Teleconferência de Resultados do 3T26 do Bankwell Financial Group (BWFG): Lucro Recorde e Elevação do Guidance

O Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ: BWFG) registrou lucro líquido GAAP recorde no terceiro trimestre de 2026, mesmo após absorver US$ 3 milhões em despesas antes dos impostos com a conversão do sistema bancário core. A expansão da margem, a receita recorde com o ganho na venda de empréstimos da SBA e a melhora nas métricas de crédito impulsionaram o trimestre, levando a administração a elevar sua projeção de receita líquida de juros e de receitas não provenientes de juros para o ano todo.

Destaques

• O lucro líquido GAAP atingiu o recorde de US$ 12,7 milhões, ou US$ 1,58 por ação, em comparação com US$ 12,4 milhões, ou US$ 1,52 por ação, no segundo trimestre.
• Excluindo os encargos com a conversão do sistema core, o lucro líquido operacional foi de US$ 15 milhões, ou US$ 1,86 por ação. O trimestre incluiu US$ 3 milhões em despesas de conversão antes dos impostos, principalmente custos com rescisão de contratos.
• A margem líquida de juros expandiu 13 pontos-base na comparação trimestral, atingindo 3,71%, marcando sua terceira alta trimestral consecutiva. A receita líquida de juros subiu para US$ 31,4 milhões, ante US$ 29,5 milhões.
• As receitas não provenientes de juros aumentaram 21%, para US$ 4 milhões, impulsionadas pelo recorde de US$ 2,8 milhões em ganho na venda de empréstimos da SBA. No acumulado do ano, os ganhos da SBA somaram US$ 7,6 milhões, em comparação com US$ 2,9 milhões no mesmo período de 2025.
• Os ativos inadimplentes caíram para 0,20% do total de ativos após o Bankwell vender seu maior crédito legado problemático. A transação gerou uma recuperação de US$ 2,5 milhões em valores anteriormente baixados como prejuízo.
• A administração elevou a projeção de receita líquida de juros para o ano inteiro para US$ 119 milhões a US$ 121 milhões e a estimativa de receitas não provenientes de juros para US$ 14 milhões a US$ 15 milhões.

Principais Dados Financeiros

Desempenho Operacional e dos Negócios

O Bankwell originou aproximadamente US$ 222 milhões em empréstimos durante o trimestre, incluindo US$ 30 milhões em origens da SBA. Os empréstimos líquidos aumentaram US$ 23 milhões, elevando o crescimento no acumulado do ano para US$ 143 milhões, ou 5%.

Os novos empréstimos originados em 2026 apresentaram rendimentos cerca de 90 pontos-base acima daqueles dos empréstimos amortizados. Os rendimentos das carteiras de empréstimos aumentaram seis pontos-base, para 6,72%, enquanto os rendimentos dos ativos rentáveis subiram oito pontos-base, para 6,34%.

Os depósitos core recuaram menos de 1% em relação ao segundo trimestre, mas aumentaram US$ 340 milhões, ou 18%, em comparação com o ano anterior. Eles representaram 76% do total de depósitos, ante 69% um ano atrás. O custo total dos depósitos permaneceu amplamente estável em 2,92%.

O balanço patrimonial incluiu aproximadamente US$ 1,3 bilhão em empréstimos a taxas flutuantes, o equivalente a 44% do total de empréstimos. Os saldos que não rendem juros e as contas NOW de baixo custo representaram 19% do total de depósitos, em comparação com 15% ao final de 2024.

A qualidade do crédito melhorou após a venda de um empréstimo imobiliário comercial de varejo da era da COVID no condado de Westchester, Nova York. A recuperação contribuiu para US$ 1,4 milhão em recuperações líquidas e um benefício de crédito de US$ 1,3 milhão nos resultados. A principal exposição inadimplente remanescente era uma participação em edifícios de escritórios no subúrbio de Nova Jersey, com valor contábil de US$ 4,3 milhões após um abate (charge-off) trimestral de US$ 0,6 milhão.

