Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Matt Reddin: Hey, David, great question. I’ll start there. I’m sure may have comments, but first kind of top of the house on our pipeline. It is stable. And I think we’re very focused on pricing discipline in these conditions and also credit conditions and what €“ our resulting pipeline due to those disciplines is well-diversified across all of our segments is not concentrated in any specific product type. We want to see good middle market C&I. We want to see public sector banking. We want to see selective long-term CRE client. Across the board is very diversified right now. Your comment on this, we’re just staying to our knitting around credit fundamentals. And question is, is there a demand in the marketplace? Yes. Moderated for sure with these €“ especially with this yield curve, it can make it a challenge, but people are doing business, but we’re going to be taking care of relationships every day, bringing in new deposits with those relationships.

I think that’s indicated what the pipeline looks like for us moving forward. But there is demand, but it is moderating.

David Feaster: Are there any segments or geographies that you’re seeing more demand and conversely that the ones that have maybe pulled back the most? As always €“ not as always, but our usual suspects on where even in this climate, the DFW, the Texas market overall, we’ve had a lot of success with our integration of Spirit of Texas. They’ve done over a billion dollars, $1.3 billion in new originations since April. So, that Texas market community to metro is continuing to see demand, but still you have moderated. You’re seeing demand in Northwest Arkansas, you’re seeing demand in Nashville, but really honestly, David, all of our metros are still seeing demand just moderated. And there’s no one market that I’m saying, hey, their completely pulled out , I would say, the contraction that is, we’re experiencing due to the interest rates and inflation is similar throughout all of our markets.

David Feaster: Okay. All right. That’s helpful. Thanks, everybody.

Jay Brogdon: Thanks, David.

Operator: The next question is from Stephen Scouten of Piper Sandler. Please go ahead.

Stephen Scouten: Hi, good morning everyone. Thank you. I guess, if we could talk a little bit further about some of the inner workings behind like the funding duration extension strategy you guys have referenced. In your release and, kind of what you’re having to price CDs that on a lot of that was nearly a billion dollars in growth in the quarter. Just kind of what, sort of duration you’re taking, most importantly thinking about could that really relieve pressure over the next couple of quarters as a result of what you did this quarter?

Jay Brogdon: Yes. Thanks, Stephen. So, a couple of remarks on that. First thing I’d say is, don’t read it as, sort of going out multi-year and strategy or anything in terms of extending duration. I think we extended duration and, kind of laddered out in the fourth quarter over, sort of think of like 3, 6, 9, and 12-month type basis. And so, I think we disclosed this. The duration went from something like the end of the third quarter 6.8 months to 8.4 months. So again, still a ladder of cash flows on the wholesale side, but a bit of an extended ladder relative to where we were late in the year. We had done the same thing earlier in the year last year, just a lot of that kind of repriced in the fourth quarter, again, particularly later in the fourth quarter.

And you’re seeing handles €“ four handles on that in a lot of instances in terms of your questions around cost. On the wholesale side right now. And that’s kind of all across that ladder is where we’re seeing costs.

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