WAL - Western Alliance Bancorporation Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Financial Results

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL):

FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR 2022 FINANCIAL RESULTS

Income Statement

Net interest income was $639.7 million in the fourth quarter 2022, an increase of $37.6 million from $602.1 million in the third quarter 2022, and an increase of $189.1 million, or 42.0%, compared to the fourth quarter 2021. The increase in net interest income from the third quarter 2022 is due to a higher rate environment, which drove an increase in yields on interest earning assets and also pushed interest rates higher on deposits and short-term borrowings. HFI loan growth and higher yields on HFI loans, partially offset by higher interest rates on deposits and an increase in other borrowings, drove the increase in net interest income from the fourth quarter 2021.

The Company recorded a provision for credit losses of $3.1 million in the fourth quarter 2022, a decrease of $25.4 million from $28.5 million in the third quarter 2022, and a decrease of $10.1 million from $13.2 million in the fourth quarter 2021. The provision for credit losses during the fourth quarter 2022 is primarily due to heightened economic uncertainty, offset by a decrease in loans.

The Company’s net interest margin in the fourth quarter 2022 was 3.98%, an increase from 3.78% in the third quarter 2022, and an increase from 3.33% in the fourth quarter 2021. The higher rate environment drove an increase in net interest margin, with yields on interest earning assets more than offsetting the increase in rates on deposits and borrowings. The increase in net interest margin from the fourth quarter 2021 was driven by HFI loan growth plus an increase in rates, partially offset by higher deposits and borrowings coupled with higher rates.

Non-interest income was $61.5 million for the fourth quarter 2022, compared to $61.8 million for the third quarter 2022, and $110.4 million for the fourth quarter 2021. The $0.3 million decrease in non-interest income from the third quarter 2022 was primarily related to fair value loss adjustments from HFI loans transferred to HFS and sold in the fourth quarter 2022 and a revaluation in the third quarter 2022 of the contingent consideration liability related to the Digital Disbursements acquisition that did not recur. These items were partially offset by a $10.9 million increase in net gain on loan origination and sale activities due to gains from hedging activity, partially offset by a reduction in spreads and production volume. Net loan servicing revenue decreased $1.6 million due to a decrease in the value of MSRs, which was partially offset by an increase in servicing revenue. The $48.9 million decrease from the fourth quarter 2021 was driven by a decrease in net gain on loan origination and sale activities of $47.8 million from lower production volume, partially offset by a $19.1 million increase in loan servicing revenue.

Net revenue was $701.2 million for the fourth quarter 2022, an increase of $37.3 million, or 5.6%, compared to $663.9 million for the third quarter 2022, and an increase of $140.2 million, or 25.0%, compared to $561.0 million for the fourth quarter 2021.

Non-interest expense was $333.4 million for the fourth quarter 2022, compared to $305.8 million for the third quarter 2022, and $237.8 million for the fourth quarter 2021. The Company’s efficiency ratio ¹ was 46.9% for the fourth quarter 2022, compared to 45.5% in the third quarter 2022, and 41.8% for the fourth quarter 2021. Non-interest expense increased from the third quarter 2022 due primarily to increased deposit costs. The increase in non-interest expense from the fourth quarter 2021 is also attributable to increased deposit costs.

Income tax expense was $71.7 million for the fourth quarter 2022, compared to $65.6 million for the third quarter 2022, and $64.0 million for the fourth quarter 2021.

Net income was $293.0 million for the fourth quarter 2022, an increase of $29.0 million from $264.0 million for the third quarter 2022, and an increase of $47.0 million from $246.0 million for the fourth quarter 2021. Earnings per share totaled $2.67 for the fourth quarter 2022, compared to $2.42 for the third quarter 2022, and $2.32 for the fourth quarter 2021.

The Company views its pre-provision net revenue ¹ ("PPNR") as a key metric for assessing the Company’s earnings power, which it defines as net revenue less non-interest expense. For the fourth quarter 2022, the Company’s PPNR ¹ was $367.8 million, up $9.7 million from $358.1 million in the third quarter 2022, and up $44.6 million from $323.2 million in the fourth quarter 2021.

The Company had 3,365 full-time equivalent employees and 56 offices at December 31, 2022, compared to 3,368 employees and 60 offices at September 30, 2022, and 3,139 employees and 58 offices at December 31, 2021.

