ENTERPRISE FINANCIAL SERVICES CORP quarterly report, Q2 FY2021

Enterprise Financial Services Corp. — Q2 2021 Form 10-Q

Reporting period: Quarter and six months ended June 30, 2021. Enterprise Financial Services Corp. is a financial holding company providing banking and wealth-management services through Enterprise Bank & Trust. Financial amounts below are in millions unless otherwise noted.

Financial performance

MetricQ2 2021Q2 2020Six months 2021Six months 2020
Net interest income$81.7$65.8$160.9$129.2
Provision (benefit) for credit losses($2.7)$19.6($2.6)$41.9
Noninterest income$16.2$10.0$27.5$23.4
Noninterest expense$52.5$37.9$105.3$76.6
Net income$38.4$14.6$68.3$27.5
Diluted earnings per share$1.23$0.56$2.18$1.04
Tax-equivalent net interest margin3.46%3.53%3.48%3.65%

Q2 return on average assets was 1.50%, return on average common equity was 13.79%, and the efficiency ratio was 53.56%. Six-month operating cash flow was $65.0 million; investing cash flow was negative $158.3 million and financing cash flow was positive $564.6 million. Cash and cash equivalents increased $471.3 million to $1.009 billion.

Financial position and liquidity

  • At June 30, total assets were $10.347 billion, loans were $7.226 billion, deposits were $8.640 billion, and shareholders’ equity was $1.118 billion.
  • Total deposits increased $654.1 million, or 8.1%, from December 31, 2020. The loan-to-deposit ratio was 83.6%; noninterest-bearing deposits were 36.0% of deposits.
  • Reported borrowings included $203.9 million of subordinated debentures and notes, $50.0 million of FHLB advances, $208.8 million of other borrowings, and $25.7 million of notes payable.
  • Management reported $1.0 billion of additional FHLB borrowing capacity, $835 million available from the Federal Reserve under a pledged-loan agreement, and $90 million of unsecured correspondent-bank lines. The company also had a fully available $25 million parent-company revolver.
  • EFSC’s total risk-based, Tier 1, common equity Tier 1 and leverage ratios were 14.9%, 12.3%, 11.1% and 9.4%, respectively. The Bank exceeded applicable well-capitalized thresholds.

Material changes and notable items

  • Year-over-year earnings increased substantially, reflecting higher net interest income and a much lower credit-loss provision. The first-half comparison also reflects the November 2020 Seacoast acquisition; its results are included from the acquisition date onward.
  • Q2 net interest income increased 3.3% from Q1, primarily on higher loan and investment volumes. The margin declined to 3.46% from 3.50% in Q1, partly because of higher cash balances and lower investment yields. Management attributed the year-over-year first-half margin decline to lower interest rates and increased low-yielding short-term investments.
  • Q2 noninterest income increased $4.9 million from Q1, primarily on tax-credit activity and other income. Q2 expenses were slightly lower than Q1; lower compensation and merger expenses were partly offset by higher other expenses. First-half expenses rose year over year, mainly from Seacoast and merger-related costs.
  • Total loans were broadly unchanged from year-end, but PPP loans fell $302.0 million to $396.7 million as forgiveness accelerated. Loans excluding PPP increased $278.5 million, with growth in specialty lending. Deposits rose $654.1 million, supported in part by PPP-related funds and customers’ elevated liquidity.
  • The loan allowance was $128.2 million, or 1.77% of loans, down from 1.89% at year-end. Management cited improving credit metrics and economic forecasts. Nonperforming loans increased to $42.3 million from $38.5 million at year-end; nonperforming assets were 0.44% of assets.
  • The company repurchased 251,637 shares for $11.8 million in the first half. The board approved a quarterly dividend of $0.19 per share, payable September 30, 2021.

Outlook, risks and contingencies

  • The filing gives no specific earnings or financial guidance. Management cautions that results depend on economic conditions and are not necessarily indicative of full-year results.
  • Management identified continuing uncertainty from COVID-19, including possible renewed disruption, unemployment, business failures and changes in credit conditions. Its credit-loss forecasts use baseline, upside and downside scenarios; the downside scenario could materially increase required reserves.
  • Interest-rate risk is material: about $4.1 billion of loans were variable-rate, including $2.6 billion indexed to LIBOR. The company estimated that a 100-basis-point rate increase would raise modeled next-12-month net interest income by 3.0%; higher shocks showed larger modeled increases. LIBOR transition and rate changes remain risks.
  • Off-balance-sheet commitments included $1.983 billion to extend credit and $55.6 million of letters of credit. Management said commitments may expire undrawn and are not necessarily future cash requirements. The filing reports no legal proceedings expected to have a material adverse effect.
  • After quarter-end, on July 21, 2021, EFSC completed its merger with First Choice Bancorp. First Choice had approximately $2.4 billion in assets, $2.0 billion in loans and $1.9 billion in deposits as of June 30. EFSC issued approximately 7.8 million shares valued at about $346 million. Authorized common shares increased from 45 million to 75 million effective July 28.

Important facts for investors to verify

  • How the First Choice merger integration, share issuance and acquired balance sheet affect future earnings, expenses, capital and tangible book value.
  • Whether deposit growth and elevated cash balances persist, and how they affect funding costs, loan growth and net interest margin.
  • Credit trends, including nonperforming loans, charge-offs, PPP forgiveness and the adequacy of the allowance under changing economic forecasts.
  • Execution of LIBOR contract transitions and the sensitivity of earnings to actual rate movements versus the company’s modeled scenarios.
  • The sustainability of noninterest income and cost levels, including tax-credit and private-equity income, merger expenses and servicing costs.