Hancock Whitney reports fourth quarter 2024 EPS of $1.40

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2024. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2024 totaled $122.1 million, or $1.40 per diluted common share (EPS), compared to $115.6 million, or $1.33 per diluted common share, in the third quarter of 2024. The company reported net income for the fourth quarter of 2023 of $50.6 million, or $0.58 per diluted common share. The fourth quarter of 2023 included $75.4 million, or $0.68 per diluted share after-tax, of supplemental disclosure items. Excluding the impact of these supplemental disclosure items, EPS would have been $1.26 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2023. There were no supplemental disclosure items in the third or fourth quarters of 2024.

Fourth Quarter 2024 Highlights

• Net income totaled $122.1 million, compared to $115.6 million in the prior quarter
• Pre-provision net revenue (PPNR) totaled $165.2 million, compared to $166.5 million in the prior quarter
• Loans decreased $156.1 million, or 3% linked quarter annualized (LQA)
• Deposits increased $509.9 million, or 7% LQA
• Criticized commercial loans and nonaccrual loans continued to normalize
• ACL coverage solid at 1.47%, up 1 bp compared to the prior quarter
• NIM 3.41%, up 2 bps compared to the prior quarter
• CET1 ratio estimated at 14.14%, up 36 bps linked-quarter; TCE ratio of 9.47%, down 9 bps linked-quarter; total risk-based capital ratio estimated at nearly 16%
• Efficiency ratio of 54.46%, up 4 bps linked-quarter

"The fourth quarter 2024 results reflect a strong conclusion to our year-long 125^th anniversary celebration," said John M. Hairston, President & CEO. "Our team delivered an impressive ROA of 1.40%, additional NIM expansion, and an efficiency ratio of 54.46%. Credit metrics continued to normalize, and we've maintained a solid ACL to loans of 1.47%. Our regulatory capital ratios continued to climb, with total risk-based capital reaching nearly 16%. We believe we are well-positioned as we enter 2025, and we are excited for the opportunities that lie ahead, including the announcement earlier today of the acquisition of Sabal Trust Company and the expansion of our outstanding team of revenue generators and financial center locations. I would like to thank our 3,500 associates, who worked tirelessly to deliver a 125^th year we can all be proud of."

Loans

Total loans were $23.3 billion at December 31, 2024, down $156.1 million, or 1%, from September 30, 2024. Loan contraction was driven by an increase in payoffs of commercial real estate credits, partially offset by seasonal increase in line utilization and higher activity in commercial non-real estate loans.

Average loans totaled $23.2 billion for the fourth quarter of 2024, down $303.5 million, or 1%, linked-quarter. Management expects 2025 period-end loan balances to be up mid-single digits from year-end 2024.

Deposits

Total deposits at December 31, 2024 were $29.5 billion, up $509.9 million, or 2%, from September 30, 2024. The linked-quarter increase in deposits was primarily due to an increase in interest-bearing public funds driven by seasonal inflows, an increase in interest-bearing transactions and savings due to seasonality and competitive products and pricing, and an increase in noninterest-bearing deposits. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in retail time deposits driven by maturity concentration repricing at lower rates and promotional rate reductions during the fourth quarter of 2024 and a decrease in brokered deposits, which matured during the fourth quarter of 2024.

DDAs totaled $10.6 billion at December 31, 2024, up $98.0 million, or 1%, from September 30, 2024 and comprised 36% of total period-end deposits. Interest-bearing transaction and savings deposits totaled $11.3 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, up $413.1 million, or 4%, linked-quarter. Compared to September 30, 2024, retail time deposits of $4.4 billion were down $326.0 million, or 7%, and brokered deposits were $6.9 million, down $183.6 million, compared to the prior quarter. Interest-bearing public fund deposits increased $508.4 million, or 19%, linked-quarter, totaling $3.2 billion at December 31, 2024.

Average deposits for the fourth quarter of 2024 were $29.1 billion, up $168.2 million, or 1%, linked-quarter. Management expects 2025 period-end deposit levels to be up low-single digits from year-end 2024.

Asset Quality

The total allowance for credit losses (ACL) was $342.9 million at December 31, 2024, up $0.2 million, or less than 1%, from September 30, 2024. During the fourth quarter of 2024, the company recorded a provision for credit losses of $11.9 million, compared to a provision for credit losses of $18.6 million in the third quarter of 2024. There were $11.7 million of net charge-offs in the fourth quarter of 2024, or 0.20% of average total loans on an annualized basis, compared to net charge-offs of $18.0 million, or 0.30% of average total loans in the third quarter of 2024. The ratio of ACL to period-end loans was 1.47% at December 31, 2024, compared to 1.46% at September 30, 2024.

