LendingClub Corporation (NYSE:LC) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Drew LaBenne: Yes. The €“ sorry, so the savings that we’re getting from the reduction in force, those will come through in Q1. So we will get almost the full impact of those except for the remaining severance charge that I mentioned. And then there’s a little bit of variable cost that may still come down over time that’s a little more lagged in reductions in €“ from the reductions in originations, but I wouldn’t call that meaningful compared to the $25 million to $30 million that we’re citing in the overall reductions.

Bill Ryan: Okay. Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of David Chiaverini with Wedbush Securities. Your line is now open.

David Chiaverini: Hi, thanks for taking the questions. I wanted to follow-up on that question about the provision. I would imagine that with the loan portfolio essentially being flat that the provision going forward would basically be the loss content of the loans with minimal reserve building, since you wouldn’t €“ since the loan portfolio isn’t growing, you don’t have to necessarily set aside additional reserves that have already been taken, so to speak. So I would think it would €“ essentially the provision would match the net charge offs in the quarter. Is that the right way to think of it that you basically don’t have to reserve much with a flat loan portfolio?

Drew LaBenne: No, that’s not quite correct, because in order to keep a flat loan portfolio, we need to keep originating loans to offset the runoff. And those new loans we originate are going to have a day one CECL charge that we need to take as well. And then you will still have accretion that occurs on the back book. But as I said, that’s more loaded to the first couple €“ that’s more front loaded to the first couple quarters after origination, but there’s still a tail on that as well.

David Chiaverini: I see. Okay. And then shifting over to, you mentioned about kind of reinvesting capital to grow the balance sheet is, so is the right way to think of your kind of comfort level on capital ratios is where they ended in the fourth quarter. Is there any other kind of constraint on growing the balance sheet? Because when I look at your deposit growth over the past several quarters, you’ve had significant success in garnering deposits. So could you talk about what’s constraining your balance sheet growth?

Drew LaBenne: Sure, yes. So if we think about the ingredients that go into growing the balance sheet I would say capital liquidity and earnings, right? And the third one’s maybe debatable, but not really for us with our €“ with the guidance we’re giving. So we still have capital to grow. Our Tier 1 leverage was 12.5% and we’re generating capital each quarter. We had €“ sorry, that was at the bank level, 12.5%. And liquidity, we have ample liquidity and the online deposit space has been large enough to continue to fund our growth for the foreseeable future. No concerns there. But that up €“ when we want to grow the balance sheet and originate more loans for the balance sheet, that means more CECL charge that we take, which goes against profitability.

So as much as we have the goal of remaining profitable on a net income basis every quarter, we do still need the balance against that. We just haven’t used that as the guidance we’re giving you any longer. So that gives us some more flexibility.

David Chiaverini: Got it. And then the last one for me, on Slide 17, you mentioned about your net credit loss rate of approximately 5%. Can you talk about how this 5%, how that compares to what your kind of long-term expectation was for these vintages and on a go forward basis?

Drew LaBenne: Yes. Go ahead, Scott.