Capitol Federal Financial, Inc. quarterly report, Q1 FY2016

Capitol Federal Financial, Inc. — Q1 FY2016 Form 10-Q

Reporting period: Three months ended December 31, 2015. Balance-sheet comparisons are with September 30, 2015; operating results are compared with the three months ended December 31, 2014 and September 30, 2015. Amounts are in U.S. dollars.

Business context and financial results

Capitol Federal is a community-oriented bank focused primarily on residential mortgage lending, funded by retail deposits and supplemented by FHLB borrowings and repurchase agreements. The filing is unaudited; interim results are not necessarily indicative of full-year results.

MetricQ1 FY2016Comparable period / change
Net interest income$48.0 millionDown $54,000 (0.1%) year over year; up $42,000 sequentially
Net interest margin1.75%1.76% year over year; excluding daily leverage strategy, 2.11% versus 2.11%
Net income$20.7 millionUp $246,000 (1.2%) year over year; up 10.3% sequentially
EPS, basic and diluted$0.16$0.15 year over year
Non-interest income / expense$5.6 million / $23.6 millionIncome up $309,000; expense up $448,000 year over year
Efficiency ratio44.05%43.42% year over year; improved from 47.31% sequentially
Cash flow from operations$26.2 million$28.9 million in the prior-year quarter

Year-over-year earnings growth reflected higher non-interest income and lower income tax expense, partly offset by higher non-interest expense. The effective tax rate was 30.8%, versus 31.7% a year earlier. Return on average assets was 0.74% and return on average equity was 5.86%.

Financial position, liquidity and capital

  • Assets: $9.13 billion at December 31, down $710.7 million from September 30. Net loans increased $40.1 million to $6.67 billion; deposits rose $140.0 million to $4.97 billion.
  • Borrowings: FHLB borrowings were $2.47 billion, down $799.2 million; repurchase agreements remained $200.0 million. Total liabilities were $7.74 billion. The reduction in FHLB funding primarily reflected quarter-end removal of the daily leverage strategy.
  • Cash and cash flows: Cash and cash equivalents were $232.4 million at quarter-end, down $540.3 million during the quarter. Investing activities provided $175.5 million, while financing activities used $741.9 million, including $800.0 million net repayments of borrowings and $44.6 million of dividends paid.
  • Equity and capital: Stockholders’ equity was $1.39 billion; equity was 15.2% of period-end assets. The Bank and Company exceeded regulatory capital requirements. The Bank’s Tier 1 leverage ratio was 11.3%, and total capital ratio was 30.8%.
  • Liquidity: Management reported $888.8 million of eligible, unused securities collateral and $70.3 million held by the parent company on deposit at the Bank. At quarter-end, public unit deposits were $349.2 million and there were no brokered deposits. $1.18 billion of certificates of deposit were scheduled to mature within one year.

Changes, asset quality and notable items

  • Management removed the daily leverage strategy at quarter-end and reinstated the full $2.10 billion strategy on January 4, 2016. It intended to remove it at each quarter-end and reinstate it at the start of the next quarter during FY2016. Reported period-end assets and funding therefore reflect this timing; average balances include the strategy’s effects.
  • Loans were primarily one- to four-family residential mortgages. During the quarter, the Bank originated and refinanced $195.6 million of loans and purchased $118.6 million of correspondent loans; total loan originations, refinancings, purchases and participations were $323.1 million.
  • Non-performing loans were $25.7 million, or 0.39% of loans; non-performing assets were $31.2 million, or 0.34% of assets. The allowance for credit losses was $9.2 million, or 0.14% of loans. No credit-loss provision was recorded in the quarter.
  • Unrealized securities losses increased as market yields rose. Management concluded the impairments were temporary and reported no other-than-temporary impairment. AFS securities’ quarter-end fair value was $637.0 million; HTM securities’ fair value was $1.21 billion.
  • The company paid $44.5 million in dividends, including a $0.25-per-share fiscal 2015 true-up and a regular quarterly dividend of $0.085 per share. It stated an intent to distribute 100% of FY2016 earnings, subject to financial, regulatory and other considerations. A $70 million share repurchase plan was announced; no shares were repurchased in the quarter.

Outlook, risks and contingencies

  • No earnings or revenue guidance was provided. Management estimated an FY2016 effective tax rate of approximately 32%.
  • Management cited the ability to maintain overhead, sustain loan production, deploy funds at attractive yields and access cost-effective funding as important factors. Risks also include deposit and loan-demand changes, local real-estate and economic conditions, credit losses, regulation, litigation, and interest-rate movements.
  • In the Bank’s modeled parallel-rate scenarios, a 300-basis-point increase reduced projected four-quarter net interest income by 3.86% and market value of portfolio equity by 31.67%. These are model estimates, not earnings forecasts; management noted that higher rates can cause liabilities to reprice faster than assets.
  • Low-income housing partnership investments were $51.1 million, with $21.8 million of unfunded commitments, mostly expected to be funded through 2018. Management did not expect pending litigation to have a material adverse effect. No material subsequent events or changes to reported risk factors were identified.

Important facts for investors to verify

  1. How the planned quarterly removal and reinstatement of the daily leverage strategy affects reported assets, funding costs, net interest margin and earnings.
  2. Whether loan growth and deposit retention continue, and how certificate maturities and rising-rate competition affect funding costs.
  3. Trends in non-performing loans, charge-offs, collateral values and allowance adequacy, particularly given the residential mortgage concentration.
  4. Whether the stated dividend distribution intent remains consistent with regulatory capital distribution limits and the Bank’s capital position.
  5. Execution costs and completion timing for the Kansas City operations-center remodel, and funding of low-income housing partnership commitments.