CASH - Meta Financial Group Inc.® Announces Results for 2022 Fiscal Second Quarter

Fiscal 2022 Second Quarter Net Income of $49.3 million, or $1.66 Per Diluted Share

Announces Name Change to Pathward Financial

Meta Financial Group, Inc. ^® (Nasdaq: CASH) (“Meta” or the “Company”) reported net income of $49.3 million, or $1.66 per share, for the three months ended March 31, 2022, compared to net income of $59.1 million, or $1.84 per share, for the three months ended March 31, 2021. During the quarter the Company recognized $2.8 million of pre-tax expenses related to rebranding efforts. Excluding the impact of the rebranding expenses, net of tax, the Company's adjusted net income for the quarter totaled $51.4 million, or $1.73 per share. See non-GAAP reconciliation table below.

CEO Brett Pharr said, "Although our tax services and renewable energy investment tax credit products produced results below our expectations, the balance of our businesses performed well. Our commercial finance portfolio saw continued healthy loan growth from satisfying small and medium sized businesses’ robust demand for credit, and our Banking as a Service pipeline of opportunities remains strong.”

“Last month, we announced our new corporate name, Pathward Financial. Pathward signifies our Company’s purpose to power financial inclusion for all by creating a path forward for individuals and businesses to meet their financial goals. The name reflects our dedication to removing the barriers that prevent millions of Americans from accessing the financial system and will serve as a constant reminder of our mission to meet the needs of the unbanked, underbanked, and underserved to help them achieve economic mobility,” Pharr added.

Tax Season

For the 2022 tax season, MetaBank originated $1.83 billion in refund advance loans compared to $1.79 billion during the 2021 tax season. The Company expects taxpayer advance volumes to return to more normalized levels in the 2023 tax season, absent further stimulus or additional changes to tax credit payments.

During the second quarter of fiscal 2022, total tax services product revenue was $68.3 million, an increase of 2% compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2021. Both total tax services product fee income and total tax services product expense were approximately flat compared to the prior year period. Net interest income on tax services loans increased $1.5 million during the second quarter of fiscal 2022 compared to the second quarter last year.

Total tax services product income, net of losses and direct product expenses, increased 6% to $34.4 million from $32.6 million, when comparing the first six months of fiscal 2022 to the same period of the prior fiscal year.

Business Development Highlights for the 2022 Fiscal Second Quarter

• On March 29, 2022, the Company announced it is changing its name to Pathward Financial, Inc.™, and its bank subsidiary, MetaBank®, N.A., will be changing its name to Pathward™, N.A. Certain changes will be made immediately, with a full transition to Pathward expected by the end of this calendar year, including the launch of a new brand identity and website. The Company will continue to serve its customers under existing brand names during the transition. The Company recognized $2.8 million of pre-tax expenses related to rebranding efforts during the second quarter of fiscal 2022. The Company continues to estimate total rebranding expenses will range between $15 million to $20 million.
• On April 27, 2022 Meta published its second annual ESG report. In addition to detailing the Company's community impact program and its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, it contains enhanced quantitative reporting, which will be used to measure progress.

Financial Highlights for the 2022 Fiscal Second Quarter

• Total revenue for the second quarter was $193.6 million, an increase of $6.2 million, or 3%, compared to the same quarter in fiscal 2021, primarily driven by an increase in interest income, partially offset by a reduction in noninterest income.
• Net interest income for the second quarter was $83.8 million, an increase of $10.0 million compared to $73.9 million in the second quarter last year.
• Net interest margin ("NIM") increased to 4.80% for the second quarter from 3.07% during the same period of last year. The prior year period was impacted by excess cash associated with the Company's participation in the U.S. Treasury Department's Economic Impact Program.
• Total gross loans and leases at March 31, 2022 increased $78.1 million, to $3.73 billion, or 2%,compared to March 31, 2021 and increased $43.5 million, or 1%, when compared to December 31, 2021. The increase compared to the prior year quarter was driven by growth across our loan portfolios, partially offset by the sale of all remaining community banking loans during the fiscal 2022 first quarter.
• The Company originated$1.3 million in aggregate principal of renewable energy loan financing for the second quarter of fiscal 2022, resulting in $0.3 million in total net investment tax credits.
• The Company repurchased 736,198 shares of its common stock at an average price of $57.01, in the second fiscal quarter and has 4,868,177 shares available for repurchase under the common stock share repurchase program announced during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2021.
• On March 24, 2022, the Company's Board of Directors approved the redemption at par of $75.0 million of the 5.75% fixed to floating rate note due August 15, 2026. The redemption date is set for May 15, 2022.

Net Interest Income

Net interest income for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 was $83.8 million, an increase of 13% from the same quarter in fiscal 2021. The increase was mainly attributable to an improved earning asset mix, together with increased loan balances.

