CSTR - CapStar Reports Year End 2022 Results and SBA Expansion

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CapStar Financial Holdings, Inc. (“CapStar”) (NASDAQ:CSTR) today reported net income of $10.3 million or $0.47 per diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2022, compared with net income of $8.0 million or $0.37 per diluted share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2022, and net income of $12.5 million or $0.56 per diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2021. Annualized return on average assets and return on average equity for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 were 1.31% and 11.78%, respectively. Fourth quarter results include a $0.7 million recovery related to an operational loss that occurred in third quarter 2022.

For the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, the Company reported net income of $39.0 million or $1.77 per diluted share, compared with $48.7 million or $2.19 per diluted share, for the same period of 2021. Year to date 2022 return on average assets and return on average equity were 1.24% and 10.74%, respectively.

Concurrently, the Company announced the hiring of a team of experienced SBA professionals from top 10 SBA originators to expand our SBA division and its fee contribution to the bank. Led by newly appointed director Marc Gilson, an SBA lending professional with over 25 years experience, the division now includes three business development officers along with additions to our existing team totaling 14 dedicated and experienced professionals in processing, underwriting, approval, loan closing and servicing.

“CapStar’s 2022 performance and results were outstanding,” said Timothy K. Schools, President and Chief Executive Officer of CapStar. “Our Company delivered excellent service to our valued customers across each of our markets, investments in Chattanooga and Knoxville approached $450 million in loans helping us remix our earning assets into higher yielding balances through the addition of numerous new customers, net interest margin expanded due to a rise in rates as well as an emphasis on disciplined pricing, our focus on productivity and operating efficiency continues, and our net charge-offs remain limited. Further, we added a new office in Asheville and key hires in our existing markets. With the year’s strong performance and our focus on capital management, we were pleased to return a record $17.9 million to shareholders in the form of share repurchases and dividends.”

“It is an exciting time at CapStar and our employees' hard work was recognized in 2022 by being named the fourteenth highest performing bank among the nation’s top 300 publicly traded banks by Bank Director. As we look to 2023, we will continue to deliver exemplary service and seek to expand existing and new relationships while remaining actively focused on the challenging deposit environment and uncertain economic environment. While the outlook for this year remains clouded with an array of possible outcomes, we are very excited about our progress and the prospects of our markets and company.”

Revenue

Total revenue, defined as net interest income plus noninterest income, was $31.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the third quarter of 2022 revenue of $28.8 million.

As previously communicated, loans produced in our Tri-Net division since the spring have proved challenging to achieve a gain on sale. Additional production was ceased in early July. Third quarter 2022 revenue was negatively impacted by $2.1 million related to realized and unrealized losses associated with selling or transferring to held for investment the remaining Tri-Net loans in held for sale.

Fourth quarter net interest income declined $0.6 million to $25.0 million as a result of increased deposit pricing pressure and a shift into higher cost deposit categories. Noninterest income for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $6.3 million, an increase of $3.0 million from the previous quarter, or when adjusting for the Tri-Net impact, an increase of $1.0 million largely due to improved SBA revenues.

Fourth quarter 2022 average earning assets remained relatively flat at $2.89 billion compared to the third quarter 2022 as fourth quarter growth in loans held for investment was principally funded by a decline in loans held for sale. Average loans held for investment, excluding Tri-Net loan transfers from held for sale to held for investments during the third quarter, increased $59.5 million, or 11% linked-quarter annualized. The current commercial loan pipeline remains strong, exceeding $450 million. The Company remains conservative maintaining pricing discipline and limiting commercial real estate lending as a result of an uncertain economic outlook and in an effort to balance loan demand with funding in a challenging deposit environment.

For the fourth quarter of 2022, the net interest margin decreased 6 basis points from the prior quarter to 3.44% primarily resulting from increased deposit pricing pressure and a shift into higher cost deposit categories.

