Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NYSE:AMTB) (the "Company" or "Amerant") today reported a net loss attributable to the Company of $17.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, or $0.51 per diluted share. Net income attributable to the Company was $32.5 million for the full-year 2023, or $0.96 per diluted share.

"Strong organic loan and deposit growth were among the highlights of the quarter," stated Jerry Plush, Chairman and CEO. "We completed our long-awaited conversion to new core systems as well and recently took a number of actions that, while resulting in a loss for the quarter, best position the Company for 2024 and the projected decline in interest rates. Our focus for 2024 now shifts to executing on our growth strategy."

Results for the fourth quarter and for the year ended December 31, 2023 include a non-cash charge of $30.0 million before taxes on the sale of non-relationship, Houston-based commercial real estate loans with an estimated outstanding principal balance of $401 million, that was previously disclosed on January 16, 2024. These loans, of which $370 million were variable rate, were classified as held for sale as of December 31, 2023. The sale is expected to be completed on January 25, 2024.

Financial Highlights:

Total assets increased to $9.7 billion, up $376.0 million, or 4.02%, compared to $9.3 billion as of 3Q23 and up $0.6 billion, or 6.5%, compared to $9.1 billion as of 4Q22.
Total gross loans were $7.28 billion, an increase of $132.8 million, or 1.86%, compared to $7.1 billion in 3Q23 and an increase of $355.7 million, or 5.1%, compared to $6.9 billion in 4Q22.
Cash and cash equivalents were $321.1 million, up $12.2 million or 3.94%, compared to $309.0 million as of 3Q23 and up $31 million, or 11%, compared to $290.6 million as of 4Q22.
Total deposits were $7.9 billion, up $325.7 million, or 4.32%, compared to $7.5 billion in 3Q23 and up $828.4 million, or 11.8%, compared to $7.0 billion in 4Q22.
Total advances from Federal Home Loan Bank ("FHLB") were $645.0 million, up $50.0 million, or 8.4%, compared to $595.0 million as of 3Q23 and down $261.5 million, or 28.8%, compared to $906.5 million as of 4Q22. The Bank had an additional $2.2 billion in availability from the FHLB as of December 31, 2023.
Average yield on loans was 7.09%, up compared to 6.77% and 5.85% in 3Q23 and 4Q22, respectively. Average yield on loans for the full-year 2023 was 6.78%, also up compared to 4.92% for the full-year 2022.
Total non-performing assets were $54.6 million, down $1.2 million, or 2.3%, compared to $53.4 million as of 3Q23 and up $17.0 million or 45.2%, compared to $37.6 million to 4Q22.
The allowance for credit losses ("ACL") was $95.5 million, a decrease of $3.3 million, or 3.3%, compared to $98.8 million as of 3Q23 and an increase of $12.0 million, or 14.4%, compared to $83.5 million in 4Q22.
Core deposits, which consist of total deposits excluding all time deposits, were $5.6 billion, up $331.5 million, or 6.3%, compared to $5.2 billion as of 3Q23 and up $259.6 million, or 4.9%, compared to $5.3 billion as of 4Q22.
Average cost of total deposits was 2.88% compared to 2.66% in 3Q23 and 1.38% in 4Q22. Average cost of total deposits for the full-year 2023 was 2.47% compared to 0.80% for the full-year 2022.
Loan to deposit ratio was 92.41% compared to 94.64% and 98.23% in 3Q23 and 4Q22, respectively.
Assets Under Management and custody ("AUM") totaled $2.3 billion as of 4Q23, an increase of $196.9 million, or 9.4%, compared to $2.1 billion as of 3Q23 and an increase of $293.5 million, or 14.7%, compared to $2.0 billion in 4Q22.
Pre-provision net revenue ("PPNR")⁽¹⁾ was negative $7.6 million in 4Q23, a decrease of $44.1 million, or 120.8%, compared to $36.5 million in 3Q23, and a decrease of $52.1 million, or 117.1%, compared to $44.5 million in 4Q22. PPNR²was $104.3 million for the full-year 2023, an increase of $10.4 million, or 11.1%, compared to $93.9 million for the full-year 2022. PPNR in 4Q23 and full year 2023 included the impact of a $35.5 million in valuation allowance on the loans held for sale at the end of the year recorded in noninterest expense.
Net Interest Margin ("NIM") was 3.72%, up compared to 3.57% and down compared to 3.96% in 3Q23 and 4Q22, respectively. NIM was 3.76% for the full-year 2023, an increase compared to 3.53% for the full-year 2022.
Net Interest Income ("NII") was $81.7 million, up $3.1 million, or 4.0%, compared to $78.6 million in 3Q23 and down $0.5 million, or 0.6%, compared to $82.2 million in 4Q22. NII was $326.5 million for the full-year 2023, up $59.8 million, or 22.42%, compared to $266.7 million for the full-year 2022.
Provision for credit losses was $12.5 million, up compared to $8.0 million in 3Q23, and down compared to $16.9 million in 4Q22⁽²⁾. Provision for credit losses was $61.3 million for the full-year 2023, compared to $13.9 million in the full-year 2022.
Non-interest income was $19.6 million, a decrease of $2.3 million, or 10.5%, compared to $21.9 million in 3Q23 and a decrease of $4.8 million, or 19.50%, compared to $24.4 million in 4Q22. Non-interest income was $87.5 million for the full-year 2023, an increase of $20.2 million, or 30.1%, compared to $67.3 million for the full-year 2022.
Non-interest expense was $109.7 million, up $45.3 million, or 70.3%, compared to $64.4 million in 3Q23 and up $47.5 million, or 76.3%, compared to $62.2 million in 4Q22. Non-interest expense was $311.4 million for the full-year 2023, up $69.9 million or 29.0%, compared to $241.4 million for the full-year 2022.
The efficiency ratio was 108.30% in 4Q23, up compared to 64.1% in 3Q23 and up compared to 58.42% in 4Q22. The efficiency ratio was 75.21% for the full-year 2023 compared to 72.29% for the full-year 2022.
Return on average assets ("ROA") was negative 0.71% in 4Q23 compared to 0.92% and 0.97% in 3Q23 and 4Q22⁽²⁾, respectively. ROA was 0.34% for the full-year 2023 compared to 0.77% for the full-year 2022.
Return on average equity ("ROE") was negative 9.22% in 4Q23 compared to 11.93% and 12.1% in 3Q23 and 4Q22⁽²⁾, respectively. ROE was 4.39% for the full-year 2023 compared to 8.45% for the full-year 2022.
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss ("AOCL") decreased to $70.8 million as of 4Q23, an improvement of $34.8 million, or 33.0%, compared to $105.6 million as of 3Q23 and an improvement of $9.8 million, or 12.2%, compared to $80.6 million as of 4Q22.
The Company's Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.09 per share of common stock on January 17, 2024. The dividend is payable on February 29, 2024, to shareholders of record on February 14, 2024.

