FISI 2026년 3분기 실적 발표 컨퍼런스 콜: 사상 최고 순이자이익 및 기업대출 성장

주요 내용

• 피낸셜 인스티튜션스(Financial Institutions, Inc., NASDAQ: FISI)는 2026년 3분기 보통주 주주 귀속 순이익이 1,960만 달러(희석주당순이익 0.99달러)를 기록했다고 발표했다.
• 순이자이익은 전 분기 대비 2% 증가한 5,430만 달러로 분기 최고 기록을 달성했으며, 순이자마진(NIM)은 3.70%를 유지하며 전년 동기 대비 5bp 상승했다.
• 총대출은 2분기 대비 2% 이상, 전년 동기 대비 6% 가량 증가했다. 기업대출은 전 분기 대비 3%, 전년 동기 대비 10% 이상 늘었다.
• 투자자문 수익은 쿠리어 캐피털(Courier Capital)의 운용자산(AUM) 40억 달러에 힘입어 전 분기 대비 약 2%, 전년 동기 대비 11% 가량 증가했다.
• 연환산 순상각률은 2분기 11bp에서 33bp로 상승했다. 경영진은 이제 2026년 연간 순상각률이 약 30bp 수준이 될 것으로 전망하고 있다.
• 경영진은 연평균자산수익률(ROAA) 최소 1.30%, 연평균자기자본수익률(ROAE) 최소 12.5%, 효율성 비율 57% 미만을 포함한 핵심 실적 가이던스 및 수익성 목표를 유지했다.

주요 재무 데이터

사업 및 영업 실적

기업대출이 주된 성장 동력을 유지했다. 상업용 부동산(CRE) 부문은 뉴욕주 북부 지역의 건설 담보대출 수요와 미드아틀란틱 시장의 활성화 수혜를 입었다. 상업 및 공업 대출(C&I) 또한 기존 한도 사용량 감소를 신규 취급액이 충분히 상쇄하면서 확대되었다.

경영진은 버펄로, 로체스터, 시라큐스 및 미드아틀란틱 시장 전반에 걸쳐 기업대출 파이프라인이 견조하게 유지되고 있다고 밝혔다. 기존 잔액 상환에 따라 파이프라인이 지속적으로 채워지면서 파이프라인 규모는 2026년 초와 비슷한 수준을 유지했다.

재무상태표상 주택담보대출 포트폴리오는 2분기 대비 소폭 증가했으며 전년 동기 대비 2%를 소폭 상회했다. 매각 및 관리 주택담보대출은 전 분기 대비 2% 이상, 전년 동기 대비 약 7% 증가했다. 주택담보신용대출(HELOC) 신청건수는 전년 동기 대비 30% 증가했으며, 이 같은 수요는 10월까지 이어졌다.

소비자 간접대출은 전 분기 대비 약 1% 증가했으나 전년 동기 대비 7% 감소했다. FISI는 뉴욕주 전역의 360개 이상 신차 딜러를 통해 이 대출을 취급하고 있으며, 가격 책정 규율과 우량 신용등급 유지를 최우선 과제로 두고 있다고 설명했다.

투자자문 수익은 비이자이익의 가장 강력한 기여원 역할을 유지했다. 쿠리어 캐피털은 신규 영업 활동과 인력 채용 투자에 힘입어 2026년 9월 30일 기준 40억 달러의 운용자산(AUM)을 기록했다.

예수금 증가는 전반적으로 광범위하게 이루어졌으나, 공공예금의 계절성이 전 분기 대비 주요 증가 요인이었다. 경영진은 유가증권 담보 설정 요건을 줄이기 위해 공공예금의 일부를 상호예금 상품으로 계속 전환하고 있다. 트레저리 매니지먼트 투자도 기업예금 유치에 기여했다.

FISI는 이번 분기 동안 18만 5,000주 이상의 보통주를 자사주 매입했다. 매입 프로그램을 시작한 이래 회사는 총 약 68만 6,000주를 매입했다.

