Bank of Marin Bancorp (NASDAQ:BMRC) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Tim Myers: No. I think – sorry, can continue or should continue I think like a lot of these trends will decelerate. So if you looked at our new deposit gathering activity, that was $152 million, call it, in the prior quarter, $90 million this quarter. But we intend to continue that effort, and we want to continue the deposit mix. It’s really the seasonality, I think, that’s going to – that we see in the large depositor operating account fluctuations where we might see upward or downward trends affecting the results. But I think – the behavioral attributes that have allowed us to be successful should continue, and that ultimately leads to treasury management fee income growth that adds to lending opportunities, its behavior we want to continue I just think it will continue to decelerate. I just don’t know at what pace.

Tani Girton: Yes. And I would just add that those large depositor fluctuations, that’s part and parcel of our business model and has been forever. But also the third quarter, what we did observe was sort of during the months of late July and August, we saw the activity go down a bit, because of vacations, not only people here but customers being on vacation. And we did see that activity start to pick up again towards the end – of the quarter. So as long as we stay engaged, I think we stand to continue the trend. But as Tim said, maybe not quite as heavy as in the second quarter.

Woody Lay: Got it. That’s great color. I wanted to get over to credit. And when I look at your office slide, it looks like the average occupancy rate ticked up for the – San Fran office portfolio. Do you think that sort of represents a positive trend? Or is that just sort of a quarter-over-quarter fluctuation that’s not really representative of much?

Tim Myers: I wouldn’t read too much into that. We’re actually seeing some – there is weakness in the market. What we are starting to see, what’s interesting is activity per borrowers’ landlords is increasing in terms of tenant investigation of taking down space. But right now, what you’re seeing is a rationalization of the market, meaning our landlord is willing to accept what tenants can pay per market rents today. And so, we’re seeing that ongoing negotiation. And so, I really unload to predict a run rate Woody based on that trend, because we are seeing a softening, people not renewing leases. And as the landlords look for new tenants, again, can they live with five, 10-year or seven, 10-year leases at today’s current market rate.

And there’s a bit of a standoff there, and that will play itself out. But all those deals got good sponsorship and decent loan to values in some cases, excellent loan to values, which gives us flexibility for time. But as San Francisco is still a weak market right now for leasing up newer empty space.

Woody Lay: Right. Thanks for that. And then last, I just wanted to follow-up on the special mention loan bucket. Were there any trends there in the third quarter? Any color there would be helpful?

Tim Myers: We did exactly what I was just saying. So that’s two of the properties we moved into there were properties in San Francisco, where tenants have chosen not to renew. We’re pretty aggressive when we downgrade. So watch credits, for example, is a very transitory bucket for us. So, we’re pretty aggressive in downgrading the special mention, if we think there’s a threat to the primary source of repayment. But those are properties where one in particular, where the lease isn’t up yet, tenant has said they’re leaving, landlords looking for a new tenant. And again, you get back to that rationalization of accepting longer-term leases at current market rates. So, the increase in special mention or classified as similar – I’m sorry, credit side, is very similar to the amount that moved in the prior quarter.

We just have a lot of transitory activity there. So, we’ll aggressively downgrade when we see a threat to that primary source. But oftentimes, we can work out. But that goes back to the softness in San Francisco.