Projeções da Administração

A administração aumentou suas perspectivas para a receita líquida de juros no ano de US$ 115 milhões a US$ 117 milhões para US$ 119 milhões a US$ 121 milhões.

A projeção de receitas não provenientes de juros para o ano todo subiu de US$ 12 milhões a US$ 13 milhões para US$ 14 milhões a US$ 15 milhões, refletindo o forte desempenho da SBA. A empresa manteve sua meta de crescimento de empréstimos para o ano em 5% a 7% e sua perspectiva de despesas não provenientes de juros em US$ 65 milhões a US$ 67 milhões, excluindo os custos de conversão do sistema core.

O Bankwell espera despesas relacionadas à conversão de aproximadamente US$ 400.000 a US$ 500.000 por trimestre nos próximos quatro trimestres. Espera-se que esses custos incluam consultores terceirizados, recursos temporários e trabalho de implementação. A administração prevê concluir a conversão do sistema core no segundo semestre de 2027.

Riscos e Pontos de Atenção

A administração afirmou que a trajetória futura das taxas de juros permanece incerta. Em caso de uma alta adicional de 25 pontos-base nas taxas, espera que o efeito nos lucros seja amplamente neutro nos próximos quatro trimestres, à medida que a repactuação de preço dos ativos compensar os custos mais altos de depósitos e de captação no mercado atacadista.

Os depósitos remunerados sem prazo de vencimento e não indexados podem apresentar um beta de depósito de aproximadamente 60% a 70%. Cerca de US$ 600 milhões em certificados de depósito de varejo estão sendo repactuados cerca de 50 pontos-base acima de suas taxas atuais, enquanto os CDs intermediados por corretoras (brokered CDs) e os empréstimos do FHLB também estão sendo renovados a taxas de mercado mais altas.

A concorrência no mercado de empréstimos está comprimindo os spreads. A administração disse que o Bankwell não pretende competir primordialmente por preço e continuará seletivo na originação e retenção de créditos.

A conversão do sistema core traz riscos de implementação e execução até 2027. A administração não espera uma alteração relevante no ritmo de despesas operacionais (run rate) no próximo ano, pois a economia gerada pela plataforma provavelmente será reinvestida em novos recursos e funcionalidades.

Destaques da Sessão de Perguntas e Respostas com Analistas

A administração afirmou que as liquidações antecipadas de empréstimos desaceleraram um pouco em relação ao ano anterior, mas permanecem em níveis saudáveis. Um pipeline consistente deve dar suporte ao volume de originação necessário para repor os pagamentos e atingir a meta de crescimento da empresa.

A queda nos depósitos à vista ao final do período foi caracterizada como sazonal, e não como perda de clientes (attrition). A administração espera um crescimento contínuo das contas de depósito à vista (DDA) à medida que novos relacionamentos com clientes forem adicionados.

O pipeline de empréstimos SBA do Bankwell permanece robusto, com visibilidade para vários meses. A administração prevê uma expansão moderada e constante em direção a 2027, em vez de uma aceleração acentuada.

Em relação à sensibilidade às taxas de juros, aproximadamente US$ 1,6 bilhão em ativos teriam repactuação imediata de preço, enquanto cerca de US$ 600 milhões em empréstimos com taxa fixa estão previstos para vencer com um rendimento médio próximo a 5,80% e devem ser repactuados a taxas mais altas no cenário atual.

Espera-se que a nova plataforma core melhore o controle de dados, a conectividade via API e a velocidade de adição de produtos ou funcionalidades. A administração mencionou que os custos da plataforma comparável seriam menores, mas que recursos adicionais provavelmente manterão os gastos gerais com o sistema core e pagamentos amplamente estáveis.

Transcrição Completa da Teleconferência de Resultados

Transcrição completa da teleconferência de resultados

Comentários da administração

Operator

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the Bankwell Financial Group Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Call.[Operator Instructions] I will now hand the conference over to Courtney Sacchetti, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Courtney, please go ahead.

