Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLB) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Andrew Terrell: Okay. And then on the deposit flows, specifically within the quarter on the noninterest-bearing side, do you see most of the balance contraction occur earlier in the quarter? Or was it pretty ratable throughout the quarter? And then just to put a fine point on the margin and the customer deposit balance discussion. If we see 4Q deposit trends from a core perspective look similar to 3Q, that would put you at the top end of the full year margin guidance, correct?

Ron Farnsworth: On the first question, yes, that was ratable over the course of the quarter. There was no specific shock in — and I think, again, back to what you hear — Clint talked about earlier on the consumer side, driven by discontinued inflation. Majority of the decline is there. In terms of Q4 and the guide, you’re spot on, right? So if we do better on that front in Q4 we’ll be on the upper end. If we’re a little less, then we’ll be on the bottom end. But feel good about where we’re at, ballpark going into it.

Andrew Terrell: Okay. And then on the FinPac portfolio, it looks like the delinquencies in that book moved from, I think, I recall, nearly 6% last quarter down to its low 4% this quarter. I guess, should we expect to see the commensurate kind of move lower in charge-offs heading into the fourth quarter, I guess, just like magnitude wise or I guess do you think they’ll hang around this 5% kind of charge-off level for a while?

Ron Farnsworth: I think in the fourth quarter, I think it’s going to be pretty stagnant. That’s what I would say. Again, I mean fourth quarter is historically the most difficult quarter to collect in that business. And that just coupled with the — just the overall economic headwinds that truly impact these most susceptible companies. I think it’s going to be pretty stagnant in the fourth quarter. But I think the trucking will continue to gradually decline. It’s just going to be — it’s just going to take a while. It’s going to take a few quarters to get to more normalized level in that space.

Andrew Terrell: Yes. Okay. Got it. And then the last question I have is just following up on the SNC discussion. I think you said you’ve got $1.8 billion outstanding in syndicated loans. And I realize some of the rationale there, it sounded like a — the rationale for participation was deposit driven. Do you have a similar level or I guess, is that $1.8 billion of SNCs fully funded with deposits generated by those relationships? Or is there a greater deposit sponsorship that comes with it? Or is it — or is it less? Just any more color there would be helpful.

Tory Nixon: Yes. No, this is Tory. Just by nature of the — that part of the borrowing apparatus that there’s less deposits associated with that than there is loan outstanding. So it’s just byproduct of participating in a large credit. So — but with that in mind, I mean, what we do have, we’ve had for a longer period of time, and we have a very strong connection to management and to the companies, and we have in almost all cases, ancillary business, whether that’s some sort of fee income business and/or deposits.

Andrew Terrell: Okay, thanks for taking the questions.

Ron Farnsworth: Thank you.

Operator: [Operator Instructions] One moment, please. Our next question comes from the line of Matthew Clark of Piper Stanley. Your line is open.

Matthew Clark: Hye, good afternoon all. Just a couple of questions on credit. Classified up 15 basis points, I think, to 1.28%. And it looks like you built reserves C&I reserves by about $22 million. Just want some additional color behind the increase in classified and then not only that, but just the increase in C&I related reserves?