華盛頓信託 (WASH) 2026 年第三季法說會：淨利差擴張，第四季 NIM 財測指引為 2.85%-2.90%

重點摘要

• Washington Trust Bancorp 公布 2026 年第三季淨利為 1,940 萬美元，或每股 1.01 美元，較第二季增加 340 萬美元及每股 0.18 美元。
• 淨利息收入季增 7%、年增 15% 至 4,470 萬美元。淨利息收益率擴張至 2.84%，較第二季增加 11 個基點，較去年同期增加 44 個基點。
• 本季存款增加 7,700 萬美元（或 1%），年增 4%；批發融資則較 6 月 30 日減少 8,000 萬美元（或 18%）。
• 在解決一筆 2,230 萬美元的辦公室貸款後，信譽指標有所改善。非應計貸款佔總貸款比率從第二季的 0.78% 降至 0.48%。
• 管理層預測第四季淨利息收益率為 2.85%-2.90%。該展望已包含 9 月的升息，但不包含未來可能的追加升息。
• 截至 9 月 30 日，商業貸款案源約為 2.3 億美元，並偏向工商業 (C&I) 放款。管理層繼續以每季 2%-3% 的商業貸款成長為目標。

關鍵財務數據

本季包含來自一筆轉回應計放款的上一季度利息收入 28.3 萬美元，為淨利息收益率貢獻約 2 個基點。有效稅率為 20.4%。

業務與營運表現

財富管理收入較第二季下降 1%，但年增 7%。資產基礎收入增加被報稅服務費收入的季節性減少所抵銷。

由於房貸案源萎縮且市場利率上升，房貸銀行業務收入下滑。放款相關衍生性商品收入增加 92.4 萬美元，而銀行持有人壽保險 (BOLI) 收入則包含 95.4 萬美元的收益。

商業不動產推動了第三季貸款成長。管理層表示，本季整體貸款組合的年化成長率約為 5%，而商業貸款組合的年化成長率約為 10%。

約 2.3 億美元的商業貸款案源偏向工商業 (C&I) 貸款，其中包含機構銀行業務小組的約 4,000 萬美元。管理層預期在第三季季節性疲軟後，機構業務將於第四季與第一季走強。

Washington Trust 也準備在第四季末於羅德島州開設兩家分行。管理層估計每家分行未來的每年常態費用率約為 75 萬至 80 萬美元。

管理層業績展望

管理層預期第四季淨利息收益率為 2.85%-2.90%。Washington Trust 仍保持適度的資產敏感性，且該展望僅納入 9 月的升息。管理層估計，每額外升息 25 個基點，收益率常態率可增加 1-2 個基點。

貸款組合中約有 21 億美元連結至 SOFR 或基本利率，其中 SOFR 貸款通常每月重新定價一次。來自 20 億美元住宅貸款組合的現金流再投資，預計每季可帶來 1-2 個基點的淨利息收益率順風。管理層亦確認已終止的掉期合約將帶來額外 4 個基點的效益。

預期第四季非利息費用將較第三季增加約 150 萬美元，反映對分行、行銷、技術和人員的投資。這不包含對該公司慈善基金會每年 75 萬美元的捐款。管理層確認包含該捐款在內的第四季費用水準約為 4,100 萬美元。

預計 2026 全年有效稅率約為 21.5%。

風險與關注事項

優質商業不動產資產的競爭壓力依然巨大。管理層指出市場利差落在 170-180 個基點區間，這可能會限制低利率發放的商業不動產 (CRE) 貸款重新定價所帶來的效益。

雖然出租率穩定、贊助商承諾明確且無逾期付款，但一筆約 600 萬美元的 A 級物業仍因潛在估值風險被轉列為不良資產。該貸款直至 2031 年才到期。

管理層正與贊助商合作，針對一筆 660 萬美元的實驗室空間曝險尋求退出方案。另一筆 2,800 萬美元的實驗室空間物業出租率達 95%，若租戶支付租金表現持續改善，可能被移出應予關注 (special mention) 類別。

