Synchrony Financial's (SYF Q1 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

For the period ending March 31, 2022

April 18, 2022 8:00 a.m. ET

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to the Synchrony Financial First Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Brandon, and I'll be your operator for today. [Operator Instructions]. Please note, this conference is being recorded.

And I will now turn the call over to Kathryn Miller, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations, and you may begin.

Kathryn Miller

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our quarterly earnings conference call. In addition to today's press release, we have provided a presentation that covers the topics we plan to address during our call. The press release, detailed financial schedules and presentation are available on our website, synchronyfinancial.com. This information can be accessed by going to the Investor Relations section of the website.

Before we get started, I wanted to remind you that our comments today will include forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially. We list the factors that might cause actual results to differ materially in our SEC filings, which are available on our website.

During the call, we will refer to non-GAAP financial measures in discussing the company's performance. You can find a reconciliation of these measures to GAAP financial measures in our materials for today's call.

Finally, Synchrony Financial is not responsible for and does not edit nor guarantee the accuracy of our earnings teleconference transcripts provided by third parties. The only authorized webcasts are located on our website.

On the call this morning are Brian Doubles, Synchrony's President and Chief Executive Officer; and Brian Wenzel, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

I'll now turn the call over to Brian Doubles.

Brian Doubles

Thanks, Kathryn, and good morning, everyone. Synchrony delivered strong financial results for the first quarter of 2022, including net earnings of $932 million or $1.77 per diluted share, a return on average assets of 4% and a return on tangible common equity of 34.9%. This financial performance was driven by the core strengths of our business and the continued execution of our key strategic priorities to drive greater value for our partners, providers and customers. We continue to expand and diversify our portfolio during the first quarter with the addition of renewal of more than 15 partners.

We also continue to extend our reach and engage more customers, thanks to the powerful combination of our seamless experiences, attractive value propositions and broad suite of flexible financing options. New accounts grew 10% during the first quarter, reaching $5.5 million, and average active accounts increased 6%.