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OFG Bancorp (OFG)

Q1 2026 Earnings Call· Tue, Apr 21, 2026

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Please standby. Good morning. Thank you for joining OFG Bancorp's conference call. My name is Nikki; I will be your operator today. Our speakers are José Rafael Fernández, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors; Maritza Arizmendi, Chief Financial Officer; and Cesar A. Ortiz-Marcano, Chief Risk Officer. A presentation accompanies today's remarks. It can be found on the homepage of the OFG Bancorp website under the first quarter 2026 section. This call may feature certain forward-looking statements about management's goals, plans, and expectations. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties outlined in the Risk Factors section of OFG Bancorp's SEC filings. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated. We disclaim any obligation to update information disclosed in this call as a result of developments that occur afterwards. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer session. Instructions will be given at that time. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Fernández. José Rafael Fernández: Good morning, and thank you for joining us. We are pleased to report our first quarter results. Let us go to Page 3 of our presentation. We started the year with a strong financial performance. Earnings per share diluted were up 26% year-over-year, on 4% growth in total core revenues. This was driven by ongoing loan growth, high-quality credit performance, core deposit strength, expense discipline, and proactive balance sheet management. Loans grew 5% year-over-year, and new loan production grew 9%. Reported core deposits declined 1%; excluding the previously announced $500 million government deposit transfer, core deposits grew more than 4% year-over-year. This demonstrates how our strategies and operating model continue to deliver, supported by momentum in our businesses and disciplined execution across the…

Maritza Arizmendi

Management

Thank you, José. Let us turn to Page 6 to review our financial highlights. All comparisons are to the fourth quarter unless otherwise noted. Core revenues at $186 million were approximately level. Total interest income was $194 million, a decrease of $3 million. This reflected lower average balances of cash and investment securities at lower average yields. This was partially offset by higher average balances of loans at higher average yields. First quarter interest income included $3.3 million from a PCD loan paid in full. There were two fewer days in the first quarter; this negatively affected interest income by about $3.1 million. Total interest expense was $40 million, a decrease of $4 million. This reflected lower average balances of core deposits at lower average yields. This was partially offset by higher average balances of brokered CDs and borrowings at lower average yields. The two fewer days reduced interest expense by approximately $1 million. Total banking and financial service revenues were $32 million, a decrease of $600 thousand. This reflected favorable MSR valuation of about $1.3 million, while the fourth quarter included $2.3 million in annual insurance commission recognition. The other income category was $200 thousand compared to a loss of $1.1 million. The change reflected the absence of several previously reported items from the fourth quarter. Noninterest expense totaled $95 million, down $10.3 million from the fourth quarter. The first quarter included $1 million in merit raises, $700 thousand in payroll taxes, $1 million in costs related to our capital market readiness and registration process, $3.6 million in business-related volume incentives compared to $3.1 million a year ago, and $2.5 million net cost savings. The fourth quarter included net $6.8 million in previously reported expense items. Income tax was $14.9 million compared to a benefit of $8 million in…

Cesar A. Ortiz-Marcano

Management

Thank you, Maritza. Please turn to Page 8. Before getting into the details, let me start with the key highlights for the quarter. Our thesis that higher customer liquidity in the first quarter drives better credit metrics was reinforced. We saw that most clearly across the retail portfolios, where early-stage and total delinquency trends improved sequentially, consistent with normal seasonality. Net charge-offs totaled $21 million, down $5.5 million, reflecting normal portfolio activity with continued improvement in retail loss trends. Net charge-offs reflected $3.9 million from our final settlement of a previously reserved U.S. loan, while the fourth quarter included $4.8 million related to a nonperforming loan sale. The net charge-off rate was 1.05%, an improvement of 27 basis points from the fourth quarter. The auto net charge-off rate declined sequentially to 1.52%, an improvement of 29 basis points. The consumer net charge-off rate also improved to 4.40%, 15 basis points better than the fourth quarter. Provision for credit losses was $22.5 million, down $9 million from the fourth quarter. This reflected $17.5 million from increased loan volume, $3.7 million in added reserves for a previously reserved commercial loan, and $1 million for newly classified small commercial loans. Allowance coverage remains strong at 2.48% of loans, and reserve levels continue to appropriately reflect the risk profile of the portfolio. Looking at other retail credit metrics, early and total delinquency rates declined meaningfully from the fourth quarter to 2.2% and 3.4%, respectively. These improvements were broad-based across the retail portfolios, with auto, consumer, and mortgage all showing better early-stage performance. The nonperforming loan rate was 1.47%, down 12 basis points. Retail nonperforming loan rates improved sequentially in auto and consumer, while remaining stable in mortgage. Overall, retail credit behavior was consistent with the seasonal improvement we typically see in the first quarter,…

