TRMK - Trustmark Corporation Announces Third Quarter 2021 Financial Results

Performance Reflects Continued Balance Sheet Growth, Strong Credit Quality and Disciplined Expense Management

Trustmark Corporation (NASDAQGS: TRMK) reported net income of $21.2 million in the third quarter of 2021, representing diluted earnings per share of $0.34. Third quarter results include costs of a previously announced voluntary early retirement program, which reduced net income by $4.3 million, or approximately $0.07 per diluted share. Results for the quarter also include a previously disclosed charge to resolve allegations by regulatory authorities regarding fair lending matters, which reduced net income by $5.0 million, or approximately $0.08 per diluted share. Trustmark’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.23 per share payable December 15, 2021, to shareholders of record on December 1, 2021.

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Third Quarter Highlights

• Voluntary early retirement program resulted in one-time, pre-tax charge of $5.7 million in the third quarter; expected pre-tax savings of approximately $1.3 million for the remainder of 2021 and $4.3 million in 2022
• Loans held for investment (HFI) increased $22.0 million, reflecting accelerated payoffs during the quarter while deposits expanded $290.8 million compared to the prior quarter
• Investment securities increased $470.8 million in the third quarter as excess liquidity was deployed
• Provision for credit losses, net totaled a negative $3.5 million, reflecting improved credit loss expectations
• Adjusted noninterest expense totaled $116.6 million, up 0.3% linked-quarter; please refer to the Consolidated Financial Information, Note 10 – Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Duane A. Dewey, President and CEO, stated, “We made significant progress across the organization in the third quarter as reflected by continued balance sheet growth, strong credit quality, and disciplined expense management. Our associates are focused on expanding customer relationships, which is reflected in the solid performance of our banking, insurance, and wealth management businesses.

“Our third quarter results were impacted by our previously announced settlement with regulatory authorities to resolve fair lending allegations in our Memphis, Tennessee market. We entered into these settlements to avoid the distraction of protracted litigation and because we share the common goals of breaking down barriers to home financing and exploring innovative ways to help residents of underserved areas achieve the dream of homeownership. Our quarterly results also reflect the costs associated with our voluntary early retirement program, which was accepted by 98 associates, or 3.6% of our workforce. As you may recall, we also had a voluntary early retirement program in the first quarter of 2020 in which 107 associates, or 3.8% of the workforce at that time, elected to participate. Collectively, these programs have provided additional opportunities to redesign workflows and restructure the organization to leverage investments in technology and improve efficiency.”

Balance Sheet Management

• Loans HFI totaled $10.2 billion, up 0.2% from the prior quarter and 3.3% year-over-year
• Investment securities totaled $3.5 billion, up 15.8% from the prior quarter and 36.2% year-over-year
• Noninterest-bearing deposits increased $540.9 million, or 12.2% linked-quarter
• Maintained strong capital position with CET1 ratio of 11.68% and total risk-based capital ratio of 14.01%

Loans HFI totaled $10.2 billion at September 30, 2021, reflecting an increase of $22.0 million, or 0.2%, linked-quarter and $327.2 million, or 3.3%, year-over-year. The linked-quarter growth primarily reflects increases in loans secured by nonfarm, nonresidential properties and 1-4 family mortgage loans, which were largely offset by declines in construction loans, other real estate secured loans, and municipal loans. Trustmark’s loan portfolio remains well-diversified by loan type and geography.

Deposits totaled $14.9 billion at September 30, 2021, up $290.8 million, or 2.0%, from the prior quarter and $1.7 billion, or 12.9%, year-over-year. Trustmark continues to maintain a strong liquidity position as loans HFI represented 68.2% of total deposits at September 30, 2021. Noninterest-bearing deposits represented 33.4% of total deposits at the end of the third quarter. Interest-bearing deposit costs totaled 0.14% in the third quarter, a decrease of 5 basis points from the prior quarter. The total cost of interest-bearing liabilities was 0.21% in the third quarter of 2021, a decrease of 4 basis points from the prior quarter.

During the third quarter, Trustmark repurchased $9.7 million, or approximately 319 thousand of its common shares. During the nine months ended September 30, 2021, Trustmark repurchased $34.6 million, or approximately 1.1 million of its common shares. At September 30, 2021, Trustmark had $65.4 million in remaining authority under its existing stock repurchase program, which expires on December 31, 2021. The repurchase program, which is subject to market conditions and management discretion, will continue to be implemented through open market repurchases or privately negotiated transactions. At September 30, 2021,Trustmark’s tangible equity-to-tangible assets ratio was 8.12% while its total risk-based capital ratio was 14.01%.

