Valley National Bancorp - Q3 2024

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the third quarter twenty twenty-four Valley National Bancorp earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Travis Lan. Please go ahead.

Travis Lan (EVP and Deputy CFO)

Good morning, and welcome to Valley's third quarter twenty twenty-four earnings conference call. Presenting on behalf of Valley today are CEO, Ira Robbins, President, Tom Iadanza, and Chief Financial Officer, Mike Hagedorn. Before we begin, I would like to make everyone aware that our quarterly earnings release and supporting documents can be found on our company website at valley.com. When discussing our results, we refer to non-GAAP measures, which exclude certain items from reported results. Please refer to today's earnings release for reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures. Additionally, I would like to highlight slide two of our earnings presentation and remind you that comments made during this call may contain forward-looking statements relating to Valley National Bancorp and the banking industry.

Valley encourages all participants to refer to our SEC filings, including those found on Forms 8-K, 10-Q, and 10-K, for a complete discussion of forward-looking statements and the factors that could cause actual results to differ from those statements. With that, I'll turn the call over to Ira Robbins.

Ira Robbins (CEO)

Thank you, Travis. During the third quarter of 2024, Valley reported net income of approximately $98 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.18. This compared to net income and EPS of $70 million and $0.13 a quarter ago. The significant improvement in earnings was broad-based and primarily the result of top-line revenue expansion and continued expense management. Our provision for loan losses declined during the quarter, but exceeded our third quarter guidance, primarily as a result of the significant growth in C&I loans and unfunded C&I commitments, as well as the discrete reserve for the potential impacts of Hurricane Helene. Exclusive of these variables, the third quarter provision would have been in line with our prior guidance. I'm extremely pleased with the financial progress made during the quarter.

The continued improvement in our balance sheet metrics has been achieved in conjunction with a solid rebound in pre-provision revenue. Tom and Mike will detail the key contributing factors to this improvement, but as we work through our 2025 financial plans, we anticipate further profitability improvement, reflecting an anticipated net interest income tailwind and the normalization of credit costs. Slide four illustrates the significant progress that we continue to make towards our balance sheet goals. Our diligent management of new commercial real estate originations and renewals has contributed meaningfully to the 53 percentage point year-to-date reduction in our stated CRE concentration ratio at September 30th. This progress has been supplemented by organic capital growth and our recent preferred stock issuance. Throughout the year, we have patiently monitored the market for a potential sale of CRE loans to further accelerate our progress relative to CRE concentration, capital, and funding flexibility.

I'm pleased to report that in the fourth quarter, we expect to sell upwards of $800 million of performing commercial real estate loans to a single investor at an extremely attractive 1% discount. The characteristics of the pool that we expect to sell are consistent with our broader portfolio in many ways. The underwriting and credit metrics are very similar, though these loans tend to be somewhat larger. From an asset class perspective, there is a tilt towards more industrial and less office, as you may expect, though the pool is geographically diverse, consistent with our broader portfolio. This transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter and reflects the underlying credit strength of our portfolio and our continued ability to enhance our balance sheet in shareholder-friendly ways.

As I previously stated, commercial real estate is a terrific asset class and one that has provided excellent risk-adjusted returns for our company. While the transactional elements of our portfolio continue to wind down, we remain focused on supporting the clients that have more holistic banking relationships with Valley. There are opportunities to further penetrate these banking relationships and expand this client base without applying undue pressure to our balance sheet. While the transfer of loans to held for sale helps to improve our liquidity and loan-to-deposit ratio, we anticipate using a significant portion of loan sale proceeds to repay maturing brokered deposits in the fourth quarter of twenty twenty-four.

Regulatory capital ratios are expected to benefit by 16-20 basis points as a result of the sale, all else equal, and this transaction positions us to achieve our near-term CET1 goal of approximately 9.8% by the end of 2024. The ongoing execution of our strategic initiatives positions us to exceed most of our previously announced intermediate-term balance sheet goals sooner than anticipated. To this end, we now expect that our CRE concentration ratio will be approximately 375% by the end of 2025, as compared to our prior intermediate-term goal of 400%.

