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

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Richard Stein: Yeah. This is Richard. Thanks for the question. Criticized assets were flat for the quarter, both nominally. I think we had a little bit loan growth, so about three basis points of commercial improvement across the board. I would also point out that in addition to credit being stable, delinquencies 30 to 89, 90 and above, NPAs charge-offs were all down for the quarter on the commercial side. I think the things we’re watching, and I hit on it a little bit, healthcare, specifically not-for-profit hospitals and senior living for the reasons we just talked about, we’ve seen some pressure there because of the mismatch between the revenue management and expense management. A little bit of pressure in watching in commercial specialty products, consumer specialty products, right?

That’s a function of consumers shifting from durables and discretionaries to consumables and non-discretionary and supply chain and inventory management issues. That’s the trading down issue. And that’s where we’ve seen most of the movement. The leverage portfolio from an asset quality standpoint has been stable and operating within our expectations.

John Pancari: Okay. Thank you. That’s helpful. And then sticking to credit, just my follow-up is around both commercial real estate and home equity. In commercial real estate, it looks like you did see pretty noteworthy move up in delinquencies as well as the non-accruals. And so, can you guys talk a little bit about property types within commercial real estate where you’re seeing the distress and where your loan to value ratios are? And then in home equity, it looks like you also saw a pretty noteworthy increase in delinquencies there. Just want to get color around that portfolio. Thanks.

Richard Stein: Let me take commercial real estate. I think when you think about the delinquencies, if you look at the delinquencies and this is on the slide deck on slide 30, 90 plus is still zero. We’ve got none. Movements in 30 to 89, six basis points, it’s off a really, really low, low base. So, it’s not something that we’re concerned about from a commercial real estate perspective. I think the thing we’re watching for — we’re watching — I know a lot of people got questions on office. We’re watching office. That’s a small number for us. In fact, our performance in office is actually in line with or better than the rest of the commercial bank. But there is some pressure there as occupancy attendance and lease rates continue to — and sublease rates continue to fall.

I think there’s a couple of things. We’ve got a very small amount of urban central business district office. That’s where most of the pressure is in terms of subletting rates. That for us is Class A property. I would also tell you that in addition to class, vintage matters. That’s all new product. It’s a new product. It’s ESG, qualified lead golden platinum. It has all the modern amenities. So, we feel really good about those particular properties. The rest of our office portfolio sits more in suburban markets. And again, you don’t have the same pressure from a lease rate, sublease rate and a tenant perspective across the board. Across the rest of commercial real estate, multifamily continues to perform very well. The demographic trends, the household formation continue to be strong.

Rental rates continue to accelerate faster than construction costs. So, again, there’s a positive tailwind there. Same thing with industrial. Industrial demand, this kind of goes back to the reshoring thing, trend. Industrial demand is really strong, continues — lease rates continue to hold in. So, we feel really good there. Hospitality is stable. And that continues to be a good trend and then in retail is stable. So, feeling really good about where we are from an overall perspective in commercial real estate. You want to add a comment?

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