Courtney Sacchetti

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Bankwell's Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. To access the call over the Internet and review the presentation materials that we will reference on the call, please visit our website at investor.mybankwell.com and go to the Events and Presentations tab for supporting materials.

Our third quarter earnings release is also available on our website. Our remarks today may contain forward-looking statements and may refer to non-GAAP financial measures. All participants should refer to our SEC filings, including those found on Forms 8-K, 10-Q and 10-K for a complete discussion of forward-looking statements and any factors that could cause actual results to differ from those statements. And I will now turn the call over to Chris Gruseke, Bankwell's Chief Executive Officer.

Christopher Gruseke

Thanks, Courtney. Welcome, and thank you to everyone for joining Bankwell's quarterly earnings call. This morning, in addition to Courtney, we're joined by Matt McNeil, our President and Chief Banking Officer.

The third quarter was one of real progress for Bankwell. Margin expansion continued. We resolved our largest legacy problem credit. Our SBA platform had its best quarter yet, and we announced our core conversion, an important step in strengthening the infrastructure and technology that will support our future growth. For the third quarter, we reported record GAAP net income of $12.7 million or $1.58 per share compared to $12.4 million or $1.52 per share in the second quarter.

It's important to note that these record results include $3 million of pretax expenses tied to our core conversion. These expenses are primarily attributable to the termination of our existing core provider contracts. Courtney will address those items in a couple of minutes. Excluding those charges, operating net income was $15 million or $1.86 per share. Our earnings momentum is strong and continues to grow. Looking ahead, the core conversion will expand our capabilities and improve efficiency and scalability across the organization.

We anticipate completing the conversion in the second half of 2027, and we'll keep you updated as the project progresses. Lending activity was healthy. We originated approximately $222 million of loans in the quarter, including $30 million of SBA originations, resulting in net loan growth of $23 million. Year-to-date, loans have grown by $143 million or 5%.

We remain selective in the credits we originate and retain, supporting both margin and credit quality. Core deposits were down less than 1% from the second quarter, but remained well above prior year levels. Compared with a year ago, core deposits have increased by $340 million or 18% and now represent 76% of total deposits, up from 69% a year ago. Net interest margin increased 13 basis points to 3.71%, marking the third consecutive quarter of expansion. The improvements reflect higher earning asset yields, the cumulative benefit of deposit repricing in prior quarters and a more favorable funding mix. Funding costs were essentially stable compared with the second quarter. Noninterest income increased by 21% this quarter to $4 million, primarily attributable to a record $2.8 million of SBA gain on sale income during the quarter. Year-to-date, SDA gains totaled $7.6 million compared to $2.9 million generated through the same period of 2025.

Credit metrics improved meaningfully during the quarter. We sold the COVID era retail commercial real estate loan in Westchester County, New York, which had been our largest nonperforming asset. The sale resulted in a $2.5 million recovery of amounts previously charged off and contributed to net recoveries of $1.4 million for the quarter. Nonperforming loans declined to $7.1 million, while nonperforming assets fell 26 basis points to just 20 basis points of total assets.

Tangible book value per share increased to $41.59, up $1.34 during the quarter and $3.75 since the beginning of the year. We understand and emphasize every day that growing tangible book value in a consistent and safe manner is our primary responsibility to our shareholders. And now I'll turn the call over to Courtney to cover the financials in greater detail.

Courtney Sacchetti

Thanks, Chris. I'll begin with this quarter's return. On a reported basis, return on average assets was 1.45% and return on average tangible common equity was 15.28%. Excluding conversion costs, return on average assets was 1.71% and return on average tangible common equity was 18.02%. Pre-provision net revenue was $15.5 million as reported or 1.76% of average assets.

On an operating basis, PPNR was $18.5 million or 2.11% of average assets. Net interest income reached $31.4 million, up from $29.5 million last quarter. Earning asset yields rose 8 basis points to 6.34%, while loan yields increased 6 basis points to 6.72%.