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Star one on your telephone keypad. If you wish to remove yourself from the queue, press star two. We will take our first question from Analyst. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Analyst

Analyst

Good morning. Wanted to start just on the margin. Even excluding the $3.3 million, that would have made it about 5.24%. That was better than anticipated. When I look at the cost of deposits—if I heard correctly, 1% excluding the government deposits in the quarter—it seems like things turned out better than expected on the margin. I know the guidance is for a slightly lower level from here, but any thoughts on potential positives for the margin relative to the guidance, whether it be loan pricing or any other factors? It seems like you are probably getting close to a bottom on funding costs. José Rafael Fernández: So, Brett, before I let Maritza give you the specifics, let us be clear. For us to provide guidance on the margin is a little tricky given the uncertainty on when and how much of the large government deposit will exit and how those funds will be replaced. So when we give guidance on the NIM, we are using the most conservative guidance possible because we really do not want to promise something that we do not deliver on. Bear that in mind. We still have significant deposits from the government that have been telegraphed to us that they will depart sometime. We do not know if it is tomorrow or if it is next year. Replacing those deposits, we certainly bet that our business teams—the commercial team as well as the retail team—as they did this first quarter, will deliver and deliver substantially better than what we expected in the first quarter. It definitely has a lot to do with the economic background that we are living in Puerto Rico, and sometimes we undermine that in our own forecast, given the 22 or 23 years that we have operated on the island. Now I will pass the answer to Maritza so she can give you the specific details.

Maritza Arizmendi

Management

Thanks, José, for that. For the first quarter, deposits increased at a higher rate than expected. It was very good momentum for us. The reality is that, going forward, thinking about the rate scenario we are managing—with no cuts—we do not see much flexibility to push down more the cost of deposits. So we will continue to see deposit costs at the same level as we saw during the first quarter. The other element embedded within the range I provided is asset composition, because we will continue to see the commercial book becoming a higher proportion as auto continues to go down, as I shared in the prepared remarks. That means we also have some impact in the loan yield that during this quarter went down 2 basis points ex-recovery. We are seeing the asset sensitivity and the liability sensitivity somehow compensating between the two. Since the NIM we saw during the quarter—excluding the recovery—was 5.25%, we expect it roughly stable, maybe 5 basis points down or up. That is why we are giving the 5.1% to 5.2% range for the full year. We will also need to manage liquidity through the year, as José was mentioning. José Rafael Fernández: And you know us—we are going to be conservative in all the guidance that we provide. We have been doing that for many years. That is where we stand, Brett.

Analyst

Analyst

Okay. And can you remind me, José Rafael, how much of the government deposit piece is left? I know you are unsure of the timing, but any thoughts? José Rafael Fernández: Around $600 million on the one deposit. Remember, the other $500 million went to our broker-dealer, so we are getting a little bit of a fee there. That is where it stands right now.

Analyst

Analyst

Okay. And then on credit quality, I heard the comments and it makes sense—there is some seasonality related to early-stage delinquencies—but there was some nice improvement this quarter. Was there anything else that might have been driving the improvement other than seasonality and customers having higher liquidity during 1Q? Are you seeing any other broad-based things that were improving credit? José Rafael Fernández: Back in late 2022, we improved the underwriting standards to make sure that we booked higher quality, because that was a record-breaking period. We wanted to use that moment to improve our portfolio quality. Now we are seeing the results of those improvements in the credit metrics, where the auto portfolio is 99% prime. We are starting to see the benefits in the credit metrics of those adjustments that we did in 2022. When you think about it, the seasonality of the vintage that is coming due in 2026 is one that already has 80% plus in prime. So we expect to have lower loss content in the vintages that are becoming seasonal in the next couple of years. That is an additional element of our consumer credit portfolio.

