Asheville, TN, USA-11 April 2021: A large, monolithic sign identifying the First Citizens Bank in downtown.

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A full quarter after acquiring of Silicon Valley Bank, Raleigh, North Carolina-based First Citizens Bank said SVB’s deposits have stabilized, and that it believes SVB’s product offerings remain relevant to the innovation economy.

“Deposits remained steady since the end of April, and we are in our $40 billion to 41 billion range…We are encouraged by the robust pipelines in this business and we’re back in the market for new production. While we see challenges for the remainder of 2023…we’re well poised to capture client funds once investment levels begin to increase by around 2024 to 2025,” First Citizens President Peter Bristow said during the bank’s earnings call on Thursday.

Prior to its collapse in March, SVB had been a major lender in the Boston tech economy and a player in the local wealth management space thanks to its 2021 acquisition of Boston Private Bank & Trust. But several local banks, like Cambridge Trust and Rhode Island-based Citizens Bank, have sought to capture a share of SVB’s tech and biotech lending business.

First Citizens reported that SVB deposits alone reached $40.9 billion in the second quarter and remained “relatively stable” from the $41.4 billion as of May 5. Executives said the bank is active in winning back clients and trying to restore the trust of existing and former SVB clients.

First Citizens’ net income totaled to $682 million in the second quarter which is lower than the $9.52 billion in the first quarter net income, but more than doubled from $238 million in the second quarter a year ago. The quarterly drop was due to a $9 billion preliminary gain the bank logged from its acquisition of the SVB.

Net interest income totaled $1.96 billion, up from $850 million in the first quarter. Higher yield on loans, loan growth from general bank and commercial bank, as well as increased loan accretion from SVB propped up the bank’s interest income. This also led to the 69 basis points increase in net interest margin to 4.10 percent compared to the last quarter.

“We are proud of our continued strong financial performance in the second quarter as we drove momentum in our legacy business lines and began to realize the long-term strategic and financial value of our combination with SVB. Our performance was supported by the progress we made integrating SVB and our continuing efforts to provide stability and continuity for our clients and associates. We also continue to build on the strengths of our combined team, including leveraging SVB’s deep innovation economy expertise and maintaining their unique approach to serving clients. As we navigate an uncertain macroeconomic environment, we remain focused on maintaining strong capital and liquidity positions as well as delivering long-term stockholder value,” Frank B. Holding, Jr., chairman and CEO of First Citizens, said in a statement.

Total loans declined by $5.3 billion to $133.02 billion from the $138.29 billion in the first quarter, mostly attributed to SVB’s global fund banking declines.

The bank disclosed that out of their $133 billion loans, $17.1 billion is from their “well diversified” commercial real estate portfolio, while 2.1 percent or $2.8 billion comes from the general office commercial real estate portfolio.

Deposits were strong at $141.16 billion, which increased by $1.11 billion or 3.2 percent from $140.05 billion in the first quarter due to higher direct bank deposits but partially offset by declines in the SVB segment. SVB contributed a $40.9 billion share to the bank’s total deposits.

For the bank’s third-quarter and full-year forecasts, First Citizens executives said the bank would likely see loans and leases hover around $131 billion to $134 billion, while deposits will be in the $137 billion to $141 billion range.

The bank expects another rate hike by the third quarter, peaking at 5.5 percent in key interest rate.

Net interest income is seen to land at $1.8 billion to $1.9 billion in the third quarter, while full-year forecast is at $6.4 billion to $.6.6 billion.

First Citizens Says SVB Deposits Stabilized at $40B

by Nika Cataldo time to read: 3 min
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