Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) Q1 2022 Earnings Conference Call April 29, 2022 8:30 AM ET
Company Participants
Kevin O'Connor - President & Chief Executive Officer
Avinash Reddy - Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Stuart Lubow - President & Chief Operating Officer
Conference Call Participants
Mark Fitzgibbon - Piper Sandler
William Wallace - Raymond James
Chase Haynes - D.A. Davidson
Matthew Breese - Stephens
Chris O'Connell - KBW
Operator
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Dime Community Bancshares, Incorporated First Quarter Earnings Call. My name is Juan and I will be coordinating your call today. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions]
Before we begin, the company would like to remind you that discussions during this call contain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any such statements included and set forth in the company filings in the US Securities and Exchange Commission to which we'll refer you.
During this call, references will be made to non-GAAP financial measures as supplemental measures to review and assess operating performance. These non-GAAP financial measures are not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with the US GAAP. For information about these non-GAAP measures and for the reconciliation to GAAP, please refer to the earnings release.
I would now like to turn the call over to Kevin O'Connor, CEO of Dime. Please, Kevin, go ahead.
Kevin O'Connor
Thank you, Juan and thank you all for joining us this morning. With me again are Stu Lubow, our President and Chief Operating Officer and Avi Reddy, our CFO. We had a good start to 2022, with net income of $32.7 million or $0.82 per share. I'm also pleased to report we executed well on all our strategic priorities; growing non-interest-bearing deposits, managing our cost of funds and prioritizing NIM expansion, all while prudently managing expenses and maintaining solid asset quality.
Our non-interest bearing balances grew to 38% of deposits at quarter end, positioning us well for upcoming Federal Reserve rate hikes. This consistent long-term level of non-interest bearing deposits on our balance sheet is a clear differentiator versus other community banks in our footprint. We continue to believe the value of our low cost deposit franchise will shine through over this rising rate cycle. Avi will comment more about our interest rate risk position and NIM guidance in his remarks.