¹ See reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.

Balance Sheet

HFI loans, net of deferred fees totaled $51.9 billion at December 31, 2022, compared to $52.2 billion at September 30, 2022, and $39.1 billion at December 31, 2021. The decrease in HFI loans of $339 million from the prior quarter was driven by a decrease of $1.6 billion in commercial and industrial loans, partially offset by increases of $651 million in CRE non-owner occupied, $392 million in construction and land development, and $254 million in residential real estate loans. From December 31, 2021, HFI loan growth of $10.9 billion (which excludes transfers of government guaranteed early buyout ("EBO") residential loans from HFS to HFI in 2022 with a balance of $1.9 billion at December 31, 2022), was primarily driven by residential real estate, commercial and industrial, and CRE non-owner occupied, loans which increased $4.8 billion, $2.8 billion, and, $2.4 billion respectively.

The Company's allowance for credit losses on HFI loans consists of an allowance for funded HFI loans and an allowance for unfunded loan commitments. At December 31, 2022, the allowance for loan losses to funded HFI loans ratio was 0.60%, compared to 0.58% at September 30, 2022, and 0.65% at December 31, 2021. The allowance for credit losses, which includes the allowance for unfunded loan commitments, to funded HFI loans ratio was 0.69% at December 31, 2022, compared to 0.68% at September 30, 2022, and 0.74% at December 31, 2021. The Company is a party to credit linked note transactions, which effectively transfer a portion of the risk of losses on reference pools of loans to the purchasers of the notes. As of December 31, 2022, September 30, 2022, and December 31, 2021, the Company is protected from first credit losses on reference pools of loans totaling $12.0 billion, $10.8 billion, and $6.4 billion, respectively, under these transactions. However, as these note transactions are considered to be free standing credit enhancements, the allowance for credit losses cannot be reduced by the expected credit losses that may be mitigated by these notes. Accordingly, the allowance for loan and credit losses ratios include an allowance of $21.9 million as of December 31, 2022, $19 million as of September 30, 2022, and $7.2 million as of December 31, 2021, related to these pools of loans. The allowance for credit losses to funded HFI loans ratio, adjusted to reduce the HFI loan balance by the amount of loans in covered reference pools, was 0.89% at December 31, 2022, 0.86% at September 30, 2022, and 0.89% at December 31, 2021.

Deposits totaled $53.6 billion at December 31, 2022, a decrease of $1.9 billion from $55.6 billion at September 30, 2022, and an increase of $6.0 billion from $47.6 billion at December 31, 2021. By deposit type, the decrease from the prior quarter is attributable to a decrease of $5.2 billion from non-interest bearing demand deposits, partially offset by increases of $1.9 billion from certificates of deposits, $1.2 billion from interest bearing demand deposits, and $195 million from savings and money market accounts. From December 31, 2021, certificates of deposit, interest-bearing demand deposits, and savings and money market accounts increased by $3.0 billion, $2.6 billion, and $2.1 billion, respectively. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in non-interest bearing demand deposits of $1.7 billion. Non-interest bearing deposits were $19.7 billion at December 31, 2022, compared to $24.9 billion at September 30, 2022, and $21.4 billion at December 31, 2021.

The table below shows the Company's deposit types as a percentage of total deposits:

The Company’s ratio of HFI loans to deposits was 96.7% at December 31, 2022, compared to 93.9% at September 30, 2022, and 82.1% at December 31, 2021.

Borrowings were $6.3 billion at December 31, 2022 and September 30, 2022, and $1.5 billion at December 31, 2021. Borrowings remained flat from September 30, 2022 due primarily to the issuance of $93 million of credit linked notes in the fourth quarter 2022 offset by a decrease in short-term borrowings. The increase in borrowings from December 31, 2021 is due to an increase in short-term borrowings of $4.3 billion and issuance of $579 million of credit linked notes, net of issuance costs, during 2022.

Qualifying debt totaled $893 million at December 31, 2022, compared to $889 million at September 30, 2022, and $896 million at December 31, 2021.