Criticized commercial loans totaled $623.0 million, or 3.47% of total commercial loans, at December 31, 2024, compared to $508.0 million, or 2.81% of total commercial loans at September 30, 2024. Nonaccrual loans totaled $97.3 million, or 0.42% of total loans, at December 31, 2024, compared to $82.9 million, or 0.35% of total loans, at September 30, 2024. ORE and foreclosed assets were $27.8 million at December 31, 2024, virtually flat compared to September 30, 2024.

Net Interest Income and Net Interest Margin (NIM)

Net interest income (TE) for the fourth quarter of 2024 was $276.3 million, an increase of $1.8 million, or 1%, from the third quarter of 2024. The net interest margin (NIM) (TE) was 3.41% in the fourth quarter of 2024, up 2 bps linked-quarter. Lower rates on deposits (+16 bps), higher securities yields (+1 bp) and a favorable borrowing mix (+5 bps), led to a 22 basis point improvement in NIM, partially offset lower loan yields (-20 bps).

Average earning assets were $32.3 billion for the fourth quarter of 2024, flat, from the third quarter of 2024.

Noninterest Income

Noninterest income totaled $91.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, down $4.7 million, or 5%, from the third quarter of 2024.

Service charges on deposits were up $0.3 million, or 1%, from the third quarter of 2024. Bank card and ATM fees were down $0.2 million, or 1%, from the third quarter of 2024.

Investment and annuity income and insurance fees were flat linked-quarter. Trust fees were up $0.2 million, or 1% linked-quarter. Fees from secondary mortgage operations totaled $2.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, down $0.8 million, or 24%, linked-quarter, due to lower activity.

Other noninterest income was $14.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, down $4.1 million, or 22%, from the third quarter of 2024, primarily due to lower derivative income and lower SBA loan income.

Noninterest Expense & Taxes

Noninterest expense totaled $202.3 million, down $1.5 million, or 1% linked-quarter.

Personnel expense totaled $113.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, down $2.0 million, or 2%, linked-quarter, due to lower incentives and retirement benefit expenses. Net occupancy and equipment expense totaled $17.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, down $0.3 million, or 1%, from the third quarter of 2024. Amortization of intangibles totaled $2.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, down $0.1 million, or 4%, linked-quarter.

Net gains on ORE and other foreclosed assets totaled $0.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to a net gain of $0.4 million in the third quarter of 2024.

Other expense totaled $69.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, up $1.2 million or 2%, linked-quarter, due to higher professional services and other miscellaneous expenses.

The effective income tax rate for the fourth quarter of 2024 was 18.9%.

Capital

Common stockholders' equity at December 31, 2024 totaled $4.1 billion, down $47 million, or 1%, from September 30, 2024. The tangible common equity (TCE) ratio was 9.47%, down 9 bps linked-quarter. The company's CET1 ratio is estimated to 14.14% at December 31, 2024, up 36 bps linked-quarter. Total risk-based capital ratio is estimated to be 15.93% at December 31, 2024, up 37 bps linked-quarter. During the fourth quarter of 2024, the company repurchased 150,000 shares of its common stock at an average price of $52.50 per share. This stock repurchase is pursuant to the company's share buyback program (which authorized the repurchase of up to 4,297,000 shares of the company's outstanding common stock), which expired on December 31, 2024. The company repurchased 762,993 shares under this buyback program. The company's share buyback authorization was renewed by the Board of Directors effective January 1, 2025; under this new authorization, the company may, from time to time, purchase up to 5% of the shares of company common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2024. For more information, please refer to the press release and related Form 8-K dated December 12, 2024 on the company's investor relations website.

Conference Call and Slide Presentation

Management will host a conference call for analysts and investors at 3:30 p.m. Central Time on Tuesday, January 21, 2025 to review fourth quarter of 2024 results. A live listen-only webcast of the call will be available under the Investor Relations section of Hancock Whitney's website at investors.hancockwhitney.com. A link to the release with additional financial tables, and a link to a slide presentation related to fourth quarter results are also posted as part of the webcast link. To participate in the Q&A portion of the call, dial 800-715-9871 or 646-307-1963, access code 6506941.

An audio archive of the conference call will be available under the Investor Relations section of our website. A replay of the call will also be available through January 28, 2025 by dialing 800-770-2030 or 609-800-9909, access code 6506941.

About Hancock Whitney

Since the late 1800s, Hancock Whitney has embodied core values of Honor & Integrity, Strength & Stability, Commitment to Service, Teamwork, and Personal Responsibility. Hancock Whitney offices and financial centers in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas offer comprehensive financial products and services, including traditional and online banking; commercial and small business banking; private banking; trust and investment services; healthcare banking; and mortgage services. The company also operates combined loan and deposit production offices in the greater metropolitan areas of Nashville, Tennessee and Atlanta, Georgia. More information is available at www.hancockwhitney.com.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This news release includes non-GAAP financial measures to describe Hancock Whitney's performance. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered alternatives to GAAP-basis financial statements and other bank holding companies may define or calculate these non-GAAP measures or similar measures differently. The reconciliations of those measures to GAAP measures are provided either in the financial tables or in Appendix A thereto.

