Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Third Quarter 2021 CVB Financial Corporation and its subsidiary, Citizens Business Bank earnings conference call. My name is Catherine and I’ll be your operator for today. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer period. Please note, this call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the presentation over to your host for today’s call, Christina Carrabino. Please proceed.

Thank you, Catherine, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to review our financial results for the third quarter of 2021. Joining me this morning are Dave Brager, Chief Executive Officer; and Allen Nicholson, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Our comments today will refer to the financial information that was included in the earnings announcement released yesterday. To obtain a copy, please visit our website at www.cbbank.com and click on the Investors tab. While the COVID-19 pandemic has receded from peak levels since over – seen over the past year and business conditions continue to improve as the U.S. economy reopens, the pandemic is still ongoing and more contagious and virulent variants of the COVID-19 virus have surfaced and spread throughout the U.S., including in the company’s markets in California. As a result, the COVID-19 pandemic may still carry the potential to significantly affect the banking industry in California and the company’s business prospects. The ultimate impact on our business and financial results and on the health and safety of our employees will depend on future developments which are uncertain and cannot be predicted, including the infectious and pathogenic properties of COVID-19 variants as they develop, the safety, effectiveness, distribution and public acceptance of vaccines developed to mitigate the pandemic and actions taken by government authorities in response to the pandemic. The speakers on this call claim the protection of the Safe Harbor provisions contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements, please see the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and in particular the information set forth in Item 1A, risk factors therein. Now, I will turn the call over to Dave Brager. Dave?

Thank you, Christina. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. We reported net earnings of $49.8 million for the third quarter of 2021 or $0.37 per share representing our 178th consecutive quarter of profitability. We previously declared an $0.18 per share dividend for the third quarter of 2021, which represented our 128th consecutive quarter of paying a cash dividend to our shareholders. Third quarter net earnings of $49.8 million or $0.37 per share compared with $51.2 million for the second quarter of 2021 or $0.38 per share, and $47.5 million for the year ago quarter or $0.35 per share. Through the first nine months of 2021, we earned $164.8 million or $1.21 per share compared with $127.1 million or $0.93 per share for the first nine months of 2020. For the third quarter of 2021, our pre-tax pre-provision income was $65.7 million compared with $69.7 million for the prior quarter and $66.9 million for the year ago quarter. The third quarter included relatively strong core loan growth as well as strong credit metrics and a declining allowance for credit losses. In addition, greater than 99% of our customers $1.1 billion in PPP round one loans were forgiven as of quarter end. We recorded a recapture provision for credit losses of $4 million for the third quarter of 2021. And in comparison, we recorded a recapture of provision for credit losses of $2 million for the second quarter of 2021. The recapture provision was primarily the result of our forecast of continuing improvements in macroeconomic variables, including GDP growth and decreasing unemployment. For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we recaptured $25.5 million of provision for credit losses, which reverses the $23.5 million of provision expense recorded during the first nine months of 2020. During the third quarter, we…

Thanks, Dave. Good morning, everyone. Our effective tax rate was unchanged at 28.6% when compared to the second of 2021 and 29% for the year ago quarter. Our effective tax rate can vary depending on the level of tax advantage income as well as available tax credits. Our allowance for credit loss has decreased by $4 million from the second quarter of 2021, as a result of the $4 million recapture provision for credit loss. At September 30, 2021, our ending allowance for credit losses was $65.4 million or 0.83% of total loans when excluding PPP loans, our allowance as a percentage of the remaining loans was 0.87%, which compares to 0.91% at the pre-pandemic period end of December 31, 2019. In addition to the allowance for credit losses, we had $21 million in remaining fair value discounts from acquisitions at September 30, 2021. The recapture provision for credit loss was primarily the result of continued improvement in our forecast of certain macroeconomic variables, including the unemployment rate and GDP growth. For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we have recorded a recapture of provision for credit losses of $25.5 million. This compares to the provision for credit losses of $23.5 million we recorded in the first half of 2020, due to the estimated impact on loan losses from the economic forecast of a significant downturn in the economy resulting from COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the magnitude of government economic stimulus from the wide availability of vaccines, our latest economic forecast continues to reflect improvements in key macroeconomic variables. And therefore lower projected loan losses, which resulted in a decrease in our allowance for credit losses to $65.4 million. Our economic forecast continues to be a blend of multiple forecasts produced by Moody’s. These U.S. economic forecast include a…

