First Horizon Corporation (FHN) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the First Horizon National Corporation Annual Meeting of Shareholders Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to your host, Mr. Bryan Jordan, Chairman of the Board and President and CEO. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Angela. Good morning. My name is Bryan Jordan. I'm the Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of First Horizon National Corporation. Welcome to the annual meeting of shareholders. We're excited to be hosting our first annual meeting, which allows us -- our first virtual annual meeting, which allows us to be more inclusive and reach a greater number of shareholders at this challenging time. We have shareholders attending via the web portal. The agenda and rules of conduct for the meeting are available in the viewing pane on the right-hand side of your screen. We will answer questions at the end of the meeting. Only validated shareholders will be able to ask questions in the designated field on the web portal. Out of consideration for others, please limit yourself to 2 questions. Though we may not be able to answer every single one, we will do our best to provide a response to as many as possible. It is now shortly after 10:10 a.m. Central Time, and this meeting is officially called to order. I will start by introducing the other directors of your company: Kenneth A. Burdick is the Executive Vice President of Products and Markets at Centene Corporation; John C. Compton is a partner with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, LLC; Wendy P. Davidson is President away-from-home of the Kellogg Company; Mark A. Emkes is the retired commissioner of the Department of Finance and Administration of the State of Tennessee; Corydon J. Gilchrist is a private investor and a charter financial analyst; Vicki R. Palmer is the President of the Palmer Group, LLC; Colin V. Reed is the Chairman of the Board and Executive Officer of Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc.; Cecelia D. Stewart is the retired President of U.S. Consumer and Commercial Banking of Citigroup Inc.; Rajesh Subramaniam is the President and Chief Operating Officer of FedEx Corporation; R. Eugene Taylor is the Vice Chairman of the Board of First Horizon National Corporation; Luke Yancy III is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Yancy Financial Group, Inc. I will also take this opportunity to recognize Scott Niswonger and Peter Foss, who are retiring as directors today. Scott and Peter have made tremendous contributions to the organizations, and we thank you so much for your service. The company has appointed a Equiniti Trust Company to act as inspector of elections. John Lundberg from Equiniti is with us today and has taken the oath of inspector of election. Please note that this meeting is being recorded. However, no one attending via the webcast is permitted to use any audio recording device. The Board fixed February 28, 2020, as a record date for determining the holders of common stock entitled to vote at this annual meeting. It has been reported to me that the notice of the meeting was duly and properly mailed and that a quorum is present. The voting polls will be open after all proposals are presented. If anyone wishes to vote by ballot at such time, please do so by clicking on the voting button on the web portal and following the instructions there. If you have already voted, you do not need to vote today unless you wish to change your vote. The minutes of the 2019 Annual Shareholders Meeting will not be read, but are available for examination during the meeting by clicking the appropriate button on the web portal. I will now outline the 3 proposals to be presented for shareholder action. The first item is the election of the 12 nominees for director for a term of 1 year, expiring at the 2021 Annual Meeting. As specified in the proxy statement, they are: Misters Burdick; Compton; Emkes; Gilchrist; Jordan; Reed; Subramaniam; Taylor; and Yancy; and Mrs. Davidson; Palmer; and Stewart as directors of the company. The next item on the agenda is the approval of an advisory resolution to approve executive compensation, otherwise known as a say on pay vote as described in the proxy statement. The Audit Committee has approved the appointment of KPMG LLP for 2020, subject to the ratification of the shareholders at this meeting. At this time, I will recognize the following representatives of our auditing firm who are participating in the meeting: Chris Seaman; Brandon Keno; and Alysha Horsley. The polls are now open. Any shareholder who hasn't yet voted or wishes to change his or her vote may do so by clicking on the voting button on the web portal and following the instructions there. Shareholders who have sent in proxies or voted via telephone or internet and do not want to change their vote do not need to take any further action. [Voting]

Since all shareholders have had the opportunity to vote, I will now declare the polls closed. While Clyde gathers the information, I'll make a couple of comments on 2019 and our merger. Our position today and the performance of First Horizon was solidified by the work we did to transform the company in 2019. We remain focused on the execution of our strategic priorities and continue to build our business by strengthening our market share and adding customers. In October, we unified our family of companies under the First Horizon brand. In addition to announcing our merger with IBERIABANK, we also announced an agreement to acquire 30 branches, extending our deposit base in the more attractive and stable markets. And we ended the year delivering strong returns. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we closely monitored and evaluated COVID-19's impact on the economy, our customer base and our balance sheet. And we have taken significant steps to ensure that our employees remain safe while continuing to serve our customers and our communities. Our bankers have proactively engaged with customers to provide all available solutions during this unprecedented time. Through the First Horizon Foundation, we donated $2.5 million to nonprofit organizations supporting COVID-19 emergency relief efforts. As we prepare for the opening up of our communities and the economy, we will continue to make appropriate adjustments as necessary as we execute on our goals. As I close with an historic update, I'm pleased to report that on Friday, April 24, the shareholders of IBERIABANK Corporation and First Horizon voted to approve the merger of equals. These approvals represent important milestones and our plan to combine our 2 complementary franchises. As a combined company, we will have enhanced scale and diversification, with an expansive 11-state reach and high growth, attractive markets across our combined footprint. We continue to work diligently to bring the 2 organizations together and anticipate closing the merger by the end of the second quarter, following final regulatory approval. In addition, our teams look forward to using our combined resources to better serve our customers and support our communities. Both organizations are -- after both organizations, I'm sorry, are fully integrated in 2021, we will be well positioned as a leading community-based and focused southern financial services firm. We look forward to keeping you updated on our progress. Thank you all for your confidence and investment in our company and for joining us in this historic journey. Mr. Clyde Billings is our Corporate Secretary. Clyde, do we have the results of the voting?

Yes, Bryan, we do. I have been informed by the inspector of elections that all items submitted to the shareholders for a vote have passed. We have preliminary voting results that have been provided to me by the inspector. All directors received at least 95% of the votes cast for election. Say on pay resolution received in excess of 94% of the votes for approval, and the auditors received in excess of 92% of the votes for approval for ratification. Those are the preliminary results. We'll post the final results in an 8-K that we will file.

Thank you, Clyde. I'll take this opportunity to recognize Mark Glover and George Lewis, who are serving as our proxies. We greatly appreciate your service, gentlemen. I now declare that the 12 directors, nominees, have been -- excuse me, the 12 nominees for director named in the annual meeting and proxy statement have been duly elected. The advisory resolution to approve executive compensation has been approved, and the appointment of KPMG LLP as auditors has been ratified. Now we'd like to open things up to shareholder questions and comments. You can now begin to enter your questions or comments on the web portal. Please note that we will attempt to answer as many questions as time allows, but only questions that are related to the annual meeting will be addressed. Clyde, if you'll let me know if we have any questions.

Bryan, I'm looking on the screen, I don't see any questions.

Okay. Thank you, Clyde. Thank you all again for joining our annual meeting today. Since there is no further business, this meeting is now adjourned. I hope everyone stays safe and stays healthy. Thank you again.

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference. Thank you for your participation, and have a wonderful day. You may now disconnect.