Similarly, and largely as a result of our recent and anticipated future C&I growth, we now expect that our allowance coverage ratio will be approximately 1.25% by the end of 2025 relative to our current 1.14% coverage level. This implies a much slower pace of reserve build over the next five quarters, and particularly throughout the course of 2025. Slide six highlights our expectations for the fourth quarter of 2024. We anticipate that continued growth in our C&I and consumer portfolios will contribute to low single-digit annualized loan growth during the quarter. As a result of the anticipated CRE loan sale, we expect net interest income will decline somewhat in the fourth quarter.

However, exclusive of the sale, net interest income will likely grow modestly as our recent experience in reducing customer deposit costs following the September Fed action offsets the impact of lower front-end rates on our floating-rate loans. Our expectations for non-interest income and non-interest expense are generally unchanged from the prior quarter's guidance. From a credit perspective, the general improvement in the commercial real estate backdrop has helped to isolate the few lingering issues that may result in credit losses. Our ongoing analysis of these situations and the potential impact of hurricanes Helene and Milton could result in higher net charge-offs during the fourth quarter. These factors, combined with our continued C&I growth expectations, are likely to result in a year-end allowance coverage ratio of approximately 1.20%. With all of this in mind, we expect to be well positioned for credit performance normalization in 2025.

Finally, I want to offer our team's thoughts to the Valley customers, employees, and communities that have been impacted by the recent hurricanes in our Southeast markets. Unfortunately, we have all been through many of these weather events, and we know the toll that can take upon individuals and businesses. Valley is always there for those in need, and we have proactively offered our support to the communities that have been in the path of these storms. With that, I would turn the call over to Tom and Mike to discuss the quarter's financial highlights and results. After Mike concludes his remarks, Tom, Mike, myself, and Mark Saeger, our Chief Credit Officer, will be available for your questions.

Tom Iadanza (President)

Thank you, Ira. Slide nine illustrates the quarter's deposit trends. Total deposits increased approximately $300 million compared to the second quarter, largely due to higher levels of direct customer deposits. We are very pleased that a portion of this growth was the result of expansion in non-interest deposit balances. During the quarter, we added roughly 25,000 new deposit accounts, with nearly 11,000 of these being on the non-interest-bearing side. While there was very little impact on the quarter's results, we have now reduced customer deposit costs by approximately 22 basis points since the September Fed rate cut. This implies a 44% total deposit beta, which is somewhat better than our modeling. Importantly, direct customer balances have continued to trend higher during October. The next slide provides more detail on the composition of our deposit portfolio by delivery channel and business line.

Growth trends in our international and technology segment and other commercial verticals were strong during the quarter. Slide 11 illustrates the components of the quarter's lending activity. We continue to execute on our strategic initiative to enhance C&I and de-emphasize multifamily and investor CRE loans. C&I growth remained in the mid-teens on an annualized basis for the second consecutive quarter and remains broad-based across our geographies and business lines. On an organic basis, multifamily and investor CRE declined by $700 million during the quarter as we experienced an uptick in prepayment activity as interest rates have fallen. Ira provided details on the additional transfer of over $800 million of high-quality CRE loans to held for sale during the quarter. We are extremely pleased with the pricing on this transaction, which will help to accelerate our strategic initiatives.

While new origination yields have declined in line with broader interest rates, our portfolio yield continues to climb. As a reminder, 40% of our loan portfolio floats based on shorter-term rate indices. This makes us modestly asset sensitive from a structural perspective, but incremental origination activity and the opportunity to outperform on deposit betas should offset some of this headwind. Slide 12 provides additional detail on the composition of our commercial real estate portfolio by property type and geography, as adjusted for the transfer of loans to held for sale in the third quarter. In general, the commercial real estate markets and borrower performance across our footprint remain healthy. Ira previously mentioned that a few select loans will likely impact our net charge-off experience in the fourth quarter.

These are identified and isolated situations, and we are beginning to see the underpinnings of stability in terms of criticized and classified migration. With that, I will turn the call over to Mike Hagedorn to provide additional insight into the quarter's financials.