The Company's average deposits totaled $2.66 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, flat compared to the third quarter of 2022. During the quarter, the Company experienced a $155.4 million increase in higher cost average time deposits, primarily a result of brokered deposit issuances. These increases were partially offset by a $80.2 million decrease in interest-bearing transaction accounts, creating an overall net increase of $83.6 million in average interest-bearing deposits when compared to the third quarter of 2022. During the quarter, the Company’s noninterest-bearing deposits decreased 12% from the linked quarter to 22% of total average deposits as of December 31, 2022. Total deposit costs increased 58 basis points to 1.20% compared to 0.62% for the prior quarter.

Noninterest income for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $6.3 million compared to the third quarter of 2022 noninterest income of $3.3 million, or $5.3 million when adjusted for the previously discussed Tri-Net losses. The $1.0 million increase versus adjusted third quarter was largely attributable to a $0.9 million improvement in the Company’s SBA division driven by the expansion of the SBA division in the fourth quarter. The Company’s mortgage and Tri-Net divisions provided little contribution in the fourth quarter.

Noninterest Expense and Operating Efficiency

Noninterest expense was $16.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to $17.9 million in the third quarter of 2022. Third quarter expenses included a $1.5 million wire fraud and a $0.7 million operational loss, offset by an $0.8 million voluntary executive incentive reversal. Fourth quarter expenses included a $0.7 million recovery of the third quarter operational loss. Excluding the third quarter wire fraud, operational loss and incentive reversal, and the fourth quarter operation loss recovery, adjusted noninterest expense was $17.4 million in the fourth quarter and $16.5 million for the third quarter. Commissions and incentives for the SBA division contributed $0.4 million to the quarter's $0.9 million increase.

The efficiency ratio was 53.23% for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 and 62.21% for the quarter ended September 30, 2022. The fourth quarter efficiency ratio adjusted for the operational loss recovery was 55.57%. The third quarter ratio adjusted for the wire fraud, operational loss, executive incentive reversal, and Tri-Net losses was 53.44%.

Annualized noninterest expense, adjusted for the wire fraud, operational loss and recovery and executive incentive reversal, as a percentage of average assets increased 14 basis points to 2.20% for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 compared to 2.08% for the quarter ended September 30, 2022. Assets per employee declined to $7.9 million as of December 31, 2022 compared to $8.2 million in the previous quarter.

Asset Quality

The provision for credit losses for fourth quarter totaled $1.5 million, an increase from $0.9 million in third quarter 2022, as a result of continued strong loan growth and $0.7 million in specific reserves related to two impaired loans. Net loan charge-offs in fourth quarter were $172 thousand, or 0.03% of average loans held for investment, compared with $120 thousand, or 0.02% in third quarter 2022. For the year 2022, net loan charge-offs totaled $366 thousand or 0.02% of average loans held for investment.

Past due loans improved to $11.6 million or 0.50% of total loans held for investment at December 31, 2022 compared to $14.4 million or 0.63% of total loans held for investment at September 30, 2022. The decrease was primarily related to the renewal of loans that had matured. Past dues are largely comprised of three relationships totaling $8.9 million for which the Company believes at this time there is nominal risk of loss beyond the impairment-related specific reserve of $0.7 million recorded in the fourth quarter.

Non-performing assets to total loans and OREO increased to 0.46% at December 31, 2022 compared to 0.30% at September 30, 2022. The increase in non-performing assets is principally related to one of the three previously noted past due relationships that totals $3.4 million but which has a 90% SBA guaranty of $3.0 million.

The allowance for loan losses plus the fair value mark on acquired loans to total loans increased to 1.13% as of December 31, 2022 compared to 1.09% as of September 30, 2022.

Income Tax Expense

The Company’s fourth quarter effective income tax rate increased slightly to 21% when compared to 20% in the prior quarter ended September 30, 2022. The Company's effective tax rate for 2022 was approximately 20%.

Capital

The Company continues to be well capitalized with tangible equity of $308.1 million at December 31, 2022. Tangible book value per share of common stock for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 was $14.19 compared to $13.72 and $14.99 for the quarters ended September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively, with the changes being attributable to a decline in the value of the investment portfolio related to an increase in market interest rates, partially offset by ongoing earnings. Excluding the impact of after-tax gain or loss within the available for sale investment portfolio, tangible book value per share of common stock for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 was $16.57 compared to $16.16 and $15.13 for the quarters ended September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively.

