Citizens Financial Group
Q1 2022 Earnings Call
Apr 19, 2022, 9:00 a.m. ET
Contents:
- Prepared Remarks
- Questions and Answers
- Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Citizens Financial Group first quarter 2022 earnings conference call. My name is Tony and I'll be your operator today. [Operator instructions] As a reminder, this event is being recorded. Now I'll turn the call over to Kristin Silberberg, executive vice president, Investor Relations.
Kristin, you may begin.
Kristin Silberberg -- Executive Vice President, Investor Relations
Thank you, Tony. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. First this morning, our chairman and CEO, Bruce Van Saun; and CFO, John Woods will provide an overview of our first quarter results; Brendan Coughlin, head of consumer banking; and Don McCree, head of commercial banking, are also here to provide additional color. We will be referencing our first quarter earnings presentation located on our Investor Relations website.
After the presentation we'll be happy to take questions. Our comments today will include forward-looking statements which are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause our results to differ materially from expectations. These are outlined for your review on Page 2 of the presentation. We also reference non-GAAP financial measures, so it's important to review our results on Page 3 of the presentation and the reconciliations in the appendix.
With that, I will hand over to you, Bruce.
Bruce Van Saun -- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Kristin. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining our call today. There are clearly been changes in the external environment relative to what was expected coming into the year, along with significant volatility. We feel we've executed well in this environment and are positioned to perform well over the course of 2022.
Among the highlights of the quarter, we had a successful conversion of the -- HSBC branch and online customers, which was then followed by closing the investors acquisition on April 6th. We continued to take actions to position our balance sheet well for rising rates, and we've made further progress on our strategic initiatives, including our digital agenda and top seven programs. With respect to our financial results, we are off to a good start with underlying EPS of $1.07, and ROTCE of 13%. This is generally our soft this quarter from a seasonal standpoint, given fewer days in the quarter, and the impact of payroll taxes on expenses.