ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
We assume and manage a certain degree of risk in order to conduct our business strategy. The following provides a
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discussion of material risks that management believes are specific to our business. This discussion should not be viewed as an all-inclusive list or in any particular order.
Risks Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Associated Economic Slowdown
The outbreak of COVID-19 has adversely affected certain industries in which our customers operate and may impair their ability to fulfill their obligations to us. Further, the spread of the outbreak has disrupted banking and other financial activity in the areas in which we operate, could lead to an economic recession or other additional severe disruptions in the U.S. economy, and could potentially create business continuity issues for us.
The COVID-19 Pandemic continues to negatively impact economic and commercial activity and financial markets, both globally and within the United States. In our market areas, stay-at-home orders, travel restrictions and closure of non-essential business and similar orders imposed across the United States to restrict the spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 resulted in significant business and operational disruptions, including business closures, supply chain disruptions and significant layoffs and furloughs. Although local jurisdictions have subsequently lifted stay-at-home orders and moved to the opening of businesses, worker shortages, vaccine and testing requirements, new variants of COVID-19 and other health and safety recommendations have impacted the ability of businesses to return to pre-pandemic levels of activity and employment. While the overall economy has improved, disruptions to supply chains continue and significant inflation has been seen in the market. If these effects continue for a prolonged period or result in sustained economic stress or recession, many of the risk factors identified in our Form 10-K could be exacerbated, including the following risks from the COVID-19 Pandemic, any of which could have a material, adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations of the Company:
•effects on key employees, including operational management personnel and those charged with preparing, monitoring and evaluating our financial reporting and internal controls;
•declines in demand for loans and other banking services and products, as well as a decline in the credit quality of our loan portfolio owing to the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the markets served by us;
•if the economy is unable to remain open in an efficient manner, loan delinquencies, problem assets and foreclosures may increase, resulting in increased charge-offs and reduced income;
•collateral for loans, especially real estate, may decline in value, which could cause loan losses to increase;
•our allowance for credit losses on loans may increase if borrowers experience financial difficulties, which will adversely affect net income;
•the net worth and liquidity of loan guarantors may decline, impairing their ability to honor commitments;
•as long as the Federal Reserve Board’s target federal funds rate remains near 0%, the yield on assets may decline to a greater extent than the decline in the cost of interest-bearing liabilities, reducing net interest margin and spread and reducing net income;
•higher operating costs, increased cybersecurity risks and potential loss of productivity as a result of an increase in the number of employees working remotely;
•increasing or protracted volatility in the price of the Company’s common stock, which may also impair our goodwill; and
•risks to the capital markets that may impact the performance of our investment securities portfolio as well as limit our access to capital markets and other funding sources.
Because there have been no comparable recent global pandemics that resulted in similar global impact, we do not yet know the full extent of the COVID-19 Pandemic’s effects on our business, operations or the global economy as a whole. Any future development will be highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including the scope and duration of the pandemic, possible future virus variants, the effectiveness of our work-from-home arrangements, third party providers’ ability to support our operations and any actions taken by governmental authorities and other third parties in response to the pandemic. The uncertain future development of this crisis could materially and adversely affect our business, operations, operating results, financial condition, liquidity or capital levels.
Risks Related to our Business Strategy
Our strategy of pursuing acquisitions and de novo branching exposes us to financial and operational risks that could adversely affect us.
We are pursuing a strategy of supplementing organic growth by acquiring other financial institutions or their businesses that we believe will help us fulfill our strategic objectives and enhance our earnings. There are risks associated with this strategy, however, including the following:
•we may be exposed to potential asset quality issues or unknown or contingent liabilities of the banks, businesses, assets and liabilities we acquire. If these issues or liabilities exceed our estimates, our results of operations and financial condition may be materially negatively affected;
•higher than expected deposit attrition;
•potential diversion of our management's time and attention;
•prices at which acquisitions are made can fluctuate with market conditions. We have experienced times during which acquisitions could not be made in specific markets at prices we considered acceptable and expect that we may continue to experience this condition in the future;
•the acquisition of other entities generally requires integration of systems, procedures and personnel of the acquired entity into our company to make the transaction economically successful. This integration process is complicated and time consuming and can also be disruptive to the customers of the acquired business. If the integration process is not conducted successfully and with minimal effect on the acquired business and its customers, we may not realize the anticipated economic benefits of an acquisition within the expected time frame, and we may lose customers or employees of the acquired business. We may also experience greater than anticipated customer losses even if the
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integration process is successful.
•to finance an acquisition, we may borrow funds, thereby increasing our leverage and diminishing our liquidity, or raise additional capital, which could dilute the interests of our existing shareholders;
•from 2006 through 2021, we completed eight acquisitions or mergers, including one acquisition in 2006, two acquisitions during 2010, two acquisitions during 2013, one merger in 2014 and two acquisitions in 2018 that enhanced our rate of growth. We may not be able to continue to sustain our past rate of growth or to grow at all in the future;
•we expect our net income will increase following our acquisitions; however, we also expect our general and administrative expenses and consequently our efficiency ratios may also increase. Ultimately, we would expect our efficiency ratio to improve; however, if we are not successful in our integration process, this may not occur, and our acquisitions or branching activities may not be accretive to earnings in the short or long-term;
•to the extent our costs of an acquisition exceed the fair value of the net assets acquired, the acquisition will generate goodwill. As discussed below under “-If the goodwill we have recorded in connection with acquisitions becomes impaired, our earnings and capital could be reduced,” we are required to assess our goodwill for impairment at least annually, and any goodwill impairment charge could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition; and
•we are required to record purchased loans acquired through acquisitions at fair value, which may differ from the outstanding balance of such loans. Estimating the fair value of such loans requires management to make estimates based on available information and facts and circumstances on the acquisition date. The difference between the fair value and the outstanding balance of such loans is accreted into net interest income. Thus, our net interest margins may initially increase due to accretion. The yields on our loans could decline as our acquired loan portfolio pays down or matures, and we expect downward pressure on our interest income to the extent that the runoff on our acquired loan portfolio is not replaced with comparable high-yielding loans. This could result in higher net interest margins and interest income in current periods and lower net interest rate margins and lower interest income in future periods.
Our business strategy includes significant growth plans, and our financial condition and results of operations could be negatively affected if we are not successful in executing this strategy or if we fail to grow or manage our growth effectively.
We intend to pursue a growth strategy for our business. We regularly evaluate potential acquisitions and expansion opportunities. If appropriate opportunities present themselves, we expect to engage in selected acquisitions of financial institutions in the future, including branch acquisitions, or other business growth initiatives or undertakings. There can be no assurance that we will successfully identify appropriate opportunities, that we will be able to negotiate or finance such activities or that such activities, if undertaken, will be successful.
Our growth initiatives may require us to recruit experienced personnel to assist in such initiatives, which will increase our compensation costs. In addition, the failure to identify and retain such personnel would place significant limitations on our ability to successfully execute our growth strategy. To the extent we expand our lending beyond our current market areas, we also could incur additional risk related to those new market areas. We may not be able to expand our market presence in our existing market areas or successfully enter new markets.
If we do not successfully execute our acquisition growth plan, it could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, reputation and growth prospects. In addition, if we were to conclude that the value of an acquired business had decreased and that the related goodwill had been impaired, that conclusion would result in an impairment of goodwill charge to us, which would adversely affect our results of operations. While we believe we have the executive management resources and internal systems in place to successfully manage our future growth, there can be no assurance that suitable growth opportunities will be available or that we will successfully manage our growth.
Risks Related to our Lending Activities
Our loan portfolio is concentrated in loans with a higher risk of loss.
Repayment of our commercial business loans, consisting of commercial and industrial loans as well as owner-occupied and non-owner occupied commercial real estate loans, is often dependent on the cash flows of the borrower, which may be unpredictable, and the collateral securing these loans may fluctuate in value. We offer different types of commercial business loans to a variety of businesses in industries such as real estate and rental and leasing, healthcare, accommodation and food services, retail trade and construction. The primary types of commercial business loans offered are lines of credit, term equipment financing and term real estate loans. We also originate loans that are guaranteed by the SBA and we are a “preferred lender” of the SBA. Commercial business lending involves risks that are different from those associated with residential real estate lending. Our commercial business loans are primarily made based on our assessment of the cash flow of the borrower and secondarily on the underlying collateral provided by the borrower. The borrower's cash flow may be unpredictable, and collateral securing these loans may fluctuate in value. Although these commercial business loans are often collateralized by equipment, inventory, accounts receivable or other business assets, the liquidation of collateral in the event of default is often an insufficient source of repayment because accounts receivable may be uncollectible and inventories may be obsolete or of limited use, among other things. Accordingly, the repayment of commercial business loans depends primarily on the cash flow and creditworthiness of the borrower and secondarily on the underlying collateral provided by the borrower. In addition, as part of our commercial business lending activities, we originate agricultural loans. Payments on agricultural loans are typically dependent on the profitable operation or management of the related farm property and the success of the farm may be affected by many factors outside the control of the borrower, including adverse weather conditions that prevent the planting of a crop or limit crop yields (such as hail, drought and floods), loss of livestock due to disease or other factors, declines in market prices for agricultural products (both domestically and internationally), changes in the economy (such as tariffs) and the impact of
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government regulations (including changes in price supports, subsidies and environmental regulations). In addition, many farms are dependent on a limited number of key individuals whose injury or death may significantly affect the successful operation of the farm. If the cash flow from a farming operation is diminished, the borrower’s ability to repay the loan may be impaired. Consequently, agricultural loans may involve a greater degree of risk than other types of loans, particularly in the case of loans that are unsecured or secured by rapidly depreciating assets such as farm equipment (some of which is highly specialized with a limited or no market for resale), or assets such as livestock or crops. In such cases, any repossessed collateral for a defaulted agricultural operating loan may not provide an adequate source of repayment of the outstanding loan balance as a result of the greater likelihood of damage, loss or depreciation or because the assessed value of the collateral exceeds the eventual realization value.
At December 31, 2021, our commercial business loans totaled $3.19 billion, or 83.7% of our total loan portfolio, of which $23.1 million, or 0.7%, were classified as nonaccrual at December 31, 2021. The majority of the nonperforming commercial business loans were secured by real estate. Within commercial business loans, agricultural loans totaled $64.7 million, or 1.7% of our total loan portfolio and 2.0% of our commercial business loans at December 31, 2021. Nonaccrual agricultural loans totaled $5.1 million, or 21.5% of nonaccrual loans at December 31, 2021.
Our owner and non-owner occupied commercial real estate loans, which include multifamily residential real estate loans, involve higher principal amounts than other loans and repayment of these loans may be dependent on factors outside our control or the control of our borrowers. We originate commercial real estate loans for individuals and businesses for various purposes, which are secured by commercial properties. These loans typically involve higher principal amounts than other types of loans and repayment is dependent upon income generated, or expected to be generated, by the property securing the loan in amounts sufficient to cover operating expenses and debt service, which may be adversely affected by changes in the economy or local market conditions. For example, if the cash flow from the borrower’s project is reduced as a result of leases not being obtained or renewed, the borrower’s ability to repay the loan may be impaired.
Commercial real estate loans also expose us to greater credit risk than loans secured by residential real estate because the collateral securing these loans typically cannot be sold as easily as residential real estate. In addition, many of our commercial real estate loans are not fully amortizing and contain large balloon payments upon maturity. Such balloon payments may require the borrower to either sell or refinance the underlying property in order to make the payment, which may increase the risk of default or non-payment. If we foreclose on a commercial real estate loan, our holding period for the collateral typically is longer than for residential real estate loans because there are fewer potential purchasers of the collateral. Additionally, commercial real estate loans generally have relatively large balances to single borrowers or related groups of borrowers. Accordingly, if we make any errors in judgment regarding the collectability of our commercial real estate loans, any resulting charge-offs may be larger on a per loan basis than those incurred with our residential or consumer loan portfolios.
