The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited (NTB) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning. My name is Drew, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Call for The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Noah Fields, Butterfield's Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Today, we will be reviewing Butterfield's third quarter 2026 financial results. On the call, I'm joined by Michael Collins, Butterfield's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Michael Schrum, President and Chief Financial Officer; and Bri Hidalgo, Chief Risk Officer. Following their prepared remarks, we will open the call up for a question-and-answer session. Yesterday afternoon, we issued a press release announcing our third quarter 2026 results. The press release and financial statements, along with a slide presentation that we will refer to during our remarks on this call, are available on the Investor Relations section of our website at butterfieldgroup.com. Before I turn the call over to Michael Collins, I would like to remind everyone that today's discussions will refer to certain non-GAAP measures which we believe are important in evaluating the company's performance. For a reconciliation of these measures to U.S. GAAP, please refer to the earnings press release and slide presentation. Today's call and associated materials may also contain certain forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. Additional information regarding these risks can be found in our SEC filings. I will now turn the call over to Michael Collins.

Thank you, Noah, and thanks to everyone joining the call today. Our third quarter performance reflects the strength and resilience of Butterfield, the depth of our client relationships and the disciplined execution of our strategy, all of which position us well for continued long-term growth. Butterfield is a leading offshore bank and wealth manager with strong market positions in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, complemented by a growing retail banking presence in the Channel Islands. We also provide wealth management services to high-net-worth individuals, families and institutions through offices in the Bahamas, Switzerland, Singapore and the U.K. In the U.K., we originate residential mortgages for high-net-worth clients for properties in Prime Central London. I will now turn to highlights from the quarter on Page 6. Third quarter results reflected continued strength across the franchise with net income of $61 million or $1.50 per share and core net income of $64.2 million or $1.58 per share. Profitability remained strong with a return on average common equity of 21.3% and core return on average tangible common equity of 25%. Net interest margin improved by 2 basis points to 2.76% despite a 2-basis point increase in deposit costs to 1.27%. We also continued to return capital to shareholders through our quarterly cash dividend of $0.50 per share. Finally, we continue to make progress on the acquisition of CIBC Caribbean with closing expected in the first half of 2027. We will provide some additional details about the progress later in the call. I will now turn the call over to Michael Schrum for more details on the third quarter.

