HFWA - Heritage Financial Corporation (HFWA) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript
2024-04-25 16:47:05 ET
Heritage Financial Corporation (HFWA)
Q1 2024 Results Conference Call
April 25, 2024 1:00 PM ET
Company Participants
Jeff Deuel - President, CEO & Director
Don Hinson - Executive VP & CFO
Tony Chalfant - Executive VP & Chief Credit Officer
Bryan McDonald - Executive Vice President
Conference Call Participants
Jeff Rulis - D.A. Davidson
Matthew Clark - Piper Sandler
David Feaster - Raymond James
Andrew Terrell - Stephens
Timothy Coffey - Janney Montgomery Scott
Presentation
Operator
Hello, and welcome to Heritage Financial Corporation First Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. My name is Lydia, and I will be your operator today. [Operator Instructions]
I'll now hand you over to Jeff Deuel to begin. Please go ahead.
Jeff Deuel
Thank you, Lydia. Welcome and good morning to everyone who called in and those who may listen later. This is Jeff Deuel, CEO of Heritage Financial. Attending with me are Bryan McDonald, President and Chief Operating Officer; Don Hinson, Chief Financial Officer; and Tony Chalfant, Chief Credit Officer.
Our first quarter earnings release went out this morning premarket, and hopefully, you have had the opportunity to review it prior to the call. We have also posted an updated first quarter investor presentation on the Investor Relations portion of our corporate website, which includes more detail on deposits, loan portfolio, liquidity and credit quality. We will reference this presentation during the call. Please refer to the forward-looking statements in the press release.
Although there was some noise in the quarter, we're pleased to report a solid core performance including active balance sheet management and expense management activities to reduce noninterest expense. We continue to see pressure on deposit pricing in Q1, and we expect to see that continue for the near term. Deposit balances declined modestly in Q1, and the mix of deposits continues to partially shift to higher rate products.
Loan growth was strong in Q1, running at an 8.4% annualized rate. Credit quality remains strong, resulting from our long-term practice of actively managing the loan portfolio. We have ample liquidity, a low loan-to-deposit ratio and a solid capital base. Going forward, we will keep a sharp eye on expenses while we focus on growing loans and deposits.
We'll now move to Don Hinson, who will take a few minutes to cover our financial results....
Heritage Financial Corporation (HFWA) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript