Popular, Inc. Announces Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results

• Net income of $177.8 million in Q2 2024, compared to net income of $103.3 million in Q1 2024.
• Excluding the impact of certain transactions from the results of operations for the first quarter of 2024 (FDIC Special Assessment and prior period tax withholdings), net income in Q2 2024 increased by $42.6 million when compared to adjusted net income of $135.2 million in Q1 2024.
• Net interest income amounted to $568.3 million, an increase of $17.6 million compared to Q1 2024.
• Net interest margin of 3.22% in Q2 2024, compared to 3.16% in Q1 2024; net interest margin on a taxable equivalent basis of 3.48% in Q2 2024, compared to 3.38% in Q1 2024.
• Non-interest income of $166.3 million, compared to $163.8 million in Q1 2024.
• Operating expenses amounted to $469.6 million, down by $13.5 million compared to Q1 2024. Excluding the impact of the transactions mentioned above from the first quarter of 2024, operating expenses increased by $7.2 million or 1.5%.
• Credit quality remains stable with improved credit metrics:
  • Non-performing loans held-in-portfolio (“NPLs”) decreased by $12.3 million from Q1 2024; NPLs to loans ratio remained flat at 1.0%;
  • Net charge-offs (“NCOs”) decreased by $8.6 million from Q1 2024; annualized NCOs at 0.61% of average loans held-in-portfolio vs. 0.71% in Q1 2024;
  • Allowance for credit losses (“ACL”) to loans held-in-portfolio at 2.05% vs. 2.11% in Q1 2024; and
  • ACL to NPLs at 213.6% vs. 208.8% in Q1 2024.
• Loans ending balances, excluding loans held-for-sale, amounted to $35.6 billion, an increase of $472.9 million from Q1 2024.
  • Average quarterly loan balances increased by $332.2 million.
• Ending deposit balances amounted to $65.5 billion, an increase of $1.7 billion from Q1 2024.
  • Average quarterly deposit balances increased by $993.5 million.
• Common Equity Tier 1 ratio of 16.48%, Common Equity per share of $73.94 and Tangible Book Value per share of $62.71 at June 30, 2024.

Popular, Inc. (the “Corporation,” “Popular,” “we,” “us,” “our”) (NASDAQ:BPOP) reported net income of $177.8 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, compared to net income of $103.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2024. Net income in the first quarter of 2024 included a $9.1 million after tax expenses arising from the impact of the FDIC special assessment (the “FDIC Special Assessment”) and a $22.9 million tax expense related to prior period intercompany distributions from the Corporation’s U.S. subsidiaries. Excluding the impact of these items from the results of the first quarter of 2024, net income increased by $42.6 million during the quarter ended June 30, 2024.

Ignacio Alvarez, President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are very pleased with our financial performance for the quarter. Our strong earnings were driven by higher net interest income and lower provision for credit losses. We also expanded our net interest margin by six basis points. Credit quality trends remained positive, with lower net charge-offs as well as lower levels and inflows of non-performing loans.

Our solid capital position allows us to continue to serve the needs of our customers, while prudently increasing our dividend and returning capital to our shareholders. Reflecting this strength, we announced a 13% increase in our quarterly common stock dividend and a $500 million common stock repurchase authorization.

We continue to successfully execute on our Transformation to better serve our customers and drive returns over time. This includes investing in talent and technology to deepen our relationships with customers and maximize the opportunities inherent in our franchise. I am proud of the enthusiasm and commitment demonstrated by our colleagues and optimistic about the future.”

Significant Events

Capital actions

On July 24, 2024, the Corporation announced the following capital actions:

• common stock repurchases of up to $500 million; and
• an increase in the Corporation’s quarterly common stock dividend from $0.62 to $0.70 per share, commencing with the dividend payable in the first quarter of 2025, subject to the approval by the Corporation’s Board of Directors.

The Corporation’s planned common stock repurchases may be executed in open market transactions, privately negotiated transactions, block trades or any other manner determined by the Corporation. The timing, quantity and price of such repurchases will be subject to various factors, including market conditions, the Corporation’s capital position and financial performance, the capital impact of strategic initiatives and regulatory and tax considerations. The common stock repurchase program does not require the Corporation to acquire a specific dollar amount or number of shares and may be modified, suspended or terminated at any time without prior notice.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release contains financial information prepared under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) and non-GAAP financial measures. Management uses non-GAAP financial measures when it has determined that these measures provide more meaningful information about the underlying performance of the Corporation’s ongoing operations. Non-GAAP financial measures used by the Corporation may not be comparable to similarly named non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies.