本季總股東權益下降，主因備供出售債務證券的公允價值降低及發放季度股利。管理層表示，儘管監管資本比率令人滿意，但 GAAP 資本比率仍低於同業水準。

分析師問答集錦

• 存款融資：管理層將無息存款的大幅成長歸因於機構銀行關係及相關營運帳戶。該銀行打算使存款成長接近貸款成長，同時保留在適當時機使用批發融資的選項。
• 貸款成長：上半年的強勁還款意味著公司預計無法復甦足夠的放款量以實現 2026 日曆年個位數中段的成長。相反地，既定目標反映的是包含每季 2%-3% 商業貸款成長的常態率。
• 分行成本：在兩家新分行開業前會產生部分招聘及不動產費用。管理層同意，隨著分行完全投入營運，2027 年第一季增加約 30 萬美元的季度費用是合理的模型假設。
• 資本配置：管理層目前沒有庫藏股買回計畫。保留資本是為了支持預期的資產負債表及貸款成長。

法說會完整逐字稿

完整財報電話會議逐字稿

管理層陳述

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc.'s Q3 2026 Conference Call. My name is Hillary, and I'll be your operator today. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, today's call is being recorded.

I'll now turn the call over to Sharon Walsh, Senior Vice President, Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications. Sharon, please go ahead.

Sharon Walsh

Thank you, Hillary. Good morning, and welcome to Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc.'s conference call for the third quarter of 2026.

Joining us this morning are members of Washington Trust's executive team, Ned Handy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Mary Noons, President and Chief Operating Officer; Ron Ohsberg, Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer; and Bill Wray, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer.

Please note that today's presentation may contain forward-looking statements, and our actual results could differ materially from what is discussed on today's call. Our complete safe harbor statement is contained in our earnings release, which was issued yesterday, as well as other documents that are filed with the SEC.

All of these materials and other public filings are available on our Investor Relations website at ir.washtrust.com. Washington Trust trades on NASDAQ under the symbol WASH.

I'm now pleased to introduce you to today's host, Washington Trust's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ned Handy. Ned?

Edward Handy

Thank you, Sharon. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our third quarter conference call. We continue to appreciate your time and your interest in Washington Trust. I'll begin with a few comments about the quarter, and then Ron will provide more detail on our financial performance.

Following our remarks, Mary and Bill will join us for the question-and-answer session. We delivered another strong quarter marked by growth in earnings and net interest income, continued margin expansion and improved operating efficiency. Our asset quality metrics improved, reflecting the resolution of a commercial real estate office loan. Our capital position remains strong and supports prudent growth.

We're continuing to expand our presence in Rhode Island with 2 new branches opening in the coming months. These locations will provide the trusted advice, comprehensive solutions, convenience and personalized service that our customers deserve.

We look forward to building long-term financial partnerships with individuals, families and businesses in these markets.

And now I'll turn the call over to Ron to provide additional details on our third quarter financial results. Ron?

Ronald Ohsberg

Yes. Thanks, Ned, and good morning, everyone. Third quarter net income was $19.4 million or $1.01 per share, up by $3.4 million or $0.18 from the preceding quarter. Pre-provision pretax net revenue, or PPNR, was up 20% from Q2 and up by 26% year-over-year. Net interest income was $44.7 million, up by 7% from Q2 and up by 15% year-over-year.

The margin was 2.84%, up by 11 basis points from Q2 and up by 44 basis points year-over-year. The third quarter included $283,000 of second quarter interest income from a loan that was returned to accrual during the quarter, and this benefited the NIM by about 2 basis points.

Noninterest income was up by $1.6 million or 9% compared to Q2 and by -- up by 15% year-over-year. Wealth management revenues were down by 1% compared to Q2 and up by 7% year-over-year. In the third quarter, an increase in asset-based revenues were offset by a decline in tax servicing fee -- a seasonal decline in tax servicing fee income.

Mortgage banking revenues totaled $3.2 million, down by 9% from the second quarter and down by 10% year-over-year, reflecting a decrease in the mortgage pipeline as well as rising market interest rates. Loan-related derivative income was up by $924,000 and income from bank-owned life insurance was up largely due to the recognition of a gain of $954,000 in the third quarter.

Noninterest expense totaled $38.8 million in the third quarter, up by $200,000 or 0.5%. Our third quarter effective tax rate was 20.4%, and we expect our full year 2026 rate to be approximately 21.5%.

Turning to the balance sheet. Total loans were up by 1% from June 30. Total commercial loans increased by $62 million or 2.3%, driven by growth in the CRE portfolio. Deposits were up by $77 million or 1% from the end of the second quarter and up by $213 million or 4% year-over-year. And wholesale funding was down by $80 million or 18% from the end of June.