Thank you, Allen. Citizens Business Bank remains well positioned to take advantage of the improving economic environment in California. According to various economic reports, many parts of the California economy have recovered to their pre-pandemic levels. However, over the past three to six months, supply chain interruptions and labor shortages have impacted many of the businesses and industries that we serve. We continue to remain focused on assisting our customers with any negative impact of these issues on their businesses. Our pre-tax pre-provision earnings remain strong despite the impact of the low interest rate environment and prevailing lower line utilization rates due to the strong customer liquidity. We believe that our net interest margin will increase in a rising rate environment, and we are seeing the steady improvement in our loan pipeline from previous quarters translate into solid loan growth. We are excited about our announced acquisition of Suncrest Bank and the opportunities it provides to expand in the Sacramento market, as well as to solidify our significant position in the Central Valley. Please stay healthy and safe. That concludes today’s presentation. Now, Allen and I will be happy to take any questions that you might have.

Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Brett Rabatin with Hovde Group. Your line is open.

Hey, good morning, everyone.

Good morning, Brett.

Wanted to first ask just, looking at the balance sheet, can you talk maybe about the security purchases during the quarter, when those were done and just thinking about 4Q, how much liquidity you might deploy and how we should think about the absolute level of NII, obviously, 3Q was a margin compression story.

Sure. If you look at the point to point from June 30 to September 30 growth that was about $667 million, but on an average balance perspective, we only grew by about $187 million. So that obviously reflects that some of those purchases happen later in the quarter. We were seeing better attractive yield as the quarter was coming to a close. So we’ll continue to buy securities, but we’ll continue to be very balanced. And I think we’re sort of coming to the expectation that interest rates should be growing next year. And then we certainly want to keep some of our powder dry to take advantage of that. So we’ll continue to invest, but we’re not going to turn the $2.3 billion into securities overnight.

Okay. Any color on the size you might do in the fourth quarter?

It really will depend on where rates go. Yeah, we try to be very opportunistic in the marketplace, when we see rates are rising and we’ll continue to take that approach.

Okay. Fair enough. And then was curious, trust was a little bit softer this quarter. Was there any fundamental change there or can you maybe comment on trust in 3Q?

Yes. There wasn’t any fundamental change or was just a couple of things that happen in the second quarter that really sort of jumped those numbers up. But I think, we have a big focus on trust and the opportunities there, especially with all of this excess liquidity that’s on our balance sheet. So we’re very focused on continuing to grow that, no big issue, just some timing, some other things. So, yes, the fees that are driven off of assets under management were relatively flat today. And we do have some extra income in the second quarter, when our customers pay for their taxes. So there’s a little bit of noise sometimes in the second quarter as well.

Okay. And then just lastly for me, you talked about earlier a loan pipeline strengthening and obviously you had good core growth in 3Q from a couple different aspects of the loan portfolio, obviously, there’s some seasonality with ag. Can you talk maybe about the outlook, could you become more of a high single digit story from here and maybe how we should think about the loan growth prospects over the next year maybe?

Yes. I mean, we – as I’ve said in the past, I mean, we actually have had two very strong years in a row of loan production. Last year was a record year for us. This year, our loan production is up over last year’s production. We look to continue to have a strong fourth quarter here. Our pipelines remain strong. So we want to bank the best businesses. We bank the top 25% of clients in the respective industries and build long-term relationships. So that pie, that amount of opportunity there is somewhat limited, as evidenced by the credit quality we have. So I think in that range, where we’ve been and where we ended the third quarter are probably fair. So the mid range of single digits is probably where we are going to perform going forward. If we can get the best customers and grow faster great, but we’re not going to sacrifice credit quality to grow loans.

Okay. That’s great color. Appreciate it.

Thank you. Our next question comes from Gary Tenner with D.A. Davidson. Your line is open.

Thanks. Good morning.

Good morning.

Couple of questions for me. In terms of the new loan production yields during the quarter, Allen, could you give us a sense of where those came in?

I mean, I would say, as we’ve talked about before, at a call it, a coupon level, Gary, no fees, nothing like that. You’re still looking at something in the 3.50% to 3.60% range, it’s been fairly consistent.

Okay, great. And with regard to the 10b5, is that just a technical reason that you had to suspend it, given the shares that’ll be issued? I guess, ultimately my question is, yeah, post Suncrest, it would seem that you’d still be continuing to build capital a pace that outpaces, the organic growth needs. So once that deal settles would you expect to be back in the market on buyback?