Additional details on fourth quarter and full-year 2023 results can be found in the Exhibits to this earnings release, and the earnings presentation available under the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at https://investor.amerantbank.com.

¹Non-GAAP measure, see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" for more information and Exhibit 2 for a reconciliation to GAAP.

²As previously disclosed, the Company adopted the new guidance on accounting for current expected credit losses on financial instruments ("CECL") in the fourth quarter of 2022, effective as of January 1, 2022. See Form 10-K for more details of the CECL adoption and related effects to quarterly results for each quarter in the year ended December 31, 2022.

Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings Conference Call

The Company will hold an earnings conference call on Thursday, January 25, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) to discuss its fourth quarter and full-year 2023 results. The conference call and presentation materials can be accessed via webcast by logging on from the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at https://investor.amerantbank.com. The online replay will remain available for approximately one month following the call through the above link.

About Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NYSE:AMTB)

Amerant Bancorp Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida since 1979. The Company operates through its main subsidiary, Amerant Bank, N.A. (the "Bank"), as well as its other subsidiaries: Amerant Investments, Inc., Elant Bank and Trust Ltd., and Amerant Mortgage, LLC. The Company provides individuals and businesses in the U.S. with deposit, credit and wealth management services. The Bank, which has operated for over 40 years, is the largest community bank headquartered in Florida. The Bank operates 22 banking centers – 16 in South Florida and 6 in the Houston, Texas area, as well as an LPO in Tampa, Florida. For more information, visit investor.amerantbank.com.

