Enterprise Financial Services Corp Q3 FY2021 Earnings Call

Good day, and welcome to the EFSC Earnings Conference Call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Jim Lally, President and CEO. Please go ahead, sir.

Well, thank you, Todd, and good morning, everyone. I welcome you to our 2021 third quarter earnings call. Joining me this morning is Keene Turner, our company's Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer; and Scott Goodman, President of Enterprise Bank & Trust. We sincerely appreciate you taking time to listen in. Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone on the call that a copy of the release and accompanying presentation can be found on our website and were furnished on SEC Form 8-K yesterday. Please refer to slide 2 of the presentation titled Forward-Looking Statements and our most recent 10-K and 10-Q for reasons why actual results may vary from any forward-looking statements that we may make this morning. Please turn to slide 3 for the financial highlights of the third quarter. Keene and Scott will provide much more details in their comments, but I wanted to call your attention to a few items at a very high level. The third quarter was another outstanding quarter for EFSC. Reported net income for the quarter and earnings per share were $13.9 million and $0.38 respectively, or $1.27 per share on an adjusted basis, building on the very strong performance that we posted during the second quarter of $1.23. These results compare very favorably with our performance of the third quarter 2020, where we earned $0.68 per share. Included in our results this quarter was a $3.8 million impairment charge for the closure of five branch locations. Three of these locations are in California, and were part of our acquisition plan for First Choice. The other two branches are in St. Louis, where we had other locations in close proximity. We continuously evaluate our operating structure and industry trends and make adjustments when necessary. The branch closures will be completed at the start of 2022 and we anticipate annual cost savings of approximately $2 million. I'm extremely pleased with the strength, consistency, and diversification that these earnings represent. Digging a little deeper, you will see that we earned pre-provision net revenue of $56.1 million. This was a record for our company and produced PPNR return on average assets of 1.81% and adjusted ROTCE of 18.15%, consistent with what we produced in the linked quarter and during the third quarter of 2020. The third quarter saw continued growth in both loans and deposits. Although, our organic loan growth did not match our second quarter performance, it did display the value of the intentionality that we have had in building a multifaceted loan portfolio. Loan production from our C&I teams, our SBA business, and a few other specialty verticals combated some headwinds that we saw in our CRE investor portfolio. The First Choice portfolio also positively contributed to the loan growth in the quarter, growing loans over $70 million from the date of the acquisition. With results from the Southern California region and our SBA specialty, we remain optimistic that these areas will continue to enhance our loan generation capabilities. Our focus on quality was exhibited through our stable yield on our loan portfolio and very solid credit statistics. Total deposits grew to $10.8 billion, and with the addition of the commercially-oriented deposit base that FCB brought us, and the continued outstanding performance of our special deposit team, our DDA percentage to total deposits rose to 40%, a level that our company had never achieved. The strength of these operating fundamentals supported an increase of our fourth quarter dividend by 5% to $0.20 and the repurchase of approximately 470,000 shares of stock at an average price of $45.15 per share during the quarter. On last quarter's call, I commented that we had just closed on the FCB acquisition, so our third quarter results only include a partial quarter contribution from this acquisition. The Southern California market is now our second largest market, and our progress there continues with our systems integration occurring this past week, and our cultural integration ongoing. I'm happy to report that both have gone extremely well. With every visit to this market and time spent with our new partners, I am more confident now about what we can do in this very attractive market amid ongoing economic expansion and ongoing market disruptions. Looking forward, our focus remains on flawless execution. Organic loan growth and pipeline expansion remain a priority. We have great markets and businesses on which to build. We will leverage our position as a top 10 SBA 7(a) lender to continue to recruit and grow this business. We will continue to recruit in our higher-growth markets and specialty businesses to continue the growth that you've seen over the last several quarters. With our recent award of $60 million in New Markets Tax Credit, we will continue to grow our very attractive tax credit business. Amid all of this, we will find ways to use the change in the environment of how we work to our advantage to combat the workforce challenges that all businesses are facing. With that, I would like to turn the call over to Scott Goodman for much more details about our markets and our businesses. Scott?