As of December 31, 2021, our owner and non-owner occupied commercial real estate loans totaled $2.42 billion, or 63.6% of our total loan portfolio, of which $12.8 million, or 0.5%, were classified as nonaccrual at December 31, 2021.
Our real estate construction and land development loans are based upon estimates of costs and net operating income and the related value associated with the completed project. These estimates may be inaccurate. Construction lending involves additional risks when compared with permanent commercial and residential lending because funds are advanced upon the collateral for the project based on an estimate of costs that will produce a future value at completion. Because of the uncertainties inherent in estimating construction costs, as well as the market value of the complete project and the effects of governmental regulation on real property, it is relatively difficult to evaluate accurately the total funds required to complete a project and the completed project loan-to-value ratio. Changes in demand and higher than anticipated building costs may cause actual results to vary significantly from those estimated. For these reasons, this type of lending also typically involves higher loan principal amounts and may be concentrated with a small number of builders. A downturn in housing, or the real estate market, could increase delinquencies, defaults and foreclosures, and significantly impair the value of our collateral and our ability to sell the collateral upon foreclosure. Some of our borrowers are builders with more than one loan outstanding with us. Consequently, an adverse development with respect to one loan or one credit relationship can expose us to a significantly greater risk of loss. As a result, these loans often involve the disbursement of funds with repayment substantially dependent on the success of the ultimate project and the ability of the borrower to sell or lease the property or obtain permanent take-out financing, rather than the ability of the borrower or guarantor to repay principal and interest. If our appraisal of the value of a completed project proves to be overstated, we may have inadequate security for the repayment of the loan upon completion of construction of the project and may incur a loss. Because construction loans require active monitoring of the building process, including cost comparisons and on-site inspections, these loans are more difficult and more costly to monitor. Increases in market rates of interest may have a more pronounced effect on construction loans by rapidly increasing the end-purchaser's borrowing costs, thereby possibly reducing the borrower's ability to finance the project upon completion or the overall demand for the project. Properties under construction are often difficult to sell and typically must be completed in order to be successfully sold which also complicates the process of working out problem construction loans. This may require us to advance additional funds and/or contract with another builder to complete construction and assume the market risk of selling the project at a future market price, which may or may not enable us to fully recover unpaid loan funds and associated construction and liquidation costs. Furthermore, in the case of speculative construction loans, there is added risk associated with identifying an end-tenant or end-purchaser for the finished project. Land development loans also pose additional risk because of the lack of income being produced by the property and potential illiquid nature of the collateral. These risks can be significantly impacted by supply and demand conditions.
As of December 31, 2021, our real estate construction and land development loans totaled $226.9 million, or 5.9% of our total loan portfolio, of which $85.5 million, or 2.2% of our total loan portfolio, were residential construction and $141.3 million, or 3.7% of our total loan portfolio, were commercial and multifamily construction. Within this category, $571,000, or 0.3% of our total real estate construction and land development loans, were classified as nonaccrual at December 31, 2021.
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Our ACL on loans may prove to be insufficient to absorb losses in our loan portfolio.
Lending money is a substantial part of our business. Every loan carries a certain risk that it will not be repaid in accordance with its terms or that any underlying collateral will not be sufficient to assure repayment. This risk is affected by, among other things:
•the cash flow of the borrower, guarantors and/or the project being financed;
•the changes and uncertainties as to the future value of the collateral, in the case of a collateralized loan;
•the character and creditworthiness of a particular borrower or guarantor;
•changes in economic and industry conditions; and
•the duration of the loan.
The ACL on loans is a valuation account that is deducted from the amortized cost of loans receivable to present the net amount expected to be collected. Loans are charged-off through the ACL on loans when management believes the uncollectibility of a loan balance is confirmed. Subsequent recoveries, if any, are recorded to the ACL on loans. The Bank records the changes in the ACL on loans through earnings as a provision for credit losses on the Consolidated Statements of Income.
The determination of the appropriate level of ACL on loans inherently involves a high degree of subjectivity and requires us to make significant estimates of current credit risks and future trends, all of which may undergo material changes. If our estimates are incorrect, the ACL on loans may not be sufficient to cover credit losses inherent in our loan portfolio, resulting in the need for increases in our ACL on loans through the provision for credit losses. Management also recognizes that significant new growth in loan segments and new loan products can result in loans segments comprised of unseasoned loans that may not perform in a historical or projected manner and will increase the risk that our ACL on loans may be insufficient to absorb losses without significant additional provisions.
Deterioration in economic conditions affecting borrowers, new information regarding existing loans, identification of additional problem loans and other factors, both within and outside of our control, may require an increase in the ACL on loans. If current conditions in the housing and real estate markets weaken, we expect we will experience increased delinquencies and credit losses. In addition, bank regulatory agencies periodically review our ACL on loans and may require an increase in the provision for credit losses or the recognition of further loan charge-offs, based on their judgments about information available to them at the time of their examination. In addition, if charge-offs in future periods exceed the ACL on loans, we will need additional provisions to increase the ACL on loans.
If our ACL on loans is not sufficient to cover actual loan losses our earnings could decrease.
For the year ended December 31, 2021 we recorded a reversal of provision for credit loss on loans of $27.3 million compared to a provision for credit loss on loans of $35.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 due primarily to changes in forecasted economic conditions attributable to the COVID-19 Pandemic during each period. At December 31, 2021 our total nonaccrual loans were $23.8 million, or 0.62% of loans receivable, compared to $58.1 million, or 1.30% of loans receivable, at December 31, 2020. Generally, our nonaccrual loans reflect operating difficulties of individual borrowers, which may be the result of current economic conditions.
General economic conditions tend to impact loan segments at varying degrees. At December 31, 2021, our commercial and industrial loan portfolio represented 43.3% of our nonaccrual loans, which was the greatest percentage of any loan category, as the borrowers are primarily business owners whose business results are influenced by current economic conditions. Owner-occupied commercial real estate loans and non-owner occupied commercial real estate loans represented 34.4% and 19.6%, respectively, of our nonaccrual loans at December 31, 2021.
Risks Related to Economic Conditions
The current economic condition in the market areas we serve may adversely impact our earnings and could increase the credit risk associated with our loan portfolio.
Substantially all of our loans are to businesses and individuals in the states of Washington and Oregon. A decline in the economies of our primary market areas of the Pacific Northwest in which we operate could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Weakness in the global economy has adversely affected many businesses operating in our markets that are dependent upon international trade and it is not known how changes in tariffs being imposed on international trade may also affect these businesses.
A deterioration in economic conditions in our market areas of the Pacific Northwest as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic or other factors could result in the following consequences, any of which could have a materially adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations:
•loan delinquencies, problem assets and foreclosures may increase;
•we may increase our ACL on loans and provision for credit losses;
•the sale of foreclosed assets may be slow;
•demand for our products and services may decline, possibly resulting in a decrease in our total loans;
•collateral for loans made may decline further in value, exposing us to increased risk of loss on existing loans;
•the net worth and liquidity of loan guarantors may decline, impairing their ability to honor commitments to us; and
•the amount of our deposits may decrease and the composition of our deposits may be adversely affected.
A decline in local economic conditions may have a greater effect on our earnings and capital than on the earnings and capital of larger financial institutions whose real estate loans are geographically diverse. Many of the loans in our portfolio are secured by real estate. Deterioration in the real estate markets where collateral for a loan is located could negatively affect the borrower’s ability to repay the loan and the value of the collateral securing the loan. Real estate values are affected by various
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other factors, including changes in general or regional economic conditions, governmental rules or policies and natural disasters such as earthquakes and flooding. If we are required to liquidate a significant amount of collateral during a period of reduced real estate values, our financial condition and profitability could be adversely affected.
Adverse changes in the regional and general economy could reduce our growth rate, impair our ability to collect loans and generally have a negative effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Changes in the United States government and its agencies’ monetary or fiscal policies, including stimulus enacted in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
Our earnings will be affected by domestic economic conditions and the monetary and fiscal policies of the United States government and its agencies. The United States government and its agencies have an important impact on the operating results of banks through their power to implement national monetary policy, among other things, in order to curb inflation, combat a recession or react to impacts from the COVID-19 Pandemic. We cannot predict the nature or impact of future changes in such monetary and fiscal policies, including stimulus enacted in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Risks Related to Market Interest Rates
Fluctuating interest rates can adversely affect our profitability.
Our profitability is dependent to a large extent upon net interest income, which is the difference (or “spread”) between the interest earned on loans, investment securities and other interest earning assets and the interest paid on deposits, borrowings, and other interest bearing liabilities. Because of the differences in maturities and repricing characteristics of our interest earning assets and interest bearing liabilities, changes in interest rates do not produce equivalent changes in interest income earned on interest earning assets and interest paid on interest bearing liabilities.
We principally manage interest rate risk by managing our volume and mix of our earning assets and funding liabilities. Changes in monetary policy, including changes in interest rates, could influence not only the interest we receive on loans and investment securities and the amount of interest we pay on deposits and borrowings, but these changes could also affect (i) our ability to originate and/or sell loans and obtain deposits, (ii) the fair value of our financial assets and liabilities, which could negatively impact shareholders’ equity, and our ability to realize gains from the sale of such assets, (iii) our ability to obtain and retain deposits in competition with other available investment alternatives, (iv) the ability of our borrowers to repay adjustable or variable rate loans, and (v) the average duration of our investment securities portfolio and other interest earning assets. If the interest rates paid on deposits and other borrowings increase at a faster rate than the interest rates received on loans and other investments, our net interest income, and therefore earnings, could be adversely affected. Earnings could also be adversely affected if interest rates decrease as assets tend to reprice more quickly than liabilities. In a changing interest rate environment, we may not be able to manage this risk effectively. If we are unable to manage interest rate risk effectively, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially affected.
Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors that are beyond our control, including general and forecasted economic conditions reflected in the rates offered along the yield curve and the FHLB's fixed-rate advance index, and policies of various governmental and regulatory agencies and, in particular, the Federal Reserve. In March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the FOMC lowered the target range for the federal funds rate 150 basis points to a range of 0.00% to 0.25%. The reduction in the targeted federal funds rate has resulted in a decline in overall interest rates which has negatively impacted our net interest income. However, the FOMC has recently indicated it expects to increase rates starting in 2022. If the FOMC increases the targeted federal funds rate, overall interest rates are expected to rise, which will positively impact our net interest income, but may negatively impact both the housing market, by reducing refinancing activity and new home purchases, and the U.S. economy. In addition, deflationary pressures, while possibly lowering our operational costs, could have a significant negative effect on our borrowers, especially our business borrowers, and the values of collateral securing loans which could negatively affect our financial performance.
A sustained increase in market interest rates could adversely affect our earnings. As is the case with many banks and saving institutions, our emphasis on increasing the development of core deposits (those deposits bearing no or a relatively low rate of interest with no stated maturity date) has resulted in our interest bearing liabilities having a shorter duration than our assets. We would incur a higher cost of funds to retain these deposits in a rising interest rate environment. If the interest rates paid on deposits and other borrowings increase at a faster rate than the interest rates received on loans and other investments, our net interest income, and therefore earnings, could be adversely affected.
