Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) Q1 2022 Earnings Conference Call April 25, 2022 10:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Elizabeth B. 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.

William Wray Sr. - Chief Risk Officer

Conference Call Participants

Mark Fitzgibbon - Piper Sandler

Erik Zwick - Boenning & Scattergood Inc.

Damon DelMonte - Keefe Bruyette & Woods Inc.

Laurie Hunsicker - Compass Pt Rch & Trading LLC

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to Washington Trust Bancorp, Incorporated's Conference Call. My name is Bailey, and I will be your operator for 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. Ms. Eckel, please go ahead.

Elizabeth B. Eckel

Thank you, Bailey. Good morning, and welcome to Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc.'s 2022 first quarter 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.

Today's presentation may contain forward-looking statements, and actual results could differ materially from what is discussed on today's call. Our complete Safe Harbor statement is contained in our earnings press release, which was issued earlier this morning and other documents that are filed with the SEC. These materials and other public filings are available on our Investor Relations website 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, all, and thank you for joining our first quarter call. We are grateful for your time and continued interest in Washington Trust. This morning, I will provide an overview of our first quarter highlights, and then Ron Ohsberg will review our financial performance. After our remarks, Mark Gim and Bill Ray will join us and will answer any questions you may have about the quarter.

I’m pleased to report that Washington Trust posted solid first quarter results with net income of $16.5 million or $0.94 per diluted share compared with $20.2 million or $1.15 per diluted share in the prior quarter. In the quarter, strength in core margin and our wealth business helped to offset reduction in mortgage revenues. Continued expense management assisted in the sound results, and Ron will provide detail in his comments.