Thank you, Jim, and good morning, everyone. I'll begin with loan growth. For the quarter, we experienced a loan growth of $1.9 billion from the previous quarter, which includes the FCB loan portfolio. After accounting for the FCB impact and excluding PPP, our organic loan growth for Q3 was $111 million, or 6% on an annualized basis. The quarterly and year-to-date changes are detailed in slides 6 and 7, providing insight into what stems from organic loan activity in our existing markets as well as the inclusion of the First Choice balances. Our specialized businesses are performing very well with consistent production and strong growth. In terms of geographic markets, there are initial signs of a rebound in general C&I loan demand, although net growth is still somewhat limited due to ongoing economic challenges and high payoffs in investor CRE. Our specialized banking division showed significant loan growth in the SBA and tax credit business lines, while the life insurance premium and sponsor finance segments performed steadily, albeit at a seasonally slower pace. The SBA segment continues to do well, leveraging attractive SBA program enhancements to remain competitive in the marketplace. We have noticed some increased payoff activity this quarter as conventional lenders seek growth, but our steady production levels have helped us manage this. For the first nine months, Enterprise Bank & Trust ranked among the top 10 SBA originators nationally in 2021, and we are actively growing this business by adding new talent and entering new geographic markets. The tax credit loan portfolio also performed strongly, increasing by a record $39 million this quarter. Affordable housing programs are gaining traction nationwide, with many states initiating or expanding programs. Our team is well-positioned with partners recognized as experts in this area, working to establish frameworks and attract qualified investors, developers, and management companies. This pipeline remains strong, and we have a solid outlook for near-term growth. Within our commercial regions, as shown on slide 8, loan growth is mixed. St. Louis had a notable rebound in Q3, with an increase of $36 million or approximately 6.8% annualized growth, benefiting from heightened usage of revolving lines and significant originations from new real estate and agricultural clients. The Arizona team also continued its strong performance this year, seeing a growth of $127 million or nearly 32% as a result of the new talent added to this market. Phoenix, as the fifth most populous city, is recognized for job growth, GDP performance, and personal income. Having been in this market for 15 years and continuously bringing in experienced talent, we are positioned to capitalize on the economic momentum in this region. In Kansas City and New Mexico, which rely more on CRE, we saw modest declines in loan growth this quarter, primarily due to the previously mentioned payoffs. However, production activity and immediate pipelines, especially in Kansas City, indicate promising new opportunities that should help us regain a growth trajectory. As Jim noted, California is now our second largest market following FCB, providing a fantastic platform for additional growth. Many of the favorable economic factors apparent in Phoenix are also present in Southern California. The competitive landscape varies across metro markets here but is generally dominated by national banks, against which we compete effectively in the private business sector. The FCB team continues to create new opportunities, adding $72 million in loan growth since our July closing. I am optimistic that these factors will help us successfully execute our model in this region over time. Deposit balances increased by $2.2 billion this quarter, of which $1.9 billion is attributable to the FCB addition. Organic core deposits grew by $346 million, predominantly in DDA and transactional accounts. New accounts continued to surpass closed accounts, albeit at a slower rate. Our specialty deposit segments, detailed on slide 9, contributed about $270 million to this growth, excluding First Choice, primarily in three main areas: community associations, commercial property management, and third-party escrow. Since incorporating these business lines through last year’s Seacoast merger, we've expanded existing relationships and forged new connections, aided by enhanced system integration capabilities from our team. Our focus remains on developing new relationships and securing lower-cost, stable, and diversified funding sources. Discussing credit briefly, we are maintaining stable performance in our legacy enterprise loan portfolio year-to-date. With the addition of the strong-performing $1.9 billion FCB portfolio, our overall credit metrics improved in Q3. Consolidated total classified rose slightly by $4 million to $104 million, decreasing to 7% of capital from 9% in the previous quarter. Total nonperforming loans fell to $41.5 million this quarter, reducing from 58 to 46 basis points as a percentage of total loans. Gross charge-offs of $4.5 million were largely linked to a $2.5 million charge associated with a prior reserve for C&I loans. Additionally, we were pleased to have fully resolved a defaulted hotel loan, previously written down, retrieving nearly $1.5 million. Overall net charge-offs for the quarter were $1.85 million or eight basis points annualized, which we consider well-managed. Now, I would like to hand the call over to Keene Turner for more detailed financial commentary.

Thanks, Scott, and good morning. This quarter has been busy for us with the completion of the First Choice acquisition and the beginning of the fourth quarter's systems integration. I will begin by discussing our earnings per share as shown on slide 10, which compares our results to the second quarter, highlighting significant items. We reported a net income of $14 million, reflecting merger expenses of approximately $0.31 per share, a CECL double count of $0.51 per share related to the First Choice loan portfolio, and a charge on branch closures of $0.07 per share that Jim mentioned. Our earnings came in at $0.38 per diluted share, down from $1.23 in the second quarter. We believe the earnings per share performance in the second and third quarters is fairly comparable, estimating it would have been around $1.27 in both. Importantly, we are witnessing a decline in PPP contributions, but we are offsetting this by leveraging growth and the advantages from mergers and acquisitions. The current earnings per share includes a slight provision reversal of $0.08 from our legacy portfolio and a strong contribution of about $0.13 from PPP loan forgiveness. Our core fundamentals remain robust, with an increase in overall operating revenue for the quarter, both with and without the First Choice acquisition. Moving on to slide 11, our net interest income rose to $97.3 million from $81.7 million in the second quarter, marking a $15.6 million increase. This includes $16.7 million from First Choice, although it was partially balanced by a $2 million reduction in PPP income. Average earning assets have grown by $1.9 billion, mainly due to First Choice and organic growth. We continue to successfully generate deposits, particularly in our specialty areas as noted by Scott, contributing to continued cash building on our balance sheet, which has modestly compressed our margin by about 10 basis points this quarter. We believe these deposits serve as a valuable long-term funding source. Slide 12 illustrates these trends. Over the past few quarters, we have gradually invested around $240 million of excess liquidity into our investment portfolio. We plan to continue investing approximately $30 million monthly in the near term to enhance our net interest income while being cautious not to reach for yield that could hurt us when rates rise. The First Choice acquisition added 11 basis points to our margin, which was tempered by liquidity build and a decreased yield primarily linked to PPP loan income. Our mix of deposits continues to improve, with noninterest-bearing deposits now exceeding 40%, helping to lower our cost of deposits to 11 basis points for the third quarter. We maintain an asset-sensitive balance sheet, well-positioned to benefit from future interest rate increases, given that around 63% of our loans are variable-rate. Slides 12 and 13 detail our asset quality position as of September 30, which, as noted by Scott, improved over the quarter with a low level of non-performing loans and assets. The favorable improvement in the macroeconomic outlook and stable credit performance resulted in a provision benefit of approximately $5 million in the third quarter, mitigated by a $24 million CECL Day two double count on First Choice acquired loans and another $1 million for unfunded commitments. As of September 30, our allowance for credit losses stood at $152 million, equating to 1.67% of total loans, a reduction from 1.77% at the end of June, and factoring in SBA guarantees, it would be 1.94%. The allowance for credit losses on the First Choice loan portfolio was $31 million, about 1.6% of total loans, with $7 million recorded through purchase accounting for purchased credit deteriorated loans. The provision benefit from the legacy portfolio and the allowance for the First Choice portfolio contributed to the overall reduction in allowance coverage. On slide 14, fee-based income increased by $1.4 million from the second quarter, reaching $17.3 million compared to $16.2 million previously, mainly due to a partial quarter of fee income from First Choice. Momentum from our tax credit services in the second quarter continued into the third, helping to offset a decline in other miscellaneous income. We are pleased to share that the SBA has recognized us once again as one of the top 10 SBA 7(a) lenders in the nation for the fiscal year 2021. With First Choice's SBA lending expertise, we anticipate strong SBA generation will persist. Given the attractive premiums on SBA loans, we have the flexibility to use these sales to further bolster our fee income. Moving to slide 16, after excluding $14.7 million in merger costs and $3.4 million in branch impairment charges, our operating expenses rose to $58.8 million in Q3, up from $50.5 million in Q2. The increase is primarily due to a partial quarter of First Choice's operating expenses, accounting for $7 million, alongside higher compensation and benefits from strategic hiring and ongoing investment in our staff. Other non-interest expenses reached $20.6 million, up by $1.7 million from Q2, partly due to increased data processing costs and FDIC assessments tied to the acquisition. Year-to-date, other non-interest expenses total $55.8 million. For the third quarter, our efficiency ratio improved to 51.3%, a roughly 60 basis point enhancement from the previous quarter. We anticipate incurring approximately $3 million in merger-related costs during the fourth quarter as we complete the First Choice integration and core systems conversion. Slide 17 outlines our capital metrics. We started with an 18% return on tangible common equity, contributing to a sequential increase of around 2% in our tangible book value per share. We also executed a significant return of capital, totaling $21 million through share buybacks in Q3, and announced a dividend increase for the fourth quarter. Notably, we previously expected a pro forma tangible book value dilution of 2.7% from the First Choice acquisition; however, based on financial performance tracking between the announcement and the legal closure, and the final fair value adjustments, the actual dilution is now calculated to be only 1.8%, reducing our earn-back period to approximately 1.7 years. From a capital management perspective, we intend to continue strategically managing our capital position in line with our financial performance and low risk profile. We have begun the redemption of our $50 million subordinated debentures issued in 2016, callable on November 1. We will also maintain share repurchases to utilize excess capital and target an 8% to 9% tangible common equity ratio. Overall, we had a strong quarter across all metrics and are experiencing the benefits of our recent acquisitions in driving growth and earnings momentum. We believe this will remain our short-term focus and will help us stand out competitively for our shareholders. We appreciate your participation in our call today and will now open the line for analyst inquiries.