Adjusted net income

In addition to analyzing the Corporation’s results on a reported basis, management monitors the “adjusted net income” of the Corporation and excludes the impact of certain transactions on the results of its operations. Management believes that the “adjusted net income” provides meaningful information about the underlying performance of the Corporation’s ongoing operations. The “adjusted net income” is a non-GAAP financial measure.

Net interest income on a taxable equivalent basis

Net interest income, on a taxable equivalent basis, is presented with its different components in Tables D, E and F. Net interest income on a taxable equivalent basis is a non-GAAP financial measure. Management believes that this presentation provides meaningful information since it facilitates the comparison of revenues arising from taxable and tax-exempt sources.

Tangible Common Equity

The tangible common equity, tangible common equity ratio, tangible assets and tangible book value per common share are non-GAAP financial measures. Tangible common equity ratio and tangible book value per common share in conjunction with more traditional bank capital ratios are commonly used by banks and analysts to compare the capital adequacy of banking organizations with significant amounts of goodwill or other intangible assets, typically stemming from the use of the purchase accounting method for mergers and acquisitions. Neither tangible common equity nor tangible assets or related measures, should be used in isolation or as a substitute for stockholders' equity, total assets or any other measure calculated in accordance with GAAP.

Refer to Table R for a reconciliation of total stockholders’ equity to tangible common equity and total assets to tangible assets.

The following table presents the reconciliation of the net income to the adjusted net income (non-GAAP) for the quarter ended March 31, 2024. There were no adjustments to net income for the quarter ended June 30, 2024.

Net interest income and net interest income on a taxable equivalent basis non-GAAP

Net interest income for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, was $568.3 million, an increase of $17.6 million when compared to $550.7 million for the previous quarter. Net interest margin for the second quarter of 2024 was 3.22% compared to 3.16% in the prior quarter or an increase of six basis points.

Net interest income on a taxable equivalent basis for the second quarter of 2024 was $614.8 million, compared to $589.6 million in the previous quarter, an increase of $25.2 million. Net interest margin on a taxable equivalent basis for the second quarter of 2024 was 3.48%, compared to 3.38% in the first quarter of 2024, or a 10 basis points increase.

The main variances in net interest income and net interest margin on a taxable equivalent basis were:

• interest income from investment securities increased by $25.8 million due to the reinvestment of maturities in higher yielding U.S. Treasury bills, resulting in $28.2 million of additional interest income for the period which was offset in part by lower interest income from mortgage backed securities by $2.1 million due to lower volume and yields in the portfolio; and
• higher interest income from loans by $9.7 million due to higher average loan balances and higher yields in all portfolios;

partially offset by:

• higher interest expense on deposits by $10.4 million, due to higher average volume and higher cost of interest-bearing deposits by $901 million and three basis points, respectively. In Puerto Rico, the cost of government interest-bearing demand deposits, decreased eight basis point quarter over quarter, while average balances increased by $647 million. This positive variance was in part offset by an increase in the total cost of time deposits of 28 basis points including the cost of time deposits of the P.R. government. Total cost of deposits for the second quarter was 2.10% or a three basis points increase from the previous quarter.

Net Interest Income and Net Interest Margin (Banco Popular de Puerto Rico Segment)

Net interest income for the Banco Popular de Puerto Rico (“BPPR”) segment amounted to $488.7 million for the second quarter of 2024, an increase of $15.9 million when compared to $472.8 million in the previous quarter. Net interest margin in the BPPR segment increased from the first quarter of 2024 by seven basis points to 3.40%. The most significant variances quarter over quarter in net interest income and net interest margin for BPPR were:

• higher interest income from investment securities which increased in total by $17.7 million due to a 27 basis points increase in the yield from U.S. Treasury securities offset in part by lower interest income on mortgage back securities of $1.6 million due to lower volume and yields; and
• higher interest income on loans by $9.1 million. This uplift in interest income was associated with an increase of $4.2 million in interest income from the commercial loans portfolio, which average balances and yields increased by $165 million and five basis points, respectively. The remaining increase in interest income of $4.9 million is due to the net growth across all other BPPR loan portfolios.

Partially offset by:

• higher interest expense from deposits by $7.4 million. The cost of time deposits increased by $4.8 million resulting from higher cost by 32 basis points driven by the repricing and higher average balances of certain time deposit accounts of the P.R. government for which BPPR’s fiduciary division acts as escrow agent. Interest expense on interest-bearing demand deposits accounts increased by $2.8 million, mainly driven by an increase in average balances, partially offset by a decrease in cost of five basis points. Total deposit cost for the BPPR segment in the second quarter of 2024 was 1.83%, compared to 1.81% in the previous quarter, an increase of two basis points; and
• lower interest income in money market investments by $3.5 million due to lower volume that corresponds to the deployment of liquidity for loan origination activity and investment in treasury bills as described above.

Net Interest Income and Net Interest Margin (Popular Bank Segment)

Net interest income and net interest margin for the Popular Bank (“PB”, or “Popular U.S.”) segment increased to $85.9 million and 2.60%, respectively, for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, compared to $84.9 million and 2.59%, respectively, during the quarter ended March 31, 2024. Interest income from money market investments increased by $2.6 million during the quarter mainly due to higher volume resulting from an increase in deposits. Total cost of funds in PB increased by $2.7 million due to higher average balance in time deposits of $443.8 million which drove the cost up by $4.7 million but that were partially offset by lower interest expense on interest-bearing demand deposits by $1.6 million. Total cost of deposits for the quarter was 3.43%, a three basis points increase from the previous quarter.

Non-interest income

Non-interest income amounted to $166.3 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, an increase of $2.5 million when compared to $163.8 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2024. The variance in non-interest income was driven primarily by higher other service fees by $2.6 million due mainly to higher credit and debit card fees as a result of higher volume of customer transactions.

Refer to Table B for further details.

Operating expenses

Operating expenses for the second quarter of 2024 totaled $469.6 million, a decrease of $13.5 million when compared to the first quarter of 2024. Excluding the $6.4 million of interest accrued related to prior period tax withholdings and the $14.3 million impact of the FDIC Special Assessment, total expenses for the first quarter of 2024 were $462.4 million. The second quarter’s expenses increased by $7.2 million when compared to this adjusted expense. The main drivers of the $7.2 million variance were:

• higher professional fees by $8.8 million mainly due to higher consulting and assurance professional services expenses by $6.8 million related to corporate initiatives focused on regulatory, cyber security and other advisory efforts;
• higher operational losses by $8.3 million due to build up on reserves for operational losses;
• higher processing and transactional services expenses by $4.9 million mainly due to higher retail customers’ debit card issuance costs by $1.8 million, higher merchant processing expenses by $1.3 million and higher credit card processing fees by $1.6 million; and
• higher business promotion expenses by $4.5 million mainly due to higher customer reward program expenses in our credit card business by $2.4 million and higher advertising and strategic communications expense and donations granted during the quarter by $1.7 million.

partially offset by:

• lower personnel cost by $18.0 million mainly due to a decrease in performance shares and restricted stock expenses by $8.2 million, lower other compensation expenses by $8.5 million due to lower payroll taxes and vacations accrual that are typically higher in the first quarter of the year;

Full-time equivalent employees were 9,241 as of June 30, 2024, compared to 9,132 as of March 31, 2024.

For a breakdown of operating expenses by category refer to Table B.

Income taxes

For the quarter ended June 30, 2024, the Corporation recorded an income tax expense of $40.5 million, compared to an income tax expense of $55.6 million for the previous quarter. Excluding the $11.2 million net impact related to a tax withholding on intercompany distributions from prior periods and the tax effect of the FDIC Special Assessment that was recognized during the first quarter of 2024, income tax expense for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, would have been $44.3 million.

The effective tax rate (“ETR”) for the second quarter of 2024 was 18.5%, compared to 35.0% for the previous quarter. Excluding the impact of the tax withholding and the additional expense related to the FDIC Special Assessment during the first quarter of 2024, the ETR would have been 24.7%.

The ETR of the Corporation is impacted by the composition and source of its taxable income. The Corporation expects its ETR for the year 2024 to be within a range from 21% to 23%.

Credit Quality

Credit quality metrics in the second quarter of 2024 improved when compared to the previous quarter. We continue to closely monitor changes in the macroeconomic environment and on borrower performance given higher interest rates and inflationary pressures. However, management believes that the improvements over recent years in risk management practices and the risk profile of the Corporation’s loan portfolios position Popular to continue to operate successfully under the current environment.

