Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) Q3 2022 Earnings Conference Call October 25, 2022 8:30 AM ET

Company Participants

Elizabeth Eckel - Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing & Corporate Communications Officer

Ned Handy - Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

Ron Ohsberg - Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer

Mark Gim - President & Chief Operating Officer

Bill Ray - Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer

Conference Call Participants

Mark Fitzgibbon - Piper Sandler

Damon DelMonte - KBW

Laurie Hunsicker - Compass Point

Operator

Good morning and welcome to Washington Trust Bancorp Inc.'s Conference Call. My name is Elliot and I’ll be your operator today. [Operator Instructions] Today's call is being recorded.

And now I will turn the call over to Elizabeth B. Eckel, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing and Corporate Communications Officer. Miss. Eckel?

Elizabeth Eckel

Good morning, thank you, Elliot. Welcome to Washington Trust Bancorp's third quarter 2022 conference call. Joining us for today's call are members of Washington Trust's executive team, Ned Handy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Mark Gim, President and Chief Operating Officer; Ron Ohsberg, Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer; and Bill Ray, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer.

Please note that today's presentation may contain forward-looking statements and actual results could differ materially from what is discussed on the call. Our complete Safe Harbor statement is contained in our earnings press release, which was issued yesterday and other documents that are filed with the SEC. These materials and other public filings are available on our Investor Relations site at ir.washtrust.com. Washington Trust trades on NASDAQ under the symbol WASH.

I'm now pleased to introduce today's host, Washington Trust's Chairman and CEO, Ned Handy.

Ned Handy

Thank you, Beth. Good morning and thank you for joining our third quarter call. We value your time and your interest in Washington Trust. I’ll provide some commentary on the quarter and our view of the current environment and then Ron Ohsberg will review our financial performance. After our remarks, Mark Gim and Bill Ray will join us and we will answer any questions you may have about the quarter.

I'm pleased to report that Washington Trust posted solid third quarter results with a net income of $18.7 million or $1.08 per diluted share. We saw a very strong loan growth which has helped optimize our balance sheet in this rising rate environment. Commercial loans grew by 8% with strong credit formation, strong construction funding and a slowdown in pay-offs.