Mike Hagedorn (Senior EVP and CFO)

Thank you, Tom. Staying on the CRE topic for a moment, Slide 15 illustrates the contractual maturities of our commercial real estate portfolio. We've included the LTV, DSCR, and rate by maturity bucket for your benefit. This maturity schedule continues to illustrate the minimal near-term repricing risk that exists in our portfolio. Slide 16 highlights the continued expansion in both net interest income and net interest margin during the third quarter. Net interest income is now generally in line with the level a year ago. As Ira mentioned, we expect to close on the sale of over $800 million of commercial real estate loans during the quarter. We anticipate that a significant portion of these proceeds will pay off maturing brokered deposits.

Consequently, we expect this sale to weigh on net interest income by approximately $5 million during the fourth quarter, all else equal. To reiterate, we were very quick to lower deposit costs across the franchise in the wake of the September Fed action. In total, we reduced deposit costs by roughly 22 basis points on our $40-plus billion of customer deposits. As customer deposits have continued to grow, we remain confident in our ability to quickly follow additional Fed rate cuts, which may occur. Turning to the next slide, you can see the detail on our non-interest income. Adjusted non-interest income for the quarter excludes both a $7 million benefit for litigation settlement and a $6 million negative mark-to-market adjustment on the transfer of loans to held for sale. Exclusive of these items, adjusted non-interest income increased significantly as compared to the second quarter of 2024.

This was primarily due to increases in tax credit advisory, service charges on deposits, and other income. Deposit service charges benefited from fees related to updated pricing on treasury services capabilities, which started in mid-August, and we expect additional tailwinds in this area on a go-forward basis. On the following slide, you can see that our non-interest expenses were approximately $270 million for the quarter. Exclusive of the amortization of tax credit investments, adjusted non-interest expenses were approximately $264 million. This represents a decrease from the second quarter of 2024 and general stability relative to the third quarter of 2023. Expenses benefited from a decrease in technology-related and compensation costs. Our ability to control operating expenses without sacrificing necessary investment opportunities remains a hallmark of our organization.

We continue to model modest expense growth to support our aspirations, but we'll work to offset these investments as we have done recently. On slide 19, you can see the continued and notable stability in our non-accrual loans. Roughly 85% of the sequential increase in past due loans was related to a pair of CRE loans. Both loans are well secured, and we anticipate near-term resolution without loss of principal. The next slide illustrates the trend in allowance coverage, charge-offs, and provision. Our allowance coverage ratio increased eight basis points for the second consecutive quarter, partially driven by substantial growth in C&I loans and unfunded C&I commitments, as well as the allowance set aside for Hurricane Helene. We expect that allowance coverage will expand towards 1.2% in the fourth quarter, primarily as a result of these same factors.

From a longer-term perspective, we believe that credit costs will normalize meaningfully in twenty twenty-five and result in a much slower pace of reserve build. The next slide illustrates the sequential increase in our tangible book value and capital ratios. Tangible book value benefited from a reduction in the OCI impact associated with our available-for-sale portfolio during the quarter. Our Tier 1 and total risk-based capital ratios increased as a result of our Series C preferred stock issuance during the third quarter. As Ira mentioned, the CRE sale planned for November will likely add to an additional 16 to 20 basis points to each risk-based capital ratio. With that, I'll turn the call back to the operator to begin Q&A. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from Jon Arfstrom with RBC Capital Markets. Your line is open.

Jon Arfstrom (Managing Director of U.S. Research Small and Mid Cap Bank Equity Research and Consumer Finance Equity Research)

Hey, thanks. Good morning, guys.

Mike Hagedorn (Senior EVP and CFO)

Good morning, John.

Jon Arfstrom (Managing Director of U.S. Research Small and Mid Cap Bank Equity Research and Consumer Finance Equity Research)

Yep, this all looks good. But maybe Mike or Ira, on the last comment, you were talking about provision and reserves and maybe more normalizing in 2025. What does that really mean and look like? Is that a return to provision levels that are more like pre-second quarter? Is that what you're signaling to us?

Mike Hagedorn (Senior EVP and CFO)

Yeah, I don't have second quarter in front of me, so I'm not quite sure. But I think, you know, we spent a lot of time during the course of the year looking at our portfolio and really assessing what type of credits we have in there today. And as we really begin to see the environment normalize a little bit, we feel really strong and confident about what those numbers begin to look like. I think as we've guided towards what twenty twenty-five is going to look like, you know, I think we have some internal thoughts regarding what those net charge-off numbers are going to be, which are much lower than what you're seeing this quarter. And then there's only an incremental build really needed to get to that one twenty-five.

