Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (CFR) Q3 2023 Earnings Conference Call October 26, 2023 2:00 PM ET

Company Participants

A.B. Mendez - Director of Investor Relations

Phillip Green - Chief Executive Officer

Jerry Salinas - Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Steven Alexopoulos - JPMorgan Chase & Co.

David Rochester - Compass Point Research & Trading, LLC

Ebrahim Poonawala - BofA Securities

Manan Gosalia - Morgan Stanley

Brady Gailey - Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc.

Michael Rose - Raymond James Financial, Inc.

Brody Preston - UBS Group AG

Operator

Greetings. Welcome to Cullen/Frost Bankers Incorporated Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. [Operator Instructions] Please note this conference is being recorded.

I will now turn the conference over to A.B. Mendez, Senior Vice President, Director of Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

A.B. Mendez

Thanks, Jerry. This afternoon’s conference call will be led by Phil Green, Chairman and CEO; and Jerry Salinas, Group Executive Vice President and CFO.

Before I turn the call over to Phil and Jerry, I need to take a moment to address the Safe Harbor provisions. Some of the remarks made today will constitute forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. We intend such statements to be covered by the Safe Harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Please see the last page of text in this morning’s earnings release for additional information about the risk factors associated with these forward-looking statements.

If needed, a copy of the release is available on our website or by calling the Investor Relations department at 210-220-5234.

At this time, I’ll turn the call over to Phil.

Phillip Green

Thanks, A.B. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining us. Today, I’ll review the third quarter results for Cullen/Frost, Jerry is going to make some additional comments, and then we’re going to open it up for your questions.

In the third quarter, Cullen/Frost earned $154 million or $2.38 per share compared with earnings of $168.1 million or $2.59 per share reported in the same quarter last year. Our return on average assets and average common equity in the third quarter were 1.25% and 18.93%, respectively, and that compares with 1.27% and 20.13% for the same period last year. This solid performance can be attributed to the execution of our sustainable organic growth strategy and the commitment to our culture that develops deep customer relationships and provides world-class customer service. And all this happens, because of the hard work and dedication of our Frost Bank staff.