The following is a summary of the First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript:

Financial Performance:

• First Financial Bancorp. reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.59.

• Return on assets was 1.3%, and return on tangible common equity was 19.1%.

• Net interest margin was 4.1%.

• Loan growth was strong, with balances increasing by 10% on an annualized basis.

• Average deposit growth was 2.3%, inclusive of a seasonal outflow of about $100 million in business deposits.

• Noninterest income increased across most fee revenue areas.

• Asset quality was stable with net charge-offs declining to 38 basis points.

• The company incurred a loss on the sale of investment securities due to portfolio repositioning.

Business Progress:

• First Financial Bancorp. has undertaken several actions during the quarter, including the repositioning of a part of the investment portfolio, a workforce efficiency initiative, and the acquisition of Agile Premium Finance.

• Expecting an increase in income in the second half of the year due to the restructuring of a portion of its bank-owned life insurance portfolio.

• An additional $10 million to $12 million in annualized expense reductions is expected by the end of 2024.

• The company expects the net interest margin to be between 3.95% and 4.05%, with net charge-offs expected to be about 30 basis points for the year. The company aims to maintain dividends at the current level.

• The bank expects the Agile business to hit a little shy of $200 million by year-end, seeing around a half a billion dollar range in 3 to 4 years.

• Looking forward to diversifying its loan book with good granularity and high-quality loans.

More details: First Financial Bancorp IR

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