Stockholders’ equity was $5.4 billion at December 31, 2022, compared to $5.0 billion at September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021. The increase in stockholders’ equity quarter over quarter was due to net income and unrealized fair value gains of approximately $77 million on the Company's available for sale securities, which are recorded in other comprehensive (loss) income, net of tax, partially offset by dividends to shareholders. A cash dividend of $0.36 per share was paid to common shareholders on December 2, 2022, totaling $39.2 million, and a cash dividend of $0.27 per depository share was paid to preferred shareholders on December 30, 2022, totaling $3.2 million. The increase in stockholders' equity from December 31, 2021 is primarily a function of net income and sales of common stock under the Company's ATM program, partially offset by dividends to shareholders and unrealized fair value losses on available for sale securities.

At December 31, 2022, tangible common equity, net of tax ¹ , was 6.5% of tangible assets ¹ and total capital was 12.1% of risk-weighted assets. The Company’s tangible book value per share ¹ was $40.25 at December 31, 2022, an increase of 8.3% from $37.16, and up 6.4% from $37.84 at December 31, 2021. The increase in tangible book value per share from September 30, 2022 is attributable to net income and fair value marks on the Company's available for sale securities, which are recorded in other comprehensive (loss) income, net of tax.

Total assets decreased 2.1% to $67.7 billion at December 31, 2022, from $69.2 billion at September 30, 2022, and increased 21.0% from $56.0 billion at December 31, 2021. The decrease in total assets from September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021 was driven by decreases in HFS and HFI loans.

¹ See reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.

Asset Quality

Provision for credit losses totaled $3.1 million for the fourth quarter 2022, compared to $28.5 million for the third quarter 2022, and $13.2 million for the fourth quarter 2021. Net loan charge-offs (recoveries) in the fourth quarter 2022 were $1.8 million, or 0.01% of average loans (annualized), compared to $(1.9) million, or (0.02)%, in the third quarter 2022, and $1.4 million, or 0.02%, in the fourth quarter 2021.

Nonaccrual loans decreased $5 million to $85 million during the quarter and increased $12 million from December 31, 2021. Loans past due 90 days and still accruing interest were zero (excluding government guaranteed loans of $582 million) at December 31, 2022, compared to zero at September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021 (excluding government guaranteed loans of $644 million and zero at September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively). Loans past due 30-89 days and still accruing interest totaled $70 million (excluding government guaranteed loans of $334 million) at December 31, 2022, an increase from $56 million at September 30, 2022, and an increase from $53 million at December 31, 2021 (excluding government guaranteed loans of $245 million and zero at September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively).

Repossessed assets totaled $11 million at December 31, 2022, flat from September 30, 2022, and a $1 million decrease from $12 million at December 31, 2021. Classified assets totaled $393 million at December 31, 2022, an increase of $8 million from $385 million at September 30, 2022, and an increase of $92 million from $301 million at December 31, 2021.

The ratio of classified assets to Tier 1 capital plus the allowance for credit losses, a common regulatory measure of asset quality, was 6.8% at December 31, 2022, compared to 7.0% at September 30, 2022, and 6.4% at December 31, 2021.

¹ See reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.

Segment Highlights

The Company's reportable segments are aggregated with a focus on products and services offered and consist of three reportable segments:

• Commercial segment: provides commercial banking and treasury management products and services to small and middle-market businesses, specialized banking services to sophisticated commercial institutions and investors within niche industries, as well as financial services to the real estate industry.
• Consumer Related segment: offers both commercial banking services to enterprises in consumer-related sectors and consumer banking services, such as residential mortgage banking and beginning on January 25, 2022 includes the financial results of Digital Disbursements.
• Corporate & Other segment: consists of the Company's investment portfolio, Corporate borrowings and other related items, income and expense items not allocated to our other reportable segments, and inter-segment eliminations.

Key management metrics for evaluating the performance of the Company's Commercial and Consumer Related segments include loan and deposit growth, asset quality, and pre-tax income.

The Commercial segment reported an HFI loan balance of $31.4 billion at December 31, 2022, a decrease of $646 million during the quarter, and an increase of $6.3 billion during the year. Deposits for the Commercial segment totaled $29.5 billion at December 31, 2022, a decrease of $512 million during the quarter, and a decrease of $973 million during the year.

Pre-tax income for the Commercial segment was $320.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2022, an increase of $22.3 million from the three months ended September 30, 2022, and an increase of $82.2 million from the three months ended December 31, 2021. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Commercial segment reported total pre-tax income of $1.1 billion, an increase of $233.8 million compared to the year ended December 31, 2021.