Much more in line, I think, with what you would have historically seen at Valley, which really creates optimism within the organization as we see the tailwind on the margin and tailwind regarding what the credit's going to look like as well.

Jon Arfstrom (Managing Director of U.S. Research Small and Mid Cap Bank Equity Research and Consumer Finance Equity Research)

Okay. So the reserve building is, going forward, more about the mix of loans and not necessarily about any need to build for the existing portfolio. Is that fair?

Mike Hagedorn (Senior EVP and CFO)

I'll let Mark maybe address that a little bit. But, you know, I think as we have emphasized the shift in building some C&I loans within the organization, which I will remind you was, you know, a multiyear sort of strategic initiative that we put forth a few years ago, you know, the growth has been tremendous, which is a real positive. So that should help us as we think about the recalibration, what the balance sheet looks like. That said, they do come on at a higher reserve level than what those CRE loans look like. So as that mix shifts, there's going to mandatorily be a requirement to increase the reserve purely on what that composition of loan looks like.

Mark Saeger (Chief Credit Officer)

... Yeah, Jon, Ira is spot on. Oops, sorry, Jon. Go ahead. Yeah, no, just reiterating what Ira was mentioning there. There's a substantial premium to C&I from a loss perspective to CRE. And as we continue that shift successfully, we will see a slight build along those lines, but really just related to the-

Jon, are you still there?

Jon Arfstrom (Managing Director of U.S. Research Small and Mid Cap Bank Equity Research and Consumer Finance Equity Research)

Yeah, I'm all set, guys. Thank you very much.

Mike Hagedorn (Senior EVP and CFO)

Okay, thanks. Thanks, Jon.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Our next question comes from Chris McGratty with KBW. Your line is open.

Chris McGratty (Head of U.S. Bank Research)

Oh, great. I may have missed this, but Ira, beyond the adjustments you're making to your targets for twenty twenty-five, do you think this is all the adjustments that we'll likely see, meaning the CRE ratio, reserve, capital levels, anything else that might be on the horizon beyond this? Or is this kind of where you're thinking is more appropriate with lower rates? Thanks.

Ira Robbins (CEO)

I think with everything we sort of understand now, how we're thinking about the balance sheet, how we're thinking about some of the strategic initiatives that we're putting forth, I think those intermediate targets are some that we're very, very comfortable with, and we feel very confident that we'll be able to achieve them within the timeframe outlined.

Chris McGratty (Head of U.S. Bank Research)

Perfect. And then maybe overall, I guess, liquidity for, for assets. I mean, the 1% mark is, you know, really, really a great execution it looks like. Any comments on how liquidity may have changed for, or the market's appetite for assets given rates are moving down? Thanks.

Travis Lan (EVP and Deputy CFO)

Yeah, look, I think we've seen, Chris, this is Travis. We've seen pretty consistent demand from the private equity side in terms of the CRE assets that we have, and we've had those discussions as the year has gone on. I think earlier in the year, given the backdrop at that point in time, there was just a very wide gap between what we viewed to be, you know, the value of our portfolio versus the way a private equity investor may look at it. And as time has gone on, that gap has obviously narrowed to a point where, you know, I think a 1% discount, we're all thrilled with the execution there. And that would include, you know, nothing on the credit side as well. It's all rate driven.

You know, I think there's been demand out there. I think we're happy to be able to execute something like this, but it's not just value, right? You've seen other banking organizations execute not only loan sales, but also, you know, arrangements going forward to help offload bank assets into the private equity markets, and that's likely to continue.

Chris McGratty (Head of U.S. Bank Research)

Great. Thanks, Travis.

Travis Lan (EVP and Deputy CFO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Our next question comes from Manan Gosalia with Morgan Stanley. Your line is open.

Manan Gosalia (Executive Director and Senior Equity Analyst)

Hi, good morning. It's good to hear that the customer deposit costs are going down, you know, that 22 basis points reduction that you pointed out. Can you give us some more color on what you're baking in, in your 4Q NII guide in terms of total deposit costs and especially going into 2025 as well? Because it seems like your all-in deposit beta can be a little bit higher as you pay down those brokered deposits. So, any color on that near-term trajectory would be great.

