Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:AMTB) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Matt Olney: Right, okay. That’s helpful. Then I guess moving over to the expense outlook, I think you had several adjustments on the expenses to non-recurring items. I think core expense is still a little bit elevated near that $60 million level in the fourth quarter. I know you’ve got lots of projects that you’re working on for ’23, so might be hard to nail down specifics, but just would appreciate any kind of thoughts on expectations for operating expenses in ’23.

Jerry Plush: Yes, let Carlos go first. We’ll both comment on this one.

Carlos Iafigliola: Yes, so definitely we had certain items that surged during the last quarter of the year, and I guess one of the items was the accrual for the variable comp. That was definitely one of them, plus severance, but those were extraordinary items. For the core expenses, we still expect the $58 million to $59 million. Remember that inflation is already being factored in, in the cost of the personnel expenses, and that’s been pretty much–there were several adjustments performed during 2022 that will take full effect in 2023. That’s part of the change. Additional to this, we also have the expenses of the projects that you mentioned, that those will be recorded as one-time as we go through the conversion process, so we expect roughly between $58 million to $59 million in core expenses. Including extraordinary it will be probably closer to the $61 million, approximately, with the conversion services.

Jerry Plush: Yes, you know Matt, I just would add to that, that one of the things, there clearly will be some–a little bit of volatility, but it’s good volatility when you start to look at it from the standpoint of the–you know, if it’s around accruing for driving deposits and loans, that’s a good thing at the end of the day, and so the guidance Carlos just gave you is inclusive of what we expect, but obviously if we have outperformance in a given quarter, like we just did this quarter, we had a higher number to true up what we need to accrue for payouts. That, I think, is probably the only variable and the only additional comment I’d make on expenses.

Matt Olney: Okay, that’s helpful guys. Thanks for your help.

Jerry Plush: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you, and one moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Brady Gailey with KBW. Your line is open, please go ahead.

Brady Gailey: Hey, thank you. Good morning guys.

Jerry Plush: Good morning Brady.

Brady Gailey: There’s now less than a billion in assets to go until you hit the $10 billion threshold, and with 10% to 12% growth, it feels like you’ll kind of be flirting with that $10 billion maybe by the end of this year. Do you think that you cross $10 billion this year, and can you remind us of any of the expense impacts or Durbin impacts that we need to think about over $10 billion?

Jerry Plush: Yes, look – I think we gave–obviously we said around 10% or so. You’re right – we’ll be right there. I think we’re going to be very conscious of crossing through that. I will tell you we’ve been spending a lot of time doing the necessary preparation, and we’ll do that throughout 2022. I think Carlos can comment on any kind of Durbin implications, but to be candid, my expectation is if there are, that’s closer to a 2024 item.