So it was a regulatory requirement for us to terminate it. And if you look back through our history probably going back the last two acquisitions, when we’ve been issuing shares, we’ve had to terminate it. We typically put it back in place after those mergers have been completed. Certainly, the board will evaluate that after we do the acquisition with Suncrest. So we’ll see, but historically, yes, we have put those back in place.

Thanks very much.

Thank you. Our next question comes with – comes from Matthew Clark with Piper Sandler. Your line is open.

Hey, good morning guys.

Good morning.

Maybe first one, do you happen to have the average PPP balance in the quarter?

I believe we…

Yes, do you want to follow-up with another question? We’ll get it to you in a second.

Sure. It looks like your earning assets at the – on an end of period basis are over $15 billion, which bodes well for NII in the upcoming quarter. But your NIM, I would think would take another leg down. What are your expectations on the NIM kind of stabilizing? I would think it would be the second half of next year with the additional PPP running off maybe over the next couple of quarters. But what are your thoughts around the overall NIM?

Yes. Well, I think there’s a couple of different aspects to that. Number one, obviously, it depends on what happens with rates and the 10-year treasury has gone up a little bit. That’s one of the indices that we price on, obviously, depending on what happens with the fed and raising rates. The excess liquidity, we’re going to be cautious and we’re going to invest – hopefully, we invest that in loans. But at the end of the day, we’re also not going to just overload on the investment side. So I think that if we don’t necessarily forecast where NIMs going to be at least publicly forecast, where we think our NIMs going to be. But I hope that we are in a position as we continue to grow loans. And our customers utilize some of that excess liquidity that the NIM stabilizes. As I mentioned, I think we had an over 55 basis point difference in our NIM based on just the $2.3 billion we had overnight at the fed. So some of that liquidity, our customers’ liquidity starts to go away. We should be in a much better position. I think we have the number for the average PPP loans for you as well.

Yes, Matthew, net of deferred fees, we had about $502 million on an average in the third quarter, which would compare to about $838 million in the second quarter this year.

Great.

And Matthew, I’m sorry, just one quick addition to that. We’ve done a really outstanding job. I mean, over 99% of PPP 1 balances are gone. I think, the national average is 70%. So our efficiency in getting those loans forgiven has created some of that excess liquidity too. So we are happy that we were able to help our customers and get it done. And now, we hope that as the economy opens up, they’ll start to utilize some of that excess liquidity as well. So sorry, I just wanted to add that.

Great. And then just on your outlook for hiring additional producers, what’s your outlook there and how would you say the ones that you’ve hired over the last 12 to 18 months are contributing to loan growth we’re seeing?

Yes. Right now, we’re focused on the integration and getting the Suncrest deal close, which we’re acquiring a number of producers and we believe that they are great people that will be able to contribute to the growth of our bank. We’re really focused on that right now, but to answer the second part of your question, the people that we have hired in the past 12 months, I think, are doing a very good job. They’ve been a big part of why our loan production is up. They’ve been a big part of why we’ve grown loans at a 6% clip annualized in the last quarter. So I’m very opportunistic about what that looks for – what that bodes going forward bodes well, I believe for us to continue to see some positive loan growth. So they’ve done a good job.

Okay. And then last one for me, just around M&A, I guess, how are your discussions with other banks going? Would you say it’s been more active since you announced the Suncrest deal or less active?

That’s a really good question. I think it’s been about the same, maybe slightly be more active. We obviously have proven that we can integrate and we have a good currency and people want our stock. So I get a lot of phone calls. There are some that I’m interested in and some that I’m not. But at the end of the day, I would say it’s – those conversations are at a minimum the same and maybe even slightly higher, slightly more conversations.

Great. Thanks a lot.

Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from David Feaster with Raymond James. Your line is open.

Hi, good morning, everybody.

Good morning, David.

I just wanted to start on the CRE growth. I was pretty impressive. Just wanted to get a sense of maybe where you’re seeing strength and whether there’s any certain segments or markets that’s driving that. And then just on the competitive landscape within CRE, from an underwriting perspective, are you seeing more non-recourse or more aggressive underwriting that’s causing you any concern at this point?