Travis Lan (EVP and Deputy CFO)

Manan, I think this is Travis. I think that's pretty insightful, and we generally agree with you. You know, we still bake into the model relative to nonmaturity deposits of 50% beta on interest bearing, and when you factor in non-interest bearing, that goes down to 35%. We did outperform that with the first Fed rate cut. We think there are additional opportunities to outperform that going forward, not only, you know, impacting the fourth quarter, but into 2025 as well. As we think about NII in 2025, you know, our base case, we're still working through the plans, but the base case would kind of be mid- to high-single-digit NII growth in 2025.

And to the degree we can continue to outperform from a beta perspective, you know, you would move to the higher end of that range.

Manan Gosalia (Executive Director and Senior Equity Analyst)

Got it. And, on NIB deposits, you know, those were roughly flat Q-on-Q. You noted you've increased the number of accounts that you've put on as well. Do you think you're at a trough there? And, you know, anything you've noticed in the underlying data that would point to more acceleration going forward?

Travis Lan (EVP and Deputy CFO)

So I think, you know, while they were stable, there was a slight uptick in non-interest-bearing deposits, which was the first time we've seen that since the middle of 2022. So if you look at this two-and-a-half years later, or give or take, you know, I think it's a very positive sign for us. On an average basis, you know, NIB was on, from a daily perspective, a little bit higher, I think, than where it had been in the prior quarters, and we continue to see that tailwind here, you know, quarter to date in October. So I think there's optimism there. You know, we do anticipate that 22% of total deposits will be the bottom of NIB. We've been there two quarters in a row and anticipate that, you know, it'll continue to increase relative to the total.

Manan Gosalia (Executive Director and Senior Equity Analyst)

Great, and if I can just clarify, the 22 basis points reduction in deposit costs since the Fed rate cut, those are total deposit costs, including NIB?

Travis Lan (EVP and Deputy CFO)

Yes, that's correct. So the actual data on the interest-bearing side was higher.

Manan Gosalia (Executive Director and Senior Equity Analyst)

Got it. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. And our next question comes from Matthew Breese with Stephens. Your line is open.

Matthew Breese (Managing Director and Research Analyst)

Hey, good morning. I appreciate your insights on deposit betas. Just stepping back a little bit, you know, we've kind of defined the balance sheet as a tad asset sensitive.

... And then we have, you know, an NII guide for 2025 early, albeit in the mid- to high-single-digit range. You know, given we're in a rate cutting environment, could you just discuss a little bit the NIM outlook, and how that kind of fits with the asset sensitive balance sheet? It feels like the NIM should expand from here, but just wanted to hear you clarify a little bit.

Travis Lan (EVP and Deputy CFO)

Yeah, I think that's generally right. I mean, we are structurally asset sensitive, but that assumes, you know, the lower beta in the model. And again, our ability to outperform after the first cut, and should that continue, you know, would provide additional upside. Regardless of that, I mean, we do anticipate that the margin will continue to expand. You know, we are, as we've said in the past, generally neutral to the front end of the curve, more central to the, more sensitive to the longer end, and that fixed rate asset repricing opportunity will continue to exist as twenty twenty-five, as we get into twenty twenty-five and, and move through the year. And on that front, I mean, the shape of the curve has definitely improved, you know, since we ran our preliminary numbers in September 30th.

The five and ten-year points are forty to fifty basis points higher today than they would have been at that point in time, you know, which supports that as well. You know, similar to what I said on the beta side, sustainability or improvement in those longer term rates, I think would definitely support us getting to the higher end of that range I laid out.

Ira Robbins (CEO)

Matt, I just want to add, I think, you know, one piece, when you look at an asset sensitive balance sheet, you know, you're not looking at the rate of change as to what those assets are, right? So when you think about the longer end commercial real estate that we have, even though those loans are actually repricing, they're not repricing down based on where they were originally struck at. So those may be asset sensitive assets that are being shown, but they're going to reprice higher based on where those repricing rates are today versus where they were when those loans were originated. So there's a lot of tailwind coming on those longer commercial real estate loans and other longer dated loans as well.