We'll take our first question from Jeff Rulis of D.A. Davidson.

Thanks, good morning.

Good morning, Jeff.

My first question is about getting a clearer understanding of the expense base. I see that you have $58 million in core expenses for the fourth quarter and that First Choice will be part of the full quarter, but there's a conversion happening as well. Can you explain how this will settle in in the near term and how you plan to capture cost savings moving forward?

Jeff, this is Keene. I think what we said last quarter was first quarter of 2022 clean at right around $62.5 million give or take, and that essentially reflects fully phased in cost savings. I think that based on where we're running the expenses are coming in with First Choice, we're getting blend-in of cost savings as we go here. So I don't think there will actually be a spike on recurring expenses between Q4 and Q1. I think that we're going to essentially see a modest increase and somewhere $62.5 million for the fourth quarter, maybe even a little bit better with the core conversion here happening via the first two weeks of October. So I think we're on track there. I know that's probably not as much that you wanted a number, but call it low 60s is probably a good number from a run rate perspective.

Okay. If I follow that right. You effectively said that earlier you thought $62.5 million would be the number for the first quarter of 2022, as you kind of get savings a little earlier that may be the run rate starting in Q4. Is that...

Yes, that's essentially what I meant.

The starting point is that I understand you're increasing investments in the legacy operations that have now combined. Looking at 2022, could you discuss the expense growth rate and how it relates to additional branch consolidations, which are still in progress? It's always important to keep an eye on expenses. If you could clarify the overall expense growth rate for 2022, even in general terms, that would be helpful.

I believe that the branch rationalization, particularly with the closures in two locations in St. Louis, will provide us with some flexibility to address compensation and other pressures we are currently facing. Looking at the trends in 2021, we have implemented salary and wage increases of about 6% to 7% throughout the year to help alleviate some of that pressure, though there is still some work to be done. I generally envision first quarter expenses being around $62.5 million, which typically includes employer taxes and related items. I hope that in the second and third quarters, we can keep expenses relatively modest, with perhaps a slight increase in the third and fourth quarters. Achieving this would represent a fairly successful run rate given the external factors we are dealing with, including tighter labor markets, as well as the organization expanding in size and scope and adding to teams.