경영진 가이던스

• 경영진은 연간 대출 및 예수금 성장 가이던스를 유지했으며, 한 자릿수 초반의 예수금 성장률을 계속 목표로 하고 있다.
• 회사는 수익자산의 금리 재조정에 따라 9월 미국 연방준비제도(Fed·연준)의 금리 인상이 4분기 마진을 뒷받침할 것으로 기대하고 있다. 경영진은 9월 3.72%였던 월간 순이자마진을 12월까지 약 3.75%로 올리는 것을 목표로 하고 있다.
• 2026년 연간 순상각률은 약 30bp 수준이 될 것으로 예상된다.
• 투자자문 수익은 2025년 대비 10%대 초반의 성장률을 기록할 것으로 전망되어, 기존의 한 자릿수 중반 성장 가이던스에서 상향 조정되었다.
• 연간 스왑 수수료 가이던스는 기존 100만~200만 달러에서 75만~120만 달러로 하향 조정되었다.
• 2026년 회사가 소유한 생명보험(COLI) 수익은 1,100만 달러를 넘어설 것으로 예상된다.
• 연간 비이자비용 증가율은 한 자릿수 초반을 유지하고, 효율성 비율은 57% 미만을 기록할 것으로 전망된다.
• 실효세율은 기존 16.5%~17.5%에서 16.5%~17.0%로 범위를 축소했다.
• 수익성 목표는 연평균자산수익률(ROAA) 최소 1.30%, 연평균자기자본수익률(ROAE) 최소 12.5%로 유지된다.
• 2027년 계획과 관련해 경영진은 200~300bp의 플러스(+) 영업레버리지 달성과 55%에 근접하는 효율성 비율을 목표로 하고 있다. 보다 자세한 가이던스는 4분기 실적 발표 때 제시될 예정이다.

리스크 및 관전 포인트

연환산 순상각률이 이번 분기 동안 크게 상승했는데, 이는 이전에 공개된 워크아웃 대상 기업대출 관계에 대한 최종 익스포저가 일부 반영된 영향이다. 해당 관계와 관련된 압류 자산은 기타 소유 부동산(OREO)으로 이전되었다.

기업대출 경쟁은 여전히 치열하며 스프레드를 압박하고 있다. 경영진은 향후 성장이 절제된 가격 책정과 적정한 수익성 유지에 달려 있다고 강조했다.

3분기 중 자금 조달비용이 상승하여 평균 이자부부채 조달비용이 6bp 상승한 2.67%를 기록했다. 경영진은 조달비용 절감이 영업레버리지를 강화하는 잠재적 동력이 될 수 있다고 언급했다.

비이자이익은 기업 백투백 스왑 거래 감소와 27만 4,000달러의 합자회사 손실의 영향을 받았다. 경영진은 파트너십 수익이 기초 투자 자산의 실적에 따라 변동될 수 있다고 지적했다.

공공예금 및 관련 유가증권 매입은 계절성을 계속 띠고 있다. 경영진은 공공예금 담보 설정 요건으로 인해 3분기에 증가했던 투자 포트폴리오가 4분기에는 감소할 것으로 예상하고 있다.

애널리스트 Q&A 주요 내용

마진 민감도에 대해 경영진은 대출 포트폴리오의 약 43%가 우량대출금리(Prime) 및 SOFR에 연동하는 변동금리이며, 추가로 13%는 수익률 곡선의 5년 만기 구간 이후부터 조정 가능한 금리라고 설명했다. 9월 금리 인상은 분기 말에 자산 수익률에 긍정적인 영향을 미치기 시작했으나, 시점상 3분기 전체 영향은 제한적이었다.

대출 성장과 관련해 경영진은 기업대출 파이프라인이 견조하며 활발히 채워지고 있다고 밝혔다. 대출 성장 가속화는 2027년 목표치보다 더 나은 영업레버리지를 뒷받침할 수 있으나, 회사는 가격 책정 규율을 타협하지 않을 것임을 강조했다.

