Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FFIC) Q4 2022 Earnings Conference Call January 27, 2022 9:30 AM ET

Company Participants

John Buran - President & Chief Executive Officer

Susan Cullen - Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer

Conference Call Participants

Christopher O'Connell - KBW

Manuel Navas - D.A. Davidson

Operator

Welcome to Flushing Financial Corporation's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Earnings Conference Call. Hosting the call today are John Buran, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Susan Cullen, Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Today's call is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] A copy of the earnings press release and slide presentation that the company will be referencing today are available on its Investor Relations website at flushingbank.com.

Before we begin, the company would like to remind you that discussions during this call contain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any such statements, including as set forth in the company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to which we prefer you. During this call, references will be made to non-GAAP financial measures as supplemental measures to review and assess operating performance. These non-GAAP financial measures are not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. For information about these non-GAAP measures and for a reconciliation to GAAP, please refer to the earnings release and/or the presentation.

I'd now like to introduce John Buran, President and Chief Executive Officer, who will provide an overview of the strategy and results. You may begin.

John Buran

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone and thank you for joining us for our fourth quarter and full year 2022 earnings call. Following my prepared remarks, Susan will review the financial trends and we will then answer any questions.

The company recorded its second best historical earnings for 2022 behind the record-breaking 2021 earnings in spite of aggressive Fed movements and resulting net interest margin compression. For the year, GAAP return on assets was 93 basis points, with a return on equity at 11.4%, while core return on assets totaled 92 basis points with return on equity at 11.4% and Returns were within our goals of 1% and 10%, respectively. We executed well on our strategic objectives for the year. Average noninterest-bearing deposits increased 10% year-over-year. Period-end loans expanded by 4% and net charge-offs were only 2 basis points for the year. We capitalized on the merger disruption in our market by adding 51 people from merged or merging institutions.