Appreciate it, really helpful. And my other question is just on the loan growth. And similarly, you talked about some of the trends in the quarter, maybe payoffs impacting net growth. But a bigger picture kind of looking at 2022 and maybe a question for Scott is just do you think that SBA platform is kind of fully operational? I know that it's a source of growth and you want to continue to grow that. But, you hit going into 2022, the platforms in place that high single-digit loan growth is doable for the year? And any commentary on expectations on loan growth would be helpful.

I will discuss SBA first, and then Scott can provide insights on other aspects. In 2021, Seacoast, including First Choice, achieved its highest production level ever. Having two integrations happen simultaneously reflects the efforts of all three teams involved. Our aim, given the circumstances, is to replicate that success in 2022. One important consideration from a net perspective is that we're observing a slight increase in prepayments. The years 2020 and 2021 benefitted from historically low prepayment rates, which can be noted in the sequential trends observed in the third quarter. Another factor to consider is whether it makes sense to sell some production to achieve gains sooner during weaker fee income periods, like the second quarter, versus adhering to a long-term strategy of retaining those loans on our balance sheet. This is the challenge we're facing with SBA loans. I expect gross production levels to remain similar, but net production may be somewhat less robust next year due to anticipated prepayment levels in the third quarter. However, one quarter does not establish a trend, and we should have a clearer picture by the fourth quarter regarding the actual prepayment rate, which appeared to be around 4% to 5% in the third quarter, up from nearly zero in the previous four quarters. Now, Scott, I'll pass it on to you for updates on the rest of the portfolio.

Yes. Sure, Keene. I guess what I would add on SBA, though, is there's opportunity to take that national model and continue to expand it. I think we think the Southeast, in particular, is attractive. There are markets there and talent that can be recruited. And then, also a point on SBA, much of our competitive advantage there is on the operational back-room side, the ability to turn things around quickly. I think there's opportunity to bring more SBA into our existing geographic markets as well. But on the overall, maybe to hit the pipeline a little bit, generally it's solid. I think, one, the specialties have been less impacted by some of the external headwinds. Q4 tends to be a typical upswing for some of those businesses, like sponsor finance and life insurance premium. So I'm optimistic on continued performance there. And then on the community banks, we can talk about some of the headwinds more if you want. I think they're pretty well documented in the industry. But we're adding commitments. They're just leading to less outstandings in the short term, particularly on lines and construction loans. The process is slower from start to end on the sales funnel. But I will say, I think, we see more construction projects coming back online that had been on hold. So I would expect maybe that activity to pick up. I think we're focusing on where we can really add value to investors who are repositioning commercial real estate properties. We tend to be a strong performer there because we can close quickly. And then C&I, we're starting to see an elevated need for some working capital as companies work through their liquidity and maybe look for potential CapEx on equipment and automation to help offset some of the labor issues that they're experiencing. So, I mean, I'm optimistic, and hopefully that gives you a little bit better idea of what the pipeline looks like.

Yes, yes. Appreciate the color. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll take our next question from Andrew Liesch with Piper Sandler.

Hi. Good morning, everyone.

Hi, Andrew.

Keene, I think you mentioned some opportunistic hiring of targeted teams. Any more detail you can provide regarding that took place in the third quarter, like location or specialty or type of lending they typically engage in?

We'll pass that one to Scott. So I did mention that, but we'll let him talk about the team hires.

