Central Pacific Financial Corp. (NYSE:CPF) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

David Morimoto: Hey, David, it’s David. Yes, as we mentioned, we started to see some moderation of deposit flows. So obviously, the entire industry has been challenged with mix shift and acceleration of deposit betas and we’re cautiously optimistic that we’ll start to see moderation on both fronts. The DDA balances were relatively stable quarter-to-date. And on deposit flows, I think what we generally see is as we come off quarter-end, there’s a little bit of runoff, and then we make it up as we approach the subsequent quarter-end, and those flows continue to occur.

David Feaster: And then just thinking about the move that you guys made in the quarter and the liquidity build with the whole idea that we’ve got a $40 million or $50 million headwinds on loan growth from the consumer front. And again, you’ve built deposits and we have the excess liquidity. I’m just curious how you think — just how you think about deploying the liquidity, is this a normalized level? Or what drove that? And then just plans on driving core deposit growth going forward?

David Morimoto: Yes, David. Yes, there was a little bit of a liquidity build during the quarter, and that was purposeful. I think that’s probably the appropriate amount of on-balance sheet liquidity in the current environment. So I wouldn’t anticipate it growing significantly more from there. And then on just net interest income, yes, we realize we’ve got a little bit of a headwind from the Mainland consumer portfolio. But as Arnold mentioned, we’re looking for opportunities going forward. We have — we have a healthy loan pipeline and we’ll lean into that as we feel more comfortable with the deposit balances.

David Feaster: And where are you still — where have you seen — I’m sorry, go ahead.

Arnold Martines: David, sorry, this is Arnold. Let me just add that our continued focus on the small business market, which is our — one of our pillars is really helping us drive deposit growth. So the team is doing a really good job in focusing on that segment and continuing to build new relationships that bring in new core deposits.

David Feaster: Okay. That’s helpful. And just kind of hearing your commentary, it sounds like the slowdown in growth was really, obviously, excluding the consumer stuff. The slowdown in originations was maybe a bit more intentional as you’ve been selective rather than a slowing in demand. Is that a fair characterization, especially just given the commentary on the pipeline? And then I guess, where are you still seeing good risk-adjusted returns on that? You talked about the small business just now. But I’m just curious, what segments are still providing good risk-adjusted returns from your perspective?

Arnold Martines: Yes. So your observation is a good one. That’s exactly how we’re seeing things with regard to having a healthy pipeline, but very — being very selective in risk-adjusted returns. But maybe David can comment on some of the segments that we’re looking at that we believe are good risk — can get us good risk-adjusted returns and the current operating environment?

David Morimoto: Yes. Thanks, Arnold. Yes, David, the small business, the C&I area is obviously a good opportunity. We — you get decent loan yields there. Generally, bank base rate or prime floating type of rates. And then as Arnold mentioned, they also bring in core deposits. So that area continues to be a focus on construction. There continues to be a decent amount of construction activity within the state of Hawaii and again, there, you have floating rates either generally off of sulfur with decent margins, decent spreads. So those are some of the areas that we’re focused on.