Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) Q4 2023 Results Conference Call January 25, 2024 10:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Brian Katzfey - Director, IR

Brad Elliott - Chairman, CEO

Rick Sems - President

Chris Navratil - CFO

Krzysztof Slupkowski - CCO

Conference Call Participants

Terry McEvoy - Stephens Inc.

Jeff Rulis - D.A. Davidson

Andrew Liesch - Piper Sandler

Damon DelMonte - KBW

Operator

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Q4 2023 Equity Bancshares, Inc. Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Brian Katzfey, Director of Investor Relations. You may begin.

Brian Katzfey

Good morning. Thank you for joining us today for Equity Bancshares Fourth Quarter Earnings Call. Before we begin, let me remind you that today's call is being recorded and is available via webcast at investor.equitybank.com, along with our earnings release and presentation materials.

Today's presentation contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed. Following the presentation, we will allow time for questions and further discussion. Thank you all for joining us.

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Chairman and CEO, Brad Elliott.

Brad Elliott

Good morning, and thank you for joining Equity Bancshares earnings call. We are excited today to take you through our fourth quarter results, including beating consensus earnings, a repositioning of our bond portfolio and our announced merger with Rockhold Bancorp the parent company of Bank of Kirksville. Joining me today are Rick Sems, our Bank President; Chris Navratil, our CFO; and Krzysztof Slupkowski, our Chief Credit Officer.

Let's look back at the fourth quarter. In early quarter, our balance sheet strength, including high levels of capital robust loan loss reserves and available liquidity position the bank to take advantage of the current environment to build for the future. We announced the merger with the Bank of Kirksville, which combines like-minded organizations while expanding our footprint in Missouri.

We are excited to report that we received approval from the Federal Reserve Bank this week and anticipate of closing in February. Different than with past transactions, we will not convert the core systems until May of this year due to scheduling conflicts with the different core and electronic providers.

Also during the quarter, we repositioned $450 million in our investment portfolio, significantly improving our earnings while not impacting tangible equity. In fact, tangible book value expanded during the quarter and year-over-year, as you will see in our slide deck. These transactions reflect our team's focus on value creation. Our employee base is engaged and motivated to drive exceptional outcomes, which provide value to our customers, employees and shareholders. I'm incredibly proud of all we accomplished this quarter and throughout 2023. It was a year of challenges and change. And as we reflect at December 31, Equity is better positioned for the future than ever before. I have never been more excited about what Equity is positioned to accomplish than I am starting 2024. We have an excellent management team, strong balance sheet, in a guiding expectation to be the bank of choice for our communities.