FIS® and any associated brand names/logos are the trademarks of FIS and/or its affiliates.

Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" including statements with respect to the Company's objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements that are not historical facts. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be forward-looking statements. You can identify these forward-looking statements through our use of words such as "may," "will," "anticipate," "assume," "should," "indicate," "would," "believe," "contemplate," "expect," "estimate," "continue," "plan," "point to," "project," "could," "intend," "target," "goals," "outlooks," "modeled," "dedicated," "create," and other similar words and expressions of the future.

Forward-looking statements, including those relating to our beliefs, plans, objectives, goals, expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control, and which may cause the Company's actual results, performance, achievements, or financial condition to be materially different from future results, performance, achievements, or financial condition expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. You should not rely on any forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. You should not expect us to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary notice, together with those risks and uncertainties described in "Risk factors" in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 filed on March 1, 2023 (the "Form 10-K"), our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 filed on May 2, 2023, and in our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which are available at the SEC's website www.sec.gov.

Interim Financial Information

Unaudited financial information as of and for interim periods, including the three month periods ended September 30, 2023, June 30, 2023, March 31, 2023, and the three and twelve month periods ended December 31, 2023, may not reflect our results of operations for our fiscal year ended, or financial condition as of December 31, 2023, or any other period of time or date.

As previously disclosed in the Form 10-K, the Company adopted the new guidance on accounting for current expected credit losses on financial instruments ("CECL") effective as of January 1, 2022. Quarterly amounts previously reported on our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the periods ended March 31, 2022, June 30, 2022 and September 30, 2022 do not reflect the adoption of CECL. In the fourth quarter of 2022, the Company recorded a provision for credit losses totaling $20.9 million, including $11.1 million related to the retroactive effect of adopting CECL for all previous quarterly periods in the year ended December 31, 2022, including loan growth and changes to macro-economic conditions during the period. Quarterly amounts included in the Form 10-K and this earnings release and accompanying presentation reflect the impacts of the adoption of CECL on each interim period of 2022. See the Form 10-K for more details on the adoption of CECL.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company supplements its financial results that are determined in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") with non-GAAP financial measures, such as "pre-provision net revenue (PPNR)", "core pre-provision net revenue (Core PPNR)", "core noninterest income", "core noninterest expenses", "core net income", "core earnings per share (basic and diluted)", "core return on assets (Core ROA)", "core return on equity (Core ROE)", "core efficiency ratio", "tangible stockholders' equity (book value) per common share", "tangible common equity ratio, adjusted for unrealized losses on debt securities held to maturity", and "tangible stockholders' equity (book value) per common share, adjusted for unrealized losses on debt securities held to maturity". This supplemental information is not required by, or is not presented in accordance with GAAP. The Company refers to these financial measures and ratios as "non-GAAP financial measures" and they should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the GAAP measures presented herein.

We use certain non-GAAP financial measures, including those mentioned above, both to explain our results to shareholders and the investment community and in the internal evaluation and management of our businesses. Our management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures and the information they provide are useful to investors since these measures permit investors to view our performance using the same tools that our management uses to evaluate our past performance and prospects for future performance, especially in light of the additional costs we have incurred in connection with the Company's restructuring activities that began in 2018 and continued in 2023, including the effect of non-core banking activities such as the sale of loans and securities and other repossessed assets, the valuation of securities, derivatives, loans held for sale and other real estate owned and repossessed assets, the early repayment of FHLB advances, impairment of investments, Bank owned life insurance restructure and other non-routine actions intended to improve customer service and operating performance. While we believe that these non-GAAP financial measures are useful in evaluating our performance, this information should be considered as supplemental and not as a substitute for or superior to the related financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Additionally, these non-GAAP financial measures may differ from similar measures presented by other companies.

Exhibit 2 reconciles these non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP reported results.