Total equity amounted to $531 million, down by $23 million from the end of the second quarter. In the third quarter, net income was offset by a decline in the fair value of available-for-sale debt securities as well as the quarterly dividend. The dividend remains at $0.56 per share.

Turning to asset and credit quality. Overall, our asset and credit quality metrics improved. At September 30, nonaccruing loans were 48 basis points on total loans, decreasing from 78 basis points and past due loans were 54 basis points on total loans, down by -- down from 81 basis points at the end of the second quarter.

The improvement was largely driven by the resolution of an office loan of $22.3 million that was placed on nonaccrual in the first quarter. During the third quarter, this loan was restructured, resulting in $18.5 million being returned to accrual and $3.8 million being charged off. In the third quarter, we recognized $1.8 million provision for credit losses.

And at this time, I will turn the call back over to Ned.

Edward Handy

Thanks, Ron, and we'll move to question and answers.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Justin Crowley from Piper Sandler. A reminder to unmute yourself locally if you would like to ask the question on your device. I will move to the next question. Please rejoin the queue if you are looking to ask a question. Your next call comes from the line of Damon DelMonte from KBW.

分析師問答

Damon Del Monte

Just wanted to start on the outlook for the margin. You've had a string of consecutive quarters of nice margin expansion. And just kind of curious, Ron, to get your thoughts on how you see it kind of playing out over the back half of this year and as we go into '27, especially with the rate hike that we had in September and the prospects of additional hikes over the coming quarters as well.

Ronald Ohsberg

Yes. So, Damon, it's probably a little early to be talking about 2027, but our -- we've revised our guidance for Q4. We're going to guide to a range of 2.85% to 2.90%.

Damon Del Monte

Okay, great. When we think about...

Ronald Ohsberg

So, yes, I would say that we remain modestly asset sensitive. So, that guidance includes just the September rate hike at this point. And we think that each 25 basis point hike probably gives us 1 to 2 basis points on the run rate.

Damon Del Monte

2 basis points on the run rate. Okay, great. And then kind of along those lines, the noninterest-bearing deposit growth has been really strong in the last couple of quarters. Just any color on what's driving that?

Ronald Ohsberg

Yes. I think a good part of it is the institutional banking team onboarding operating accounts related to the relationships that they're bringing in is probably the biggest driver. But I think we have kind of an across-the-board approach to taking in deposits across both retail and commercial at this point. So, yes, we had pretty good growth in the quarter, and we'll see if we can maintain that.

Damon Del Monte

Got it. Okay. And then just one more for me. On the expense outlook, a good quarter this quarter, pretty much flat. Just curious on your outlook for the fourth quarter and kind of any puts and takes around that.

Ronald Ohsberg

Yes. Yes. So, listen, on the last call, we guided to a $1 million increase in the quarter, and we came in below that. I would say a lot of that is timing related. So, we're going to see a shift to some of that previously expected expense growth shifting into the fourth quarter.

So, for the fourth quarter, we're looking at an increase of about $1.5 million. We are making some targeted investments in a few areas, including some new branches that are coming online, some marketing spend, some technology spend, some personnel spend, kind of that $1.5 million is kind of evenly distributed across that.

That -- none of that includes our annual $750,000 contribution to our charitable foundation. So, that would be incremental to the $1.5 million.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Justin Crowley from Piper Sandler.

Justin Crowley

Hopefully, you can hear me now.

Edward Handy

We can, Justin.

Justin Crowley

Perfect. Ron, just going back to the margin. If I remember correctly, I believe you were going to get another 4 basis points benefit from the terminated swap this quarter. So, I just wanted to confirm that, that was the case.

Ronald Ohsberg

Yes, it is.

Justin Crowley

Okay. And then I guess just looking out a little further, do you have detail on what loan repricings look like if we go out to the end of 2027? What that looks like from a volume and then just rate pickup standpoint?

Ronald Ohsberg

Yes. So, we've got, call it, about $2.1 billion of SOFR and prime-based loans. So, each -- those SOFR loans are resetting monthly. So, that's kind of the repricing that we see immediately every time the Fed makes a change.

Justin Crowley

Okay. And then -- but for the -- like the fixed to floating or any of the like 5-year CRE paper, do you get any benefit there, just kind of given some of the growth you put on back in 2022?

Ronald Ohsberg

I'm sorry, say that again, Justin.