Credit Quality

• Allowance for credit losses (ACL) represented 520.77% of nonaccrual loans, excluding individually evaluated loans at September 30, 2021
• Recoveries exceeded charge-offs by $2.5 million in the third quarter
• Loans remaining under a COVID-19 related concession represented approximately 20 basis points of loans HFI at September 30, 2021

Nonaccrual loans totaled $66.2 million at September 30, 2021, up $14.8 million from the prior quarter and up $12.4 million year-over-year. Other real estate totaled $6.2 million, reflecting a $3.2 million decrease from the prior quarter and a decline of $10.0 million year-over-year. Collectively, nonperforming assets totaled $72.5 million at September 30, 2021, reflecting a linked-quarter increase of $11.6 million and year-over-year increase of $2.3 million.

The provision for credit losses for loans HFI was a negative $2.5 million in the third quarter. Negative provisioning was primarily due to improvements in credit quality and the economic forecasts. The provision for credit losses for off-balance sheet credit exposures was a negative $1.0 million in the third quarter and was primarily driven by decreases in the total reserve rates applied to the unfunded portion of the loan portfolio. Collectively, the provision for credit losses totaled a negative $3.5 million in the third quarter compared to an expense of $537 thousand in the prior quarter and a negative $1.2 million in the third quarter of 2020.

Allocation of Trustmark’s $104.1 million allowance for credit losses on loans HFI represented 1.05% of commercial loans and 0.91% of consumer and home mortgage loans, resulting in an allowance to total loans HFI of 1.02% at September 30, 2021. Management believes the level of the ACL is commensurate with the credit losses currently expected in the loan portfolio.

Revenue Generation

• Excluding Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) interest and fees, net interest income (FTE) increased $2.9 million, or 2.9%, linked-quarter
• Noninterest income totaled $54.1 million, representing 35.5% of total revenue in the third quarter
• Mortgage banking revenue totaled $14.0 million on production of $708.8 million in the third quarter
• Service charges on deposit accounts increased $1.3 million, or 17.0%, linked quarter

Revenue in the third quarter totaled $152.4 million, a decrease of $23.4 million, or 13.3%, from the prior quarter. During the third quarter, mortgage banking revenue declined $3.3 million while second quarter results included $18.6 million of PPP loan origination fees attributable to the sale of PPP loans.

Net interest income (FTE) in the third quarter totaled $101.2 million, resulting in a net interest margin of 2.57%. The net interest margin, excluding PPP loans and Federal Reserve Bank balance, totaled 2.90% during the third quarter, a decrease of 4 basis points when compared to the prior quarter . Continued low interest rates decreased the yield on the loans HFI and held for sale portfolio as well as the securities portfolio and were partially offset by lower costs of interest-bearing deposits.

Noninterest income in the third quarter totaled $54.1 million, a decrease of $2.3 million from the prior quarter and $19.6 million year-over-year. The linked-quarter and year-over-year changes are principally attributable to lower mortgage banking revenue. Mortgage loan production in the third quarter totaled $708.8 million, down 3.8% from the prior quarter and 20.0% year-over-year. Mortgage banking revenue totaled $14.0 million in the third quarter, a decrease of $3.3 million from the prior quarter and $22.4 million year-over-year. The linked-quarter decline is attributable to reduced spreads which resulted in lower net gains on sales of mortgage loans in the secondary market as well as reduced net hedge ineffectiveness.

Wealth management revenue totaled $9.1 million in the third quarter, an increase of $125 thousand, or 1.4%, from the prior quarter and $1.4 million, or 18.1%, year-over-year. The growth is attributable to increased trust and investment and brokerage business. Insurance revenue totaled $12.1 million in the third quarter, relatively unchanged from the prior quarter and up $571 thousand, or 4.9%, year-over-year due in part to increased property and casualty commissions. Service charges on deposit accounts increased $1.3 million, or 17.0%, from the prior quarter and $1.3 million, or 17.6%, year-over-year. Bank card and other fees increased $248 thousand from the prior quarter and decreased $294 thousand year-over-year. The linked-quarter and year-over-year changes are attributable to the level of customer derivative revenue.