Analyst

Analyst

Yep. Okay. And then just last one for me around the broad macro. I saw this morning that construction in Puerto Rico was slightly off in January, maybe February, and with higher oil prices and inflation—anything you are seeing in terms of macro in Puerto Rico and opportunities or challenges? José Rafael Fernández: You have heard me before talk about Puerto Rico’s economy, and it remains very constructive, very positive. Puerto Rico is in its best economic position in many decades. Right now, Puerto Rico has only 30% debt-to-GDP. Puerto Rico has the lowest levels of unemployment in seventy-some years. Puerto Rico receives around $4 billion to $6 billion in reconstruction funds a year and will continue to receive them for the next five to seven years. Puerto Rico is benefiting from onshoring of medical devices and pharmaceuticals, leveraging infrastructure that has been in place for many years. Manufacturing is around 45% of the island’s economy. We are also back in the limelight in terms of our geopolitical positioning; you saw when the military went into Venezuela, it all came from Puerto Rico, and they are increasing their military presence on the island. We will certainly have to face threats coming from geopolitical events and inflationary pressures, and if the United States potentially goes into a recession, we will get some of those effects. But Puerto Rico is in a much stronger position today than several decades ago to embark on those challenges. Month-to-month changes in economic data points are real, but on the ground we are seeing high levels of liquidity, strong interest in building infrastructure, strong private investments. We are meeting with commercial clients—just yesterday I had lunch with clients who are putting money to work in different industries. I think the next several years in Puerto Rico are going to continue to be steady growth. We are seeing a solid, positive economic environment that is not exempt from threats and risks, but we have been managing them for many years, and we are confident that we will continue to grow our client base, our loans, and our deposits—being very strategic and very intentional. Our team is really focused on being the challenger bank on the island and gaining market share. That is my view.

Analyst

Analyst

I appreciate all the color, and it has been good to see the onshoring. Thanks. José Rafael Fernández: Thank you.

Operator

Operator

We will move next with Analyst. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Analyst

Analyst

Thanks. Good morning. The deposit growth surprised me. Despite the government deposit you had guided as coming out, you had pretty strong growth in the quarter to cover that, where I thought it would actually come in through the borrowing side. You mentioned that Libre, Elite, and MyBiz all contributed. Are you seeing any particular growth in any one of those products, and were you doing anything special to drive that growth in the first quarter? José Rafael Fernández: The three products are the driving force for us—very targeted, very focused. We do not have 50 different deposit accounts. We have one for mass market, one for mass affluent, and one for small business. That focus helps our team members. We also have excellent benefits for each of those accounts, and that is what is driving adoption, account opening, and customer growth. It is across the board. With Libre and Elite on the retail side, we saw increasing deposits. Libre is mostly noninterest-bearing and a digital account you can open online. We continue to see great adoption there, growing client base steadily. In mass affluent, we also saw great growth in deposits and deeper relationships—more Elite customers using lending with Oriental and OFG Bancorp. On MyBiz, it is our flagship. Our team members go out there; we have a solid cash management offering, and the platform compares well to those banks in the States have. Customers are identifying those benefits, and we are seeing the results. Certainly, the economy helps with a lot of liquidity, but I do not want to underestimate the power of our strategy and execution.

Analyst

Analyst

Great. That is helpful. On Slide 5, you have always talked about the digital-first aspect and the statistics are impressive. Any particular new investments on the technology side to continue to improve those statistics? José Rafael Fernández: We have made investments over the last several years, and some of what you are seeing today is the benefit of those investments. We continue to invest. Right now, the biggest focus as we finalize our data management is making sure we have data readily accessible, so we can extract insights for our customers, improve their lives, and provide value-add. We are already doing that and expanding it, with a team working on it for many years. The benefits of artificial intelligence are first and foremost on efficiency. When you heard Maritza talk about expenses and our flat guidance versus last year, we continue to see good opportunities to leverage AI and bring efficiencies to the bottom line for 2027 and beyond. The other side is value-add to our customers—how do we make their lives simpler. Those are the things we are investing in right now. It is tricky—we will hit some good investments and we might miss some—but that is how we operate. We bet on innovation. Banking will require innovation going forward, and Puerto Rico is behind on that curve. OFG Bancorp is the one driving that innovation in Puerto Rico.

Analyst

Analyst

Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. We will move next with Analyst. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Analyst

Analyst

Hi. Good morning. Thanks for the question. Just a quick guidance clarification for Maritza: that 5.10% to 5.20% margin—is that for the full year or the balance of 2026 quarters?

Maritza Arizmendi

Management

It is for the full year. I already shared how we are seeing and why we are seeing that range, including the timing of the big government deposit transfer and the fact that we are not seeing rate cuts during the year.