New loan pricing remains attractive with our 2026 origination yields running approximately 90 basis points above the yields on loans running off. Total deposit costs were essentially flat at 2.92% as the benefit from time deposit repricing moderated. Approximately $1.3 billion or 44% of our loans are now floating rate. At the same time, time deposits represent a shrinking share of our funding, while noninterest-bearing and low-cost now balances now represent 19% of total deposits, up from 15% at the end of 2024. Together, these changes on both sides of the balance sheet have reduced our earnings sensitivity to movements in short-term rates.

While the future path of rates remains uncertain, our earnings are less dependent on that path than they have been historically. Noninterest income was $4 million, including $2.8 million of SBA gains on sale. Service charges and fees also increased to $951,000. Noninterest income represented just over 11% of total revenue, reflecting continued progress in broadening our revenue mix.

Noninterest expense was $19.8 million compared to $15.3 million in the second quarter. The increase was primarily driven by $3 million of core conversion costs, including $2.7 million related to contract termination costs.

Looking ahead, we currently anticipate conversion-related expense of approximately $400,000 to $500,000 per quarter over the next 4 quarters as implementation activities progress. We expect these costs to primarily reflect third-party consulting support, temporary resources and other costs associated with the implementation. Importantly, the elevated expense this quarter was largely driven by onetime termination costs. As the project progresses, we will continue to refine our estimates and update our expectations accordingly. Additionally, salaries and employee benefits increased, reflecting targeted investments in talent to support our growth as well as higher performance-based compensation.

The reported efficiency ratio for the quarter was 56.1% and 53.1% year-to-date. Utilizing our operating noninterest expense of $16.8 million, our operating efficiency ratio was 47.5% for the quarter and 50% year-to-date. Credit performance resulted in a $1.3 million benefit to earnings driven by net recoveries during the quarter. NPA stand at 20 basis points of assets or $7.1 million.

The primary remaining component is our suburban New Jersey office participation, which has a carrying value of $4.3 million following a $0.6 million charge-off this quarter. We have now charged off approximately 64% of the original balance. The allowance held steady at 1.03% of total loans and coverage of nonperforming loans increased to 431%. Our capital position continues to strengthen. Total assets were $3.6 billion, deposits were $3 billion and shareholders' equity increased to $334.1 million. Tangible common equity to tangible assets rose to 9.33%. The company's consolidated common equity Tier 1 ratio was 10.8%, while the bank's total capital, common equity Tier 1 and leverage ratios were 12.67%, 11.64% and 10.25%, respectively. These levels provide meaningful capacity to support our continued growth. With that, I'll hand it back to Chris.

Christopher Gruseke

Thanks, Courtney. This quarter, we took an important step towards strengthening the platform that will support Bankwell's next phase of growth while continuing to deliver strong core results. Absorbing the conversion costs while reporting record earnings demonstrates the underlying momentum in our business.

Given our year-to-date performance, I'd like to make some minor updates to prior guidance we've given. We are increasing our full year net interest income outlook to $119 million to $121 million compared to our prior range of $115 million to $117 million. Given the strength of our SDA division, -- we're raising our noninterest income guidance to $14 million to $15 million from a prior range of $12 million to $13 million. We continue to expect full year loan growth of 5% to 7% and excluding core conversion costs, full year noninterest expense outlook remains stable at $65 million to $67 million. Before ending our prepared remarks, I'd like to thank our incredible team. None of these results were easy to achieve. They required hard work and a singular focus on our clients.

Our success demonstrates what is possible when a talented team works together on an intentionally designed plan. I also want to thank our clients and shareholders for giving us their confidence. We look forward to a strong finish to this year and to delivering even better results in the year ahead. Operator, we are ready to open the lines for questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Feddie Strickland with Hovde.

Perguntas e respostas

Feddie Strickland

Just wanted to go ahead and start off on loans. It sounds like you're still pretty optimistic here on loan growth. Are slowing paydowns at all a part of that story? Or are you starting to see payoffs and paydowns slow a little bit as you get into the fourth quarter? Or have they been relatively consistent?