Thank you, Michael, and good morning. On Slide 7, we provide a summary of net interest income and net interest margin. In the third quarter, we reported net interest income before provision for credit losses of $97.2 million, an increase of $1.6 million from the prior quarter or an increase of $4.4 million from the third quarter in 2025. The net interest margin of 2.76% was 2 basis points higher than the prior quarter and 3 basis points higher than the third quarter of 2025. Net interest income and margin benefited from continued reinvestment into higher-yielding securities and stronger treasury portfolio returns, although these gains were partly offset by lower loan yields and slightly higher funding costs. Balance sheet volumes remained stable during the quarter with average investment balances largely unchanged and average loan balances increasing modestly compared to the second quarter. Slide 8 provides a summary of noninterest income, which continued to trend favorably, increasing $1.4 million to $64.8 million in the third quarter of 2026. Compared with the third quarter of 2025, noninterest income increased $3.6 million. The quarter's improvement was due primarily to higher banking revenues and stronger foreign exchange activity. Banking revenues benefited from increased card transaction volumes as well as a modest nonrecurring contract fee renewal, while foreign exchange revenue reflected higher client volumes. Fee-based revenue represented 40% of total revenues during the quarter, comparing favorably to historical peer averages and highlighting the quality and stability of our overall earnings. On Slide 9, we present core noninterest expenses. Core non-interest expenses increased 3.5% from the prior quarter, reflecting the full quarter of operating expenses from R&H Guernsey acquisition compared with the partial quarter in the second quarter. Excluding acquisition-related costs, expenses were also impacted by higher salaries and benefits, primarily due to staff departure costs as well as increased other operating expenses. Our core efficiency ratio was 57.8%, remaining below our through-cycle target of 60% and highlighting our continued focus on expense management. We continue to expect quarterly core noninterest expenses to be in the range of $93 million to $95 million until we close the CIBC Caribbean transaction. Slide 10 shows that Butterfield's balance sheet remains strong and highly liquid with total assets increasing to $14.3 billion from $14.1 billion at year-end 2025. Growth was driven primarily by higher deposit balances, while loan and investment balances remained relatively stable. Deposits increased to $12.9 billion and average deposits rose to $13.1 billion from $12.6 billion at the prior year-end, reflecting continued client confidence. Deposits remained elevated at the quarter end, but we have received notice prior to quarter end that approximately $500 million worth of deposits would exit within weeks. This represents a handful of private trust and corporate liquidation fund deposits in a mix of demand and interest-bearing accounts. This would bring the deposit levels to our previously estimated range of $12 billion to $12.5 billion, where we expect for it to remain. Loans ended the quarter at $4.4 billion and investments at $5.6 billion, both largely unchanged from the prior quarter, highlighting the stability of our balance sheet. We also maintain a conservative risk profile with risk-weighted assets representing just 27.3% of total assets, reflecting low risk density on our balance sheet. On Slide 11, we show that Butterfield's asset quality remained acceptable in the third quarter of 2026, reflecting the continued strength of our conservative loan portfolio and high-quality investment holdings. Our $4.4 billion loan portfolio remains heavily weighted towards full recourse residential mortgages with 78% of those mortgages carrying loan-to-value ratios below 70%. This reflects the conservative underwriting standards and low risk profile of our loan book. Our $5.6 billion U.S. Treasury and agency investment portfolio also maintained its exceptional credit quality with 100% of holdings rated AA or better, demonstrating the strength and liquidity of the investment portfolio. Credit performance remained solid despite the increase in nonaccrual loans to $119.6 million or 2.7% of gross loans, up from 2.2% in the prior quarter, driven primarily by residential real estate exposures in the Channel Islands and U.K. segment. Importantly, these facilities remain well secured, and we do not expect any credit losses. The allowance for credit losses improved modestly to $27 million, representing 0.6% of total loans, while the net charge-off ratio was low at 0.02%. On Slide 12, we present the average cash and securities balances with a summary of interest rate sensitivity. Our investment portfolio remained conservatively positioned during the quarter with duration increasing to 4.9 years, reflecting slower expected prepayments on fixed rate investments and a steeper U.S. treasury yield curve. Our balance sheet continues to be asset sensitive, although interest rate sensitivity has moderated from the prior quarter due to lower treasury interbank placements used to manage short-term deposit flows. Our asset sensitivity continues to be above that of the U.S. peer group. As expected, the increase in longer-term interest rates resulted in higher unrealized losses within the available-for-sale portfolio, which increased to $187.3 million at the quarter end from $106.7 million in the second quarter. Based on current implied forward rates, we expect the unrealized losses within accumulated other comprehensive income related to the AFS portfolio to improve by approximately 21% over the next 12 months and 42% over the next 24 months. Slide 13 summarizes regulatory and leverage capital levels. The Board of Directors has once again approved a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share. TCE to TA continues to be conservatively above our targeted range of 6% to 6.5%. I will now turn the call over to Bri Hidalgo to provide an update on the CIBC Caribbean transaction. Bri?

Thank you, Michael. Turning to the acquisition of CIBC Caribbean. The transaction remains on track with regulatory approvals, financing activities and integration planning progressing as expected. During the quarter, we received shareholder approval for the acquisition and submitted the required regulatory applications. We have continued our engagement with employees, clients, governments and our regulators across our markets, including employee town halls and advancing stakeholder outreach efforts. In parallel, dedicated integration teams have been established and are actively planning for a successful transition and realization of the strategic benefits of the transaction. We are also preparing for a debt issuance to support the acquisition. Overall, we remain on schedule for regulatory approvals and anticipate closing in the first half of 2027. I will now turn the call back to Michael Collins.

Thank you, Bri. We remain enthusiastic and optimistic about the acquisition of CIBC Caribbean. We believe the combination will result in a stronger regional banking franchise with enhanced capabilities across corporate banking, personal banking and wealth management, creating the leading independent bank in the Atlantic and English-speaking Caribbean. Together, we will be better positioned to meet the evolving needs of our clients while delivering benefits to all stakeholders. With approximately $29 billion in assets, $25 billion in deposits, $1.7 billion in tangible common equity and more than $400 million in run rate earnings on a pro forma basis, the combined bank will have the scale, financial strength and earnings power to compete effectively and drive sustainable earnings and growth. September marked 10 years since Butterfield's New York Stock Exchange listing. And during that time, we have delivered a consistent record of performance, generating returns on equity of approximately 15% to 25% while growing profits and earnings per share. Over that period, we have demonstrated the durability of our business model across varying economic and interest rate environments. Our success has been built on a high-quality business model with fee income contributing approximately 40% of revenues and a disciplined approach to risk and expense management that has allowed us to generate strong returns without relying on elevated credit or investment risk. Combined with thoughtful capital deployment, strategic acquisitions and significant shareholder returns through dividends and share repurchases, this has enabled us to create meaningful long-term value. We see the acquisition of CIBC Caribbean as the next step in that journey, enhancing our scale, capabilities and market position. We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues and clients to Butterfield. Thank you. And with that, we would be happy to take your questions. Operator?