Sure. Andrew, while I would go back to recall last quarter, I mentioned we just picked up a team in Las Vegas, a three-person commercial team. So we continue to be focused on adding talent, I think, particularly to the more robustly growing economic markets. I mentioned SBA, continuing to add talent there. We've recruited in Phoenix. I mentioned how the new talent we have there is helping us lift the loan growth there. We also did hire recently a small practice finance team, just a couple of people. I would expect that I'll be talking about some of what they've added as we go through to future quarters. But I think it's just a good example of our understanding of how to provide a great environment for specialty teams that allows them to execute within their segment. This is a team that's had deep experience going back 15, 20 years in this vertical. So that's an opportunistic hire, but one that we've been working on for several years. We're actively looking to recruit in other markets as well, particularly ones that as Jim mentioned, are disrupted with potentially with management changes or acquisitions.

Got it. That's very helpful. Jim, just looking at capital here, even with the deal, the intangibles, the larger asset base, I mean, capital ratios are building. And just given your outlook sounds like that will continue to do so. Even though you've increased the dividend now another $0.01 for the last three quarters, I mean the outlook the payout ratio is still going to be well below where it was even a couple of years ago. How should we look at the dividend versus buybacks? What's the capital deployment strategy here? Just seems that it looks like it's going to rise pretty rapidly.

I think all the options are on the table. Obviously, we'd prefer to keep moving into growth and then as it makes sense, we'll look at buybacks as well. To the extent that it makes sense to continue the up-tick in the dividend, we'll do that as well. I think we've shown over the last several years we've optimized the use of capital in all the right ways to really improve the company, and we'll keep that front and center going forward.

Got it. All right, thanks for taking my questions, it's helpful.

You bet.

Thank you. We'll take our next question from Damon DelMonte with KBW.

Hey. Good morning, guys. Thank you for taking my questions.

Thank you, Damon.

Hi, my first question probably directed to Keene on the margin the core margin and the outlook and some of the puts and takes there. Can you kind of just give us a little guidance with the First Choice deal in place now? And what you're thinking going forward?

Yeah. Damon, I think every quarter I give margin commentary assuming liquidity stays about the same level and we've continued to see it build. I think for the fourth quarter in a row ex-PPP, margin fundamentals are very stable. So we're seeing new loan production generally where the existing loan yield is. I actually expect that this quarter was maybe a little bit lower in contribution from some of the higher-yielding segments. I do expect that the addition of the First Choice team and having those originations come on not being marked in purchase accounting should also provide a slightly greater aid to maintaining that new loan yield. Really, on the funding side, there's a basis point or two here and there, but there aren't any big levers. Even with the sub-debt redemption, from an overall margin perspective, that's not going to be necessarily highly material. We just continue to fight it on the investment portfolio side. The investment portfolio activities that we're undertaking are obviously slightly detrimental to investment portfolio yield because the rates that are coming off and the absolute increase in investment is driving down that yield. But it is also helping to maintain margin because theoretically we're coming out of cash. It's adding some basis points to overall earning assets. So with all of that said, I expect it to be reasonably stable. At the end of the day, some of it is going to be loan growth and composition that really drive it. We've generally held up well from a margin perspective and I expect that to continue. There were a couple of bumps and aids in early 2021. Just some legacy purchase accounting accretion that is out of the run rate here in the third quarter. I don't expect that that will be something that we talk about materially moving forward. So all of those things I think bode well for stable margin outlook all else being equal.

Got it. That's helpful. Thank you. And then just with regards to where the reserve is today and your outlook for provision going forward, if you back out the date you set you had a negative provision this quarter. Is it reasonable to think we could see something again like that next quarter?

Yes. To me, where we sit in the environment we're operating in, as time passes, it generally looks less and less like there's going to be the loss content that was provided for initially. I think some of that's just a function of the magnitude of growth. Last quarter, the reversal was much more modest with more robust growth. This quarter, growth was a little bit more muted and didn't absorb as much of that. It is likely that a provision in either direction will be I think fairly muted, but it certainly does seem like modest releases at least, there's pressure on modest releases ex-significant or outperformance on loan growth for the call it next couple of quarters.

Okay. Thank you very much. Appreciate the time there.

You are welcome, thank you.

Thank you. We'll take our next question from Brian Martin with Janney Montgomery.

Good morning.

Hey Brian.