Matthew Breese (Managing Director and Research Analyst)

Got it. Okay. The other one I had was just on the fee income guide for the fourth quarter. It suggests kind of a flattish move from the third quarter. And the reason it stands out is usually the fourth quarter is strong for you, given the tax advisory business. So I was hoping you could talk a little bit about some of the moving parts and where you expect reductions in fee income to kind of get to the guide.

Ira Robbins (CEO)

I think you're going to get tailwinds on the tax credit side and also on deposit service charges. I think it gets a little bit offset or mitigated by some of the other income stuff that's bucketed in a single line. You know, there can be lumpiness there relative to recoveries or other things that move around, so it's generally that. Look, I think longer term, there's absolute tailwinds behind us to grow fee income. But, you know, I think there was some positive events that benefited the third quarter and just want to make sure that we're, you know, appropriately conservative heading into the fourth.

Tom Iadanza (President)

Keep in mind that on the fee income side, as we've said before, the growth for the future is really going to be driven around our treasury management offering that we've talked about before. Then also with lower interest rates, we would expect that gain on sale would pick up as the resi mortgage business increases as well.

Matthew Breese (Managing Director and Research Analyst)

Okay, last one for me. It just feels like you're pretty well set up for operating leverage here over the next 12-18 months. When do you think you can get back above a 1% ROA on a sustainable basis?

Travis Lan (EVP and Deputy CFO)

Yeah, I think, when you normalize credit and look at where the margins go, I don't think it's that long.

Matthew Breese (Managing Director and Research Analyst)

I'll leave it there. Thank you.

Travis Lan (EVP and Deputy CFO)

Thanks, Matt.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. And our next question comes from Ben Gerlinger with Citi. Your line is open.

Ben Gerlinger (VP of Equity Research)

Hey, good morning, everyone.

Travis Lan (EVP and Deputy CFO)

Good Morning.

Ben Gerlinger (VP of Equity Research)

So on page four, I know these are kind of longer-term targets, and you're not going to give me a detailed or finite answer, which is fine. But when you say loan-to-deposit ratio below 100% by the end of 2025, I mean, when you just kind of think hypothetical, like 2026 or 2027 or whatever down the road, are we talking closer to, like, 90% or 95%, or just what would be like the optimal range? I get that you're not going to press the gas to get there, but, like, where would you want this to be three years from now?

Travis Lan (EVP and Deputy CFO)

Yeah, look, I think the low nineties probably makes sense on where we think we'll end up being three-ish years or so from now. It doesn't have to be a linear path as to how we get there either. But we have a lot of initiatives internally as to how we think about deposit growth across the organization. We've been pleased with the new account generation that we've seen here at Valley, and we anticipate continued strong deposit growth that will help get us to those numbers that we've identified. But I think sort of where you're describing in the low nineties probably makes sense a few years out.

Ben Gerlinger (VP of Equity Research)

Got you. That's helpful. And then when you think about just the behavioral response from clients, it seems like across the industry, with limited loan growth, it's pretty easy to price down deposits. I mean, the first hundred basis points is probably the easiest hundred or trimming aspects. But when you kind of pivot, have people pushed back on anything? Have you seen mix shift or any kind of frustration from the clients, or is it just kind of willingly taking the compression, given that we don't have a huge amount of demand for loans, so you don't really necessarily need to keep every deposit.

Travis Lan (EVP and Deputy CFO)

It's funny, I think the people that are more sensitive to deposits are the analysts than our internal bankers as to what they think the client reaction is going to end up being. I think we were very aggressive as to how we thought about deposit repricing. That said, we've seen deposits increase, even though we've been reducing balances. That's on what you would define as, you know, direct deposit accounts from a digital perspective, as well as sort of longer-term relationships. So across the board we've seen real pricing ability here. So we are definitely optimistic about what the future of that looks like. And once again, you know, deposits balances were up, even though we were aggressive in reducing rates.

Ben Gerlinger (VP of Equity Research)

Gotcha. Yeah, that's helpful. Thank you. I'll step back.

Travis Lan (EVP and Deputy CFO)

Thank you, Ben.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Our next question comes from Jared Shaw with Barclays. Your line is open.

Jared Shaw (Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst)

Hey, good morning.

Travis Lan (EVP and Deputy CFO)

Hi, Jared.

Jared Shaw (Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst)

Maybe first on the loan sales, do you have the yield on the blended yield on that portfolio?