Justin Crowley

Just for the 5-year fixed to floating type commercial real estate paper. If I just kind of like look back to growth you put on 5 years ago, I would think there's some benefit there as we get into next year, although perhaps not.

Edward Handy

Yes. I would say -- Justin, it's Ned. I would say that CRE loans that are maturing that were underwritten at much lower rates are obviously -- to the extent that they do extend and don't pay off, we still see a fair amount of those paying off even before maturity. But I'd say we get a little bit of a lift, obviously, from the lows.

I will tell you, though, that what we're seeing in the market in general is spreads are tightening. As rates rise, they tend to, especially in sort of high-quality assets. So, we're seeing spreads in the, I don't know, 170s, 180s for high-quality assets. So, that bites into that benefit a little bit.

And obviously, there's a lot of competition for quality assets. So, it's a mix. I mean I think we're getting a little bit of a lift off of the lows. But I think in general, the market is very competitive and spreads are getting a little thinner.

Ronald Ohsberg

Yes. So, Justin, I can add to that. Really, there's more of a tangible benefit, I think, on the residential side. We've got a $2 billion residential book. So, as that's amortizing and we're reinvesting those cash flows, that's giving us a tailwind of about 1 to 2 basis points a quarter.

Justin Crowley

Okay. Got it. That's helpful. And then just on loan growth, I think you guys have talked about mid-single digits previously. It seems like that might be tough to get to just barring a really strong fourth quarter. So, just kind of curious how you're thinking about that trend line from here.

Ronald Ohsberg

Yes. Yes. So, listen, I would say when we think about mid-single digits, we're really talking about run rate versus calendar year. So, we had strong payoffs in the first and second quarter. So, we're not going to make that up inside of 2026.

But I think our loan growth in the second quarter and in the third quarter was pretty strong, and we're looking at annualized total portfolio growth of 5%, and we're looking at within the commercial book about 10%. So, this quarter, the commercial book delivered 2.3%. That's kind of within our target range of 2% to 3% quarterly commercial growth, which over the year, we're looking at that averaging out to about 10% annualized growth.

Justin Crowley

Okay. Got it. And then maybe just one last one as a follow-up to that a little. Just any thoughts on the mix as we go forward? You saw CRE come back after the slower first half with some of the payoffs you alluded to and then the softer period on the C&I or institutional group. So, just kind of curious how you're thinking about both of those areas?

Edward Handy

Yes, that's a good question. And I think as we guided, the growth in Q3 would be sort of real estate heavy given the seasonality of the institutional, especially in the education space, the institutional business. But the pipeline going forward, I mean, we've got about a $230 million pipeline as of 9/30, which is weighted towards C&I, with about $40 million of that today in the institutional group.

We did do a $10 million New England school deal in the third quarter. So, there was a little bit of institutional, but I think it kind of followed as we predicted that it would slow down a little bit in Q3 and pick up Q4 and into Q1. But pipeline is pretty strong and again, weighted towards commercial.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Laurie Hunsicker, who is a private investor.

Laura Havener Hunsicker

Laurie Hunsicker from Seaport. I just wanted to circle back here on expenses. I just want to make sure that I'm getting this right. So, round numbers, you're going to be about $41 million or so for the fourth quarter, including the Charitable Foundation of $750,000?

Ronald Ohsberg

Yes.

Laura Havener Hunsicker

Okay. And then obviously, that is including the branch spend, the Bristol and the Pawtucket. Can you update us on exactly when those are opening? And then just help us think about is that fourth quarter then a fully baked run rate? Or how should we be thinking about that?

Ronald Ohsberg

No. They're coming on. Laurie, I don't have the exact timing, but right around the end of the quarter. There is some ramp-up spending that occurs. We have to hire the people. We've got some real estate costs. So, some of that expense is -- you can see it in our -- you will see it in our run rate even before the branch is opened. But the ongoing run rate for a branch is around $750,000 to $800,000 a year.

Laura Havener Hunsicker

Okay. So, just in terms of 1-quarter expense modeling, just thinking about maybe another $400,000 add for those branches to be fully phased. Or maybe it's a little less, maybe it's 150 a branch or maybe 300 additional -- $300,000 additional of expense into the first quarter of '27.

Ronald Ohsberg

I think that's fair. Yes.

Laura Havener Hunsicker

Okay. Okay. And do you have any branches planned now for 2027?

