Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) Q3 2023 Earnings Conference Call October 24, 2023 11:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Mark Tryniski - President, Chief Executive Officer
Joseph Sutaris - Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Dimitar Karaivanov - Chief Operating Officer
Conference Call Participants
Nick Cucharale - The Hovde Group
Steve Moss - Raymond James
Alex Twerdahl - Piper Sandler
Chris O'Connell - KBW
Matthew Breese - Stephens
Operator
Good day, and welcome to the Community Bank’s 2023 Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions]. Please note, this event is being recorded.
I would now like to turn the conference over to Dimitar Karaivanov, Chief Operating Officer of Community Bank. Please go ahead.
Dimitar Karaivanov
Thank you, Marlese, and good morning everybody. Welcome to our conference call for the third quarter of 2023.
As Mark noted in the press release, the company's revenue performance was strong in the quarter. In fact, our revenue has been quite consistent over the past five quarters, regardless of all the macroeconomic and banking industry noise. This is a great example of the diversification of our business and the focus on lowering volatility for our investors.
On the flip side, this quarter we had expense pressures that were above our expectations as well. Some of those are transient. Some of those are due to the general inflation pressures which should abate, and some are a function of the continuous investments in the company.
Over the past 24 months, we have invested in our organic capabilities across all of our businesses, and those investments run through the P&L. These organic investments are contributing to the growth in our outstandings in the banking business, the revenue performance in our benefits, insurance, and wealth businesses, and position us even better for the future.
Our businesses are strong and healthy, supported by a strong balance sheet. As of the end of the quarter, our funding and liquidity are up compared to the beginning of the year. Our cycle to-date deposit beta is 13%, and our Tier 1 leverage capital is almost double the well-capitalized standard. That is in spite of the turmoils in the banking industry this year.
With that, I will pass it on to Joe.
Joseph Sutaris
Thank you, Dimitar, and good morning everyone. As Dimitar noted, the company's earnings results were down a bit in the third quarter. Fully diluted GAAP earnings per share were $0.82 in the quarter, which were $0.08 lower than the prior year's third quarter and $0.07 lower than the linked second quarter results.