Ira Robbins (CEO)

Yeah, it's slightly above 7%.

Jared Shaw (Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst)

Okay. Then when I look at the gain on sale or the, you know, the gain loss on sale of loans, what's the difference between the loss you called out on this portfolio and what's in the income statement? Were there other loans sold as well?

Ira Robbins (CEO)

Yeah, so we-

Jared Shaw (Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst)

What should we expect for, like, sort of, the pace of loan sales going forward beyond this?

Ira Robbins (CEO)

Yeah, so that line in the income statement also includes our traditional gain on resi mortgage sale. That was-

Jared Shaw (Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst)

Okay

Ira Robbins (CEO)

... about $2 million this quarter, which was up somewhat from the prior quarter.

Jared Shaw (Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst)

Okay, and then in terms of the ability to or the desire to sell, you know, more of these CREs in, like, a pool like that, what's the appetite for additional sales?

Ira Robbins (CEO)

Look, I think we've been pretty consistent on this front, that, you know, we didn't feel like we had a gun to our head from a CRE perspective or any other action that we've taken this year. You know, so we were patient and methodical and allowed it to play out. You know, we reached a point where I think the discount was extremely attractive for us. And all it does is help accelerate kind of the strategic progress we've been discussing on the balance sheet side. You know, I don't anticipate that there will be more CRE sales, candidly, but, you know, we always monitor the environment for all of these opportunities and, you know, are willing to do what's best for the shareholders at that given point in time.

Jared Shaw (Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst)

Okay, great. Thanks. And then just finally, for me on the expenses, you know, you've had good success as the, you know, the broader expense base has been able to come down. Is there anything that, you know, when we look at technology and equipment expense, anything that's sort of unique there? Or at what point do you need to start, I guess, maybe reinvesting in technology or where we could see that number start to increase?

Ira Robbins (CEO)

Yeah, I think we're always reinvesting in what technology and other areas to what our future looks like. You know, we went through a pretty significant core transformation about a year ago. And as we mentioned at that time, you know, sometimes it does take a while to sort of bleed through what some of those expense saves are gonna look like. It's not just the immediate expense save with the third party vendor, but what your internal processes look like and how you begin to rearrange how you service a client. So there's always opportunities to reassess what that looks like. You know, I think if you go back and look at where third quarter expenses were a year ago, I think we're almost flat, really, on an operating basis.

When you add in the fact that FDIC insurance is up $7 million, if you then layer in the fact that we have a CRT trade that we didn't have before, that added a few million dollars as well, and we've actually, on an operating basis, contracted $10 million in core operating expenses just in a year. And we continue to believe that we have opportunity to further improve the efficiency within this organization.

Jared Shaw (Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst)

Great. Thanks very much.

Travis Lan (EVP and Deputy CFO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Our next question comes from Anthony Elian with J.P. Morgan. Your line is open.

Anthony Elian (Equity Analyst)

Hi, good morning. On slide 10, you called out specialized deposits at about $11 billion, which I think shows about $1 billion growth sequentially. I think most of those segments showed growth versus the prior quarter. Could you just talk about what's driving the recent growth, specifically in the technology bucket?

Ira Robbins (CEO)

Yeah. Technology, I mean, we continue to have, you know, a good pipeline of companies that we bank on that side. And, you know, progress there can be relatively lumpy, but there have been significant growth opportunities to be capitalized on this quarter. You know, other commercial deposits is kind of the traditional banking that you would anticipate. Our online account, despite the fact that we've cut the rate there, you know, a handful of times and now have a 4.25% rate out there, continue to see growth in balances. So I think it's pretty diverse and broad-based, but, you know, as we've said, you know, we've said now for a year or so, you know, these are the lines that are going to provide above average deposit growth for us as we look forward.

So, you know, you have a quarter like this, where you see each of those contributors continue to grow, and I think that's generally in line with what we've been talking about.

Anthony Elian (Equity Analyst)

Thank you. Then my follow-up, you're guiding to low single digits, annualized loan growth in Q4, but you called out the mid-teens growth you saw in C&I this quarter. I guess once you get down to your CRE concentration of three seventy-five, and, you know, loan growth for the industry returns more broadly, what do you think is a more normalized level of loan growth for the company as a whole? Thank you.

