Premier Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:PFC) Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call January 24, 2024 10:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Paul Nungester - CFO

Gary Small - President and CEO

Conference Call Participants

Andrew DeFranco - KBW

Nick Cucharale - Hovde Group

Christopher Marinac - Janney Montgomery

David Long - Raymond James

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to the Premier Financial Corp. Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this event is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Paul Nungester with Premier Financial Corp. Please go ahead.

Paul Nungester

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for today's fourth quarter 2023 earnings conference call. This call is also being webcast and the audio replay will be available at the Premier Financial Corp. website at premierfincorp.com. Following our prepared comments on the Company's strategy and performance, we will be available to take your questions.

Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that during the conference call today, including during the question-and-answer period, you may hear forward-looking statements related to future financial results and business operations for Premier Financial Corp. Actual results may differ materially from current management forecasts and projections as a result of factors over which the Company has no control. Information on these risk factors and additional information on forward-looking statements are included in the news release and in the Company's reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

I'll now turn the call over to Gary for his opening remarks.

Gary Small

Thank you, Paul, and good morning to all for joining us. Per our release, fourth quarter earnings totaled $20.1 million or $0.56 per share for the quarter. The results lagged our third quarter performance, as anticipated, due to lower net interest margin and the seasonal impacts of our residential business as guided at the end of the third quarter. However, the quarter did also include a couple of unanticipated non-recurring or timing items that left the earnings for the quarter slightly below our expectations. And now, I'll rundown the particulars.

First, a quick look at capital. As you noticed, our earnings combined with a favorable AOCI movement, brings our tangible book value per share to $18.69. That's a really good strong progression over the last three quarters, which of course included the big pickup we had on the sale of our insurance operation, but evidence that we've got more upside there and we've made good progress during the year.