year ago. Tangible book value per share was $18.74, essentially flat from June 30 despite an increase in unrealized losses on securities from higher rates and $8.2 million of share repurchases and up nearly 11% from a year ago. Through the first 9 months, we returned $37.2 million to shareholders through dividends and repurchases. Let's turn to Page 16 to talk about earning assets. Total loans increased $150.5 million or 3.7% from June 30. Commercial loans increased $160.9 million, partially offset by a $10.4 million, a decline in consumer loans. Growth was led by commercial and industrial loans, up about $100 million and owner-occupied CRE up about $70 million, while multifamily CRE and residential mortgage balances declined modestly. Production was the strongest we have seen this year. New originations and renewals were $375 million and advances were $70 million, more than offsetting $238 million of payoffs. Importantly, new loans continue to originate at higher rates than our legacy portfolio rate, which supports continued improvement in core loan yields. In the upcoming quarters, we anticipate a little over $300 million of loan turnover per quarter. The investment portfolio increased $6.2 million or 0.8% as paydowns and maturities were reinvested. We continue to reinvest portfolio cash flows at yields above the existing portfolio yield, avoiding support to the margin. Overall, the balance sheet remains neutrally positioned to interest rate changes over a 12-month horizon. Turning to deposits on Page 17. Total deposits increased $111.3 million or 2.7% from June 30, primarily driven by growth in commercial deposits. Commercial loan growth brought operating and treasury management deposits with it. Noninterest-bearing deposits grew $53.9 million or 7.1% and represented nearly 19% of total deposits at quarter end. Money market and savings balances also grew $51 million. This is exactly the growth our strategy is built around. Full commercial relationships where the clients we add on the loan side also bring operating and treasury management deposits. Our loan-to-deposit ratio was 97.2%, and we continue to have ample liquidity to fund growth since we have no broker deposits on our balance sheet at the end of the third quarter. Synergistic deposits from our retirement business and wealth businesses represented 22.1% of total deposits. HSA deposits have increased 9% since the beginning of the year and carry an average cost of about 10 basis points, remaining one of the most attractive and durable funding sources in our franchise. HSA, along with noninterest-bearing deposits now represent over 24% of total deposits. Turning to Page 18. Net interest income was $46.7 million, down $1 million or 2.1% decrease from the second quarter, but up 8.3% from the third quarter of last year. Reported net interest margin was 3.84%, down 13 basis points from the second quarter and up 34 basis points from a year ago. The linked quarter decline was driven by the $1.6 million onetime interest recovery in the second quarter, which contributed approximately 13 basis points to the second quarter margin and modestly lowered purchase accounting accretion in the third quarter. Excluding those items, our core margin improved by approximately 3 basis points to 3.55% as higher loan and investment yields more than offset a modest 2 basis point increase in deposit costs. Purchase accounting accretion contributed 28 basis points to margin in the third quarter versus 31 basis points in the second quarter. Total cost of funds was 2.05% and the cost of total deposits was 1.84%. In the fourth quarter, we expect approximately $1.8 million of base contractual purchase accounting accretion with approximately $33 million of accretion remaining from our purchase of Home Federal Bank. Turning to Page 19. Adjusted noninterest income was $32.8 million, up 1.6% from the second quarter and up 11.3% from the third quarter of last year. Adjusted noninterest income continues to represent over 40% of adjusted revenue, roughly over double the industry average. Retirement and Benefit Services revenue increased 1.8% linked quarter, driven by recurring annual income and 7.1% year-over-year growth. Wealth Advisory revenue increased 3.8% linked quarter on higher brokerage and transaction-based revenues and 22% year-over-year growth. Adjusted banking fees and other income had decreased 1.5% linked quarter, primarily from lower mutual fund gains tied to deferred compensation plan assets and lower swap fees, partially offset by higher mortgage revenue and deposit service charges. On Page 20, banking services noninterest income increased $0.8 million or 10% from the second quarter, which includes a $1.6 million net gain on the sale of premises as we continue to optimize our facilities footprint. Mortgage revenue increased 4.2% linked quarter to $3.3 million. Originations increased to $127 million from $113 million in the second quarter and gain on sale margins improved. Productivity remained the majority of volume at 90% of originations. As we head into the fourth quarter, we expect a typical seasonal slowdown in mortgage activity. Service charges on deposit accounts increased over 10% from the second quarter, reflecting growth in both commercial and consumer revenue. Swap fee income declined modestly from the second quarter. As a reminder, we do not include swap fees in our guidance given the variability. Turning to Page 21. Retirement and Benefit Services revenue was $17.7 million, up 1.8% from the second quarter and 7.1% from a year ago. Recurring annual income grew to $15.6 million, up 6% year-over-year and pretax income improved from the second quarter. Assets under administration and management were stable at $44.9 billion. Retirement and Benefit Services continues to be one of Alerus' most significant differentiators. 