Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call January 26, 2024 10:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Chuck Shaffer - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Tracey Dexter - Chief Financial Officer

Michael Young - Treasurer and Director of Investor Relations

James Stallings - Chief Credit Officer

Conference Call Participants

Brady Gailey - KBW

Stephen Scouten - Piper Sandler

Brandon King - Truist Securities

David Bishop - Hovde Group

Operator

Welcome to the Seacoast Banking Corporation's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Audra, and I will be your operator. [Operator Instructions] After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions]

Before we begin, I have been asked to direct your attention to the statement at the end of the company's press release regarding forward-looking statements. Seacoast will be discussing issues that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities and Exchange Act and its comments today are intended to be covered within the meaning of that act. Please note that this conference is being recorded.

I will now turn the call over to Chuck Shaffer, Chairman and CEO of Seacoast Bank. Mr. Shaffer, you may begin.

Chuck Shaffer

Thank you, Audra, and thank you all for joining us this morning. As we provide our comments, we'll reference to the fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings slide deck, which you can find at seacoastbanking.com.

I'm joined today by Tracey Dexter, Chief Financial Officer; Michael Young, Treasurer and Director of Investor Relations; and James Stallings, Chief Credit Officer.

Seacoast delivered another solid quarter of financial performance generally in line with last quarter's guidance. The decline in net interest income was offset by expense reductions, resulting in a pretax pre-provision return on tangible assets of 1.48% and an adjustable return on tangible common equity of nearly 12% and an efficiency ratio of 60%. Seacoast ended the year -- Seacoast ended the year with an industry-leading Tier 1 capital ratio of 14.6%, making it one of the strongest banks in the nation.

On previous calls, we've highlighted that this capital strength would likely provide opportunities for the bank. This quarter evidenced 2 clear benefits. First, we were able to opportunistically repurchase 546,000 shares of our common stock at a weighted average price of $19.80, representing an attractive earn-back on the deployed capital.

Secondly, our tangible book value increased nearly 6% from the prior quarter as we've been able to maintain a large percentage of our securities in AFS compared to peers. Our substantial capital and fortress balance sheet will continue to offer strategic advantages and further optionality in the future.