예수금에 대해 경영진은 트레저리 매니지먼트에 대한 투자와 기업대출 취급을 고객 예금과 연계하는 전략을 근본적인 성장 요인으로 꼽았다. 개인금융, 소호(중소기업)금융, 기업금융 전반에 걸친 주거래 관계 강화는 여전히 전략적 우선순위로 유지되고 있다.

자본 배분에 대해 경영진은 주가가 저평가되어 있는 동안 자사주 매입은 여전히 매력적이지만, 자본 집행은 자체 성장 및 기타 전략적 기회와의 균형을 맞춰야 한다고 말했다.

실적 발표 컨퍼런스 콜 전문

전체 실적 발표 컨퍼런스 콜 녹취록

경영진 발표

Operator

Greetings, and welcome to the Financial Institutions Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

It is now my pleasure to introduce Ms. Kate Croft, Director of Investor Relations for the company. Ms. Croft, you may begin.

Kate Croft

Thank you for joining us for today's call. Providing prepared comments will be President and CEO, Marty Birmingham; and CFO, Jack Plants. He will be joined by additional members of the company's leadership team during the question-and-answer session.

Today's prepared comments and Q&A will include forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from forward-looking statements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors. We refer you to yesterday's earnings release and investor presentation as well as historical SEC filings, which are available on our Investor Relations website for a safe harbor description and a detailed discussion of the risk factors relating to forward-looking statements.

We will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures intended to supplement and not substitute for comparable GAAP measures. Non-GAAP to GAAP reconciliations can be found in the earnings release filed as an exhibit to Form 8-K or in our latest investor presentation available on our IR website, www.fisi-investors.com. Please note that this call includes information that may only be accurate as of today's date, October 30, 2026.

I will now turn the call over to President and CEO, Marty Birmingham.

Martin Birmingham

Thank you, Kate. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. In the third quarter, our team delivered healthy balance sheet growth while maintaining solid profitability. Commercial lending strength drove loan growth of more than 2% from the end of the second quarter and nearly 6% year-over-year. Net interest margin of 3.7% was stable relative to the linked quarter and up 5 basis points from the third quarter of 2025. This supported stronger net interest income generation, which reached a new quarterly high of $54.3 million. Investment advisory income, the company's leading contributor of noninterest income, increased about 2% and more than 10% from the linked and year ago quarters, respectively.

Our efficiency ratio remained below 57% for the quarter, reflecting our strong focus on sustained profitability. Our strong capital position allowed us to repurchase more than 185,000 shares of common stock during the quarter. This performance came together to support net income available to common shareholders of $19.6 million or $0.99 per diluted share. While this was lighter than the linked quarter, our year-to-date performance has been very strong and supportive of the targets we established at the start of the year. To that end, our core earnings guidance is unchanged, though we did tighten some ranges based on year-to-date results.

We are affirming our guidance for full year loan and deposit growth, net interest margin, returns on average assets and equity and efficiency ratio. On the credit side, we now expect an annual net charge-off ratio of about 30 basis points at the midpoint of the previous range of 25 to 35 basis points. In addition, the high end of our tax rate guidance has been lowered, and we've made some refinements to noninterest income. Jack will walk through these during his discussion of the income statement in a few minutes.

Before that, I'd like to provide some commentary on third quarter balance sheet trends. Commercial lending continues to lead overall loan growth. Total commercial loans increased 3% from June 30, 2026, and more than 10% from September 30, 2025. Growth in the quarter was driven by commercial real estate lending, including strong construction mortgage activity in Upstate New York and increased activity in our Mid-Atlantic market. Commercial and industrial loans also increased as originations more than offset lower line utilization as compared to the second quarter. We continue to see compelling commercial lending opportunities across Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse regions.

While competition remains intense and has created spread pressure, the quality of our existing commercial pipeline underpins our confidence in the opportunities ahead. We believe that the pipeline positions us well for the remainder of the year and heading into 2027. Third quarter credit activity included the transfer of a foreclosed property to other real estate owned, which reflected the final exposure to a previously disclosed commercial business relationship that had been in workout.