Tom Iadanza (President)

Yeah, I think it's Tom. I figure when you look forward, it'll be in that mid-single digit level. We'll continue to manage the CRE concentration through twenty twenty-five. And, you know, we've experienced this C&I growth for really the five-plus years in that, you know, low to mid double digit level. And our pipelines tell us that that should continue into the fourth quarter and into next year, but somewhat offset by what we're gonna do with our CRE concentration.

Anthony Elian (Equity Analyst)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Our next question comes from Steve Moss with Raymond James. Your line is open.

Steve Moss (Managing Director of Banking)

Good morning. On the C&I portfolio here, you know, you guys have experienced two good quarters of growth. Just curious, kind of, you know, where you're seeing the drivers of growth, and if there's any component that's either participation driven or Shared National Credit?

Tom Iadanza (President)

No, no. I mean, our SNC portfolio is very small, less than 3% of our total, and we're agenting on 30+% of that, so we're not getting that through buying participations in any way. I just wanna remind everyone, and Ira said it earlier, we have experienced this level of growth for five plus years in that low double digit level, and that goes back to when we started bringing in teams, emphasizing the Florida markets and bringing in teams of C&I lenders to Florida, and opportunistically bringing in people in the Northeast, and we still do, so a lot of this is coming from that middle market, business banking, local, regional. It's steady growth there, accelerated in Florida versus what we're seeing in the Northeast.

Then the specialties, many of which we have had for years, and some have come through acquisitions, have added growth on top of that. But it's that continued sales process, relationship driven, middle market type business.

Steve Moss (Managing Director of Banking)

Okay, great. And then just also noticed, kind of. I know you guys have been building reserves broadly, but the, you know, C&I bucket has always had a high reserve. It's up 26 basis points year over year to 170 as a, you know, reserve as a percentage of loans. Just curious, kind of what are the drivers for that portfolio in terms of higher reserves?

Mark Saeger (Chief Credit Officer)

So within the C&I portfolio, really, you know, at the end of the day, that portfolio, as can be expected, has a slightly higher loss given default than our CRE portfolio. That's really the primary differentiator between the end reserve rates on that portfolio. As we've migrated throughout this past year in a higher interest rate environment, there has been some stress on the portfolio. So on the C&I portfolio, as the CRE portfolio, there was some migration, which contributes to that increase as well, as criticized assets carry a higher reserve than pass rated.

Steve Moss (Managing Director of Banking)

Okay. And to that point on criticized classified, I think I heard the comment that the increase has moderated. Just kind of curious, is that kind of like CRE stabilizing here and maybe the driver and the criticized C&I, or just kind of the dynamics there that you guys are seeing?

Mark Saeger (Chief Credit Officer)

We absolutely believe that the interest rate environment has shown some easing, and we anticipate that the migration that we've seen over the past year in criticized, classified assets should definitely abate, with likelihood at some point in twenty twenty-five, potentially towards the end of the year versus the beginning, that we should see some positive migration in the portfolio.

Steve Moss (Managing Director of Banking)

Okay, great. Thank you very much.

Tom Iadanza (President)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. And our next question comes from Matthew Breese with Stephens. Your line is open.

Matthew Breese (Managing Director and Research Analyst)

Hey, just a quick follow-up. We discussed on the call, expectations for, you know, kind of elevated charge-offs in the fourth quarter. Could you just give us some sense for how lumpy that could be? What are we talking here?

Mark Saeger (Chief Credit Officer)

So as it relates to potential charge-offs, we have a, you know, isolated group of loans that we've been tracking, that we have our eyes on for, you know, potential losses. Not definite there. We expect that there is a chance that that level could be elevated from what we've seen, but materially not a level for the year, which is out of line with anything that we've seen at a quarter level as a percent of portfolio.

Matthew Breese (Managing Director and Research Analyst)

Okay. I guess I'll leave it there. Thank you.

Tom Iadanza (President)

Thanks, Matt.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. I'm showing no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn it back to Ira Robbins for closing remarks.

Ira Robbins (CEO)

Okay. Thank you for taking the time to listen to our call today and the interest in Valley, and we're excited and looking forward to talking to you next quarter.

Operator (participant)

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating, you may now disconnect.