Analyst

Analyst

Got it. That is helpful. Similarly, I thought a real strength of the quarter was the core deposits. I know Puerto Rico has a government tax rebate. Did you see any positive impacts from that in 1Q, or if not, can you help with the timing? José Rafael Fernández: That is usually at the end of the quarter. We saw a little bit at the end of the quarter, and it plays out throughout the first half of the year. We see the child tax credit and the tax refunds in general, and that plays out through the first half.

Analyst

Analyst

Great, helpful. Turning to capital, you announced a meaningful dividend raise earlier in the quarter and were more active with the buyback with the new authorization out. Capital looks very healthy. Can you remind us of any guideposts or thoughts around the capital side of things? José Rafael Fernández: Everything starts with how we deploy our capital. We want to deploy it first and foremost in our business here in Puerto Rico. If there are opportunities to deploy it in a growing balance sheet, we will do that—that is the first level of thinking. We certainly see the buyback as a way to continue to return capital to shareholders. We are methodical and opportunistic, as we showed in the first quarter, and will continue to be so during the rest of the year. For the dividend, we feel very confident about the earnings power we have. With CET1 close to 14%—around 13.75% this quarter given the buybacks—we feel that returning capital to shareholders is part of our strategy, and we will continue to do so, Kelly.

Analyst

Analyst

Great. Helpful. Last modeling question: I appreciate the color on margin and the interest recovery. Looking at your average balance sheet, it looks like there was a jump in PCD interest income. Just to confirm, was that where the interest recovery came in?

Maritza Arizmendi

Management

Yes. It was the pay-in-full of a loan within that book.

Analyst

Analyst

Great. Thank you for confirming. I will step back. Really nice quarter. José Rafael Fernández: Thank you, Kelly.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. We will move next with Analyst. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Analyst

Analyst

Hi. How much did taking out Fed rate cuts help that NIM guide? And if we did get one rate cut, what would you expect the impact to be?

Maritza Arizmendi

Management

Thank you, Manuel. We continue to be asset sensitive, but a 50 basis point rate cut would have a very low impact—less than 1%—to NII. We are taking that into consideration in this new guidance because we were expecting two cuts midyear and then at the end of the year. That is no longer impacting the commercial book, so it is impacting the guidance positively. We moved it about 10 basis points, not necessarily fully related to the change in rate expectations, but also due to a better funding mix from the inflows we received during the first quarter. It is encouraging us for the rest of the year. We expect core deposits to continue growing, which will help funding mix in front of the potential exit of the government deposit. That is embedded in the guidance.

Analyst

Analyst

I appreciate that. So the success you are having with the new account types—as long as they keep growing, they can replace borrowings and should benefit your funding. Is that what you are hoping? José Rafael Fernández: Yes. It also has another component we do not talk about often: the large commercial book and business we have. We have some good-sized commercial accounts that have been long-standing clients of ours that also are benefiting from higher liquidity levels.

Analyst

Analyst

On that front, I know your loan growth is commercial-led this year, a little less on the auto side. How do pipelines look? Any update to the mix of loan growth from last quarter? Is there going to be a seasonal improvement in growth? José Rafael Fernández: We have a pretty good pipeline, and we are continuing to stick with our guidance of low single digits. Not because we do not feel comfortable with the commercial pipeline, but because we are modeling a reduction in the auto loan book that is hard to predict given the landscape in Puerto Rico. We are very happy with the commercial business. We continue to grow it and have a very strong pipeline.

Analyst

Analyst

My last question is on credit. Is this improvement in past dues—which is somewhat seasonal—likely to drive a bit lower net charge-off levels for the year? I think we are looking at closer to 1% plus. José Rafael Fernández: We talked about the 1% last quarter too. I do not want to project this quarter’s seasonality forward. I would stick to 1% for the year, and hopefully it will be better because of the improvements in the FICO quality of the portfolio, which should translate into a better charge-off rate. But as of now, I would say 1%.

Analyst

Analyst

I appreciate it. Thank you. José Rafael Fernández: Thank you for your question.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Again, if you would like to ask a question, press star then the number one on your telephone keypad. One moment while we queue. At this time, there are no further questions. I will now turn the call back over to Mr. Fernández for closing remarks. José Rafael Fernández: Thank you, operator. Thanks again to all our team members, and thank you to all our shareholders who are listening. Have a great day.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. This brings us to the end of today’s meeting. We appreciate your time and participation. You may now disconnect.