The following presents credit quality results for the second quarter of 2024:

Non-Performing Loans (“NPLs”) and Net Charge Offs (“NCOs”)

Total NPLs as of June 30, 2024, decreased by $12.3 million from March 31, 2024. Inflows of NPLs, excluding consumer loans, decreased by $1.7 million quarter-over-quarter. At June 30, 2024, the ratio of NPLs to total loans held-in-portfolio was 1.0%, flat when compared to the first quarter of 2024. The drivers of these changes are mainly related to the following:

• In the BPPR segment, NPLs decreased by $11.7 million across most loan categories, but mainly in the commercial loans portfolio with a $7.2 million decrease. Inflows to NPLs, excluding consumer loans, increased by $7.5 million driven by higher inflows in the mortgage loans portfolio.
• In PB, NPLs remained flat driven by the return to accrual of a $17.2 million mortgage loan, offset by a $17.3 million commercial NPL inflow. PB inflows to NPLs, excluding consumer loans, decreased by $9.2 million, driven by the inflow in the prior quarter of the previously mentioned $17.2 million mortgage relationship, offset in part by higher commercial inflows this quarter by $7.2 million.

NCOs amounted to $53.6 million, decreasing by $8.6 million when compared to the first quarter of 2024. The Corporation’s ratio of annualized NCOs to average loans held-in-portfolio was 0.61%, compared to 0.71% in the first quarter of 2024. The drivers of these changes are mainly related to the following:

• In the BPPR segment, NCOs decreased by $7.3 million quarter-over-quarter, mainly driven by lower consumer and commercial NCOs by $4.8 million and $2.2 million, respectively. Lower NCOs in the consumer portfolio were mostly related to lower auto and personal loans by $3.6 million and $1.0 million, respectively.
• PB’s NCOs decreased by $1.3 million quarter-over-quarter, mostly related to lower consumer NCOs.

Refer to Table N for further information on NCOs and related ratios.

Other Real Estate Owned Properties (“OREO”)

As of June 30, 2024, the Corporation’s OREO portfolio amounted to $70.2 million, a decrease of $10.3 million, compared to the first quarter of 2024. The decrease in OREO was driven by the sale of a commercial property in BPPR.

Refer to Table L for additional information and related ratios.

Allowance for Credit Losses (“ACL”) and Provision for Credit Losses (“PCL”)

The ACL as of June 30, 2024 amounted to $730.1 million, a decrease of $9.5 million, compared to the first quarter of 2024. In BPPR, the ACL remained flat as changes in macroeconomic scenarios and lower NCOs were offset by higher commercial loan volume, higher qualitative reserves and changes in credit quality. In PB, the ACL decreased by $8.7 million from the previous quarter, mainly driven by lower reserves for the commercial portfolio. The Corporation’s ratio of the ACL to loans held-in-portfolio was 2.05% in the second quarter of 2024, compared to 2.11% in the previous quarter. The ratio of the ACL to NPLs held-in-portfolio stood at 213.6%, compared to 208.8% in the previous quarter.

The ACL incorporates management’s estimate of current macroeconomic scenarios for Puerto Rico and the United States. Given that any one economic outlook is inherently uncertain, the Corporation leverages multiple scenarios to estimate its ACL. Based on the information available and the scenarios analyzed by management, the “baseline” scenario continues as the highest probability weight scenario, followed by the “pessimistic” scenario, and then the “optimistic” scenario consistent with the weights assigned in the previous quarter.

The provision for credit losses for the loan and lease portfolios for the second quarter of 2024 was $44.2 million, compared to $72.4 million in the previous quarter. The provision for the BPPR segment was $48.6 million, compared to $61.0 million in the previous quarter, while the PB segment had a release of $4.4 million, compared to a provision of $11.4 million in the previous quarter driven by improvements in credit quality and the pay-off of a significant relationship.

The provision for credit losses on our loan and lease portfolios, as well as the provision for credit losses related to unfunded loan commitments of $2.1 million and our investment portfolio of $0.5 million for the second quarter of 2024 are aggregated and presented in the provision for credit losses caption in our Consolidated Statement of Operations. For the second quarter, the provision for credit losses was $46.8 million, compared to $72.6 million in the previous quarter.

Total assets amounted to $72.8 billion at June 30, 2024, an increase of $1.9 billion from the first quarter of 2024, driven by:

• an increase in cash and money market investments of $962.3 million, mainly due to higher deposits, driven by Puerto Rico public funds, partially offset by higher loan originations and investments in securities available-for-sale (“AFS”);
• an increase in securities AFS of $525.4 million, mainly due to purchases of U.S. Treasury bills partially offset by repayments and maturities; and
• an increase in loans held-in-portfolio of $472.9 million, driven by an increase of $508.6 million at BPPR, reflected across nearly all portfolios, partially offset by a decrease of $35.7 million at PB;

partially offset by:

• a decrease in securities held-to-maturity (“HTM”) of $107.6 million driven by maturities, partially offset by the accretion of $44.4 million of the discount related to U.S. Treasury securities previously reclassified from the AFS to HTM.