Consistent with the provisions of subpart 229.1400 of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation S-K, "Disclosures by Bank and Savings and Loan Registrants," the company presents net interest income, net interest margin and efficiency ratios on a fully taxable equivalent ("TE") basis. The TE basis adjusts for the tax-favored status of net interest income from certain loans and investments using the statutory federal tax rate to increase tax-exempt interest income to a taxable equivalent basis. The company believes this measure to be the preferred industry measurement of net interest income and it enhances comparability of net interest income arising from taxable and tax-exempt sources.

The company presents certain additional non-GAAP financial measures to assist the reader with a better understanding of the company's performance period over period, as well as to provide investors with assistance in understanding the success management has experienced in executing its strategic initiatives. The company highlights certain items that are outside of our principal business and/or are not indicative of forward-looking trends in supplemental disclosures items below our GAAP financial data and presents certain "Adjusted" ratios that exclude these disclosed items. These adjusted ratios provide management or the reader with a measure that may be more indicative of forward-looking trends in our business, as well as demonstrates the effects of significant gains or losses and changes.

We define Adjusted Pre-Provision Net Revenue as net income excluding provision expense and income tax expense, plus the taxable equivalent adjustment (as defined above), less supplemental disclosure items (as defined above). Management believes that adjusted pre-provision net revenue is a useful financial measure because it enables investors and others to assess the company's ability to generate capital to cover credit losses through a credit cycle. We define Adjusted Revenue as net interest income (te) and noninterest income less supplemental disclosure items. We define Adjusted Noninterest Expense as noninterest expense less supplemental disclosure items. We define our Efficiency Ratio as noninterest expense to total net interest income (te) and noninterest income, excluding amortization of purchased intangibles and supplemental disclosure items, if applicable. Management believes adjusted revenue, adjusted noninterest expense and the efficiency ratio are useful measures as they provide a greater understanding of ongoing operations and enhance comparability with prior periods.

Important Cautionary Statement about Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements that we may make include statements regarding our expectations of our performance and financial condition, balance sheet and revenue growth, the provision for credit losses, capital levels, deposits (including growth, pricing, and betas), investment portfolio, other sources of liquidity, loan growth expectations, management's predictions about charge-offs for loans, general economic business conditions in our local markets, Federal Reserve action with respect to interest rates, the effects of war or other conflicts, acts of terrorism, climate change, the impact of natural or man-made disasters, the adequacy of our enterprise risk management framework, potential claims, damages, penalties, fines and reputational damage resulting from pending or future litigation, regulatory proceedings, assessments, and enforcement actions, as well as the impact of negative developments affecting the banking industry and the resulting media coverage; the potential impact of current (including Sabal Trust Company) or future business combinations on our performance and financial condition, including our ability to successfully integrate the businesses, success of revenue-generating and cost reduction initiatives, the effectiveness of derivative financial instruments and hedging activities to manage risks, projected tax rates, increased cybersecurity risks, including potential business disruptions or financial losses, the adequacy of our internal controls over financial and non-financial reporting, the financial impact of regulatory requirements and tax reform legislation, deposit trends, credit quality trends, the impact of current and future economic conditions, including the effects of declines in the real estate market, high unemployment, inflationary pressures, tariffs or trade wars, increasing insurance costs, elevated interest rates, including the impact of changes in interest rates on our financial projections, models and guidance and slowdowns in economic growth, as well as the financial stress on borrowers as a result of the foregoing, net interest margin trends, future expense levels, future profitability, improvements in expense to revenue (efficiency) ratio, purchase accounting impacts and expected returns. Also, any statement that does not describe historical or current facts is a forward-looking statement. These statements often include the words "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "intends," "plans," "forecast," "goals," "targets," "initiatives," "focus," "potentially," "probably," "projects," "outlook," or similar expressions or future conditional verbs such as "may," "will," "should," "would," and "could." Forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of management and on information currently available to management. Our statements speak as of the date hereof, and we do not assume any obligation to update these statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those contained in such statements in light of new information or future events.

Forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Any forward-looking statement made in this release is subject to the safe harbor protections set forth in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned against placing undue reliance on such statements. Actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in Part I, "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and in other periodic reports that we file with the SEC.

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For more information

Kathryn Shrout Mistich, VP, Investor Relations Manager

504.539.7836 or [email protected]