Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FFIC) Q3 2022 Earnings Conference Call October 26, 2022 9:30 AM ET

Company Participants

John Buran - President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

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

Conference Call Participants

Mark Fitzgibbon - Piper Sandler

Christopher O'Connell - KBW

Manuel Navas - D.A. Davidson

Operator

Welcome to Flushing Financial Corporation's Third Quarter 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. All participants are in a listen-only mode. [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 refer 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.

John Buran

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

The local economy was generally positive in the third quarter as New York City continued to recover from the pandemic, which led to solid loan growth. On the other hand, the Fed aggressively raised rates, which pressured funding costs while also increasing loan origination yields. Given this environment, we remain focused on executing on our strategic objectives.

We reported GAAP earnings per share of $0.76 and core EPS of $0.62. This translated to a return on assets of 1.11% and return on equity of nearly 14%. Core return on assets was 90 basis points and core return on equity was over 11%. These returns are within range of our stated through the cycle goals of 1% and 10%, respectively.