BOK Financial Corporation Reports Quarterly Earnings of $84 million, or $1.29 Per Share, in the First Quarter

Net interest revenue was $293.6 million for the first quarter of 2024 compared to $296.7 million for the prior quarter. Net interest margin was 2.61% compared to 2.64%, reflective of continued demand deposit migration and deposit repricing. For the first quarter of 2024, our core net interest margin excluding trading activities, a non-GAAP measure, was 2.97% compared to 3.03% in the prior quarter.

Average earning assets increased $520 million. Average loan balances increased $243 million, largely due to growth in commercial loans, partially offset by a reduction in commercial real estate loan balances. Average available for sale securities grew $475 million while average trading securities decreased $77 million. Average interest-bearing deposits increased $2.1 billion, primarily from interest-bearing transaction accounts. Funds purchased and repurchase agreements declined $1.2 billion while average other borrowings decreased $276 million.

The yield on average earning assets was 5.73%, up 9 basis points. The yield on the available for sale securities portfolio increased 21 basis points to 3.48% while the loan portfolio yield increased 4 basis points to 7.40%. The yield on trading securities grew 7 basis points to 5.12% and the yield on interest-bearing cash and cash equivalents decreased 34 basis points to 4.96%.

Funding costs were 4.08%, up 10 basis points. The cost of interest-bearing deposits increased 26 basis points to 3.69%. The cost of funds purchased and repurchase agreements decreased 74 basis points to 4.05% from the beneficial mix shift enabled by the growth of interest-bearing deposits. The benefit to net interest margin from assets funded by non-interest liabilities was 96 basis points, a decrease of 2 basis points.

Fees and commissions revenue totaled $200.6 million for the first quarter of 2024, an increase of $3.8 million over the prior quarter.

Mortgage banking revenue increased $6.1 million. Mortgage production volume increased $47.6 million and realized margin on funded mortgage loans improved 244 basis points to 1.46%.

Fiduciary and asset management revenue increased $3.9 million to $55.3 million, primarily due to growth in trust business line fees resulting from movement in the equity markets.

Brokerage and trading revenue decreased $1.7 million to $59.2 million. Trading revenue grew $1.9 million to $37.5 million reflecting increased trading activity primarily in U.S. government agency residential mortgage-backed securities.

Insurance brokerage fees decreased $1.8 million in conjunction with the sale of our insurance brokerage and consulting business, BOK Financial Insurance ("BOKFI") in the fourth quarter. Customer hedging revenue decreased $1.3 million, largely as result of reduced energy customer hedging volumes.

Transaction card revenue decreased $3.4 million to $25.5 million, primarily due to seasonally elevated fourth quarter activity and one less day in the quarter.

Other revenue decreased $2.1 million, largely due to a reduction in fees earned on derivative counterparty margin.

Other gains, net decreased $36.2 million to $4.3 million. The fourth quarter of 2023 included a $31.0 million pre-tax gain, before related professional fees, on the sale of BOKFI.

Losses on available for sale securities were $45.2 million in the first quarter of 2024 as we repositioned the available for sale securities portfolio by selling approximately $783 million of lower-yielding debt securities. We expect the gain on conversion of our Visa B shares under the recently announced exchange offer by Visa, Inc. will offset the realized losses on the repositioning. The Visa Exchange Offer opened on April 8 and is scheduled to expire at end of day on May 3, 2024.

Total operating expense was $340.4 million for the first quarter of 2024, a decrease of $43.7 million compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.

Personnel expense was $202.7 million, consistent with the prior quarter. Higher seasonal employee benefits costs were offset by reduced incentive compensation expense while regular compensation remained flat compared to the prior quarter.

Non-personnel expense was $137.7 million, a decrease of $43.3 million. In the fourth quarter of 2023, we recognized $43.8 million of expense related to the FDIC special assessment. During the first quarter of 2024, we received notification from the FDIC that the previous assessed losses attributable to the protection of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank uninsured depositors had increased, so an additional $6.5 million of estimated expense related to the special assessment was recognized.

Professional fees and services expense decreased $4.3 million. The previous quarter included $2.2 million in expenses related to the sale of BOKFI.

Other expense was up $2.4 million, primarily due to increased operational losses.

Outstanding loans were $24.2 billion at March 31, 2024, growing $268 million over December 31, 2023, largely due to growth in commercial loans, partially offset by a reduction in commercial real estate loans. Unfunded loan commitments decreased $359 million compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.

Outstanding commercial loan balances, which includes healthcare, services, energy and general business loans, increased $329 million over the prior quarter.

Healthcare sector loan balances increased $103 million, totaling $4.2 billion or 18% of total loans. Our healthcare sector loans primarily consist of $3.5 billion of senior housing and care facilities, including independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing. Generally, we loan to borrowers with a portfolio of multiple facilities, which serves to help diversify risks specific to a single facility.

General business loans increased $267 million to $3.9 billion or 16% of total loans. General business loans include $2.4 billion of wholesale/retail loans and $1.5 billion of loans from other commercial industries.

Services sector loan balances decreased $47 million to $3.5 billion or 15% of total loans. Services loans consist of a large number of loans to a variety of businesses, including Native American tribal and state and local municipal government entities, Native American tribal casino operations, foundations and not-for-profit organizations, educational services and specialty trade contractors.

Energy loan balances were largely unchanged compared to the prior quarter at $3.4 billion or 14% of total loans. The majority of this portfolio is first lien, senior secured, reserve-based lending to oil and gas producers, which we believe is the lowest risk form of energy lending. Approximately 70% of committed production loans are secured by properties primarily producing oil. The remaining 30% is secured by properties primarily producing natural gas. Unfunded energy loan commitments were $4.3 billion at March 31, 2024, a $147 million decrease compared to December 31, 2023.

