"Over the course of the first quarter, the organization was fully engaged in deposit retention and expansion efforts with our consumer, wealth, commercial, and public funds clients," said Gary Small, President and CEO of Premier. "The industry is operating in a very dynamic rate environment and we feel the impact of increasing deposit costs and margin compression when combining the Fed’s first quarter rate increases with the full quarter impact of the fourth quarter 2022 increases. Pricing and promotional adjustments over the course of the quarter resulted in a leveling off of funding costs in February and March. The well-documented industry challenges faced in March prompted additional outreach and conversation with our clients. Topics ranged from deposit insurance to safety and soundness, liquidity, and capital. The Premier team did an excellent job of sharing our organization’s strengths in these areas and by providing solutions as needed. I want to thank our clients for their confidence in the organization. March saw a slight increase in customer deposits for Premier, demonstrating the effective effort by our team of banking professionals. As outlined above, the reported earnings figure reflected a number of issues unique to the quarter. The impact was such that we felt it prudent to provide a bridge to a more normalized quarterly expectation for 2023. We have included the impact of cost reduction initiatives and the expected effect on ongoing performance. The leadership team is committed to taking appropriate steps to help offset margin challenges, while continuing to execute on strategic initiatives important to the long-term health of the organization."
Published first on TheFly