Noninterest Expense

• Noninterest expense totaled $129.6 million in the third quarter and included $5.7 million in one-time expenses related to a voluntary early retirement program and $5.0 million regulatory settlement expenses
• Adjusted noninterest expense, which excludes amortization of intangibles, ORE expenses, charitable contributions resulting in state tax credits, costs associated with the voluntary early retirement program and regulatory charges, totaled $116.6 million in the third quarter, an increase of 0.3% from the prior quarter and 1.8% year-over-year; please refer to the Consolidated Financial Information, Note 10 – Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Trustmark continued proactive measures to manage noninterest expense. During the third quarter, Trustmark completed a voluntary early retirement program. Of those eligible for the program, 98 associates, or 3.6% of the workforce, elected early retirement. A one-time, pre-tax charge of $5.7 million related to this program was incurred during the third quarter, reflecting $5.6 million in salaries and employee benefits expense and $89 thousand in other expense. The result of this program is expected to result in pre-tax savings of approximately $1.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 and $4.3 million in 2022.

Adjusted noninterest expense in the third quarter was $116.6 million, up $384 thousand, or 0.3%, from the prior quarter and $2.0 million, or 1.8%, year-over-year. Salaries and employee benefits expense increased $4.5 million linked-quarter; excluding the $5.6 million in charges related to the voluntary early retirement program, salary and employee benefits expense declined $1.1 million linked-quarter. Total other expense increased $5.4 million linked-quarter principally due to regulatory settlement expenses.

“Looking forward, Trustmark will continue to focus upon efficiency, growth, and innovation opportunities. We continue to redesign workflows and restructure the organization to leverage investments in technology, enhance the customer experience, and improve efficiency. We are focused on providing the services and advice our customers have come to expect while building long-term value for our shareholders,” said Dewey.

Additional Information

As previously announced, Trustmark will conduct a conference call with analysts on Wednesday, October 27, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. Central Time to discuss the Corporation’s financial results. Interested parties may listen to the conference call by dialing (877) 317-3051 or by clicking on the link provided under the Investor Relations section of our website at www.trustmark.com . A replay of the conference call will also be available through Wednesday, November 10, 2021, in archived format at the same web address or by calling (877) 344-7529, passcode 10160480.

Trustmark is a financial services company providing banking and financial solutions through 180 offices in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this document constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning 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,” “project,” “potential,” “seek,” “continue,” “could,” “would,” “future” or the negative of those terms or other words of similar meaning. You should read statements that contain these words carefully because they discuss our future expectations or state other “forward-looking” information. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to anticipated future operating and financial performance measures, including net interest margin, credit quality, business initiatives, growth opportunities and growth rates, among other things, and encompass any estimate, prediction, expectation, projection, opinion, anticipation, outlook or statement of belief included therein as well as the management assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements. You should be aware that the occurrence of the events described under the caption “Risk Factors” in Trustmark’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Should one or more of these risks materialize, or should any such underlying assumptions prove to be significantly different, actual results may vary significantly from those anticipated, estimated, projected or expected. Furthermore, many of these risks and uncertainties are currently amplified by and may continue to be amplified by or may, in the future, be amplified by, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and also by the effectiveness of varying governmental responses in ameliorating the impact of the pandemic on our customers and the economies where they operate.

Risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations of Management include, but are not limited to, changes in the level of nonperforming assets and charge-offs, an increase in unemployment levels and slowdowns in economic growth, our ability to manage the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our markets and our customers, as well as the effectiveness of actions of federal, state and local governments and agencies (including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB)) to mitigate its spread and economic impact, local, state and national economic and market conditions, conditions in the housing and real estate markets in the regions in which Trustmark operates and the extent and duration of the current volatility in the credit and financial markets, levels of and volatility in crude oil prices, changes in our ability to measure the fair value of assets in our portfolio, material changes in the level and/or volatility of market interest rates, the performance and demand for the products and services we offer, including the level and timing of withdrawals from our deposit accounts, the costs and effects of litigation and of unexpected or adverse outcomes in such litigation, our ability to attract noninterest-bearing deposits and other low-cost funds, competition in loan and deposit pricing, as well as the entry of new competitors into our markets through de novo expansion and acquisitions, economic conditions, including the potential impact of issues related to the European financial system and monetary and other governmental actions designed to address credit, securities, and/or commodity markets, the enactment of legislation and changes in existing regulations or enforcement practices or the adoption of new regulations, changes in accounting standards and practices, including changes in the interpretation of existing standards, that affect our consolidated financial statements, changes in consumer spending, borrowings and savings habits, technological changes, changes in the financial performance or condition of our borrowers, changes in our ability to control expenses, greater than expected costs or difficulties related to the integration of acquisitions or new products and lines of business, cyber-attacks and other breaches which could affect our information system security, natural disasters, environmental disasters, pandemics or other health crises, acts of war or terrorism, and other risks described in our filings with the SEC.

Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any of this information, whether as the result of new information, future events or developments or otherwise.