Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (CFR) Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call April 25, 2024 2:00 PM ET

Company Participants

A.B. Mendez - SVP and Director of IR
Phil Green - Chairman and CEO
Jerry Salinas - Group Executive Vice President and CFO

Conference Call Participants

Casey Haire - Jefferies
Steven Alexopoulos - JPMorgan
Dave Rochester - Compass Point
Peter Winter - D.A. Davidson
Manan Gosalia - Morgan Stanley
Jon Arfstrom - RBC Capital Markets
Ebrahim Poonawala - Bank of America

Operator

Greetings. Welcome to Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this conference is being recorded.

I will now turn the conference over to A.B. Mendez, Senior Vice President and Director of Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

A.B. Mendez

Thanks, Jerry. This afternoon's conference call will be led by Phil Green, Chairman and CEO; and Jerry Salinas, Group Executive Vice President and CFO. Before I turn the call over to Phil and Jerry, I need to take a moment to address the safe harbor provisions. Some of the remarks made today will constitute forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 as amended.

We intend such statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 as amended. Please see the last page of text in this morning's earnings release for additional information about the risk factors associated with these forward-looking statements. If needed, a copy of the release is available on our website or by calling the Investor Relations department at 210 220-5234.

At this time, I'll turn the call over to Phil.

Phil Green

Thanks, A.B., and good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining us.

Today, I'll review the first quarter results for Cullen/Frost and our Chief Financial Officer, Jerry Salinas, will provide additional comments before we open it up to your questions. In the first quarter, Cullen/Frost earned $134 million or $2.06 per share compared with earnings of $176 million or $2.70 a share reported in the same quarter last year. The first quarter results were affected by an additional FDIC insurance surcharge accrual of $7.7 million or $0.09 a share associated with the bank failures that happened in early 2023.

Our return on average assets and average common equity in the first quarter of 1.09% and 15.22%, respectively, and that compared with 1.39% 22.59% for the same period last year. Solid earnings from the first quarter demonstrate the success of our organic growth strategy and the hard work of our bankers. Our strength and stability, combined with our core values and strong corporate culture allow us to continue providing world-class service to our customers which results in sustained long-term growth.