Business context and reporting period
KeyCorp is a U.S. bank holding company with community banking and corporate and investment banking businesses. This unaudited Form 10-Q covers the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2016; comparisons below are with the corresponding 2015 periods unless otherwise noted. Ernst & Young performed an interim review, not an audit.
Financial results and condition
- Quarter earnings: Continuing income attributable to Key common shareholders was $193 million, or $0.23 diluted per share, versus $230 million, or $0.27, a year earlier. Net income attributable to Key was $202 million versus $238 million. For the first half, continuing income attributable to Key common shareholders was $375 million versus $452 million; diluted continuing EPS was $0.44 versus $0.52.
- Revenue and margin: Second-quarter GAAP net interest income was $597 million, up from $584 million; taxable-equivalent NII was $605 million versus $591 million. Noninterest income was $473 million versus $488 million, leaving total taxable-equivalent revenue essentially flat at $1.078 billion versus $1.079 billion. Net interest margin fell to 2.76% from 2.88%. Management attributed NII growth to loan growth and repricing, partly offset by lower securities and derivatives reinvestment yields; higher liquidity and lower loan fees weighed on margin.
- Expenses and profitability: Noninterest expense rose to $751 million from $711 million, including $45 million of First Niagara merger costs. Excluding merger costs, expense was $706 million, $5 million below the prior-year quarter. The cash efficiency ratio was 69.0%, or 64.8% excluding merger costs. Continuing-operations return on average assets was 0.82% for Q2.
- Credit: Provision for credit losses was $52 million versus $41 million. Net charge-offs were $43 million, or 0.28% of average loans, versus $36 million, or 0.25%. Nonperforming loans increased to $619 million (1.00% of period-end portfolio loans), from $419 million a year earlier and $387 million at year-end 2015; management cited oil-and-gas-related credit migration. The $854 million allowance was 1.38% of loans and 138% of nonperforming loans.
- Balance sheet and funding: At June 30, assets were $101.2 billion, loans $62.1 billion, deposits $75.3 billion, long-term debt $11.4 billion, and total equity $11.3 billion. Compared with June 30, 2015, loans grew about 6.6% and deposits about 6.6%. The period-end loan-to-deposit ratio was 85.3%. The liquid asset portfolio was $20.0 billion; the Modified LCR was above 100% in Q2.
- Capital: Reported ratios at June 30 included Common Equity Tier 1 of 11.10%, Tier 1 risk-based capital of 11.41%, total risk-based capital of 13.63%, and leverage of 10.59%. Key estimated fully phased-in CET1 at 11.05%. The Federal Reserve did not object to the 2016 capital plan, which permits up to $350 million in share repurchases through Q2 2017.
- Cash flow, first half: Operating activities provided $724 million; investing activities used $6.182 billion; financing activities provided $5.347 billion. Cash and due from banks ended at $496 million, down $111 million from year-end. These bank cash flows include substantial movements in short-term investments, loans, and deposits and should not be read as conventional free cash flow.
Material changes versus comparable periods
- Second-quarter common-shareholder income from continuing operations declined 16% year over year, despite slightly higher taxable-equivalent revenue; higher credit provision and merger expense were among the pressures.
- For the first half, net income attributable to Key was $390 million versus $471 million. Net interest income increased, but noninterest income declined and noninterest expense increased; merger costs were $69 million for the half.
- Commercial loans grew substantially: total commercial loans were $46.8 billion, up 10.4% year over year, while consumer loans declined. Nonperforming loans rose materially, concentrated in commercial lending.
- Common dividends increased to $0.085 per share for Q2 from $0.075. Open-market repurchases remained suspended during the quarter; Q2 share purchases shown in the filing were employee-plan surrenders, not repurchases under a public plan.
Outlook, commentary, risks, and unusual items
- Management outlook: For full-year 2016, management expected low- to mid-single-digit NII growth without higher rates, or mid-single-digit growth with higher rates; stable to low-single-digit noninterest-income growth; and relatively stable noninterest expense excluding merger costs. It anticipated mid-single-digit average loan growth, a relatively stable allowance-to-loans ratio, and charge-offs below its 0.40%–0.60% target range.
- First Niagara: The merger closed August 1, 2016, after quarter-end, for approximately $4.0 billion of consideration. First Niagara had about $40 billion of assets, $29 billion of deposits, and 390 branches as of June 30. An agreement provided for the sale of 18 Buffalo-area branches. Systems and client conversion was expected in Q4 2016, subject to pending regulatory approval, according to the filing.
- Risks and contingencies: Key highlighted commercial real estate, borrower-default, oil-and-gas, interest-rate, funding, regulatory, cybersecurity, operational, litigation, and acquisition-integration risks. It reported $15.76 billion of maximum potential undiscounted payments on listed guarantees, against $121 million of recorded liabilities, and characterized payment/performance risk as low. Management said other litigation was not expected, based on information then available, to have a material adverse effect on financial condition, but outcomes could exceed reserves and affect results in a period.
- Other items: The education lending business remained a discontinued operation, with $1.7 billion of discontinued assets at June 30. Oil-and-gas price weakness contributed to increased commercial credit-loss estimates. Regulatory changes, including the forthcoming FDIC assessment surcharge and new ERISA fiduciary requirements, could affect costs or business activity; the fiduciary rule’s financial impact was not yet clear.
Important facts for investors to verify
- Whether First Niagara integration, branch divestitures, conversion costs, and expected merger benefits progress as planned.
- Whether elevated commercial nonperforming loans—especially oil-and-gas exposures—and the allowance remain manageable; track charge-offs, criticized loans, and reserve coverage.
- Whether NII guidance and margin performance hold as rates, deposit costs, liquidity levels, and reinvestment yields change.
- Whether fee income recovers from weaker investment banking and debt-placement activity, and whether expense control meets guidance excluding merger costs.
- Capital-plan execution, including the timing and amount of repurchases and any Board action on the proposed dividend increase; also confirm capital and liquidity ratios after the acquisition.
- Developments in legal proceedings, guarantee exposures, cybersecurity and regulatory requirements, and any changes to management’s disclosed risk assessments.