Matthew McNeill

We have seen them slow down a bit from last year. There's still -- we still have healthy payoffs coming. We're having to originate to backfill, but the pipeline has been strong. And so payoffs haven't been. We updated our assumption a couple of years ago and just assumed that the payoff number was going to be in the years to come. proven that, that was the right call. So is healthy to make up that backfill. It's reduced slightly, but it's still healthy payoffs.

Feddie Strickland

Great. And just on the deposit side, I saw end-of-period DDAs were a little lower this quarter, they kind of maybe spiked up in the second quarter. The average balances were pretty stable. Can you talk through some of the dynamics there, whether there's anything seasonal or end of quarter moves that drove the differences there?

Matthew McNeill

We think that the DDA balances, we're not losing customers and shrinking DDA balances. We think that these are seasonal changes. We expect to continue to grow DDA balances really just normal ebbs and flows.

Christopher Gruseke

It's important, Feddie, this is Chris. What's important is that we just keep signing up new customers and that continues to happen. So the flows of the business are the flows of the business.

Feddie Strickland

Got it. And just one question on the margin. Was there any onetime benefit this quarter on the interest income side from the loan recovery that we should think about as we look forward on the margin? Or was there not anything in there related to that? Freddie, there was nothing in there related to that.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Mark Shutley with KBW.

Mark Shutley

Maybe just a follow-up on the NIM. How should we think about the deposit beta for this cycle? I saw that the exit rate on deposits were maybe a couple of bps higher, and we have some -- maybe a little bit of remix going on as well. So just how should we think about that?

Christopher Gruseke

Mark, are you talking about prior results? Or are you asking about how we should look prospectively at another Fed hike?

Mark Shutley

Yes. Prospectively, just how should we think about the deposit beta through the cycle with -- yes, assuming Fed hike.

Courtney Sacchetti

So we have just recently increased our CD rates, our retail CD rates actually effective today. So we are starting to reprice some of our deposits up already. But for another 25 basis point increase, we do expect to be relatively neutral over the next 4 quarters. we've got $1.6 billion of assets that would reprice immediately plus we have $600 million of our existing loan book rolling off at a rate of approximately 580 basis points.

That should reprice materially higher based on today's rates. So those are our fixed rate loans maturing and repricing. But that benefit is going to be offset by higher funding costs, again, the increase in the retail CD rates. So we have $600 million of retail CDs that are now repricing roughly 50 basis points higher than their current rates.

Our brokered CDs and FHLB borrowings are rolling into higher market rates as well. We do have some indexed deposits to Fed funds, approximately $300 million. But overall, we view the puts and takes on both sides of the balance sheet to really be a net neutral position, a basis point or 2 each quarter. And I think on our interest-bearing non maturity deposits, we're probably looking north of a 50% beta, somewhere 60% to 70%, and that's on $1.1 billion of deposits that aren't indexed.

Christopher Gruseke

Right. That sounds right based on history. And then back to what Courtney said, Mark, we feel that will be more than offset by the repricing of fixed rate loans that are coming due.

Courtney Sacchetti

Yes. And we have a page in our investor deck that covers -- we have a few pages, but I think Page 16 covers our loan maturity yields, but then we also have a page that covers our asset and liability shifts since 2024, and we've really materially increased our floating rate loan book to help make us a bit more neutral for any sort of rate changes.

Mark Shutley

Great. That was really helpful. And then maybe just one on the SBA. SBA was really strong in the quarter and already at $90 million of your $100 million origination target. So maybe just talk about any visibility into that pipeline and how we should think about the SBA business into 2027.

Matthew McNeill

SBA team is doing a great job. The pipeline is very robust. We're having a lot of success with the SBA program, and we expect to continue that into '27. -- pipeline is strong. We have visibility into a few more months, and we think we'll continue...