Turning to consumer lending. Our on-balance sheet residential portfolio was up modestly during the quarter and up just over 2% year-over-year. Sold and serviced residential mortgages were up more than 2% and approximately 7% from the linked and year ago quarters, respectively, as our model is weighted toward a held-for-sale approach in support of fee income. Home equity lines of credit have been a bright spot with third quarter applications up 30% year-over-year, and we've seen sustained demand throughout October.

Consumer indirect loans increased about 1% from the second quarter of 2026 and were down 7% year-over-year. We originate these loans through a network of more than 360 new car dealers across New York State and maintain discipline on spreads and prime credit mix. That supports solid credit metrics as compared to national trends. Our third quarter delinquency ratio, which is inclusive of loans 30 and 60 days past due and those on nonaccrual, is more than 100 basis points lower than the recent national average for loans just 30 and 60 days past due. As we approach the end of the year, we expect typical seasonality to impact both volume and credit metrics for this line of business.

Investment securities were up 4.5% from the second quarter and a little more than 2% from the year ago quarter. The linked quarter increase was primarily due to public deposit seasonality, and we expect the portfolio to come back down in the fourth quarter. Period-end total deposits of $5.47 billion were up more than 3% from June 30, 2026, and 2% from September 30, 2025. Linked quarter growth was led by public deposits, which peak in the first and third quarters of each year, but deposit growth was broad-based with all categories contributing.

On a year-over-year basis, public deposits were down modestly, partially offsetting growth in all other categories. We continue to focus on shifting some public deposits to our reciprocal portfolio, which helps to relieve collateral requirements in the securities portfolio. The retention and acquisition of core nonpublic deposits remain high priorities, and we continue to target low single-digit deposit growth for the full year.

Now my pleasure to turn the call over to Jack for additional details on our results and guidance.

Jack Plants

Thank you, Marty, and good morning, everyone. Our third quarter results underscore the strength of our core businesses, disciplined balance sheet management and continued focus on profitability. Loan growth drove an increase in average earning assets, while effective balance sheet management supported a stable net interest margin of 370 basis points. Net interest income increased 2% from the prior quarter to $54.3 million. The investment portfolio yield of 4.46% was consistent with the linked quarter, and the average loan yield picked up 1 basis point to 6.08%. The cost of average interest-bearing liabilities increased 6 basis points to 2.67% for the third quarter.

We expect that the latest Fed rate hike in September will have a positive impact on our margin in the fourth quarter as earning assets reprice and we actively manage our funding costs. Noninterest income of $10.5 million was down 4.5% from the linked quarter. Key driver of this variance was lower commercial back-to-back swap activity in the third quarter following a very strong second quarter. We now expect swap fees for the year to come in between $750,000 and $1.2 million, down from the previous guidance of $1 million to $2 million.

We also recorded a loss of $274,000 for limited partnership income in the third quarter compared with a loss of $140,000 in the second quarter. As a reminder, revenue associated with these partnerships, which are primarily small business investment companies, fluctuates given the performance of underlying investments. Investment advisory revenue growth was again a highlight, up about 2% quarter-over-quarter and nearly 11% year-over-year, leading us to increase our full year guide from the mid-single-digit growth to low double-digit growth versus 2025.

Our wealth management subsidiary, Courier Capital, is the primary driver of this revenue stream. With $4 billion in assets under management as of September 30, this continues to be an important component of our diversified fee income. Year-to-date, new business activity has been strong, reflecting investments we've made in attracting top talent. Company-owned life insurance revenue of $2.9 million was up 2% from the linked quarter. COLI income is now expected to exceed $11 million for 2026. We reported quarterly noninterest expense of $36.8 million, up about 3% from the linked quarter. Salaries and benefits expense of $19.7 million was up 3% from the second quarter as expected, driven by costs related to our self-insured medical plan that typically increase as we approach year-end.