Could you provide some insights on the fee income side, considering the usual seasonal effects in the fourth quarter with tax credits mentioned by Jim? I appreciate the detailed breakdown you've already shared, but I'd like to understand how we should anticipate fee income over the next couple of quarters.

I believe that when analyzing the fee income trend, we can expect tax credits to increase by about 10% to 20% sequentially from the third to the fourth quarter. In the third quarter, other fees were among the lowest we've seen. However, I anticipate that in the fourth quarter, with some favorable items like private equity distributions or CDE income, we could see an increase of around $0.01 to $0.02. Looking ahead to 2022, we will experience a reduction in interchange fees in the latter half of the year. Nevertheless, I believe we can still achieve mid-single-digit growth in fee income, primarily driven by tax credits and additional contributions from First Choice. There are opportunities for growth in the tax credit business as we expand into new states or reactivate existing ones. Additionally, we may consider using modest gains from the SBA to help stabilize our earnings, particularly in fees, although I cannot confirm that we have fully addressed this on the SBA side yet. Hopefully, this provides insight into our approach as we plan for 2022 and assess overall trends.

Yes, that's helpful. I appreciate it. I have a couple of other housekeeping questions. Regarding the PPP, how are you approaching the timing of forgiveness and the recognition of the remaining fees?

So, if you had asked me six weeks ago, I would have told you that it was fast and furious, and I would have expected it to come in fairly shortly. Quarter-to-date in the fourth quarter here, we've really seen that abate quite a bit. So, I don't have a great answer for you on that. It's declining obviously. The opportunity is declining. But I really don't have a great sense as to if there's going to be another push here in the fourth quarter to get a bulk of these off the books or not.

Okay. In the contribution this quarter, a First Choice to the net interest income, roughly how much was it? Just I know you talked about trying to grow the dollars of NII with some of the bond stuff. But just trying to think about where the NII lands in fourth quarter kind of full quarter of inclusive of them?

Brian, I'm grabbing that. I know there's a chart here and I know I said it. My apologies. I think it's...

If not, I can follow up online.

Yes. I believe it's $19 million, but I don't have that page in front of me right now.

That's okay. I'll follow up online or circle back. And then, just the last one, maybe for Scott or Jim. Just on the opportunistic hiring, you guys talked about versus kind of, now that you've got this deal is closed, but not yet integrated. Just how we think about the potential for M&A versus organic growth just hiring. One of them is more likely in the near term? It sounds like there's a lot of opportunities, you're seeing particularly on the hiring front. So...

Yes. Let me start with that. So I think there is a lot of opportunity. I think there's, as you know, Brian, a lot of disruption, especially in the Southern California market. So I think there's some incredible opportunities there. The other thing too is, I think even though we have been in Phoenix for many years, I think our brand is growing well there, such that it's a platform that seasoned successful bankers can do well. Then even back in the Midwest, we're seeing good opportunities, both in St. Louis and Kansas City. As you know, there is a turnover within the industry and we're getting our fair share of looks there. Amid the specialty Scott mentioned, it's about lift-out of teams and other experts there that work in constant conversations and just trying to find the right cultural fits, as well as entities and people that can plug into the ecosystem that we currently have.

Got you. How are you approaching mergers and acquisitions today? I assume you're still looking at opportunities, but it might be less likely until this one is fully integrated.

As you know, for us it's not event-driven the process. We got a lot on our plates. We have to make sure that what we've done over the last 18 to 24 months is integrated well. So that's number one focus. But our job at the top is to continually seek out find avenues to continue to improve our business. M&A is a tool we use effectively. So certainly, it's part of what we do daily, but we have to really provide some time now to let what we've purchased integrate well.

Got you. Makes sense. Okay. Thank you for taking the questions.

Thank you.

Thank you. And at this time, I show no further questions in queue. I'd like to turn the call back to Jim Lally for any closing remarks.

Sure. Thank you, Todd, and thank you all for joining us today and for your interest in our company, and we sincerely appreciate it. Have a great day.

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