Total liabilities increased by $1.7 billion from the first quarter of 2024, driven by:

• an increase of $1.7 billion in deposits, mainly in the P.R. public sector, as increases in time deposit balances at Popular Bank were offset by outflows of demand deposits at BPPR.

Stockholders' equity increased by $195.4 million from the first quarter of 2024 mainly due to the change in retained earnings resulting from the quarter’s net income of $177.8 million, coupled with the change in the accumulated other comprehensive loss driven by the amortization of unrealized losses from securities previously reclassified to HTM of $35.5 million, net of taxes, and the decrease in net unrealized losses in the portfolio of AFS securities of $16.9 million, partially offset by common and preferred dividends declared during the quarter of $45.3 million.

Common Equity Tier 1 ratio (“CET1”), common equity per share and tangible book value per share were 16.48%, $73.94 and $62.71, respectively, at June 30, 2024, compared to 16.36%, $71.32 and $60.06, respectively, at March 31, 2024. Refer to Table A for capital ratios.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including without limitation those regarding Popular’s business, financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives and future performance. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, are based on management’s current expectations and, by their nature, involve risks, uncertainties, estimates and assumptions. Potential factors, some of which are beyond the Corporation’s control, could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, such forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the effect of competitive and economic factors, and our reaction to those factors, the adequacy of the allowance for loan losses, delinquency trends, market risk and the impact of interest rate changes (including on our cost of deposits), our ability to attract deposits and grow our loan portfolio, capital market conditions, capital adequacy and liquidity, the effect of legal and regulatory proceedings, new regulatory requirements or accounting standards on the Corporation’s financial condition and results of operations, the occurrence of unforeseen or catastrophic events, including extreme weather events, pandemics, man-made disasters or acts of violence or war, as well as actions taken by governmental authorities in response thereto, and the direct and indirect impact of such events on Popular, our customers, service providers and third parties. Other potential factors include Popular’s ability to successfully execute its transformation initiative, including, but not limited to, achieving projected earnings, efficiencies and return on tangible common equity and accurately anticipating costs and expenses associated therewith, imposition of additional or special FDIC assessments, changes to regulatory capital, liquidity and resolution-related requirements applicable to financial institutions in response to recent developments affecting the banking sector and the impact of bank failures or adverse developments at other banks and related negative media coverage of the banking industry in general on investor and depositor sentiment regarding the stability and liquidity of banks. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature, are forward-looking, and the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continues,” “expect,” “estimate,” “intend,” “project” and similar expressions, and future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “might,” “can,” “may” or similar expressions, are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements.

More information on the risks and important factors that could affect the Corporation’s future results and financial condition is included in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, and the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our filings are available on the Corporation’s website (www.popular.com) and on the Securities and Exchange Commission website (www.sec.gov). The Corporation assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or information which speak as of their respective dates.

About Popular, Inc.

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ: BPOP) is the leading financial institution in Puerto Rico, by both assets and deposits, and ranks among the top 50 U.S. bank holding companies by assets. Founded in 1893, Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, Popular’s principal subsidiary, provides retail, mortgage and commercial banking services in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Popular also offers in Puerto Rico auto and equipment leasing and financing, investment banking, broker-dealer and insurance services through specialized subsidiaries. In the mainland United States, Popular provides retail, mortgage and commercial banking services through its New York-chartered banking subsidiary, Popular Bank, which has branches located in New York, New Jersey and Florida.

Conference Call

Popular will hold a conference call to discuss its financial results today, Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The call will be broadcast live over the Internet and can be accessed through the Investor Relations section of the Corporation’s website: www.popular.com.

Listeners are recommended to go to the website at least 15 minutes prior to the call to download and install any necessary audio software. The call may also be accessed through a dial-in telephone number 1-833-470-1428 (Toll Free) or 1-404-975-4839 (Local). The dial-in access code is 838904.

A replay of the webcast will be archived in Popular’s website. A telephone replay will be available one hour after the end of the conference call through Friday, August 23, 2024. The replay dial in is: 1-866-813-9403 or 1-929-458-6194. The replay passcode is 748297.

An electronic version of this press release can be found at the Corporation’s website: www.popular.com.