Changes in interest rates also affect the value of our interest earning assets and in particular our investment securities portfolio. Generally, the fair value of fixed-rate investment securities fluctuates inversely with changes in interest rates. Unrealized gains and losses on investment securities available for sale are reported as a separate component of equity, net of tax. Decreases in the fair value of investment securities available for sale resulting from increases in interest rates could have an adverse effect on stockholders’ equity.
Although management believes it has implemented effective asset and liability management strategies to reduce the potential effects of changes in interest rates on our results of operations, any substantial, unexpected or prolonged change in market interest rates could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Also, our interest rate risk modeling techniques and assumptions likely may not fully predict or capture the impact of actual interest rate changes on our balance sheet. For further discussion of how changes in interest rates could impact us and additional information about our interest rate risk management, see Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
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Our investment securities portfolio may be negatively impacted by fluctuations in market value and interest rates.
Our investment securities portfolio may be impacted by fluctuations in market value, potentially reducing AOCI and/or earnings. Fluctuations in market value may be caused by changes in market interest rates, rating agency actions in respect of the securities, defaults by the issuer or with respect to the underlying securities, lower market prices for securities and limited investor demand. Our investment securities portfolio is evaluated for estimated credit losses and an ACL on investment securities, as appropriate, is recorded as a contra asset on the financial statement of condition and a provision for credit loss on investment securities through earnings. There can be no assurance that the declines in market value will not result in credit losses, which would lead to accounting charges that could have a material adverse effect on our net income and capital levels.
Risks Related to Laws and Regulations
Non-compliance with the USA PATRIOT Act, Bank Secrecy Act, or other laws and regulations could result in fines or sanctions and limit our ability to get regulatory approval of acquisitions.
The USA PATRIOT and Bank Secrecy Acts require financial institutions to develop programs to prevent financial institutions from being used for money laundering and terrorist activities. If such activities are detected, financial institutions are obligated to file suspicious activity reports with the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. These rules require financial institutions to establish procedures for identifying and verifying the identity of customers seeking to open new financial accounts. Failure to comply with these regulations could result in fines or sanctions and limit our ability to get regulatory approval of acquisitions. While we have developed policies and procedures designed to assist in compliance with these laws and regulations, no assurance can be given that these policies and procedures will be effective in preventing violations of these laws and regulations.
Failure to maintain and implement adequate programs to combat money laundering and terrorist financing could also have serious reputational consequences for us and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
Risks Related to Operational Matters
We rely on other companies to provide key components of our business infrastructure.
We rely on numerous external vendors to provide us with products and services necessary to maintain our day-to-day operations. Accordingly, our operations are exposed to the risk these vendors will not perform in accordance with contracted arrangements under service level agreements. The failure of an external vendor to perform in accordance with contracted arrangements under service level agreements because of changes in the vendor's organizational structure, financial condition, level of support for existing products and services, strategic focus or for any other reason, could be disruptive to our operations, which in turn could have a material negative impact on our financial condition and results of operations. We also could be adversely affected to the extent a service agreement is not renewed by the third-party vendor or is renewed on terms less favorable to us. Additionally, the bank regulatory agencies expect financial institutions to be responsible for all aspects of our vendors’ performance, including aspects which they delegate to third parties. Disruptions or failures in the physical infrastructure or operating systems that support our business and customers, or cyber-attacks or security breaches of the networks, systems or devices that our customers use to access our products and services could result in client attrition; regulatory fines, penalties or intervention; reputational damage; reimbursement or other compensation costs and/or additional compliance costs, any of which could materially adversely affect our results of operations or financial condition.
We are subject to certain risks in connection with our use of technology.
Our security measures may not be sufficient to mitigate the risk of a cyber-attack. Communications and information systems are essential to the conduct of our business as we use such systems to manage our customer relationships, our core operating systems, our general ledger and virtually all other aspects of our business. Our operations rely on the secure processing, storage and transmission of confidential and other information in our computer systems and networks. Although we take protective measures and endeavor to modify them as circumstances warrant, the security of our computer systems, software and networks may be vulnerable to breaches, fraudulent or unauthorized access, denial or degradation of service attacks, misuse, computer viruses, malware or other malicious code and cyber-attacks that could have a security impact. If one or more of these events occur, this could jeopardize our or our customers' confidential and other information processed and stored in, and transmitted through, our computer systems and networks, or otherwise cause interruptions or malfunctions in our operations or the operations of our customers or counterparties. We may be required to expend significant additional resources to modify our protective measures or to investigate and remediate vulnerabilities or other exposures and we may be subject to litigation and financial losses that are either not insured against or not fully covered through any insurance maintained by us. We could also suffer significant reputational damage.
Security breaches in our internet banking activities could further expose us to possible liability and damage our reputation. Increases in criminal activity levels and sophistication, advances in computer capabilities, new discoveries and vulnerabilities in third-party technologies (including browsers and operating systems) or other developments could result in a compromise or breach of the technology, processes and/or controls that we use to prevent fraudulent transactions and to protect data about us, our clients and underlying transactions. Any compromise of our security could deter customers from using our internet banking services that involve the transmission of confidential information. We rely on standard internet security systems to provide the security and authentication necessary to effect secure transmission of data. Although we have developed and continue to invest in systems and processes that are designed to detect and prevent security breaches and cyber-attacks and periodically test our security, these precautions may not protect our systems from compromises or breaches of our security measures and could result in losses to us or our customers, our loss of business and/or customers, damage to our reputation,
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incurrence of additional expenses, disruption to our business, our inability to grow our online services or other businesses, additional regulatory scrutiny or penalties or our exposure to civil litigation and possible financial liability, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our security measures may not protect us from system failures or interruptions. While we have established policies and procedures to prevent or limit the impact of systems failures and interruptions, there can be no assurance that such events will not occur or that they will be adequately addressed if they do. In addition, we outsource certain aspects of our data processing and other operational functions to certain third-party providers. While the Company selects third-party vendors carefully, it does not control their actions. If our third-party providers encounter difficulties, including those resulting from breakdowns or other disruptions in communication services provided by a vendor, failure of a vendor to handle current or higher transaction volumes, cyber-attacks and security breaches or if we otherwise have difficulty in communicating with them, our ability to adequately process and account for transactions could be affected and to deliver products and services to our customers and otherwise conduct business operations could be adversely impacted. Replacing these third-party vendors could also entail significant delay and expense. Threats to information security also exist in the processing of customer information through various other vendors and their personnel.
We cannot assure that such breaches, failures or interruptions will not occur or, if they do occur, that they will be adequately addressed by us or the third-parties on which we rely. We may not be insured against all types of losses as a result of third-party failures and insurance coverage may be inadequate to cover all losses resulting from breaches, system failures or other disruptions. If any of our third-party service providers experience financial, operational or technological difficulties, or if there is any other disruption in our relationships with them, we may be required to identify alternative sources of such services and we cannot assure we could negotiate terms that are as favorable to us or could obtain services with similar functionality as found in our existing systems without the need to expend substantial resources, if at all. Further, the occurrence of any systems failure or interruption could damage our reputation and result in a loss of customers and business, could subject us to additional regulatory scrutiny or could expose us to legal liability. Any of these occurrences could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
The board of directors oversees the risk management process, including the risk of cybersecurity, and engages with management on cybersecurity issues.
If our enterprise risk management framework is not effective at mitigating risk and loss to us, we could suffer unexpected losses and our results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
Our enterprise risk management framework seeks to achieve an appropriate balance between risk and return, which is critical to optimizing stockholder value. We have established processes and procedures intended to identify, measure, monitor, report, analyze and control the types of risk to which we are subject. These risks include liquidity risk; credit risk; market risk; interest rate risk; operational risk; legal and compliance risk; and reputational risk, among others. We also maintain a compliance program to identify, measure, assess and report on our adherence to applicable laws, policies and procedures. While we assess and improve these programs on an ongoing basis, there can be no assurance that our risk management or compliance programs, along with other related controls, will effectively mitigate all risk and limit losses in our business. However, as with any risk management framework, there are inherent limitations to our risk management strategies as there may exist, or develop in the future, risks that we have not appropriately anticipated or identified. If our risk management framework proves ineffective, we could suffer unexpected losses and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
We are subject to certain risks in connection with our data management or aggregation.
We are reliant on our ability to manage data and our ability to aggregate data in an accurate and timely manner to ensure effective risk reporting and management. Our ability to manage data and aggregate data may be limited by the effectiveness of our policies, programs, processes and practices that govern how data is acquired, validated, stored, protected and processed. While we continuously update our policies, programs, processes and practices, many of our data management and aggregation processes are manual and subject to human error or system failure. Failure to manage data effectively and to aggregate data in an accurate and timely manner may limit our ability to manage current and emerging risks, as well as to manage changing business needs.
Our business may be adversely affected by an increasing prevalence of fraud and other financial crimes.
The Company and the Bank are susceptible to fraudulent activity that may be committed against us or our customers which may result in financial losses or increased costs to us or our customers, disclosure or misuse of our information or our customer’s information, misappropriation of assets, privacy breaches against our customers, litigation or damage to our reputation. Such fraudulent activity may take many forms, including check fraud, electronic fraud, wire fraud, phishing, social engineering and other dishonest acts. Nationally, reported incidents of fraud and other financial crimes have increased. We have also experienced losses due to apparent fraud and other financial crimes, although such losses have been relatively insignificant to date. While we have policies and procedures designed to prevent such losses, there can be no assurance that such losses will not occur.
Managing reputational risk is important to attracting and maintaining customers, investors and employees.
Threats to our reputation can come from many sources, including adverse sentiment about financial institutions generally, unethical practices, employee misconduct, failure to deliver minimum standards of service or quality, compliance deficiencies and questionable or fraudulent activities of our customers. We have policies and procedures in place to protect our reputation and promote ethical conduct, but these policies and procedures may not be fully effective. Negative publicity regarding
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our business, employees or customers, with or without merit, may result in the loss of customers, investors and employees; costly litigation; a decline in revenues and increased governmental regulation.
We are dependent on key personnel and the loss of one or more of those key personnel may materially and adversely affect our prospects.
Competition for qualified employees and personnel in the banking industry is intense and there are a limited number of qualified persons with knowledge of, and experience in, the community banking industry where we conduct our business. The process of recruiting personnel with the combination of skills and attributes required to carry out our strategies is often lengthy. Our success depends to a significant degree upon our ability to attract and retain qualified management, loan origination, finance, administrative, marketing and technical personnel and upon the continued contributions of our management and personnel. In particular, our success has been and continues to be highly dependent upon the abilities of key executives, including our Chief Executive Officer, Jeffrey J. Deuel, and certain other employees. The loss of key personnel could adversely affect our ability to successfully conduct our business.
Our ability to sustain or improve upon existing performance is dependent upon our ability to respond to technological change, and we may have fewer resources than some of our competitors to continue to invest in technological improvements.
The financial services industry is experiencing rapid technological changes with frequent introductions of new technology-driven products and services. Effective use of technology increases efficiency and enables financial institutions to better serve customers and to reduce costs. Many of our competitors have substantially greater resources to invest in technological improvements than we do. Our future success will depend, to some degree, upon our ability to address the needs of our customers by using technology to provide products and services that will satisfy customer demands for convenience, as well as create additional efficiencies in our operations. We may not be able to effectively implement new technology-driven products or services or be successful in marketing these products and services. Additionally, the implementation of technological changes and upgrades to maintain current systems and integrate new ones may cause service interruptions, transaction processing errors and system conversion delays and may cause us to fail to comply with applicable laws. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully manage the risks associated with increased dependency on technology.
Risks Related to Accounting Matters
New or changing tax, accounting, and regulatory rules and interpretations could significantly impact strategic initiatives, results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition.