Christopher Gruseke

Yes, Mark, we've been at this now. We were -- we've been a preferred provider for a long time. But these last couple of years, we've grown it. And we've always talked about growth there is slow and steady. We're not trying to go and do 2x and 3x. It's just moderate growth every year and keep improving what we do.

Operator

Our last question comes from the line of Steve Moss with Raymond James.

Stephen Moss

Maybe just following up on loans here and just thinking about -- I know you guys mentioned new loans 90 basis points above roll-off yield. Just kind of curious what you guys are seeing for competition. Obviously, treasury rates are higher, but it feels like spreads are tighter. And so just kind of how you guys think about that going forward a little bit in that dynamic.

Matthew McNeill

We are seeing competition tightening spreads. It does impact us as far as trying to negotiate new loans. We are satisfied at where we're able to originate new business currently. I don't think that's going to change. We have a very large roster of relationships that we continue to lend to, and that tends to keep us out of the broker CRE market competing with folks on the lowest cost capital.

Christopher Gruseke

Yes, we will never compete on price, Steve. We said that before and reiterate that. If we have to compete on price, we're doing something wrong.

Stephen Moss

Right. Okay. Appreciate that color there. And then maybe just in terms of systems conversion here, kind of curious what are maybe some of the things you guys are looking forward to benefiting the franchise? And also just maybe kind of as we think about the investments and the cost saves, how to think about expenses into '27 there?

Christopher Gruseke

Courtney went through some of the additional charges that we have. So to begin with the charges that we just took this quarter were the breakage fees, so the big part is done. And then for the next few quarters, I think Courtney said $400,000 to $500,000, maybe for the next 3, 4 quarters, and that's things like consultants and temporary workers. But we got a big data project in the back. And once you have data organized and we own the data, we can work with that. We'll have further products that will enable us to add APIs to the system and build things that we want to build right now, and this is not knocking any one particular provider. Right now, the lead time, if we want to add a feature or build something, you got to get in the queue and wait a few months. We'll be in far better shape to be flexible and adapt as technology rolls out on our new platform.

Stephen Moss

Got it. And I think on the charges, just more curious like do you see any cost saves coming from this conversion? Or maybe there's just -- with the conversion, you add new investments or talent you might want to bring on in '27?

Christopher Gruseke

So I think that -- well, there's several layers to that. So first, apples-to-apples, if we took exactly what we had before and added the new technology, we would save money there. So there would be a cost save on the platform as it is, but what we'll end up doing is adding new features. And so our data -- I'm sorry, data processing, not the data. So our -- what we're spending on core and payments and things like that, we'll probably end up pretty flat because we'll then add some new features and things that we can do. And then as I said, what it really does is give us flexibility to add new features. And if there's a line of business or an API we want to install, we'll be able to do it quickly.

Stephen Moss

Okay, and then...

Christopher Gruseke

I don't see a material impact to our OpEx next year, Steve. Sorry to talk over you. There won't be a material impact to our OpEx run rate as a result of this. The impact is in the staffing for the conversion. And then go down further, we'll be able to be more efficient going forward once we have our data and we can use the systems in a way that enable us to scale. So we do see a payoff there as well.

Stephen Moss

Okay. Great. That's really helpful. And then maybe just kind of curious, you guys have had a really good run here in terms of business development. Kind of curious maybe just how do we -- any additional business lines you guys may want to add talent you guys may be recruiting kind of any potential or early thoughts on that for next year?

Matthew McNeill

We have already done a lot of recruiting. People are already here, getting more seasoned in the business. We expect that our business development efforts will continue to be the hiring is really already happened now just getting people in stride on their business development. So we feel pretty good. As far as new business lines, we're -- we're always thinking about where safety and economics lie and where we could take advantage of those things.

So we're open to new business lines. We always have a couple that are in development. They don't always pull through. And if they pan out, then we'll the maturity. So we're always thinking about new ways to diversify the balance sheet and expand our capabilities.

Operator

There are no further questions at this time. This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.