Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Nitin Mhatre: Yes. No. Great question. I think the reason why we’re comfortable is, because we haven’t changed our credit box at all, in fact, we’ve tightened it a little bit in some pockets. And the momentum that we’re seeing is really a reflection of the investment that we started making back in 2021 in terms of the producers and the productivity measures and the incentive plan. So it’s really reflected in that. Our credit quality remains strong as we talked about, our delinquencies and criticized and classifieds are at historic low levels, which is a reflection of some of the new originations that we’ve seen. So we feel good about where we are. And as I said in my remarks, we will continue to stay vigilant, but just in trajectory on the new originations remain strong.

Operator: The next question is from Billy Young from RBC. Billy, please go ahead. Your line is open.

Billy Young: Hi guys, can you hear me okay?

Nitin Mhatre: Yes, we can now. Hey, Billy before we start, I just want to make a correction. I think, we lost you halfway through your question and I was talking about how we are at 28% to 30% on non-interest bearing. I hope you heard that right.

Billy Young: I didn’t catch your answer, actually. But I can always follow-up on the transcript so, I appreciate that.

Nitin Mhatre: Okay. Thank you.

Billy Young: I guess just to kind of a follow-up on Mark’s question on loan growth. How do we think about, where do you think your primary drivers are for growth for this year? Yes, obviously, resi mortgage has been a big driver of growth in the last few quarters, but you did see a nice bounce back in through this quarter. So how should we think about the composition for 2023?

Nitin Mhatre: Yes, I think the competition is going to be similar. We will see a balanced growth, we would see commercial growth and resi growth in parallel. The growth rate percentages might differ, because the baselines are different for both of these portfolios, but we expect to keep the similar mix commercial as percentage of total loans in about low ’60s. So that mix doesn’t change significantly.

Billy Young: Low 60s, perfect. Thank you. And just switching over to your expenses. The outlook looks pretty controlled from here compared to what we’ve seen from peers this quarter. I guess, can you just speak to some potential — where do you see some potential pressure points on cost for 2023? What are your expectations from hiring going forward given all you’ve done in the last few months and also your confidence and your ability to kind of hold the efficiency ratio at these levels going forward?

Brett Brbovic: Hi, this is Brett. I think we’re expecting to see technology as we continue to reinvest in our digital platform. We are expecting to see some increases in deposit, insurance expense as well. I think those are going to be primarily our drivers.

Nitin Mhatre: Yes and I would say, the compensation technology like Brett talked about and there are some that continue in the bucket of optimization that was part of the BEST program. So there is items related to occupancy equipment, real estate and some elements of technology that actually improves our run rate. So those will be the offsetting factors, but it’s still leads to about 4% growth in overall expense, while maintaining a good positive operating leverage.

Operator: The next question is from David Bishop from Hovde Group. David, your line is open. Please go ahead.

David Bishop: Hi, just a housekeeping point. The guidance, the loan guidance that’s for average loans, correct, that 11% to 12% not in the period?

Nitin Mhatre: Correct.

David Bishop: Got it. So that probably implies mid-single-digit growth rate, which I think, has been your expectation or guidance for the past couple of quarters above, correct?

Nitin Mhatre: Yes. Correct.