The second quarter average outstanding balance of loans and leases increased $124.1 million compared to the same quarter of the prior year, primarily due to increases in our core loan and lease portfolios, partially offset by the sale of the remaining community bank portfolio. The Company’s average interest-earning assets for the second quarter decreased by $2.69 billion to $7.08 billion compared with the same quarter in fiscal 2021, primarily due to a reduction in cash balances as a result of high cash levels during the prior year period related to the Company's participation in government stimulus programs. The decrease in interest-earnings assets was partially offset by growth in total investments and total loans and leases.

Fiscal 2022 second quarter NIM increased to 4.80% from 3.07% in the second quarter of last year. The overall reported tax-equivalent yield (“TEY”) on average earning asset yields increased 174 basis points to 4.89% compared to the prior year quarter, primarily driven by a decrease in lower-yielding cash balances. Growth in loan and lease and investment securities balances also contributed to the year-over-year TEY increase. The yield on the loan and lease portfolio was 7.22% compared to 6.74% for the comparable period last year and the TEY on the securities portfolio was 1.83% compared to 1.78% over that same period.

The Company's cost of funds for all deposits and borrowings averaged 0.08% during the fiscal 2022 second quarter, the same as the prior year quarter. The Company's overall cost of deposits was 0.01% in the fiscal second quarter of 2022, compared to 0.02% in the same quarter last year.

Noninterest Income

Fiscal 2022 second quarter noninterest income decreased to $109.8 million, compared to $113.5 million for the same period of the prior year. The decrease was driven by a reduction in payments fee income of $3.6 million and a net loss on our MoneyLion investment of $1.3 million, partially offset by an increase in rental income of $1.5 million.

During the second quarter of fiscal year 2022, the Company sold the entirety of its equity investment in MoneyLion, recognizing a net loss of $1.3 million during the current period. Following the completion of MoneyLion's de-SPAC process and listing on the New York Stock Exchange on September 22, 2021, the Company recognized a cumulative loss of approximately $0.4 million on the investment dating back to the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2021. The Company continues to be a strategic BaaS provider to MoneyLion.

Noninterest Expense

Noninterest expense increased 7% to $103.2 million for the fiscal 2022 second quarter, from $96.0 million for the same quarter last year. The increase in expense was primarily driven by an increase in consulting expense, software expense, operating lease equipment depreciation and compensation expense. Compensation expense for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 includes $0.9 million of separation-related expenses. When comparing the fiscal 2022 second quarter to the first quarter of 2022, noninterest expense increased by $20.7 million.

Of the $2.8 million in rebranding expenses the Company incurred during the quarter, $2.0 million is recognized in other expense and $0.8 million is related to legal and consulting expense.

Income Tax Expense

The Company recorded income tax expense of $8.0 million, representing an effective tax rate of 13.8%, for the fiscal 2022 second quarter, compared to $1.1 million, representing an effective tax rate of 1.9%, for the second quarter last year. The current quarter increase in income tax expense was primarily due to a reduction in renewable energy investment tax credit lending volume compared to the prior year period.

The Company originated $1.3 million in solar leases during the fiscal 2022 second quarter, compared to $20.0 million in last year's second quarter. Investment tax credits related to solar leases are recognized ratably based on income throughout each fiscal year. For the six months ended March 31, 2022, the Company originated $22.5 million in solar leases, compared to $58.5 million for the comparable prior year period. The timing and impact of future solar tax credits are expected to vary from period to period, and Meta intends to undertake only those tax credit opportunities that meet the Company's underwriting and return criteria.

Investments, Loans and Leases

The Company's investment security balances at March 31, 2022 totaled $2.09 billion, as compared to $1.83 billion at December 31, 2021 and $1.55 billion at March 31, 2021.

Total gross loans and leases totaled $3.73 billion at March 31, 2022, as compared to $3.68 billion at December 31, 2021 and $3.66 billion at March 31, 2021. The primary driver for the increase on a linked quarter basis was commercial finance loans. The year-over-year increase was primarily driven by increases within commercial finance, warehouse finance, and consumer finance, partially offset by a reduction in tax services loans and the sale of all remaining community bank loans.

Commercial finance loans, which comprised 78% of the Company's gross loan and lease portfolio, totaled $2.91 billion at March 31, 2022, reflecting growth of $117.1 million, or 4%, from December 31, 2021 and $408.9 million, or 16%, from March 31, 2021.

As of March 31, 2022, the Company had 164 loans outstanding with total loan balances of $43.0 million originated as part of the Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP"), compared with 275 loans outstanding with total loan balances of $63.8 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2021. In total, approximately 85% of the PPP loan balances were forgiven through March 31, 2022.