Exhibit 1- Selected Financial Information

The following table sets forth selected financial information derived from our unaudited and audited consolidated financial statements.

(in thousands)	December 31, 2023		September 30, 2023		June 30, 2023		March 31, 2023		December 31, 2022
Consolidated Balance Sheets									(audited)
Total assets	$	9,721,741	$	9,345,700	$	9,519,526	$	9,495,302	$	9,127,804
Total investments		1,496,975		1,314,367		1,315,303		1,347,697		1,366,680
Total gross loans (1)		7,275,370		7,142,596		7,216,958		7,115,035		6,919,632
Allowance for credit losses		95,504		98,773		105,956		84,361		83,500
Total deposits		7,872,600		7,546,912		7,579,571		7,286,726		7,044,199
Core deposits (2)		5,575,503		5,244,034		5,498,017		5,357,386		5,315,944
Advances from the FHLB and other borrowings		645,000		595,000		770,000		1,052,012		906,486
Senior notes		59,526		59,447		59,368		59,289		59,210
Subordinated notes		29,454		29,412		29,369		29,326		29,284
Junior subordinated debentures		64,178		64,178		64,178		64,178		64,178
Stockholders' equity (3)(4)		736,068		719,787		720,956		729,056		705,726
Assets under management and custody (5)		2,289,135		2,092,200		2,147,465		2,107,603		1,995,666

	Three Months Ended															Years Ended December 31,
(in thousands, except percentages, share data and per share amounts)	December 31, 2023			September 30, 2023			June 30, 2023			March 31, 2023			December 31, 2022			2023			2022
Consolidated Results of Operations																			(audited)
Net interest income	$	81,677		$	78,577		$	83,877		$	82,333		$	82,178		$	326,464		$	266,665
Provision for credit losses (6)(7)		12,500			8,000			29,077			11,700			16,857			61,277			13,945
Noninterest income		19,613			21,921			26,619			19,343			24,365			87,496			67,277
Noninterest expense		109,702			64,420			72,500			64,733			62,241			311,355			241,413
Net (loss)income attributable to Amerant Bancorp Inc. (6)(8)		(17,123	)		22,119			7,308			20,186			21,973			32,490			63,310
Effective income tax rate (6)		14.21	%		22.57	%		21.00	%		21.00	%		20.50	%		25.50	%		21.15	%

Common Share Data
Stockholders' book value per common share	$	21.90		$	21.43		$	21.37		$	21.56		$	20.87		$	21.90		$	20.87
Tangible stockholders' equity (book value) per common share (9)	$	21.16		$	20.63		$	20.66		$	20.84		$	20.19		$	21.16		$	20.19
Tangible stockholders' equity (book value) per common share, adjusted for unrealized losses on debt securities held to maturity (9)	$	20.68		$	19.86		$	20.11		$	20.38		$	19.65		$	20.68		$	19.65
Basic (loss) earnings per common share (6)	$	(0.51	)	$	0.66		$	0.22		$	0.60		$	0.66		$	0.97		$	1.87
Diluted (loss) earnings per common share (6)(10)	$	(0.51	)	$	0.66		$	0.22		$	0.60		$	0.65		$	0.96		$	1.85
Basic weighted average shares outstanding		33,432,871			33,489,560			33,564,770			33,559,718			33,496,096			33,511,321			33,862,410
Diluted weighted average shares outstanding (10)		33,432,871			33,696,620			33,717,702			33,855,994			33,813,593			33,675,388			34,142,563
Cash dividend declared per common share (4)	$	0.09		$	0.09		$	0.09		$	0.09		$	0.09		$	0.36		$	0.36

	Three Months Ended										Years Ended December 31,
	December 31, 2023		September 30, 2023		June 30, 2023		March 31, 2023		December 31, 2022		2023		2022
Other Financial and Operating Data ⁽¹¹⁾													(audited)

