Provident Financial Services(PFS) - 2024 Q4 - Annual Results

Financial Performance - For the fourth quarter of 2024, net income was $48.5 million, or$ 0.37 per share, compared to $46.4 million, or$ 0.36 per share, in the previous quarter, and $27.3 million, or$ 0.36 per share, in the same quarter of 2023[1][16] - Net income for the year ended December 31, 2024, was $115,525 thousand, down from$ 128,398 thousand in 2023, while diluted earnings per share were $1.05 compared to$ 1.71 in the previous year[51] - Total net income for the year ended December 31, 2024, was $135,751, compared to$ 130,462 for the previous year, reflecting an increase of 3.5%[56] Asset and Deposit Growth - Total assets increased by $13.78 billion to$ 24.05 billion as of December 31, 2024, primarily due to the acquisition of Lakeland[36] - Total deposits increased to $18,623,813 as of December 31, 2024, from$ 10,292,514 in 2023, a growth of 81.5%[61] - Total deposits increased by $247.6 million to$ 18.62 billion as of December 31, 2024[10] Loan Performance - The loan pipeline totaled $1.79 billion with a weighted average interest rate of 6.91% as of December 31, 2024[10] - Loans held for investment totaled$ 18.66 billion, up from $10.87 billion a year earlier, with significant increases in multi-family loans ($ 1.57 billion) and commercial loans ( $2.16 billion) during the year[36] - Total net loans reached$ 15,600,431 million in December 2024, a significant increase from $10,367,620 million in December 2023, marking a growth of approximately 50%[71] Interest Income and Margin - Net interest income for the year ended December 31, 2024, was$ 600,614, compared to $399,454 in 2023, reflecting a 50.5% increase[58] - The net interest margin improved to 3.26% in 2024, up from 3.16% in 2023, indicating a positive trend in interest income generation[74] - Total interest income for the three months ended December 31, 2024, was$ 311,947,000, an increase from $164,171,000 in the same period last year, representing an 89.6% year-over-year growth[63] Non-Interest Income and Expense - Non-interest income totaled$ 24.2 million in Q4 2024, a decrease of $2.7 million from the previous quarter[13] - Non-interest expense decreased to$ 134.3 million in Q4 2024 from $136.0 million in Q3 2024[14] - Total non-interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2024, was$ 457,548,000, compared to $275,336,000 in 2023, indicating a 66.1% increase[63] Credit Losses and Allowances - The provision for credit losses on loans was$ 7.8 million for Q4 2024, down from $9.6 million in Q3 2024[12] - The Company recorded a provision for credit losses of$ 83.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to $28.2 million in 2023, primarily due to the initial CECL provision related to the Lakeland merger[27] - The allowance for loan losses was$ 191,175 thousand as of December 31, 2024, representing 217.09% of total non-performing loans[51] Tax Expenses - The effective tax rate for Q4 2024 was 22.6%, down from 28.9% in the previous quarter[15] - The Company's income tax expense for the year ended December 31, 2024, was $34.1 million with an effective tax rate of 22.8%, compared to$ 47.4 million and 27.0% in 2023[30] Equity and Stock Performance - Stockholders' equity increased by $1.60 billion to$ 2.60 billion, driven by common stock issued for the Lakeland acquisition and net income earned[42] - Total stockholders' equity rose to $2,601,207 as of December 31, 2024, compared to$ 1,690,596 in 2023, marking a 54.0% increase[59] Efficiency and Returns - The efficiency ratio for the year ended December 31, 2024, was 57.67%, compared to 55.19% in 2023, indicating a slight decline in operational efficiency[51] - The annualized adjusted return on average tangible equity was 15.39% for the three months ended December 31, 2024, up from 14.53% in the prior quarter and 9.99% year-over-year[53]