Asset Quality

The Company’s allowance for credit losses ("ACL") totaled $88.6 million at March 31, 2022, an increase compared to $67.6 million at December 31, 2021 and a decrease from $98.9 million at March 31, 2021. The increase in the ACL at March 31, 2022, when compared to December 31, 2021, was primarily due to the seasonal tax services loan portfolio, which increased $29.2 million during the fiscal 2022 second quarter.

The $10.3 million year-over-year decrease in the ACL was primarily driven by a $14.0 million decrease attributable to the disposition of the community banking portfolio, along with a $2.1 million decrease in the consumer finance portfolio. These decreases were partially offset by a $4.0 million increase within the commercial finance portfolio and a $1.6 million increase within the tax services portfolio.

The following table presents the Company's ACL as a percentage of its total loans and leases.

The Company's ACL as a percentage of total loans and leases increased to 2.38% at March 31, 2022 from 1.84% at December 31, 2021. The increase in the total loans and leases coverage ratio was primarily driven by the seasonal tax services loan portfolio. The coverage ratio for the commercial finance portfolio decreased compared to the December 31, 2021 quarter due to reduction of specific reserves on two individually evaluated loan relationships. The Company expects to continue to diligently monitor the ACL and adjust as necessary in future periods to maintain an appropriate and supportable level.

Activity in the allowance for credit losses for the periods presented was as follows.

The Company recognized a provision for credit losses of $32.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, compared to $30.3 million for the comparable period in the prior fiscal year. Net charge-offs were $11.2 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, compared to $3.7 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021. Net charge-offs attributable to the commercial finance portfolio for the quarter were $10.7 million and net charge-offs attributable to the consumer finance portfolio were $0.7 million.

The Company's past due loans and leases were as follows for the periods presented.

The Company's nonperforming assets at March 31, 2022 were $38.3 million, representing 0.56% of total assets, compared to $44.3 million, or 0.58% of total assets at December 31, 2021 and $46.7 million, or 0.48% of total assets at March 31, 2021. The decrease in the nonperforming assets as a percentage of total assets at March 31, 2022 compared to December 31, 2021, was primarily driven by a decrease in nonperforming assets in the commercial finance portfolio, partially offset by an increase within the consumer finance portfolio. When comparing the current period to the same period of the prior year, the decrease in nonperforming assets was due to a decrease in nonperforming assets in the community bank portfolio, partially offset by an increase in nonperforming assets in the commercial and consumer finance portfolios.

The Company's nonperforming loans and leases at March 31, 2022, were $35.8 million, representing 0.95% of total gross loans and leases, compared to $43.2 million, or 1.16% of total gross loans and leases at December 31, 2021 and $43.5 million, or 1.17% of total gross loans and leases at March 31, 2021. The decreases are related to the aforementioned decrease in nonperforming assets in the community bank portfolio, partially offset by an increase in nonperforming assets in the commercial and consumer finance portfolios.

The Company has various portfolios of consumer lending and tax services loans that present unique risks that are statistically managed. Due to the unique risks associated with these portfolios, the Company monitors other credit quality indicators in their evaluation of the appropriateness of the allowance for credit losses on these portfolios, and as such, these loans are not included in the asset classification table below. The Company's loans and leases held for investment by asset classification were as follows for the periods presented.

Deposits, Borrowings and Other Liabilities

Total average deposits for the fiscal 2022 second quarter decreased by $2.89 billion to $6.68 billion compared to the same period in fiscal 2021. The decrease in average deposits was primarily due to a decrease in noninterest-bearing deposits of $2.66 billion, and to a lesser extent decreases within time and wholesale deposits, partially offset by increases in money market and savings deposits.

The average balance of total deposits and interest-bearing liabilities was $6.87 billion for the three-month period ended March 31, 2022, compared to $9.66 billion for the same period in the prior fiscal year, representing a decrease of 29%.

Total end-of-period deposits decreased 33% to $5.83 billion at March 31, 2022, compared to $8.64 billion at March 31, 2021. The decrease in end-of-period deposits was primarily driven by a decrease in noninterest-bearing deposits of $2.32 billion and a decrease in wholesale deposits of $94.1 million. The decrease in noninterest-bearing deposits was driven by government stimulus-related dollars loaded on various partner cards during the prior year period.

As of March 31, 2022, the Company managed $1.85 billion of customer deposits at other banks in its capacity as custodian.

Regulatory Capital

The Company and MetaBank remained above the federal regulatory minimum capital requirements at March 31, 2022, continued to be classified as well-capitalized, and in good standing with the regulatory agencies. Regulatory capital ratios of the Company and the Bank are stated in the table below. The decrease in Tier 1 leverage capital ratio for the period is the result of higher quarterly average assets related to its seasonal tax business. The MetaBank Tier 1 leverage capital ratio using end of period assets of 8.94% better reflects the expected capital position post tax season. See non-GAAP reconciliation table below. Regulatory Capital is not affected by the unrealized loss on accumulated other comprehensive income (“AOCI”). The securities portfolio is made up of nearly all amortizing securities that should provide consistent cash flow and is not expected to require sales to realize the losses to fund future loan growth.