As a reminder, we modeled higher benefits expense in our guidance based on our 2025 experience. Professional services expense of $1.5 million was $212,000 or 17% higher than the linked quarter, primarily driven by the timing of typical external audit-related expenses. There were also a couple of one-time items included in other noninterest expense that together totaled about $325,000. This included write-downs associated with other real estate owned and a legal settlement to resolve an employment-related matter. Prudent expense management remains a top priority, while we maintain positive operating leverage, and we remain on track to limit full year noninterest expense growth to the low single digits and to achieve an efficiency ratio below 57%.

We reported an effective tax rate of 16.9% in the third quarter compared to 17.3% in the second quarter. We've tightened our annual tax guidance to between 16.5% and 17%, down from between 16.5% and 17.5%. Annualized net charge-offs to average loans were 33 basis points in the third quarter compared to 11 basis points in the linked quarter. As Marty mentioned, we now expect this ratio to be approximately 30 basis points for full year 2026.

Our allowance for credit losses were fairly stable, down 1 basis point to 99 basis points of total loans as of September 30, 2026. We remain comfortable with the allowance and associated coverage ratio given our strong asset quality. Overall, our third quarter results underscore our ability to translate disciplined execution into growth, with commercial lending leading the way.

Our full year profitability targets remain intact, outlined by a return on average assets of at least 130 basis points and a return on average equity of at least 12.5%. Despite the impact of AOCI from the securities portfolio, our balance sheet remains a source of strength with a TCE ratio of 8.4% and a CET1 ratio of 11.36%. This provides us with flexibility to pursue growth while returning capital to shareholders. Together, these measures underpin our capital allocation priorities, supporting organic loan growth, investing thoughtfully in our business and returning value to our shareholders. That concludes my remarks.

I'll now turn the call back to Marty.

Martin Birmingham

Thanks, Jack. Overall, our year-to-date performance has been strong, and we are well positioned to maintain momentum through the fourth quarter. Our team remains focused on credit-disciplined loan growth, core nonpublic deposit growth, prudent expense management and disciplined execution against our strategy. Our focus on these priorities remains centered on delivering profitable growth and creating long-term value for our shareholders.

That concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, please open the call for questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] The first question is from Damon DelMonte from KBW.

질의응답

Damon Del Monte

First question, just probably for Jack here on the margin. I think you had said that you should probably see a little benefit to the margin from the rate increase that we saw in September. Just wondering if you could kind of walk us through some of the thoughts behind that outlook. And then also, if we do get another rate hike here in December, kind of how you think the margin would be responding as we go into 2027?

Jack Plants

Yes. Thanks, Damon. So as you may recall, about 43% of our loan book floats off of prime and SOFR. And then we've got about 13% of the remaining book that is adjustable from a 5-year point of the curve on end. We've seen some immediate repricing from that rate hike in the back half of September. It has a little bit of a muted impact on monthly margin just given the timing of the adjustment for the quarter.

But as we wrapped up September, our monthly margin was about 3.72%. And as we look to the rest of the year, I think we're targeting December wrapping up around 3.75%. So the earning asset side of the portfolio continues to benefit for the rest of the year. If there's a hike in December, the impact would be fairly muted on the quarterly margin.

Damon Del Monte

Got it. And would you expect those dynamics to continue as we go into '27, given the additional rate hike?

Jack Plants

No.

Damon Del Monte

Okay. Great. And then I guess just on loan growth, solid quarter. I think you guys had kind of messaged earlier in the year that you thought the growth would be more in the back half of the year. And I think we saw a good second quarter and now a good third quarter. Just kind of -- I know you've kind of reiterated the mid-single digits for the year, but anything that's kind of standing out here in the fourth quarter that really gives you confidence for another solid quarter?

Martin Birmingham

I just -- it's Marty, Damon. Thanks for the questions this morning. Our pipelines continue to be pretty solid and consistent with where they've been in the year-over-year periods going back to '25, '26 and the outlook for '27. So that's across the board in CRE and C&I as well as generally upstate for the most part. But even our Mid-Atlantic loan team is showing growth in their opportunities that they're looking at. But specifically, how that translates to the outlook, Jack, how would you?