Ronald Ohsberg

We have nothing planned, although I would say that we are still interested in expanding the branch footprint. So, nothing to talk about yet, but in coming quarters, we probably have something to talk about there.

Laura Havener Hunsicker

Okay. Okay. Great. Yes, loved seeing your deposit growth and just very. You held the line almost across the board on raising rates there. So, your loan-to-deposit ratio now sitting below 95%, which is great. Can you help us think about what that target looks like into next year? And then maybe, Ned, just very high level, can you talk about the competitive pressures you're seeing on deposit costs in order to grow those buckets?

Ronald Ohsberg

Yes. So, yes, we're very pleased with our loan-to-deposit ratio, which is at a level a low level that we've rarely been at in the past. And as you know, Laurie, we've been quite a bit higher than that previously. We're committed to maintaining our deposit growth in the neighborhood of where our loan growth is. Our loan growth will be higher in the coming couple of years than it has been in the previous couple of years.

So, we will have our work cut out for us to keep that deposit growth going and making sure that we can fund those loans. We don't have -- we've got internal policy limits and things of that nature. But I don't have a target loan-to-deposit ratio to share with you. I will say that we would rely on wholesale funding to some degree to fund appropriate loan growth when we get to that point. I don't know. That's about the best I can tell you.

Laura Havener Hunsicker

Okay. Okay. And do you have a spot margin?

Ronald Ohsberg

Yes. I mean, call it 2.85% for September.

Laura Havener Hunsicker

Okay. Great. And then I just had a couple of questions on credit. Loved, obviously, seeing the $22 million resolution. The $6 million Class A that was new into nonperformers, I guess, what is that loan? What's the occupancy? What's maybe your thoughts on timing of resolution there?

William Wray

Laurie, this is Bill Wray. That's been there for a while. Committed sponsors never missed a payment, but we just felt it was the appropriate time to look at potential valuation risk, but the property doesn't mature until 2031. So, occupancy has been level, but it's not at stabilized levels. So, we felt that was just the right step to take at this point.

Laura Havener Hunsicker

Okay. But so last quarter, it was performing and then you moved it to nonperformer. I'm just wondering what triggered that?

William Wray

I'm just thinking about valuation risk, I think, and we felt it was the right time. Again, there's been no change in commitment from the sponsors, no change in occupancy up or down. And as you said, they've never missed a payment.

Laura Havener Hunsicker

Okay. Okay. Great. And then I just wondered on the $6.6 million lab space, any update on that? I know that was in sort of initial lease-up phase, I think last time we were chatting. Any color to add there?

William Wray

We are working with the sponsors on that and moving towards an exit scenario. And so we're in the middle of those discussions.

Laura Havener Hunsicker

Okay. Okay. And then last one for me. The $28 million lab space that's unclassified, I think there was a thought that, that potentially could be returning here to -- that it could certainly be migrating out of special mention here in the next couple of quarters. I have in my notes that property was fully leased. Can you just update us on when we might see movement in that?

William Wray

It's fully leased, 95%. We've been waiting for the tenants to burn off free rent and show performance. All trends have been positive. And so we're feeling reasonably good about a near-term move out of special mention. But until we have all the quarter-end information in terms of rent payments, we don't -- we can't commit to that yet, but that's where it's headed, we think.

Laura Havener Hunsicker

Okay. Great. And then one very last question, Ned, for you. Obviously, your capital ratios are very, very strong here. Can you just refresh us on revisiting the buyback and how you're thinking about that?

Edward Handy

Yes. I mean we don't have any plans to buy stock back at this point, the price is high. I mean we've got the capital. We've got other things to invest in, and we want to make sure we have ample capital to support the growth we're looking forward to on the loan side. So, I think we'll kind of keep our position of holding off on repurchases at the moment. Ron, I don't know if you have other...

Ronald Ohsberg

No, that's it. I mean we've got plans to grow the balance sheet. So, we're going to hold on to that capital right now. Laurie, I mean, listen, our regulatory capital ratios look fine. Our GAAP capital ratios remain on the lighter side of the peer group. We recognize that. We've recognized that for a while. So, I think the prudent thing for us to do right now is to deploy that capital into the growth of the business.

Operator

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Ned Handy, Chairman and CEO, for closing remarks.

Edward Handy

Well, thank you, everybody. Again, we appreciate your time and your interest in Washington Trust and very much look forward to speaking with you again next quarter. Have a great day, everybody.

Operator

This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.