63% of revenue is tied to plans, participants and activity rather than market levels, and the business continues to generate low-cost synergistic deposits, including HSA balances that have grown 9% so far this year. On Page 22, Wealth Advisory Services revenue was $8 million, up 3.8% from the second quarter and 22% from a year ago. Pretax income increased to $1.8 million from $1.3 million in the second quarter, reflecting operating leverage as we scale the business. Assets under administration and management were $5.2 billion, down a modest 0.6% from June 30. Wealth continues to deepen client relationships across the organization and contributes to recurring advisory-based fee income alongside relationship deposits. Turning to Page 23. Adjusted noninterest expense was $53.7 million, up 2.0% from the second quarter. Compensation and benefits increased $0.6 million, primarily due to higher self-funded group insurance costs. Other expense increased $0.4 million, mainly from seasonal advertising campaigns. Occupancy, technology and professional fees were relatively stable. Year-to-date, adjusted noninterest expense is $156.6 million, and our year-to-date efficiency ratio remains in the low 60% range. We continue to invest in talent and technology, while maintaining expense discipline. Turning to Page 24. Credit quality remained excellent. We recorded net recoveries of $1 million in the quarter or 10 basis points of average loans, primarily from a $1.1 million recovery of the commercial and industrial relationship we charge off in the second quarter. That relationship has a remaining reserve of $0.9 million or about 61% of its book balance. Nonperforming assets declined $16.4 million or 30 basis points of total assets and nonperforming loans were 0.17% of total loans. Criticized loans declined to 1.96% of total loans compared to 4.66% a year ago. We recorded a $2.2 million provision, primarily driven by loan growth and updates to qualitative factors, and our reserve to total loans increased 3 basis points to 1.23% with reserves covering nonperforming loans more than 7x. On Page 25, capital and liquidity remains strong. Our common equity Tier 1 ratio was 10.5%, well above regulatory requirements. Tangible common equity to tangible assets was 8.77%, down 28 basis points from June 30, reflecting balance sheet growth, higher unrealized losses on available-for-sale securities from higher rates and share repurchases. During the quarter, we repurchased 250,000 shares for $8.2 million at an average price of $32.75. Our first priority for capital remains supporting attractive organic growth. With capital remaining strong, share repurchases continue to provide an additional avenue for returning excess capital to shareholders. Total liquidity was approximately $2.9 billion or approximately $1.9 billion, excluding brokered CD capacity. Turning to Page 26. Our full year 2026 guidance and we remain well positioned to achieve our full year objectives. We expect mid-single-digit loan growth for the full year. Through September, loans have grown 3.4% from year-end with strong momentum heading into the fourth quarter. Low single-digit deposit growth. Year-to-date, deposits have grown 2.7%, led by commercial relationships. Full year reported net interest margin of 3.75% to 3.85%. Our year-to-date margin is 3.86%, supported by favorable loan and investment repricing and the overall positioning of the balance sheet. We do anticipate some contraction with purchase accounting diminishing and the recent rise in rates pushing up our cost of funds. Adjusted revenue and adjusted noninterest income to grow in the mid-single digits, driven by wealth and retirement businesses. Swap fee income remains excluded from this guidance. Adjusted noninterest expense to increase low to mid-single digits as we continue strategic hiring and full year adjusted return on assets to be above 1.25%. As we finalize our 2027 plan, we continue to focus on generating positive operating leverage on a PPNR basis. In summary, the quarter demonstrated the strength of our relationship-based growth strategy. We generated nearly 4% linked quarter loan growth funded by strong commercial deposit growth. Underlying margin trends remain favorable. Our fee businesses delivered double-digit year-over-year growth and credit quality remains strong. At the same time, we continue to invest in organic growth and return capital to shareholders. We entered the fourth quarter with strong momentum and remain focused on creating sustainable long-term shareholder value. With that, let's open up for Q&A.