The financial services industry is extensively regulated. Federal and state banking regulations are designed primarily to protect the deposit insurance funds and consumers, not to benefit our stockholders. These regulations, along with the currently existing tax, accounting, securities, insurance and monetary laws, regulations, rules, standards, policies and interpretations control the methods by which financial institutions conduct business, implement strategic initiatives and tax compliance and govern financial reporting and disclosures. These laws, regulations, rules, standards, policies and interpretations are constantly evolving and may change significantly over time. Any new regulations or legislation, change in existing regulation or oversight, whether a change in regulatory policy or a change in a regulator's interpretation of a law or regulation, could have a material impact on our operations, increase our costs of regulatory compliance and of doing business and adversely affect our profitability. Regulatory authorities also have extensive discretion in connection with their supervisory and enforcement activities, including the imposition of restrictions on the operation of an institution, the classification of assets by the institution and adequacy of an institution's ACL. These bank regulators also have the ability to impose conditions in the approval of merger and acquisition transactions.
If the goodwill we have recorded in connection with acquisitions becomes impaired, our earnings and capital could be reduced.
Accounting standards require that we account for acquisitions or business combinations using the purchase method of accounting. Under purchase accounting, if the purchase price of an acquired company exceeds the fair value of its net assets, the excess is carried on the acquirer’s balance sheet as goodwill. In accordance with GAAP, our goodwill is evaluated for impairment on an annual basis or more frequently if events or circumstances indicate a potential impairment exists. The evaluation may be based on a variety of quantitative factors, including the quoted price of our common stock, market prices of common stock of other banking organizations, common stock trading multiples, discounted cash flows and data from comparable acquisitions. Additionally, we may perform a qualitative assessment that takes into consideration macroeconomic conditions, industry and market conditions, cost or margin factors, and financial performance. Our evaluation of the fair value of goodwill involves a substantial amount of judgment. If our judgment was incorrect, or if events or circumstances change, and an impairment of goodwill was deemed to exist, we would be required to write down our goodwill resulting in a charge against income, which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition, perhaps materially; however, it would have no impact on our liquidity, operations or regulatory capital.
Other Risks Related to Our Business
We will be required to transition from the use of the London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR") in the future.
FHLB advances, loans receivable, investment securities, subordinated debentures and trust preferred securities may be indexed to LIBOR to calculate the interest rate. The continued availability of the LIBOR index is not guaranteed after 2021 and LIBOR is scheduled to be eliminated entirely by June 2023. We cannot predict whether and to what extent banks will continue to provide LIBOR submissions to the administrator of LIBOR or whether any additional reforms to LIBOR may be enacted. At this time, no consensus exists as to what rate or rates may become acceptable alternatives to LIBOR (with the exception of overnight
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repurchase agreements, which are expected to be based on SOFR). Uncertainty as to the nature of alternative reference rates and as to potential changes or other reforms to LIBOR may adversely affect LIBOR rates and the value of LIBOR-based loans, and to a lesser extent securities in our portfolio, and may impact the availability and cost of hedging instruments and borrowings, including the rates we pay on our trust preferred securities. The language in our LIBOR-based contracts and financial instruments has developed over time and may have various events that trigger when a successor rate to the designated rate would be selected. If a trigger is satisfied, contracts and financial instruments may give the calculation agent discretion over the substitute index or indices for the calculation of interest rates to be selected. The implementation of a substitute index or indices for the calculation of interest rates under our loan agreements with our borrowers or our borrowings may result in our incurring significant expenses in effecting the transition, may result in reduced loan balances if borrowers do not accept the substitute index or indices and may result in disputes or litigation with clients and creditors over the appropriateness or comparability to LIBOR of the substitute index or indices, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
To mitigate the uncertainty surrounding the LIBOR transition, the Bank has been utilizing specific contract language in new loan agreements that provides for changes in the index used to calculate the loan's interest rate. Additionally, effective January 25, 2021, the Company agreed to adhere to the Interbank Offered Rate Fallbacks Protocol as published by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc recommended by the Alternative Reference Rates Committee.
Decreased volumes and lower gains on sales of mortgage loans sold could adversely impact our noninterest income.
We originate and sell residential real estate loans, or mortgage loans. The related mortgage income is a significant portion of our noninterest income. We generate gains on the sale of residential real estate loans pursuant to programs currently offered by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and other secondary market purchasers. Any future changes in these purchase programs, our eligibility to participate in such programs, the criteria for loans to be accepted or laws that significantly affect the activity of such entities could, in turn, materially adversely affect our results of operations. Further, in a rising or higher interest rate environment, our originations of mortgage loans may decrease resulting in fewer loans that are available to be sold to investors. This would result in a decrease in gain on loans, net and a corresponding decrease in noninterest income. In addition, our results of operations are affected by the amount of noninterest expense associated with mortgage banking activities, such as salaries and employee benefits; occupancy and equipment expense; data processing expense and other operating costs. During periods of reduced loan demand, our results of operations may be adversely affected to the extent that we are unable to reduce expenses commensurate with the decline in mortgage loan originations.
Ineffective liquidity management could adversely affect our financial results and condition.
Effective liquidity management is essential to our business. We require sufficient liquidity to meet customer loan requests, customer deposit maturities and withdrawals, payments on our debt obligations as they come due and other cash commitments under both normal operating conditions and other unpredictable circumstances, including events causing industry or general financial market stress. An inability to raise funds through deposits, borrowings, the sale of loans or investment securities and other sources could have a substantial negative effect on our liquidity. We rely on customer deposits and borrowings from the FHLB and certain other wholesale funding sources to fund our operations. Deposit flows and the prepayment of loans and mortgage-related investment securities are strongly influenced by such external factors as the direction of interest rates, whether actual or perceived, and the competition for deposits and loans in the markets we serve. Further, changes to the FHLB's underwriting guidelines for wholesale borrowings or lending policies may limit or restrict our ability to borrow and could therefore have a significant adverse impact on our liquidity. Although we have historically been able to replace maturing deposits and borrowings if desired, we may not be able to replace such funds in the future if, among other things, our financial condition, the financial condition of the FHLB or market conditions change. Our access to funding sources in amounts adequate to finance our activities or on terms which are acceptable could be impaired by factors that affect us, the financial services industry or the economy in general, such as a disruption in the financial markets or negative views and expectations about the prospects for the financial services industry or deterioration in credit markets. Additional factors that could detrimentally impact our access to liquidity sources include a decrease in the level of our business activity as a result of a downturn in the markets in which our deposits and loans are concentrated, negative operating results or adverse regulatory action against us. Any decline in available funding in amounts adequate to finance our activities or on terms which are acceptable could adversely impact our ability to originate loans, invest in securities, pay our expenses or fulfill obligations such as repaying our borrowings or meeting deposit withdrawal demands, any of which could, in turn, have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Additionally, collateralized public funds are bank deposits of state and local municipalities. These deposits are required to be secured by certain investment grade securities to ensure repayment, which on the one hand tends to reduce our contingent liquidity risk by making these funds somewhat less credit sensitive, but on the other hand reduces standby liquidity by restricting the potential liquidity of the pledged collateral. Although these funds historically have been a relatively stable source of funds for us, availability depends on the individual municipality's fiscal policies and cash flow needs.
Societal responses to climate change could adversely affect our business and performance, including indirectly through impacts on our customers.
Concerns over the long-term impacts of climate change have led and will continue to lead to governmental efforts around the world to mitigate those impacts. Consumers and businesses also may change their behavior on their own as a result of these concerns. We and our customers will need to respond to new laws and regulations as well as consumer and business preferences resulting from climate change concerns. We and our customers may face cost increases, asset value reductions and operating process changes. The impact on our customers will likely vary depending on their specific attributes, including reliance on or role in carbon intensive activities. Among the impacts to us could be a drop in demand for our products and services,
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particularly in certain industry sectors. In addition, we could face reductions in creditworthiness on the part of some customers or in the value of assets securing loans. Our efforts to take these risks into account in making lending and other decisions, including by increasing our business with climate-friendly companies, may not be effective in protecting us from the negative impact of new laws and regulations or changes in consumer or business behavior.
Risk Related to Holding Our Common Stock
Our growth or future losses may require us to raise additional capital in the future, but that capital may not be available when it is needed or the cost of that capital may be very high; further, the resulting dilution of our equity may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
We are required by federal and state regulatory authorities to maintain adequate levels of capital to support our operations. At some point, we may need to raise additional capital to support our growth or replenish future losses. Our ability to raise additional capital, if needed, will depend on conditions in the capital markets at that time, which are outside our control, and on our financial condition and performance. Accordingly, we cannot make assurances we will be able to raise additional capital, if needed, on terms that are acceptable to us or at all. If we cannot raise additional capital when needed, our ability to further expand our operations through internal growth and acquisitions could be materially impaired and our financial condition and liquidity could be materially and adversely affected.
In addition, any additional capital we obtain may result in the dilution of the interests of existing holders of our common stock. Further, if we are unable to raise additional capital when required by our bank regulators, we may be subject to adverse regulatory action.
We rely on dividends from the Bank for substantially all of our revenue at the holding company level.
We are an entity separate and distinct from our subsidiary, the Bank, and derive substantially all of our revenue at the holding company level in the form of dividends from that subsidiary. Accordingly, we are, and will be, dependent upon dividends from the Bank to pay the principal of and interest on our indebtedness, to satisfy our other cash needs and to pay dividends on our common stock. The Bank's ability to pay dividends is subject to its ability to earn net income and to meet certain regulatory requirements. In the event the Bank is unable to pay dividends to us, we may not be able to pay dividends on our common stock. Also, our right to participate in a distribution of assets upon a subsidiary's liquidation or reorganization is subject to the prior claims of the subsidiary's creditors.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
The Company has no unresolved staff comments from the SEC as it relates to the Company's financial information as reported in the Form 10-K.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
The main office of the Company and the Bank is located in downtown Olympia, Washington. In addition, the Bank owns back office locations in downtown Tacoma, Washington; Lynnwood, Washington and Burlington, Washington. The Bank's branch network at December 31, 2021 was comprised of 49 branches located throughout Washington and Oregon following the consolidation of 12 branches during the year ended December 31, 2021. In the opinion of management, all properties are adequately covered by insurance, are in good state of repair and are adequate to meet our present and immediately foreseeable needs.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
We, and our Bank, are not a party to any material pending legal proceedings other than ordinary routine litigation incidental to our businesses.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable
PART II
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR THE REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market Information
Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol HFWA.
Holders
At December 31, 2021, we had approximately 1,183 shareholders of record (not including the number of persons or entities holding stock in nominee or street name through various brokerage firms) and 35,105,779 outstanding shares of
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common stock.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
The following table sets forth information about the Company’s purchases of its outstanding common stock during the quarter ended December 31, 2021:
Of the common shares repurchased by the Company between October 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021, 846 shares represented the cancellation of stock to pay withholding taxes on vested restricted stock units. See Note (15) Stockholders' Equity of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8. Financial Statements And Supplementary Data for additional information on publicly announced repurchase plans or programs.
Performance Graph
The following graph shows the five-year comparison of the total return to shareholders of the Company’s common stock as compared to the NASDAQ Composite Index, the KBW NASDAQ Bank Index and the S&P U.S. SmallCap Banks Index during the five-year period beginning December 31, 2016 and ending December 31, 2021. The graph assumes the value of the investment in Company’s common stock and each index was $100 on December 31, 2016, and all dividends were reinvested. Total return includes appreciation or depreciation in market value of the Company’s common stock as well as actual cash and stock dividends paid to common shareholders. The NASDAQ Composite Index is a broad equity market index comprised of all domestic and international common stocks listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. During the year ended December 31, 2021, the previously used SNL U.S. Bank NASDAQ Index was replaced by the KBW NASDAQ Bank Index on the S&P Global Market Intelligence platform. The KBW NASDAQ Bank Index is and the previously used SNL U.S. Bank NASDAQ Index was a published industry index comprised of banks and related holding companies listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market. The S&P U.S. SmallCap Banks Index is also a published industry index, however, the index constituents are aligned within the same market capitalization range as the Company and we will include the S&P U.S. SmallCap Banks Index in the future since it is more closely aligned with holding companies and banks of our size.
.
Years Ended December 31,
*Information for the graph was provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
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ITEM 6. [RESERVED]
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion is intended to assist in understanding the financial condition and results of operations of the Company as of and for the year ended December 31, 2021. The information contained in this section should be read together with the December 31, 2021 audited Consolidated Financial Statements and the accompanying Notes included in Item 8. Financial Statements And Supplementary Data of this Form 10-K.
This section of this Form 10-K generally discusses 2021 and 2020 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2021 and 2020. Discussions of 2019 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2020 and 2019 that are not included in this Form 10-K can be found in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020.
Overview
Heritage Financial Corporation is a bank holding company which primarily engages in the business activities of our wholly-owned financial institution subsidiary, Heritage Bank. We provide financial services to our local communities with an ongoing strategic focus on our commercial banking relationships, market expansion and asset quality. The Company’s business activities generally are limited to passive investment activities and oversight of its investment in the Bank. Accordingly, the information set forth in this report relates primarily to the Bank’s operations.
Our business consists primarily of commercial lending and deposit relationships with small to medium sized businesses and their owners in our market areas and attracting deposits from the general public. We also make real estate construction and land development loans and consumer loans. We additionally originate for sale or for investment purposes residential real estate loans on single family properties located primarily in our markets. During the three months ended March 31, 2020, we ceased indirect auto loan originations, included in our consumer loan portfolio.
Our core profitability depends primarily on our net interest income. Net interest income is the difference between interest income, which is the income that we earn on interest earning assets, comprised primarily of loans and investment securities, and interest expense, which is the amount we pay on our interest bearing liabilities, consisting primarily of deposits. Management manages the repricing characteristics of the Company's interest earning assets and interest bearing liabilities to protect net interest income from changes in market interest rates and changes in the shape of the yield curve. Like most financial institutions, our net interest income is significantly affected by general and local economic conditions, particularly changes in market interest rates, and by governmental policies and actions of regulatory agencies. Net interest income is additionally affected by changes in the volume and mix of interest earning assets, interest earned on these assets, the volume and mix of interest bearing liabilities and interest paid on these liabilities.
Our net income is affected by many factors, including the provision for credit losses on loans. The provision for credit losses on loans is dependent on changes in the loan portfolio and management’s assessment of the collectability of the loan portfolio as well as prevailing economic and market conditions. Management believes that the ACL on loans reflects the amount that is appropriate to provide for current expected credit losses in our loan portfolio based on our methodology.
Net income is also affected by noninterest income and noninterest expense. Noninterest income primarily consists of service charges and other fees and other income. Noninterest expense consists primarily of compensation and employee benefits, occupancy and equipment, data processing and professional services. Compensation and employee benefits consist primarily of the salaries and wages paid to our employees, payroll taxes, expenses for retirement and other employee benefits. Occupancy and equipment expenses are the fixed and variable costs of buildings and equipment and consists primarily of lease expenses, depreciation charges, maintenance and utilities. Data processing consists primarily of processing and network services related to the Bank’s core operating system, including the account processing system, electronic payments processing of products and services, internet and mobile banking channels and software-as-a-service providers. Professional services consists primarily of third-party service providers such as auditors, consultants and lawyers.
Results of operations may also be significantly affected by general and local economic and competitive conditions, governmental policies and actions of regulatory authorities, especially changes resulting from the COVID-19 Pandemic and the governmental actions taken to address it. Net income is also impacted by growth of operations through organic growth or acquisitions.
COVID-19 Pandemic Response
The Company maintains its commitment to supporting its community and customers during the COVID-19 Pandemic and remains focused on keeping its employees safe and the Bank running effectively to serve its customers. As of December 31, 2021, nearly all Bank branches are open with normal hours and substantially all employees are expected to return to their go-forward working environments during the three months ended March 31, 2022. The Bank will continue to monitor branch access and occupancy levels in relation to cases and close contact scenarios and follow governmental restrictions and public health authority guidelines.
Branch Consolidation Plan
The Company reduced the branch count to 49 from 61 branches at December 31, 2020, including the consolidation of
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eight branches during the three months ended March 31, 2021 and four branches in October 2021. The Company integrated these locations into other branches within its network. These actions were the result of the Company’s increased focus on balancing physical locations and digital banking channels, driven by increased customer usage of online and mobile banking and a commitment to improve digital banking technology.
Results of Operations
Net income was $98.0 million, or $2.73 per diluted common share, for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to $46.6 million, or $1.29 per diluted common share, for the year ended December 31, 2020. Net income increased $51.5 million, or 110.5%, due primarily to a reversal of provision for credit losses of $29.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to a provision for credit losses of $36.1 million for the same period in 2020.
The Company’s efficiency ratio was 62.09% for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to 62.52% for the year ended December 31, 2020.
Average Balances, Yields and Rates Paid
The following table provides relevant net interest income information for the periods indicated:
Year Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
Interest Earning Assets:
Interest Bearing Liabilities:
(1) Average balances are calculated using daily balances.
(2) Average loan receivable, net includes loans held for sale and loans classified as nonaccrual, which carry a zero yield. Interest earned on loans receivable, net includes the amortization of net deferred loan fees of $28.4 million, $14.4 million and $776,000 for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively.
(3) Yields on tax-exempt loans and securities have not been stated on a tax-equivalent basis.
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Net Interest Income and Margin Overview
One of the Company's key sources of earnings is net interest income. There are several factors that affect net interest income, including, but not limited to, the volume, pricing, mix and maturity of interest earning assets and interest bearing liabilities; the volume of noninterest earning assets, noninterest bearing demand deposits, other noninterest bearing liabilities and stockholders' equity; market interest rate fluctuations; and asset quality.
The following table provides the changes in net interest income due to changes in average asset and liability balances (volume), changes in average rates (rate) and changes attributable to the combined effect of volume and interest rates allocated proportionately to the absolute value of changes due to volume and changes due to interest rates:
Volume Rate Total Volume Rate Total
(Dollars in thousands) (Dollars in thousands)
Interest Earning Assets:
Interest Bearing Liabilities:
Securities sold under agreement to repurchase 75 (95) (20) (4) (11) (15)
FHLB advances and other borrowings (4) (4) (8) (157) (140) (297)
Net interest income increased $4.8 million, or 2.4%, to $205.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to $201.0 million for 2020 due primarily to the Bank decreasing deposit rates following decreases in short-term market interest rates and secondarily due to an increase in the yield of loans receivable, net, predominately from higher amortization of deferred SBA PPP loan fees recognized from forgiven SBA PPP loans and higher recoveries of interest and fees on loans classified as nonaccrual. These factors increasing net interest income were offset partially by a decrease in average loans receivable, net and a decrease in the yield on taxable securities.
Net interest margin decreased due primarily to the significant increase in low-yielding average interest earning deposits to average total earning assets of 18.7% during the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to 5.7% for the same period in 2020, reducing the yield on interest earning assets for 2021.
The following table presents the loan yield and the impacts of SBA PPP loans and the incremental accretion on purchased loans on this financial measure for the periods presented below:
Year Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
Loan yield (GAAP) 4.54 % 4.44 %
Exclude impact from SBA PPP loans (0.20) % 0.16 %
Exclude impact from incremental accretion on purchased loans (0.07) % (0.08) %
(1) For additional information, see the "Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures" section below.
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Provision for Credit Losses Overview
The aggregate of the provision for credit losses on loans and the provision for credit losses on unfunded commitments is presented on the Consolidated Statements of Income as the provision for credit losses. The ACL on unfunded commitments is included on the Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition within accrued expenses and other liabilities.
The following table presents the provision for credit losses for the periods indicated:
Year Ended December 31,
(In thousands)
Provision for credit losses on loans $ (27,298) $ 35,433
Provision for credit losses on unfunded commitments (2,074) 673
The reversal of provision for credit losses recognized during the year ended December 31, 2021 was due primarily to improvements in forecasted economic indicators used to calculate credit losses during the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the worsening of economic indicators during the year ended December 31, 2020 stemming from the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Noninterest Income Overview
The following table presents the change in the key components of noninterest income for the periods indicated:
Year Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
Gain on sale of investment securities, net 29 1,518 (1,489) (98.1)
Noninterest income decreased due primarily to lower bank owned life insurance income as the year ended December 31, 2020 included the recognition of death benefits of $1.9 million and lower other income as last year included trust income of $1.6 million, including a termination fee of $651,000 from the divestiture of our trust department. Additionally, noninterest income was lower due to reduced gain on sale of investment securities due to fewer sales, a decrease in gain on sale of loans due primarily to lower sales volume of secondary market mortgage loans and a decline in interest rate swap fees due to fewer executions of interest rate swap contracts. Partially offsetting these decreases was an increase in gain on sale of other assets, net for the year ended December 31, 2021, including a $2.7 million gain from the sale and leaseback of the Company's headquarters in Olympia, Washington.
Noninterest Expense Overview
The following table presents changes in the key components of noninterest expense for the periods indicated:
Year Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
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Year Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
Noninterest expense increased slightly due primarily to an increase in data processing expense as the Bank continues to invest in technology. Additionally, noninterest expense increased due to compensation and employee benefits primarily as a result of severance payments following a strategic reduction in force and an increase in accrual for incentive payments. The increase in noninterest expense was offset partially by lower professional services expense due to costs incurred during the year ended December 31, 2020 related to the launch of the new mobile and online commercial banking platform "Heritage Direct" last year and secondarily due to the decrease in other expense from lower branch consolidation costs recognized during the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.
Income Tax Expense Overview
The following table presents the income tax expense and related metrics and the change for the periods indicated:
Year Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
Income tax expense and the effective income tax rate both increased due primarily to higher pre-tax income, which decreased the impact of favorable permanent tax items such as tax-exempt investments, investments in bank owned life insurance and low-income housing tax credits, and secondarily due to a provision in the CARES Act, which permitted the Company to recognize a $1.0 million benefit from net operating losses related to prior acquisitions during the year ended December 31, 2020. Additionally, the Bank's New Market Tax Credit was fully utilized during the seven year period ending December 31, 2020 and the related entities were dissolved in May 2021. In 2021, the Bank formed HBCDE, LLC which was certified as a Community Development Entity by the Department of the Treasury Community Development Financial Institutions Fund in September 2021. The newly created entity is expected to commence funding eligible loans during the year ended December 31, 2022 and apply for New Market Tax Credits in future years.
Financial Condition Overview
The table below provides a comparison of the changes in the Company's financial condition for the periods indicated:
(Dollars in thousands)
Assets
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(Dollars in thousands)
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity
Total assets increased due primarily to increases in cash and cash equivalents and total investment securities due primarily to the significant increase in total deposits, which is discussed in more detail in the "Deposit Activities Overview" section below. The increase in total assets was offset partially by a decrease in loans receivable, net, which is discussed in more detail in the "Lending Activities Overview" section below.
Investment Activities Overview
Our investment policy is established by the Company's board of directors and monitored by the Risk Committee of the board of directors. It is designed primarily to provide and maintain liquidity, generate a favorable return on investments without incurring undue interest rate and credit risk, and complements the Bank's lending activities. The policy permits investment in various types of liquid assets permissible under applicable regulations. Investment in non-investment grade bonds and stripped mortgage-backed securities is not permitted under the policy.
The following table provides information regarding our investment securities at the dates indicated:
Balance % ofTotal Balance % ofTotal Change % Change
(Dollars in thousands)
Investment securities available for sale, at fair value:
Investment securities held to maturity, at amortized cost:
Total investment securities increased due primarily to purchases of $756.4 million, offset partially by maturities, calls and payments of investment securities of $255.9 million. Additionally, we transferred $244.8 million of investment securities available for sale to investment securities held to maturity in order to mitigate market price volatility and its impact to AOCI within stockholders' equity.
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The following table provides the weighted average yield at December 31, 2021 calculated based upon the fair values of our investment securities available for sale and held to maturity and excluding any income tax benefits of tax-exempt bonds:
(Dollars in thousands)
Investment securities available for sale:
Investment securities held to maturity:
Loan Portfolio Overview
Changes by loan type
The Bank originates a wide variety of loans with a focus on commercial business loans. The following table provides information about our loan portfolio by type of loan at the dates indicated:
(Dollars in thousands)
Commercial business:
Real estate construction and land development:
Loans receivable decreased due primarily to a decrease in SBA PPP loans as a result of forgiveness payments received from the SBA in excess of SBA PPP originations and elevated prepayments of commercial and industrial loans. Additionally, the consumer loan portfolio decreased due partially to continued runoff of the indirect auto loan portfolio following the cessation of this business line during the three months ended March 31, 2020. Offsetting these decreases was an increase in CRE loans which includes the transfer of several completed projects from real estate construction and land development loans.
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SBA Paycheck Protection Program
The Bank has supported its community and customers during the COVID-19 Pandemic through its participation in the SBA's PPP. The SBA PPP ended on May 31, 2021.
The Bank earns 1% interest on these loans as well as a fee from the SBA to cover processing costs, which is amortized over the life of the loan and recognized fully at payoff or forgiveness. The Bank began processing loan forgiveness applications and receiving SBA PPP forgiveness payments during the three months ended December 31, 2020.
Composition of loans receivable by contractual maturity and interest type
The following table presents the amortized cost of the loan portfolio by segment and contractual maturity at December 31, 2021:
(In thousands)
Commercial business:
Real estate construction and land development:
The following table presents the amortized cost of the loan portfolio by segment and interest rate type that are due after one year at December 31, 2021:
(In thousands)
Commercial business:
Real estate construction and land development:
(1) Includes $2.2 million of real estate construction and land development loans with predetermined interest rates and $329.2 million of commercial business loans with floating or adjustable interest rates in which the Bank entered into non-hedge interest rate swap contracts with the borrower and a third-party. Under these derivative contract arrangements, the Bank effectively earns a variable rate of interest based on the one-month LIBOR plus a margin, except for interest rate swap contracts on construction loans that earn fixed rates until the end of the construction period and the variable rate swap becomes effective.
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Loans classified as nonaccrual and performing TDR and nonperforming assets
The following table provides information about our nonaccrual loans, performing TDR loans and nonperforming assets for the dates indicated:
(Dollars in thousands)
Nonaccrual loans: (1)
Real estate construction and land development 571 1,022 (451) (44.1)
Other real estate owned — — — n/a
Accruing loans past due 90 days or more $ 293 $ — $ 293 100.0 %
Credit quality ratios:
Nonaccrual loans to loans receivable 0.62 % 1.30 % (0.68) % (52.3) %
Performing TDR loans: (1)
(1) At December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, $1.4 million and $3.2 million of nonaccrual loans, respectively, and $1.6 million and $1.9 million of performing TDR loans, respectively, were guaranteed by government agencies.
The following table provides the changes in nonaccrual loans during the periods indicated:
Year Ended December 31,
(In thousands)
The decrease in nonaccrual loans during the year ended December 31, 2021 was due primarily to payoffs, including a payoff of an agricultural business relationship of $10.7 million, which was initially classified as nonaccrual during the three months ended September 30, 2019, and the return to accrual status of an owner-occupied CRE relationship of $7.0 million. The Bank recovered $1.5 million of interest and fees on loans related to the payoff of the agricultural business relationship. Additionally, the volume of additions to the nonaccrual loan classification decreased to $1.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to $33.0 million last year which contributed to the lower ending balance of loans classified as nonaccrual. The decrease in nonaccrual loans improved the Bank's credit quality ratios.
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Allowance for Credit Losses on Loans Overview
The following table provides information regarding changes in our ACL on loans for the years indicated:
At or For the Years Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
Charge-offs:
Real estate construction and land development (1) (417) 416 (99.8)
Recoveries:
Residential real estate — 3 (3) (100.0)
Real estate construction and land development 32 278 (246) (88.5)
Credit quality ratios:
ACL on loans to loans receivable 1.11 % 1.57 % (0.46) % (29.3) %
Average balances outstanding during the period: (2)
Residential real estate — — — n/a
Real estate construction and land development (0.01) 0.05 (0.06) (120.0)
(1) The ACL on loans does not include a reserve for SBA PPP loans as these loans are fully guaranteed by the SBA. See "Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures" section below.
(2) Average balances exclude the ACL on loans and loans held for sale, but include loans classified as nonaccrual.
The ACL on loans decreased due primarily to a reversal of provision for credit losses on loans recorded during the year ended December 31, 2021 following improvements in the economic forecast used in the CECL model at December 31, 2021 as compared to the economic forecast at December 31, 2020.
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The following table presents the ACL on loans by loan portfolio segment at the indicated dates:
(Dollars in thousands)
(1) Represents the percent of loans receivable by loan category to loans receivable.
Deposits Overview
The following table summarizes the Company's deposits at the dates indicated:
Balance Percent of Total Balance Percent of Total Change % Change
(Dollars in thousands)
Total deposits increased due primarily to proceeds from SBA PPP loans originated during the year ended December 31, 2021 which were deposited directly into the customers' deposit accounts.
Total deposits includes uninsured deposits of $2.68 billion and $2.17 billion at December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, calculated in accordance with FDIC guidelines. The Bank does not hold any foreign deposits.
The following table provides the uninsured portion of certificates of deposit at December 31, 2021, by account, with a maturity of:
(In thousands)
Three months or less $ 10,264
Over three months through six months 24,102
Over six months through twelve months 11,542
Over twelve months 5,623
Stockholders' Equity Overview
The Company’s stockholders' equity to assets ratio was 11.5% as of December 31, 2021 and 12.4% as of December 31, 2020. The following table provides the changes to stockholders' equity during the periods indicated:
Year Ended December 31,
(In thousands)
Cumulative effect from change in accounting policy (1) — (5,615) 5,615 (100.0)
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Year Ended December 31,
(In thousands)
(1) Effective January 1, 2020, the Bank adopted ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses.
The Company repurchased 904,972 and 795,700 shares of its common stock under the Company's stock repurchase plans during the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The repurchases represented approximately 2.5% and 2.2% of the Company's stock outstanding at the beginning of each year.
The Company has historically paid cash dividends to its common shareholders. Payments of future cash dividends, if any, will be at the discretion of our board of directors after taking into account various factors, including our business, operating results and financial condition, capital requirements, current and anticipated cash needs, plans for expansion, any legal or contractual limitation on our ability to pay dividends and other relevant factors. Dividends on common stock from the Company depend substantially upon receipt of dividends from the Bank, which is the Company’s predominant source of income. On January 26, 2022, the Company’s board of directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.21 per common share payable on February 23, 2022 to shareholders of record on February 9, 2022.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
The following table provides the material cash requirements and capital resources from known contractual and other obligations and sources as of December 31, 2021:
One Year or Less Over One Year Other (1) Total
(Dollars in thousands)
Cash requirements:
Securities sold under agreement to repurchase — — 50,839 50,839
Capital resources:
Unencumbered investment securities available for sale 737,454 — — 737,454
(1)Represents the undefined maturity of non-maturity deposits, including noninterest bearing demand deposits, interest bearing demand deposits, money market accounts and savings accounts, and securities sold under agreement to repurchase, which can generally both be withdrawn on demand.
(2)Includes FHLB borrowing availability of $1.06 billion at December 31, 2021 based on pledged assets, however, maximum credit capacity is 45% of the Bank's total assets one quarter in arrears or $3.26 billion.
We maintain sufficient cash and cash equivalents and investment securities to meet short-term liquidity needs and actively monitor our long-term liquidity position to ensure the availability of capital resources for contractual obligations, strategic loan growth objectives and to fund operations. Our funding strategy has been to acquire non-maturity deposits from our retail accounts, acquire noninterest bearing demand deposits from our commercial customers and use our borrowing availability to
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fund growth in assets. We may also acquire brokered deposits when the cost of funds is advantageous to other funding sources. Borrowings may be used on a short-term basis to compensate for reductions in other sources of funds (such as deposit inflows at less than projected levels). Borrowings may also be used on a longer-term basis to support expanded lending activities and match the maturity of repricing intervals of assets. While maturities and scheduled amortization of loans are a predictable source of funds, deposit flows and loan prepayments are greatly influenced by the level of interest rates, economic conditions and competition so we adhere to internal management targets assigned to the loan to deposit ratio, liquidity ratio, net short-term non-core funding ratio and non-core liabilities to total assets ratio to ensure an appropriate liquidity position.
The Company pays dividends to our shareholders and the primary source of the Company's liquidity is cash obtained from dividends from the Bank. We expect to continue our current practice of paying quarterly cash dividends on our common stock subject to our board of directors’ discretion to modify or terminate this practice at any time and for any reason without prior notice. Our current quarterly common stock dividend rate is $0.21 per share, as approved by our board of directors, which we believe is a dividend rate per share which enables us to balance our multiple objectives of managing and investing in the Bank and returning a substantial portion of our cash to our shareholders. Assuming continued payment during 2022 at this rate of $0.21 per share, our average total dividend paid each quarter would be approximately $7.4 million based on the number of our current outstanding shares (which assumes no increases or decreases in the number of shares).
Management believes the capital sources are adequate to meet all reasonably foreseeable short-term and intermediate-term cash requirements.
Critical Accounting Policies
Critical accounting estimates are those estimates made in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles that involve a significant level of estimation uncertainty and have had or are reasonably likely to have a material impact on the financial condition or results of operations of the registrant. The Company considers its critical accounting estimates to be as follows:
ACL on Investment Securities
Investment securities issued by the U.S. government and its agencies are either explicitly or implicitly guaranteed by the U.S. government, highly rated by major credit rating agencies and have a long history of no credit losses and therefore management concluded any declines in fair value were attributable to changes in interest rates relative to where these investments fall within the yield curve and individual characteristics. The remainder of investment securities available for sale were issued by municipal or corporate issuers. Management examined the combination of credit ratings, at the individual security level, and an analysis of historical defaults by credit rating for municipal and corporate securities since 1970 and determined the probability and magnitude of loss was insignificant.
Management's reliance on credit ratings and an analysis of historical defaults is subjective and these historical inputs may not be suitable predictors of future performance. Unanticipated changes in the credit ratings or the historical defaults could have a significant impact on our financial condition and results of operations.
For additional information regarding the ACL on investment securities, see Note (1) Description of Business, Basis of Presentation, Significant Accounting Policies and Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements and Note (2) Investment Securities of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8. Financial Statements And Supplementary Data.
ACL on Loans
Management's estimate of the ACL on loans relies on the identification, stratification and separate estimates of loss for loans individually evaluated for loss and loans collectively evaluated for loss. The estimate of loss for loans collectively evaluated for loss particularly involves a significant level of estimation uncertainty due to its complexity and quantity of inputs including: management's determination of baseline loss rate multipliers based on a third-party forecast of economic conditions, an estimate of the reasonable and supportable forecast period, an estimate of the baseline loss rate lookback period, an estimate of the reversion period from the reasonable and supportable forecast period to the baseline loss rate, and an estimate of the prepayment rate and related lookback period. Additionally, management considers other qualitative risk factors to further adjust the estimated ACL on loans through a qualitative allowance.
Management's estimates for these inputs are based on past events and current conditions, are inherently subjective, and are susceptible to significant revision as more information becomes available. While management utilizes its best judgment and information available to recognize credit losses on loans, future additions to the allowance may be necessary based on declines in local and national economic conditions. In addition, various regulatory agencies, as an integral part of their examination process, periodically review the Bank’s ACL on loans. Such agencies may require the Bank to make adjustments to the allowance based on their judgments about information available to them at the time of their examinations. Unanticipated changes in any of these inputs could have a significant impact on our financial condition and results of operations.
For additional information regarding the ACL on loans, its relation to the provision for credit losses, its risk related to asset quality and lending activity, see Item 1A. Risk Factors—Our ACL on loans may prove to be insufficient to absorb losses in our loan portfolio as well as Note (1) Description of Business, Basis of Presentation, Significant Accounting Policies and Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements and Note (4) Allowance for Credit Losses on Loans of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8. Financial Statements And Supplementary Data.
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ACL on Unfunded Commitments
The allowance methodology for unfunded commitments is similar to the ACL on loans, but additionally includes considerations of the current utilization of the commitment, an estimate of the future utilization, an estimate of utilization of construction loans prior to completion and an estimate of construction loan advance rates as determined appropriate by historical commitment utilization and the Bank's estimates of future utilization given current economic forecasts. Unanticipated changes in loss rates estimated in the ACL on loans, as utilized in the methodology for the ACL on unfunded commitments, or the expected utilization of unfunded commitments could have a significant impact on our financial condition and results of operations.
For additional information regarding the ACL on unfunded commitments, see Note (1) Description of Business, Basis of Presentation, Significant Accounting Policies and Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements and Note (20) Commitments and Contingencies of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8. Financial Statements And Supplementary Data.
Goodwill
The Company performed its annual goodwill impairment test during the fourth quarter of 2021 and determined, based on a qualitative assessment utilizing the Company's market capitalization, that it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit exceeded the carrying value, such that the Company's goodwill was not considered impaired for the year ended December 31, 2021. Changes in the economic environment, operations of the reporting unit or other adverse events, including as a result of COVID-19, could result in future impairment charges which could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s operating results.
For additional information regarding goodwill, see Note (1) Description of Business, Basis of Presentation, Significant Accounting Policies and Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements and Note (7) Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8. Financial Statements And Supplementary Data.
Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures
This Form 10-K contains certain financial measures not presented in accordance with GAAP in addition to financial measures presented in accordance with GAAP. The Company has presented these non-GAAP financial measures in this Form 10-K because it believes that they provide useful and comparative information to assess trends in the Company’s performance and asset quality and to facilitate comparison of its performance with the performance of its peers. These non-GAAP measures have inherent limitations, are not required to be uniformly applied and are not audited. They should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial measures presented in accordance with GAAP, nor are they necessarily comparable to non-GAAP performance measures that may be presented by other companies. Reconciliations of the GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures are presented in the tables below.
The Company believes presenting loan yield excluding the effect of discount accretion on purchased loans is useful in assessing the impact of acquisition accounting on loan yield as the effect of loan discount accretion is expected to decrease as the acquired loans mature or roll off its balance sheet. Incremental accretion on purchased loans represents the amount of interest income recorded on purchased loans in excess of the contractual stated interest rate in the individual loan notes due to incremental accretion of purchased discount or premium. Purchased discount or premium is the difference between the contractual loan balance and the fair value of acquired loans at the acquisition date, or as modified by the adoption of ASU 2016-13. The purchased discount is accreted into income over the remaining life of the loan. The impact of incremental accretion on loan yield will change during any period based on the volume of prepayments, but it is expected to decrease over time as the balance of the purchased loans decreases. Similarly, presenting loan yield excluding the effect of SBA PPP loans is useful in assessing the impact of these special program loans that are anticipated to substantially decrease within a short time frame.
Year Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
Exclude SBA PPP loan interest and fees (32,109) (19,472)
Exclude incremental accretion on purchased loans (2,638) (3,446)
Adjusted interest and fees on loans (non-GAAP) $ 155,085 $ 169,499
Adjusted average loans receivable, net (non-GAAP) $ 3,632,042 $ 3,745,929
Loan yield (GAAP) 4.54 % 4.44 %
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The Company considers presenting the ratio of ACL on loans to loans receivable, excluding SBA PPP loans, to be a useful measurement in evaluating the adequacy of the Company's ACL on loans as the balance of SBA PPP loans is significant to the loan portfolio, and since SBA PPP loans are guaranteed by the SBA, the Company has not provided an ACL on loans for SBA PPP loans.
(Dollars in thousands)
ACL on loans to loans receivable, excluding SBA PPP loans
Allowance for credit losses on loans $ 42,361 $ 70,185
ACL on loans to loans receivable (GAAP) 1.11 % 1.57 %
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Market risk represents the risk of loss due to changes in market values of assets and liabilities. We incur market risk in the normal course of business through our exposure to market interest rates, equity prices and credit spreads. Our primary market risk is interest rate risk, which is the risk of loss of net interest income or net interest margin resulting from changes in market interest rates. Interest rate risk results primarily from the traditional banking activities in which the Bank engages, such as gathering deposits and extending loans. Many factors, including economic and financial conditions, movements in interest rates and consumer preferences, affect the difference between the interest earned on our assets and the interest paid on our liabilities. Management regularly reviews our exposure to changes in interest rates. Among the factors considered are changes in the mix of interest earning assets and interest bearing liabilities, interest rate spreads and repricing periods. The risk committee of the board of directors oversees market risk management, including the monitoring of risk measures and limits and policy guidelines, for the amount of interest rate risk and its effect on net interest income and capital.
On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, publicly announced that it intends to stop persuading or compelling banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021. The market transition away from LIBOR to an alternative reference rates is complex and could have a range of adverse effects on our business, consolidated financial condition and consolidated results of operations. For more information, see Item 1A. Risk Factors--Other Risks Related to Our Business.
Neither we, nor the Bank, maintain a trading account for any class of financial instrument, nor do we, or the Bank, engage in hedging activities or purchase high risk derivative instruments. Moreover, neither we, nor the Bank, are subject to foreign currency exchange rate risk or commodity price risk.
Net interest income simulation
An income simulation model is the primary tool we use to assess the direction and magnitude of changes in net interest income resulting from changes in interest rates. Modeling the sensitivity of net interest income is highly dependent on numerous assumptions incorporated into the modeling process. Key assumptions in the model include prepayment speeds on loans and investment securities, decay rates on non-maturity deposits, and pricing on investment securities, loans, deposits and borrowings. In order to measure the interest rate risk sensitivity as of December 31, 2021, this simulation model uses a “no balance sheet growth” assumption and assumes an instantaneous and sustained uniform change in market interest rates at all maturities. These assumptions are inherently uncertain and, as a result, the net interest income projections should be viewed as an estimate of the net interest income sensitivity at the time of the analysis. Actual results will differ from simulated results due to timing, magnitude and frequency of interest rate changes and changes in market conditions and management strategies, among other factors.
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Based on the results of the simulation model, the following table presents the change in our net interest income as a result of parallel rate shock scenarios for the presented periods after the dates shown:
Amount % Change in Net Interest Income Amount % Change in Net Interest Income
(Dollars in thousands)
Modeled increase in market interest rates of 100 basis points
Modeled increase in market interest rates of 200 basis points
Modeled decrease in market interest rates of 100 basis points
Decrease in net interest income in Year 1 (6,445) (3.5) (3,014) (1.5)
These scenarios are based on market interest rates as of the last day of a reporting period published by independent sources that are actively traded in the open market. Given the overall level of market interest rates at December 31, 2021, we do not believe that the results of the "Down 200" analysis provide meaningful output and therefore have been excluded. For the "Down 100" scenario, the Bank's modeling assumption is that all deposit rates are floored to one or two basis points and new loan production is recalibrated to incorporate a chosen net interest spread over index. The simulations used to manage market risk are based on numerous assumptions regarding the effect of changes in interest rates on the timing and extent of reprice characteristics, future cash flows and customer behavior. These assumptions are inherently uncertain and, as a result, the model cannot precisely estimate net interest income or precisely predict the impact of higher or lower net interest income. Actual results will differ from simulated results due to the timing, magnitude and frequency of interest rate changes as well as changes in market condition, customer behavior and management strategies, among other factors.
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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Shareholders and the Board of Directors of Heritage Financial Corporation
Olympia, Washington
Opinions on the Financial Statements and Internal Control over Financial Reporting
We have audited the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition of Heritage Financial Corporation and Subsidiaries (the "Company") as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the related Consolidated Statements of Income, Comprehensive Income, Stockholders’ Equity, and Cash Flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2021, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the "financial statements"). We also have audited the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on criteria established in the 2013 Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”).
In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2021 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on criteria established in the 2013 Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by COSO.
Change in Accounting Principle
As discussed in Note 1 to the financial statements, the Company has changed its method of accounting for allowance for credit losses effective January 1, 2020 due to the adoption of Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification No 326, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (ASC 326). The Company adopted the new current expected credit loss standard using the modified retrospective method such that prior period amounts are not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with previously applicable generally accepted accounting principles.
Basis for Opinions
The Company’s management is responsible for these financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements and an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ("PCAOB") and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud, and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.
Our audits of the financial statements included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
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Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Critical Audit Matter
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of the critical audit matter does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.
Allowance for Credit Losses on Loans – Qualitative Allowance
As described in Note 1, “Description of Business, Basis of Presentation, Significant Accounting Policies and Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements” and Note 4, “Allowance for Credit Losses (“ACL”) on Loans” to the consolidated financial statements, the Company’s consolidated allowance for credit losses on loans was $42.4 million at December 31, 2021 and reversal of provision for credit losses on loans was $27.3 million for the year then ended. The ACL on loans evaluation is inherently subjective, as it utilizes estimates that require a high degree of judgment relating to risk characteristics of loan segments, macroeconomic variables used in forecasting, and other qualitative risk factors. Changes in these judgments and estimates could have a material effect on the Company’s financial results.
The Company primarily uses a historic loss, open pool credit loss methodology to calculate the ACL on loans, which the Company has applied to identified loan segments with similar risk characteristics. The allowance for collectively evaluated loans is comprised of the baseline loss allowance, the macroeconomic allowance, and the qualitative allowance. The baseline loss allowance begins with the baseline loss rates calculated using average quarterly historical loss information for an economic cycle. The baseline loss rates are applied to each loan's estimated cash flows over the life of the loan under the remaining life method to determine the baseline loss estimate for each loan. The macroeconomic methodology incorporates a macroeconomic sensitive model which calculates multipliers for each loan segment to account for the current and forecasted conditions that adjust the baseline historical loss rates over a reasonable and supportable forecast period. Management also considers other qualitative risk factors to further adjust the estimated ACL on loans through a qualitative allowance. These adjustments are subjectively selected by management and are based on established metrics to estimate risk.
The subjective nature of the qualitative risk factor adjustments requires significant judgment by management both in the selection of qualitative factors to apply, if any, and the magnitude of the adjustment once selected. The audit procedures over the qualitative allowance utilized in management’s methodology involved especially challenging and subjective auditor judgment, including the use of more experienced audit personnel. Therefore, we identified auditing the ACL qualitative allowance as a critical audit matter.
Our audit procedures to address this critical audit matter primarily included the following:
•Tested the operating effectiveness of controls over application of the macroeconomic sensitive model and related factors including:
◦The Company’s ACL committee’s review and approval of the qualitative risk factor adjustments used to derive the qualitative allowance for the ACL on loans, and the relevance and reliability of the data used therein.
◦Management’s controls over the completeness and accuracy of the data utilized in the qualitative allowance for the ACL on loans.
•Substantively tested management’s application of the macroeconomic sensitive model and related factors including:
◦Evaluated the reasonableness of management’s judgments used in the determination of the qualitative risk factor adjustments by loan segment and the resulting allocation to the qualitative allowance for the ACL on loans.
◦Evaluated the reliability and relevancy of data used as a basis for the qualitative risk factor adjustments.
◦Tested the completeness and accuracy of the data utilized in management’s ACL methodology to derive the qualitative allowance for the ACL on loans.
/s/ Crowe LLP
We have served as the Company's auditor since 2012.
Denver, Colorado
February 24, 2022
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HERITAGE FINANCIAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION
(In thousands, except shares)
ASSETS
Allowance for credit losses on loans (42,361) (70,185)
Other real estate owned — —
Federal Home Loan Bank stock, at cost 7,933 6,661
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Securities sold under agreement to repurchase 50,839 35,683
Stockholders’ equity:
Accumulated other comprehensive income, net 9,396 25,018
See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
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HERITAGE FINANCIAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
(In thousands, except per share amounts and shares outstanding)
Year Ended December 31,
INTEREST INCOME:
Nontaxable interest on investment securities 3,899 3,659 3,396
INTEREST EXPENSE:
NONINTEREST INCOME:
Gain on sale of investment securities, net 29 1,518 330
NONINTEREST EXPENSE:
Other real estate owned, net — (145) 352
Diluted earnings per share $ 2.73 $ 1.29 $ 1.83
Dividends declared per share $ 0.81 $ 0.80 $ 0.84
See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
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HERITAGE FINANCIAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
(In thousands)
Year Ended December 31,
See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
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HERITAGE FINANCIAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
(In thousands, except shares and per share amounts)
Number ofcommonshares Commonstock Retainedearnings AOCI Totalstockholders’equity
Restricted stock units vested 125,377 — — — —
Stock-based compensation expense — 3,666 — — 3,666
Other comprehensive loss, net of tax — — — (15,622) (15,622)
Number ofcommonshares Commonstock Retainedearnings AOCI Totalstockholders’equity
Cumulative effect from change in accounting policy (1) — — (5,615) — (5,615)
Restricted stock units vested 109,853 — — — —
Stock-based compensation expense — 3,559 — — 3,559
Other comprehensive income, net of tax — — — 14,640 14,640
(1) Effective January 1, 2020, the Bank adopted ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses.
Number ofcommonshares Commonstock Retainedearnings AOCI Totalstockholders’equity
Cumulative effect from change in accounting policy (1) — — (399) — (399)
Exercise of stock options 3,901 58 — — 58
Stock-based compensation expense — 3,231 — — 3,231
Other comprehensive loss, net of tax — — — 17,833 17,833
(1) Effective January 1, 2019, the Bank adopted ASU 2016-02, Leases.
See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
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HERITAGE FINANCIAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(In thousands)
Year Ended December 31,
Cash flows from operating activities:
(Gain) loss on sale of other real estate owned — (179) 227
Gain on sale of mortgage loans held for sale, net (3,644) (5,044) (2,424)
Gain on sale of investment securities available for sale, net (29) (1,518) (330)
Gain on sale of other assets, net (4,405) (955) (246)
Impairment of assets held for sale 145 630 102
Cash flows from investing activities:
Maturities and repayments of investment securities held to maturity 1,255 — —
Purchase of investment securities held to maturity (140,288) — —
Proceeds from sales of other loans — — 3,562
Proceeds from sales of other real estate owned — 1,290 864
Proceeds from redemption of Federal Home Loan Bank stock — 2,560 18,032
Purchases of Federal Home Loan Bank stock (1,272) (2,844) (18,333)
Proceeds from sales of premises and equipment 65 554 96
Proceeds from bank owned life insurance death benefit — 1,324 —
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Year Ended December 31,
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayment of Federal Home Loan Bank advances — (64,000) (445,800)
Proceeds from exercise of stock options — 122 58
Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information:
Supplemental non-cash disclosures of cash flow information:
Cumulative effect from change in accounting policy (1) — 7,175 29,754
Transfers of loans receivable to other real estate owned $ — $ 270 $ —
(1) Effective January 1, 2020 and 2019, the Bank adopted ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses, and ASU 2016-02, Leases, respectively.
See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
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HERITAGE FINANCIAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the Years Ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019
(1)Description of Business, Basis of Presentation, Significant Accounting Policies and Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
(a) Description of Business
The Company is primarily engaged in the business of planning, directing and coordinating the business activities of its wholly-owned subsidiary, the Bank. The Bank is headquartered in Olympia, Washington and conducts business from its 49 branch offices located throughout Washington State and the greater Portland, Oregon area. The Bank’s business consists primarily of commercial lending and deposit relationships with small and medium-sized businesses and their owners in its market areas and attracting deposits from the general public. The Bank also makes real estate construction and land development loans, consumer loans and originates first mortgage loans on residential properties primarily located in its market areas. The Bank's deposits are insured by the FDIC.
(b) Basis of Presentation
The accompanying audited Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with GAAP for annual financial information and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC. To prepare the audited Consolidated Financial Statements in conformity with GAAP, management makes estimates and assumptions based on available information. These estimates and assumptions affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and the disclosures provided. Management believes that the judgments, estimates, and assumptions used in the preparation of the Consolidated Financial Statements are appropriate based on the facts and circumstances at the time. Actual results, however, could differ significantly from those estimates. Material estimates that are particularly susceptible to significant change relate to management's estimate of the ACL on investment securities, management's estimate of the ACL on loans, management's estimate of the ACL on unfunded commitments, management's evaluation of goodwill impairment and management's estimate of the fair value of financial instruments.
The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiary, the Bank. All significant intercompany balances and transactions among the Company and the Bank have been eliminated in consolidation.
Certain prior year amounts in the Consolidated Statements of Income have been reclassified to conform to the current year’s presentation. Reclassifications had no effect on the prior year's net income or stockholders’ equity.
(c) Significant Accounting Policies
Cash and Cash Equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents include cash on hand and in banks and interest earning deposits due substantially from the Federal Reserve Bank. Cash equivalents have a maturity of 90 days or less at the time of purchase.
Investment Securities
Investment securities for which the Bank has the positive intent and ability to hold to maturity are classified as held to maturity and are carried at amortized cost. Investment securities held primarily for the purpose of selling in the near term are classified as trading securities and are reported at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses included in income. Investment securities not classified as held to maturity or trading are classified as available for sale and are reported at fair value with unrealized gains and losses, net of income taxes, as a separate component of other comprehensive income. The Bank determines the appropriate classification of investment securities at the time of purchase and reassesses the classification at each reporting date. Any subsequent reassessment of classification and transfer of investment securities available for sale to held to maturity are completed at the amortized cost basis plus or minus the amount of any remaining unrealized holding gain or loss reported in AOCI of the individual investment securities available for sale. The unrealized holding gain or loss at the date of the transfer continues to be recognized in AOCI, but that gain or loss is amortized over the remaining life of the security using the interest method. When the Company acquires another entity, all investment securities are recorded at fair value and classified as available for sale at the acquisition date.
Realized gains and losses on sales of investment securities are recorded on the trade date in gain on sale of investment securities, net on the Consolidated Statements of Income and determined using the specific identification method. Premiums and discounts on investment securities available for sale and held to maturity are amortized or accreted into income using the interest method. An investment security available for sale or held to maturity is placed on nonaccrual status at the time any principal or payments become more than 90 days delinquent and classified as past due after 30 days of nonpayment. Interest accrued, but not received for an investment security classified as nonaccrual is reversed against interest income during the period that the investment security is placed on nonaccrual status.
ACL on Investment Securities Available for Sale
Management evaluates the need for an ACL on investment securities available for sale on at least a quarterly basis, and more frequently when economic or market conditions warrant such an evaluation. For investment securities available for sale in
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an unrealized loss position, the Company first assesses whether it intends to sell or it is more likely than not that it will be required to sell the security before the recovery of its amortized cost basis. If either of the criteria regarding intent or requirement to sell is met, the security’s amortized cost basis is written down to fair value through a provision for credit loss against income. For investment securities available for sale that do not meet the aforementioned criteria, the Company evaluates whether the decline in fair value has resulted from credit losses or other factors. In making this assessment, management considers the extent to which fair value is less than amortized cost, any changes to the rating of the security by a rating agency and adverse conditions specifically related to the security, among other factors. The credit loss is defined as the difference between the present value of the cash flows expected to be collected and the amortized cost basis. If the present value of cash flows expected to be collected is less than the amortized cost basis, a credit loss exists and an ACL on investment securities available for sale is recorded for the credit loss, limited by the amount that the fair value is less than the amortized cost basis. Any unrealized decline in fair value that has not been recorded through an ACL on investment securities available for sale is recognized in other comprehensive income.
Accrued interest receivable on investment securities available for sale is excluded from the estimate of expected credit losses. Changes in the ACL on investment securities available for sale are recorded as provision for credit losses expense. Losses are charged against the ACL when management believes the uncollectability of an investment security available for sale is confirmed or when either of the criteria regarding intent or requirement to sell is met.
ACL on Investment Securities Held to Maturity
The Company measures expected credit losses on investment securities held to maturity on a pooled, collective basis by major investment security type with similar risk characteristics. A historical lifetime probability of default and severity of loss in the event of default is derived or obtained from external sources and adjusted for the expected effects of reasonable and supportable forecasts over the expected lives of the investment securities on those historical credit losses. Expected credit losses on investment securities in the held to maturity portfolio that do not share similar risk characteristics with any of the pools are individually measured based on net realizable value, or the difference between the discounted value of the expected future cash flows, based on the original effective interest rate, and the recorded amortized cost basis of the investment securities.
Accrued interest receivable on investment securities held to maturity is excluded from the estimate of expected credit losses. Changes in the ACL on investment securities held to maturity are recorded as provision for credit losses expense. Losses are charged against the ACL when management believes the uncollectability of an investment security held to maturity is confirmed.
Loans Held for Sale
Mortgage loans held for sale are carried at the lower of amortized cost or fair value. Any loan that management does not have the intent and ability to hold for the foreseeable future or until maturity or payoff is classified as held for sale at the time of origination, purchase, securitization or when such decision is made. Unrealized losses on loans held for sale are recorded as a valuation allowance and included in other expense on the Consolidated Statements of Income.
Loans Receivable
Loans receivable includes loans originated, indirect loans purchased by the Bank and loans acquired in business combinations that management has the intent and ability to hold for the foreseeable future or until maturity or payoff and is reported at amortized cost. Amortized cost is the outstanding principal balance, net of purchased premiums and discounts and net deferred loan origination fees and costs. Interest on loans is calculated using the interest method based on the daily balance of the principal amount outstanding and is credited to interest income as earned. Accrued interest receivable for loans receivable is reported within accrued interest receivable on the Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition. The Company's policies for loans receivable generally do not differ by loan segments or classes unless specified in the following policies.