As a component of the Company’s capital allocation strategy, $17.9 million was returned to shareholders in 2022 in the form of share repurchases and dividends. In total, 523,663 shares were repurchased at an average price of $19.12 of which 198,610 shares were repurchased in fourth quarter 2022 for an average price of $17.39. The Board of Directors of the Company renewed a common stock share repurchase of up to $10 million on January 18, 2023. The Plan will terminate on the earlier of the date on which the maximum authorized dollar amount of shares of common stock has been repurchased or January 31, 2024.

Dividend

On January 18, 2023, the Board of Directors of the Company approved a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per common share payable on February 22, 2023 to shareholders of record of CapStar’s common stock as of the close of business on February 8, 2023.

Conference Call and Webcast Information

CapStar will host a conference call and webcast at 10:30 a.m. Central Time on Friday, January 20, 2023. During the call, management will review the fourth quarter results and operational highlights. Interested parties may listen to the call by registering here to access the live call, including for participants who plan to ask a question during the call. A simultaneous webcast may be accessed on CapStar’s website at ir.capstarbank.com by clicking on “News & Events.” An archived version of the webcast will be available in the same location shortly after the live call has ended.

About CapStar Financial Holdings, Inc.

CapStar Financial Holdings, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee and operates primarily through its wholly owned subsidiary, CapStar Bank, a Tennessee-chartered state bank. CapStar Bank is a commercial bank that seeks to establish and maintain comprehensive relationships with its clients by delivering customized and creative banking solutions and superior client service. As of December 31, 2022, on a consolidated basis, CapStar had total assets of $3.1 billion, total loans of $2.3 billion, total deposits of $2.7 billion, and shareholders’ equity of $354.2 million. Visit www.capstarbank.com for more information.

NON-GAAP MEASURES

Certain releases may include financial information determined by methods other than in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). This financial information may include certain operating performance measures, which exclude merger-related and other charges that are not considered part of recurring operations. Such measures may include: “Efficiency ratio – operating,” “Expenses – operating,” “Earnings per share – operating,” “Diluted earnings per share – operating,” “Tangible book value per share,” “Return on common equity – operating,” “Return on tangible common equity – operating,” “Return on assets – operating”, "Tangible common equity to tangible assets" or other measures.

Management may include these non-GAAP measures because it believes these measures may provide useful supplemental information for evaluating CapStar’s underlying performance trends. Further, management uses these measures in managing and evaluating CapStar’s business and intends to refer to them in discussions about our operations and performance. Operating performance measures should be viewed in addition to, and not as an alternative to or substitute for, measures determined in accordance with GAAP, and are not necessarily comparable to non-GAAP measures that may be presented by other companies. To the extent applicable, reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in the ‘Non-GAAP Reconciliation Tables’ included in the exhibits to this presentation.

CAPSTAR FINANCIAL HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARY
Consolidated Statements of Income (unaudited) (dollars in thousands, except share data)
Fourth quarter 2022 Earnings Release

This information is preliminary and based on CapStar data available at the time of this earnings release.

CAPSTAR FINANCIAL HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARY
Selected Quarterly Financial Data (unaudited) (dollars in thousands, except share data)
Fourth quarter 2022 Earnings Release

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*This metric is a non-GAAP financial measure. See Non-GAAP disclaimer in this earnings release and below for discussion and reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.
This information is preliminary and based on CapStar data available at the time of this earnings release.

CAPSTAR FINANCIAL HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARY
Selected Quarterly Financial Data (unaudited) (dollars in thousands, except share data)
Fourth quarter 2022 Earnings Release

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This information is preliminary and based on CapStar data available at the time of this earnings release.

(1)   Net Interest Margin, Securities yields, and Total interest-earning asset yields are calculated on a tax-equivalent basis.

CAPSTAR FINANCIAL HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARY
Analysis of Interest Income and Expense, Rates and Yields (unaudited) (dollars in thousands)
Fourth quarter 2022 Earnings Release