Mercantile Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:MBWM) Q3 2024 Earnings Conference Call October 15, 2024 10:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Nichole Kladder - First VP and Chief Marketing Officer
Raymond Reitsma - President and CEO
Charles Christmas - EVP and CFO
Conference Call Participants
Brendan Nosal - Hovde Group
Daniel Tamayo - Raymond James
Nathan Race - Piper Sandler
Damon DelMonte - KBW
Operator
Good morning, and welcome to the Mercantile Bank Corporation 2024 Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded.
I would now like to turn the conference over to Nichole Kladder, First Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer of Mercantile Bank. Please go ahead.
Nichole Kladder
Good morning, and thank you for joining us. Today we will cover the company's financial results for the third quarter of 2024. The team members joining me this morning include Ray Reitsma, President and Chief Executive Officer; as well as Chuck Christmas, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
Our agenda will begin with prepared remarks by both Ray and Chuck and will include references to our presentation covering this quarter's results. You can access a copy of the presentation, as well as the press release sent earlier today by visiting mercbank.com.
After our prepared remarks, we'll then open the call to your questions. Before we begin, it is my responsibility to inform you that this call may involve certain forward-looking statements such as projections of revenue, earnings and capital structure, as well as statements on the plans and objectives of the company's business.
The company's actual results could differ materially from any forward-looking statements made today due to factors described in the company's latest Securities and Exchange Commission's filings. The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made during the call. That is all I have for you today.
I will now turn the meeting over to our President and Chief Executive Officer, Ray Reitsma. Ray?
Raymond Reitsma
Thank you, Nichole.
My comments will focus on our significant reduction in the loan-to-deposit ratio, very strong local deposit growth, strong local loan growth, excellent asset quality and steadily growing non-interest income. Over the last three years, commercial loan growth and mortgage loan growth has been strong and while deposit growth has been solid, it has not kept pace with loan growth.
As a result, the bank's loan-to-deposit ratio increased to 110% at year-end 2023. We believe the bank's elevated loan-to-deposit ratio is a contributing factor to our below peer valuation despite a strong return profile. The following comments summarize the strategies we believe will contribute to further reductions in our loan-to-deposit ratio.