Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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And it really goes back to all the work that we put into growing the servicing business in 2020 and 2021 when levels were more depressed. It was a good buying opportunity. And so, given our strong mortgage servicing platform, we’ll increase those fees from $125 million in 2022 to the $160 million area. So that’s a growth of almost 30%, whereas top line mortgage should be relatively stable off very low levels. So, we feel good about those items. Capital markets, certainly the wildcard in our guide, given that we do expect mid to high single digits growth in the first half of the year relative to the first half of 2022. And then we assume a little bit of additional growth in the back half of the year under the assumption that the capital markets disruption should abate once the Fed reaches its terminal Fed fund level.

And again, as I said in the prepared remarks, if that were to not happen, then we would expect a little bit better loan growth, a little bit better NII and lower expenses. So, in terms of PPNR on a relative basis, I feel confident in that should the capital markets improvement not occur. And then the other category when it comes to fees, it would be the headwinds facing us. So, they’re really environmental given the increase in interest rates, and that’s on the earnings credit. We’re managing earnings credits to about a 20 beta, which is a little bit better than what we thought as we entered the cycle. But even with that, service charges ultimately will be down mid single digits for the year, which more than offset that strong top line fee equivalent growth.

On the consumer overdraft and NSF side, we probably do a little bit better relative to peers, just given that we move sooner on some of those fee and structural changes. But overall, the first half of the year will be a little bit softer as we lap those changes that occurred mid year 2022. And then as we said in the prepared remarks, the TRA will decline in 2023 as well our expectations on lower private equity income so that other fees will be down 20%, 25% or so.

Timothy Spence: I think if there’s one thing I might add there, it’s — while we expect capital markets to improve this year, I would not say we expect them to normalize or recover with the investments that have been made in that business. A full recovery in capital markets would result in a substantially larger business and revenue footprint than we’re anticipating this year. We just don’t expect it to be as bad or as locked up as we saw in 2022.

Scott Siefers: Excellent. That’s terrific color. Thank you guys very much.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Manan Gosalia from Morgan Stanley. Your line is open.

Manan Gosalia: Hey, good morning.

Timothy Spence: Good morning.

Manan Gosalia: I was wondering, can you just walk through the puts and takes around deposit growth in 2023? I mean, it seems like the expansion in the Southeast is definitely a tailwind here. So, how are you thinking about deposit growth, especially given the more challenging macro backdrop?

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