Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FFIC) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

John Buran: I think we had one in a deck that we said that a while ago where we prospecting when the loan was put on the books about a 200 basis point increase in rate. So this was a loan that we did in 2019. At that point in time, the debt coverage ratio was 228. We stressed that one up 200 basis points and we also stressed the operating environment. That went down to a 141 under a stress scenario. And then when the repricing took place, the stress has might have been a little bit more, so that came down to a 131. When you’re starting off with very strong debt coverage ratios as we are at about 180 at this point in time across the portfolio, you have a fair amount of room to accommodate increases. Obviously, borrowers are not necessarily liking what’s happening, but the reality is that we’re not seeing any significant detrimental performance on their part based upon our initial underwriting criteria and the stress testing we did at origination.

And that seems to have held fast.

Chris O’Connell: That’s great, color. Thank you. And thinking about more strategically and longer term, as you guys get towards the end of 2024, any thoughts around balance sheet and overall loan growth as you move into 2025?

John Buran: Well we hope 2025 is a better environment than 2024. And we’ll be happy to talk about that when we see it.

Susan Cullen: We’re going to maintain our pricing discipline, so depending on what’s happening with rates and what the borrowers’ appetites are, they’re still sitting on the sidelines like they seem to be doing a little bit today. That will obviously influence growth into 2025.

Chris O’Connell: Great. Appreciate the time. Thank you.

Operator: This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. John Buran for any closing remarks. Please go ahead.

John Buran: Thank you, operator, and thank you all for attending our first quarter presentation. And everybody have a great rest of the day.

Susan Cullen: Thank you.

John Buran: Bye now.

Susan Cullen: Bye-bye.

Operator: The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect.