Fulton Financial's 2023 Achievements and 2024 Objectives
2024-01-19
Fulton Financial recently held its Q4 2023 earnings conference call, which featured participants such as Matt Jozwiak, Curtis Myers, and Mark McCollom. During the call, Curt Myers discussed the company's high-level thoughts on the year, the fourth-quarter business performance, and key objectives for 2024. Fulton Financial serves more than 534,000 customer households and added four new financial centers and two new loan production offices. Customers use Fulton Financial's digital solutions over 6 million times a month.
One of the topics covered during the call was the Diverse Business Banking program launched in 2023. This program aims to accelerate outreach to businesses that have been traditionally underserved by the industry. The company's financial performance in 2023 was solid, with pre-provision net revenue exceeding $400 million, operating EPS of $1.71, and loan growth exceeding $1 billion for the second year in a row.
Fulton Financial also discussed its capital management strategies, including increasing its common dividend, returning dividends to shareholders, and repurchasing shares of Fulton stock. The company effectively navigated the credit environment in 2023, delivering a 15% return on tangible common equity.
The company's FultonFirst initiative was another important topic discussed during the call. This initiative is expected to accelerate growth rates and improve operating efficiency for the company on a sustained basis. The most visible impact of FultonFirst in 2024 will be seen in the expense line items, helping the company meet limited expense growth rate guidance.
Other topics covered include loan and deposit growth, credit quality, wealth management revenues, commercial banking fees, and mortgage banking revenues. The company provided guidance on net charge-offs, loan growth, and deposit pricing pressure. They also discussed their investment portfolio, quarterly expense run rate, and M&A opportunities.
Overall, Fulton Financial's Q4 2023 earnings conference call covered a range of important business topics, highlighting the company's financial performance, strategic initiatives, and future outlook.