Profitability Indicators (%)
Net interest income / Average total interest earning assets (NIM) ⁽¹²⁾	3.72	%	3.57	%	3.83	%	3.90	%	3.96	%	3.76	%	3.53	%
Net (loss) income / Average total assets (ROA)^(6)(13)	(0.71	) %	0.92	%	0.31	%	0.88	%	0.97	%	0.34	%	0.77	%
Net (loss) income / Average stockholders' equity (ROE) ^(6)(14)	(9.22	) %	11.93	%	3.92	%	11.15	%	12.10	%	4.39	%	8.45	%
Noninterest income / Total revenue⁽¹⁵⁾	19.36	%	21.81	%	24.09	%	19.02	%	22.87	%	21.14	%	20.15	%

Capital Indicators (%)
Total capital ratio⁽¹⁶⁾	12.19	%	12.70	%	12.39	%	12.36	%	12.39	%	12.19	%	12.39	%
Tier 1 capital ratio⁽¹⁷⁾	10.60	%	11.08	%	10.77	%	10.88	%	10.89	%	10.60	%	10.89	%
Tier 1 leverage ratio ⁽¹⁸⁾	8.84	%	9.05	%	8.91	%	9.04	%	9.18	%	8.84	%	9.18	%
Common equity tier 1 capital ratio (CET1)⁽¹⁹⁾	9.84	%	10.30	%	10.00	%	10.10	%	10.10	%	9.84	%	10.10	%
Tangible common equity ratio ⁽²⁰⁾	7.33	%	7.44	%	7.34	%	7.44	%	7.50	%	7.33	%	7.50	%
Tangible common equity ratio, adjusted for unrealized losses on debt securities held to maturity⁽²¹⁾	7.18	%	7.18	%	7.16	%	7.29	%	7.31	%	7.18	%	7.31	%

Liquidity Ratios (%)
Loans to Deposits⁽²²⁾	92.41	%	94.64	%	95.22	%	97.64	%	98.23	%	92.41	%	98.23	%

Asset Quality Indicators (%)
Non-performing assets / Total assets⁽²³⁾	0.56	%	0.57	%	0.71	%	0.51	%	0.41	%	0.56	%	0.41	%
Non-performing loans / Total loans ^{(1) (24)}	0.47	%	0.46	%	0.65	%	0.31	%	0.54	%	0.47	%	0.54	%
Allowance for credit losses / Total non-performing loans ^(2)(24)	277.63	%	297.55	%	224.51	%	380.31	%	222.08	%	277.63	%	222.08	%
Allowance for loan credit losses / Total loans held for investment ⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾	1.39	%	1.40	%	1.48	%	1.20	%	1.22	%	1.39	%	1.22	%
Net charge-offs / Average total loans held for investment ⁽²⁵⁾	0.85	%	0.82	%	0.42	%	0.64	%	0.59	%	0.69	%	0.32	%

Efficiency Indicators (% except FTE)
Noninterest expense / Average total assets	4.57	%	2.69	%	3.06	%	2.82	%	2.75	%	3.29	%	2.95	%
Salaries and employee benefits / Average total assets	1.38	%	1.31	%	1.45	%	1.52	%	1.45	%	1.41	%	1.51	%
Other operating expenses/ Average total assets ⁽²⁶⁾	3.20	%	1.38	%	1.62	%	1.30	%	1.30	%	1.88	%	1.44	%
Efficiency ratio⁽²⁷⁾	108.30	%	64.10	%	65.61	%	63.67	%	58.42	%	75.21	%	72.29	%
Full-Time-Equivalent Employees (FTEs) ⁽²⁸⁾	682		700		710		722		692		682		692

	Three Months Ended											Years Ended December 31,
(in thousands, except percentages and per share amounts)	December 31, 2023			September 30, 2023		June 30, 2023		March 31, 2023		December 31, 2022		2023		2022
Core Selected Consolidated Results of Operations and Other Data ⁽⁹⁾														(audited)

Pre-provision net revenue (PPNR)	$	(7,595	)	$	36,456	$	38,258	$	37,187	$	44,457	$	104,306	$	93,876
Core pre-provision net revenue (Core PPNR)	$	29,811		$	35,880	$	39,196	$	37,103	$	37,838	$	141,990	$	105,479
Core net income ⁽⁶⁾

Amerant Reports Fourth Quarter 2023 and Full-Year 2023 Results