I’ll answer your second part of that question first. So I don’t think we’re really seeing any difference over the last couple of quarters on the underwriting. I think it’s been pretty consistent. We obviously have not modified our underwriting guidelines and are still focused on top quality properties. And as evidence, in our investor deck, we have some information on LTVs that origination and average loan sizes, and that tells a pretty good story. But where we’re seeing the growth is really across all segments. I’d say with retail being the lowest, but industrial, multi-family, then office, then retail, I’d probably say in that order, as far as where we’re seeing the opportunities and the values and everything going on, I mean, we underwrite to cash flow. So that’s part of the reason why our loan to values are lower because we have to know that the cash flow supports the loan amount that we’re doing, even though the value, the market value might be significantly higher. So I think we’re seeing kind of similar underwriting from most banks. I mean there’s always a few out there that, that do things a little bit differently. Where we’ve probably competed more so in most situations is on rate and that’s been something that I think we’ve sort acquiesced and done to Allen’s point earlier that he made kind of in that 350 to 360 range whereas maybe a few years back, we might not have been as aggressive on the pricing, but we want to get the best deals. And so we’re having to price for those. We are still seeing some very outrageous pricing from some institutions and where there’s a relationship, as I’ve always said, we’ll compete. If it’s transaction, we’re less interested in going to the bottom of the of the barrel there.

That makes sense. And then maybe switch to the ag portfolio, obviously we’re in a seasonally stronger quarter. Just wanted to get a sense of what you’re seeing in the ag book and whether you’ve seen any impacts from the drought, has that impacted demand at all, or are there any concerns on the credit front as a result of that?

Yes, that’s a good question. So again, just a couple of things on the ag and – by ag, I’m speaking of dairy & livestock and our Agribusiness Group, which is more production ag. The dairy & livestock group increase is combination of new relationships that we’ve brought on board are probably most of that increase and advances are a small part. So we really haven’t seen the seasonal uptick in the dairy & livestock that we normally see yet that normally occurs in the fourth quarter. So we still anticipate that to happen. But the third quarter was really us attracting a couple of new relationships to the bank. So that, that has been a positive. The second thing I would say is as far as the drought or any other risk that’s out there, we’ve always underwritten the same. We underwrite for two sources of water. The drought is something that we’re very aware of and very conscious of. Our customers or prospects that we’re talking to want to make sure that they understand the risk involved with that. And so it is impacting probably what we potentially might do, but it’s not impacting our existing customers, because when we underwrote them, we made sure that they had the appropriate sources of water.

Got it. That makes sense. And then last one for me, just wanted to touch on kind of the one of the prongs of growth you’ve got clearly the organic side, the M&A side, we’ve some de novo expansion. Just wanted to get an update on the Modesto office, kind of what’s the early read on that. How has that contributed to growth and then just any appetite for additional de novo opportunities and if you do, where would you be interested?

Yes, that’s a good question. We – so if I – Modesto technically just opened a couple months ago although we’ve had the manager on board since almost the beginning of the year I believe. So I’m happy with what’s happening in Modesto. We’re still building out the team. I – we have – I think one more position to hire there, and I believe we’re – that’s going to be filled here very shortly. So their pipelines are strong. They’re starting to book loans. So it takes a little bit to get that going, but I’m very, very opportunistic about Modesto. What I’ve asked Brian Mauntel, our President to do is meet with each of the regional managers identify de novo opportunity within their market. And let’s take a look and evaluate which ones we want to prioritize. And so those are generally within the markets that we serve already, but could be adjacent too. It just depends on the opportunity to hire talent. And so we’re going to now that we’re getting towards the closure of the Suncrest deal. We’re going to be focused on looking at de novo teams. Our method of operation there is we get the de novo making money. Once the last de novo is making money, we look to do another one. So we don’t want to have a drag on earnings to more than one at a time, but Modesto will be there, I believe in the next couple of months and then we’ll be ready to do a another one.

Okay. That makes sense. Thanks, everybody.

Thank you.

Thank you. [Operator Instructions] And I’m showing no further questions in the queue. I’d like to turn the call back to Dave Brager for closing comments.

Great. Thank you. I want to thank everybody for joining us this quarter. We appreciate your interest and look forward to speaking with you in January for our fourth quarter, and yearend 2021 earnings call. Please let Allen or I know if you have any questions. Have a great day and thanks for listening. Bye-bye.

Thank you. This concludes today’s conference call. You may now disconnect.