Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Brody Preston: Okay. Alright. Great. Thank you very much for that. And then I did just want to follow-up on the mortgage as well the gain on sale margins? It seems like there is some differing dynamics amongst the banks this quarter reporting mortgage results. Is – I guess, is the difference between what we’re seeing maybe with you and some others that have maybe different channels? Is that just a preference between retail origination channels and correspondent origination channels right now?

Ron Farnsworth: If you’re referring to gain on sale margin being higher than someone else’s gain on sale margin, yes, that could very much play into it. For example, if it’s wholesale, it’s going to be a lower margin despite the fall because you’re paying a commission to get the loan and to resell it. So our gain on sale margin is relatively consistent around 2.7%, I think, again, that will be subject to volatility in the rate market over the near-term, but we expect a relatively consistent number in that range over the balance of the year.

Brody Preston: Got it. Okay. And then just real quick on the expenses that the FDIC special assessment, I think – and maybe I was just quickly doing the math, but it feels – it looks like you’re saying about $30 million is what to expect. So it would kind of be fair to maybe tuck that in as a one-time expense around that area for the third quarter?

Ron Farnsworth: We are estimating just a bit underneath that. So, if you take the midpoint of the annual range from last April and you look at our updated guidance now, you are probably talking high $20 million range. So, somewhere in that range, we will see if it gets finalized, and we do expect to expense all of that in the third quarter. So, there won’t be any expense tail on it just be cash paid over time.

Brody Preston: Got it. Okay. And then last one for me. Where do you view the normalized level of liquidity for the balance sheet going forward? Our cash balance is still a bit elevated. And I guess if you – if the deposit flows do start to stabilize at all, would you look to kind of maybe use those excess cash balances to pay down some borrowings?

Ron Farnsworth: Yes. We talked about this just a couple of minutes ago, right. So ballpark, I think roughly inspiring cash in an ideal world, maybe about half of the level as it is now. We brought on $2 billion back on March 13th, just given the environment just to be conservative in the outlook with the pressure. So, given there is still QT deposit pressure out there, we feel it’s prudent to hold on to that higher level in sparing cash. So, as we see that change, then that target level of on balance sheet cash will change, but it hasn’t happened as of this point. And I would say too, that of that $3 billion in cash are sitting on at the Fed, so that’s – you can see that in to be $1.5 billion or so higher than the ideal world, and that is being carried in the borrowings.

When you look at the net cost of that given we got the cash park at the Fed, it’s roughly $0.60 on a quarterly basis. So, a number – a good number, but not material, we think it’s just prudent to hold on to exit liquidity for the time being.

Brody Preston: Got it. I guess and one last one real quick. Just within the $6.25 billion that you have in borrowings. How – I guess like what portion of that could kind of quickly get paid down? Like how much of it is short-term that could, in theory get paid down through year-end if you decided to do so?

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