[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from Tim Switzer with KBW.

First one I have is just a little bit more of commentary on the NIM outlook. Can you maybe talk about what impact you've seen so far from rate hikes across U.S. and your other jurisdictions that are impacted? And then what your expectations would be on the impact going forward?

Yes. Tim, it's Michael Schrum. Yes, I mean, obviously, things are bouncing around a little bit with us finally landing on deposit levels that we've sort of foreshadowed over the last sort of year or so. And then obviously, NIM is pulling through broadly with somewhat of a lag at a 50% overall beta. So in the short term, we expect NIM to be relatively flat. So it will be deposit outflows offset by asset repricing effectively in the investment and the short-term cash bucket and some modest uptick in cost of deposits. So generally speaking, on a core basis, we would expect NIM to be flat in the short term with a sort of modest tailwind into the next year coming from the previously announced Fed rate increases and then possibly depending on what happens with some further upward adjustment. So good news overall, there's a bit of fluctuation in deposit levels. But I think broadly speaking, loans have been flat. And obviously, we've sort of held on the repricing of Bermuda base rate affecting mortgage holders for the last hike. And so that would probably give us some further opportunities into '27.

Got it. That was very helpful. And you touched on this, but can you help us get an idea of the NII impact of the deposits that are moving off balance sheet? Like if I -- it sounds like the NIM is staying flat with the move. Do I just take, say, $400-plus million of deposits and use your normalized NIM, that's $11 million or so annually?

Yes. I mean it's -- we expect NII again to be relatively flat. Obviously, there's a little bit of seasonality on the balance sheet as well. So typically, Cayman deposits, we get more inflows in the fourth quarter. So seasonal variations obviously can impact a little bit. But I think, generally speaking, we should expect NII to be flat in the short term with a positive bias in the medium term. So exactly as you said, there's multiple moving parts there, but it should be a net positive that rates are going up over time.

The next question comes from Evan Kwiatkowski with Raymond James.

I just wanted to touch on the deal first. Could you update us on any intention to pursue balance sheet optimization opportunities with the deal, whether it be repositioning anything on the loans for securities side? And then just curious if there's any businesses or portfolios on the CIBC Caribbean side, you're looking to grow further or conversely run off?

Yes. Maybe I'll just kick off just on the optimization. Obviously, the CIBC Caribbean entities still report to CIBC in Toronto. And so we started to take a look at, obviously, their investment portfolios and had some good conversations around liquidity contingency and starting to sort of talk about what types of investments they have. I mean most of that is going to be U.S. treasuries relatively short duration. So not as big of a rate impact on the fair market valuation of that. They do have some sovereign securities in both Bahamas and Barbados that we're taking a look at in terms of either marketability or commitments that we've made to those governments. And so there will probably be some further work we'll do before closing to just familiarize ourselves. And I think at closing, we'll obviously take a look and see if we need to restructure a little bit. As you know, moving to our model is mainly -- we don't have any credit risk in the investment portfolio. So we want to kind of make sure we're not doubling down on sovereign risk as well, but obviously subject to sensitivities in those individual jurisdictions. So I think good conversations so far, nothing really untoward in there and some liquidity in some securities, but good to see that it's mainly U.S. treasury based.

Yes. And I think we're very happy with the footprint. So each of these jurisdictions have very sticky deposits. They have a lot of similarities, but they are very different, which gives us great diversification across the deposit base. We've got all of our regulatory applications in. We've gotten a very warm welcome from all the governments and central banks, spent a lot of time down there and spent a lot of time with our new CIBC Caribbean colleagues. It's a great cultural fit, really good rapport. And it's a really, really good bank. I mean it's really well run and great systems, great people. So we're very excited about it. But currently, we're very happy with the entire footprint.

Yes. And recall, we previously mentioned the extensive due diligence that we performed on both the investment portfolio and credit book. And it's a well-performing book. It largely aligns with our underwriting standards and risk expectations.