The tables below include certain non-GAAP financial measures that are used by investors, analysts and bank regulatory agencies to assess the capital position of financial services companies. Management reviews these measures along with other measures of capital as part of its financial analysis.

The following table provides the non-GAAP financial measures used to compute certain of the ratios included in the table above, as well as a reconciliation of such non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measure in accordance with GAAP:

The following table provides a reconciliation of tangible common equity and tangible common equity excluding AOCI, each of which is used in calculating tangible book value data, to Total Stockholders' Equity. Each of tangible common equity and tangible common equity excluding AOCI is a non-GAAP financial measure that is commonly used within the banking industry.

Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call and earnings webcast at 4:00 p.m. Central Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time) on Thursday, April 28, 2022. The live webcast of the call can be accessed from Meta’s Investor Relations website at www.metafinancialgroup.com . Telephone participants may access the conference call by dialing 1-844-200-6205 (International: +1-929-526-1599) approximately 10 minutes prior to start time and reference access code 247026. A webcast replay will also be archived at www.metafinancialgroup.com for one year.

Upcoming Investor Events

• B. Riley Institutional Investors Conference, May 25, 2022 | Los Angeles, CA

Forward-Looking Statements

The Company and MetaBank may from time to time make written or oral “forward-looking statements,” including statements contained in this press release, the Company’s filings with the SEC, the Company’s reports to stockholders, and in other communications by the Company and MetaBank, which are made in good faith by the Company pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

You can identify forward-looking statements by words such as “may,” “hope,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “could,” “future,” or the negative of those terms, or other words of similar meaning or similar expressions. You should carefully read statements that contain these words because they discuss our future expectations or state other “forward-looking” information. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to us and assumptions about future events, and include statements with respect to the Company’s beliefs, expectations, estimates, and intentions, which are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and are subject to change based on various factors, some of which are beyond the Company’s control. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause our actual growth, results of operations, financial condition, cash flows, performance and business prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Such statements address, among others, the following subjects: future operating results; expectations in connection with the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and related government actions on our business, our industry and the capital markets; customer retention; loan and other product demand; expectations concerning acquisitions and divestitures; new products and services, including those offered by Meta Payment Systems, Refund Advantage, EPS Financial and Specialty Consumer Services divisions; credit quality; the level of net charge-offs and the adequacy of the allowance for credit losses; technology; and the Company's employees. The following factors, among others, could cause the Company's financial performance and results of operations to differ materially from the expectations, estimates, and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements: maintaining our executive management team; expected growth opportunities may not be realized or may take longer to realize than expected; the potential adverse effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and any governmental or societal responses thereto, or other unusual and infrequently occurring events, including the impact on financial markets from geopolitical conflicts such as the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine; successfully completing our announced rebranding and our ability to achieve brand recognition for Pathward equal to or greater than we currently enjoy for MetaBank; changes in trade, monetary, and fiscal policies and laws, including actual changes in interest rates and the Fed Funds rate; changes in tax laws; the strength of the United States' economy, and the local economies in which the Company operates; inflation, market, and monetary fluctuations; the timely and efficient development of new products and services offered by the Company or its strategic partners, as well as risks (including reputational and litigation) attendant thereto, and the perceived overall value of these products and services by users; MetaBank's ability to maintain its Durbin Amendment exemption; the risks of dealing with or utilizing third parties, including, in connection with the Company’s prepaid card and tax refund advance businesses, the risk of reduced volume of refund advance loans as a result of reduced customer demand for or usage of Meta’s strategic partners’ refund advance products; our relationship with, and any actions which may be initiated by, our regulators; changes in financial services laws and regulations, including laws and regulations relating to the tax refund industry and the insurance premium finance industry; technological changes, including, but not limited to, the protection of our electronic systems and information; the impact of acquisitions and divestitures; litigation risk; the growth of the Company’s business, as well as expenses related thereto; continued maintenance by MetaBank of its status as a well-capitalized institution; changes in consumer spending and saving habits; losses from fraudulent or illegal activity; technological risks and developments and cyber threats, attacks, or events; and the success of the Company at maintaining its high quality asset level and managing and collecting assets of borrowers in default should problem assets increase.

The foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. We caution you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this press release speak only as of the date hereof. Additional discussions of factors affecting the Company’s business and prospects are reflected under the caption “Risk Factors” and in other sections of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the Company’s fiscal year ended September 30, 2021, and in other filings made with the SEC. The Company expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company or its subsidiaries, whether as a result of new information, changed circumstances, or future events or for any other reason.