Commercial real estate loan balances decreased $101 million to $5.2 billion and represent 22% of total loans. Loans secured by industrial facilities decreased $131 million to $1.3 billion and loans secured by retail facilities decreased $49 million to $544 million. These decreases were partially offset by an $88 million increase in loans secured by multifamily properties. Unfunded commercial real estate loan commitments were $1.7 billion at March 31, 2024, a decrease of $147 million compared to December 31, 2023. We take a disciplined approach to managing our concentration of commercial real estate loan commitments as a percentage of capital.

Loans to individuals increased $39 million and represent 16% of total loans. Residential mortgage loans increased $22 million while personal loans increased $18 million.

Our funding sources, which primarily include deposits and wholesale borrowings, provide adequate liquidity to meet our needs. The loan to deposit ratio was 68% at March 31, 2024, compared to 70% at December 31, 2023, providing significant on-balance sheet liquidity to meet future loan demand and contractual obligations.

Period end deposits totaled $35.4 billion at March 31, 2024, a $1.4 billion increase. Interest-bearing transaction account balances increased $1.8 billion while time deposits increased $355 million. Demand deposits decreased $782 million.

Average deposits were $35.0 billion at March 31, 2024, a $1.3 billion increase. Average interest-bearing transaction account balances increased $1.8 billion and average time deposits increased $285 million. Average demand deposit account balances decreased $747 million.

Average Commercial Banking deposits increased $237 million to $15.7 billion or 45% of total deposits. Our commercial deposit portfolio is highly diversified across industries and customers. The highest concentration by industry within our commercial deposit portfolio is with our energy customers representing 8% of our total deposits. Wealth Management deposits increased $1.2 billion to $9.2 billion or 26% of total deposits. Consumer Banking deposits were largely unchanged at $7.9 billion or 23% of total deposits.

1 See Explanation and Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures following.

The company's common equity Tier 1 capital ratio was 11.99% at March 31, 2024. In addition, the company's Tier 1 capital ratio was 12.00%, total capital ratio was 13.15%, and leverage ratio was 9.42% at March 31, 2024. At the beginning of 2020, we elected to delay the regulatory capital impact of the transition of the allowance for credit losses from the incurred loss methodology to CECL for two years, followed by a three-year transition period. This election added 3 basis points to the company's common equity tier 1 capital ratio at March 31, 2024. At December 31, 2023, the company's common equity Tier 1 capital ratio was 12.06%, Tier 1 capital ratio was 12.07%, total capital ratio was 13.16%, and leverage ratio was 9.45%.

The company's tangible common equity ratio, a non-GAAP measure, was 8.21% at March 31, 2024 and 8.29% at December 31, 2023. The tangible common equity ratio is primarily based on total shareholders' equity, which includes unrealized gains and losses on available for sale securities. Adjusted for all unrealized securities portfolio gains and losses, including those in the investment portfolio, the tangible common equity ratio would be 7.92%. The company has elected to exclude unrealized gains and losses from available for sale securities from its calculation of Tier 1 capital for regulatory capital purposes, consistent with the treatment under the previous capital rules.

The company repurchased 616,630 shares of common stock at an average price paid of $83.89 a share in the first quarter of 2024. We view share buybacks opportunistically, but within the context of maintaining our strong capital position.

Commercial Banking contributed $153.3 million to net income in the first quarter of 2024, a decrease of $17.8 million compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. Combined net interest revenue and fee revenue decreased $33.1 million. Net interest revenue declined due to a shift in deposit balances from demand to interest-bearing transaction accounts along with decreased spreads due to a change in market conditions. Customer hedging revenue fell due to a reduction in customer energy hedging and transaction card revenue decreased following elevated fourth quarter transaction activity. Net loans charged-off increased $1.2 million to $4.2 million in the first quarter of 2024. Personnel expense decreased $7.7 million primarily due to lower incentive compensation costs. Non-personnel expense decreased $4.1 million due to decreases in other expense and professional fees. Average loans increased $139 million or 1% to $20.1 billion. Average deposits increased $237 million or 2% to $15.7 billion.

Consumer Banking contributed $53.8 million to net income in the first quarter of 2024, consistent with the prior quarter. Combined net interest revenue and fee revenue decreased $6.1 million, largely due to increased customer demand for time deposits and a reduction in deposit spreads from a change in market conditions, partially offset by an increase in mortgage banking revenue from higher production volumes. Operating expense decreased $1.6 million. The net benefit of the changes in the fair value of mortgage servicing rights and related economic hedges was $1.2 million compared to a net cost of $5.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. Average loans increased $36 million or 2% to $1.9 billion. Average deposits were mostly unchanged from the previous quarter.

Wealth Management contributed $34.2 million to net income in the first quarter of 2024, a decrease of $28.5 million compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. The prior quarter included a pre-tax gain of $31.0 million, before related professional fees, on the sale of our insurance brokerage and consulting business, BOKFI. Combined net interest and fee revenue decreased $2.7 million due to declining spread on deposits. Total revenue from institutional trading activities increased $1.4 million, primarily in U.S. government residential mortgage-backed securities trading activity. Personnel expense decreased $2.4 million as the prior quarter included transaction related employee costs on the BOKFI sale. Non-personnel expense increased $5.6 million, primarily due to an increased level of operational losses, partially offset by a $2.7 milliondecrease in professional fees. Average loans increased $44 million or 2% to $2.2 billion. Average deposits increased $1.2 billion or 14% to $9.2 billion. Assets under management or administration were $105.5 billion, an increase of $794 million.