Five Star Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBC) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Heather Luck: So for — thank you for acknowledging that. We’re always mindful on our expenses, right. We want to make sure that we are spending money effectively and efficiently. For Q4, whenever we look at this, I think if you add about $500,000 to the non-interest expenses, that should give you a pretty good estimate. We did hire new people in the Bay, we’ll continue to add more people. But we also do have some one-time events that happened in Q4. So I think about $500,000 can get you there for the rest of the year. And then I think you could probably use that as a proxy for the first two quarters of next year.

Andrew Terrell: Okay. So around a $12.5 million quarter level, feels good?

Heather Luck: Yes, I think that’s a pretty good estimate for now for the next three quarters.

Andrew Terrell: Okay. Perfect. And then maybe one more for James. Just to that point on hiring and the teams that you’ve added. I mean, certainly, it’s been great to see. Where do you feel like you stand today? Is there a need in your mind to continue hiring or continue — to continue building out the Bay Area? Or do you feel like you have what you need there in place already today? And then anywhere else across your footprint where you’re seeing market opportunity? And what’s your kind of appetite to incrementally hire from here?

James Beckwith: Well, we think we have a little ways to go in the Bay Area, Andrew. We’re targeting probably four to five more people. When they come on, they may come on in January. And I think or maybe at least one will be coming on here before the end of the quarter. So we think with that team, we’re going to be in very good shape in San Francisco Proper and the surrounds. Now there are several potential hires that are in the Bay Area, whether they’d be in the North Bay or in the East Bay that we’ve — we’re starting those dialogs. So ultimately, we could have upwards of 20 people in the Bay that are covering all aspects of that market down there. So we just have to see how time goes right now. Right now, we have nine people.

And we’ve got some folks that are pretty near-term right now in terms of potential hires we’ve met with them several times. There’s a cycle that occurs down there given all the turmoil, if you will, various staging’s for, I’m going to say, stay bonuses and whatnot that we’re sensitive to, that you have to kind of take into account and comprehend. So I think that, that is a consideration, a driver in terms of timing. So we just have to stay close and look for the best opportunities. And we’re getting some really quality people. They’re expensive, but they’re of high quality.

Andrew Terrell: Yes, very good. I appreciate the color. If I could sneak one more in just on the margin, Heather. I appreciate the counter on the spot rate, and it does look like the deposit costs really kind of slowed into quarter end. I guess — when you pair that with the other side of the balance sheet, does it feel like the margin is kind of at a point of inflection heading into the fourth quarter? Or would you expect maybe some further compression in 4Q or early into 1Q?

Heather Luck: Yes, we will see some compression. There’s definitely some pressure. We’re targeting right now to be between 3.25 and 3.30 on our NIM. And I think that’s a pretty good assumption for Q4 and Q1.

Andrew Terrell: Yes. Okay. So relatively stable to 3Q levels, maybe off a few basis points or so.

Heather Luck: That’s correct.

Andrew Terrell: Okay, perfect. Thank you for the follow-up. So I appreciate it.

Operator: [Operator Instructions] This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to management for any closing remarks.