Jack Plants

Yes, I would say that we've been actively replenishing our pipelines across all portfolios, and they remain strong. From a sizing perspective, the pipeline is around the same size as it was when we entered the year. So our commercial lending folks have been really active in replacing the cash flow that comes off and generating new clients to backfill. So I'm optimistic about our ability to generate loan growth on the commercial side through year-end.

Damon Del Monte

Okay. Great. Appreciate that color. And then just one more quick one for me. Jack, I noticed like the average securities were down linked quarter. Just curious, should we expect there to be kind of a build back up? Or do you think it's going to be kind of run-rating at a lower level now?

Jack Plants

There will be a seasonal build back up for collateral to secure public deposits that come in at the end of September and into the first part of October. Those purchases are largely on short-term T-bills. We've been actively working with our public depositors to try to transition their collateralization needs into our reciprocal deposit portfolio to relieve some of the need to use investment securities.

Operator

The next question is from Manuel Navas from Piper Sandler.

Manuel Navas

Could you go into a little more detail on your strong deposit flows? Like, how much was seasonality in public funds versus maybe some commercial wins? And just kind of future -- discuss the deposit initiatives that you're leaning into most.

Jack Plants

Yes. This is Jack. I'll take that one, Manuel. So to remove some of the seasonality, I look at the year-to-date performance, and we've really had strong performance across the commercial platform for the first 9 months of the year. That momentum has really been driven by the investment that we made and have continued to make in our treasury management platform. So typically, we'll lead with a loan origination and then bring the deposit profile from that customer along, and we're really seeing some solid wins.

Martin Birmingham

Manuel, the other thing I just would add is that primacy is a fundamental strategic focus across all of our business activities, primacy of relationship on a consumer basis, small business, commercial. So all of our sales teams are aligned and they are incented to try to maximize the opportunity and balance utilization of our balance sheet in terms of loans with deposits that come with that. So we feel good about the progress we've made, reinforcing alignment, and the outcomes are starting to follow that.

Manuel Navas

Appreciate that. As you kind of think about where you're ending the year with that NIM and 3.75%, I think that should be really helpful. But is that -- what are kind of some of the puts and takes to potentially targeting positive operating leverage next year? And is that first a goal? And is that -- what are some of the puts and takes for that?

Jack Plants

Yes. This is Jack. I'll take that one. We're in the probably middle phases of building out our 2027 plan. But our target right now is positive operating leverage of 200 to 300 basis points and an efficiency ratio that's approaching 55%.

Manuel Navas

I appreciate that. What would be the biggest ways you could potentially outperform it?

Jack Plants

It would really come from some sort of accelerated loan growth, but we're really disciplined in where we're pricing. So right now, that's where our target is. We'll be able to share more details when we come out with our fourth quarter earnings and our guidance for full year 2027.

Martin Birmingham

So we have our eye on loan growth and disciplined pricing and ensuring we have adequate spreads. The other thing related to deposits, like every bank of all sizes, to the extent we can continue to drive our cost of funds down, that would be an accelerator of performance and operating leverage.

Manuel Navas

The buyback was nice this quarter. Can you just talk a little bit about where it fits in your capital deployment? Are you going to keep this pace? How does it fit in versus organic growth? How does it fit in versus conversations on M&A?

Martin Birmingham

Yes. I think that's exactly it. It kind of really depends. It's really been a really nice opportunity for us. I think since we initiated our program, we purchased a total of 686,000 shares. The earnback in the early part of the program was a year or less and most recently, about 3 years or less. So as long as we're undervalued, we know the risk of execution, and it's a very straightforward capital decision for the company. But of course, we are on a path and driving growth. So we're balancing all those issues.

Operator

There are no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the floor back over to Mr. Birmingham for closing comments.

Martin Birmingham

Thank you very much for joining us. We look forward to continuing to keep you updated on our progress on our next call.

Operator

This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for your participation.