The Consumer Related segment reported an HFI loan balance of $20.4 billion at December 31, 2022, an increase of $307 million during the quarter, and an increase of $6.5 billion during the year. The Consumer Related segment also has loans held for sale of $1.2 billion at December 31, 2022, a decrease of $1.0 billion during the quarter, and a decrease of $4.5 billion during the year. Deposits for the Consumer Related segment totaled $18.5 billion, a decrease of $2.5 billion during the quarter, and an increase of $3.1 billion during the year.

Pre-tax income for the Consumer Related segment was $69.8 million for the three months ended December 31, 2022, a decrease of $23.4 million from the three months ended September 30, 2022, and a decrease of $65.2 million from the three months ended December 31, 2021. Pre-tax income for the Consumer Related segment for the year ended December 31, 2022 totaled $450.1 million, a decrease of $46.0 million compared to the year ended December 31, 2021.

Conference Call and Webcast

Western Alliance Bancorporation will host a conference call and live webcast to discuss its fourth quarter 2022 financial results at 12:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, January 25, 2023. Participants may access the call by dialing 1-844-200-6205 and using access code 669213 or via live audio webcast using the website link https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/484930167 . The webcast is also available via the Company’s website at www.westernalliancebancorporation.com . Participants should log in at least 15 minutes early to receive instructions. The call will be recorded and made available for replay after 3:00 p.m. ET January 25th through 11:00 p.m. ET February 25th by dialing 1-866-813-9403, using access code 597938.

Reclassifications

Certain amounts in the Consolidated Income Statements for the prior periods have been reclassified to conform to the current presentation. The reclassifications have no effect on net income or stockholders’ equity as previously reported.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information

This press release contains both financial measures based on GAAP and non-GAAP based financial measures, which are used where management believes them to be helpful in understanding the Company’s results of operations or financial position. Where non-GAAP financial measures are used, the comparable GAAP financial measure, as well as the reconciliation to the comparable GAAP financial measure, can be found in this press release. These disclosures should not be viewed as a substitute for operating results determined in accordance with GAAP, nor are they necessarily comparable to non-GAAP performance measures that may be presented by other companies.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements that relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we make regarding our expectations with regard to our business, financial and operating results, future economic performance and dividends. The forward-looking statements contained herein reflect our current views about future events and financial performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and changes in circumstances that may cause our actual results to differ significantly from historical results and those expressed in any forward-looking statement. Some factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical or expected results include, among others: the risk factors discussed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and the Company's subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, each as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission; the potential adverse effects of unusual and infrequently occurring events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and any governmental or societal responses thereto; changes in general economic conditions, either nationally or locally in the areas in which we conduct or will conduct our business; the impact on financial markets from geopolitical conflicts such as the war between Russia and Ukraine; inflation, interest rate, market and monetary fluctuations; increases in competitive pressures among financial institutions and businesses offering similar products and services; higher defaults on our loan portfolio than we expect; changes in management’s estimate of the adequacy of the allowance for credit losses; legislative or regulatory changes or changes in accounting principles, policies or guidelines; supervisory actions by regulatory agencies which may limit our ability to pursue certain growth opportunities, including expansion through acquisitions; additional regulatory requirements resulting from our continued growth; management’s estimates and projections of interest rates and interest rate policy; the execution of our business plan; and other factors affecting the financial services industry generally or the banking industry in particular.

Any forward-looking statement made by us in this release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We do not intend and disclaim any duty or obligation to update or revise any industry information or forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, set forth in this press release to reflect new information, future events or otherwise.

About Western Alliance Bancorporation

With more than $65 billion in assets, Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) is one of the country’s top-performing banking companies. Through its primary subsidiary, Western Alliance Bank, Member FDIC, business clients benefit from a full spectrum of tailored banking solutions and outstanding service delivered by industry experts who put customers first. Major accolades include #2 best-performing of the 50 largest public U.S. banks in the S&P Global Market Intelligence listing for 2021, and #1 Best Emerging Regional Bank for 2022 by Bank Director. Serving clients across the country wherever business happens, Western Alliance Bank operates individual, full-service banking and financial brands with offices in key markets nationwide. For more information, visit westernalliancebank.com .