First Commonwealth Financial (FCF) Q4 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Achieved Q4 2024 EPS of $0.35, with strong profitability, improved capital and liquidity, and core pre-tax pre-provision ROAA of 1.77%.

• Net income for Q4 2024 was $35.8M, up $3.8M from Q3 but down $9.0M from Q4 2023; full-year 2024 net income was $142.6M ($1.39/share).

• Average deposits grew 8.7% in Q4 and 5.0% year-over-year; total loans increased $23.5M in Q4 and $37.2M year-over-year.

• Integrated a prior acquisition and announced the CenterBank acquisition in Cincinnati, expected to close in Q2 2025.

• Core net income for 2024 was $142.7M ($1.40/share), compared to $172.7M ($1.70/share) in 2023.

Financial highlights

• Core EPS of $0.35, up $0.04 from last quarter, driven by a $4.1M improvement in provision expense.

• Net interest income (FTE) was $95.4M, down $1.5M sequentially and $0.7M year-over-year; NIM compressed by 2 bps to 3.54%.

• Fee income totaled $25.2M, up $0.5M sequentially, with growth driven by swap fees and gains on sale businesses.

• Noninterest expense was $69.3M, down $0.8M sequentially, reflecting lower operational losses and salaries.

• Q4 2024 provision for credit losses was $6.5M, down $4.1M from Q3 2024.

Outlook and guidance

• Projecting mid-single-digit loan growth in 2025, with a focus on C&I and CRE, and operational efficiency.

• Expecting NIM to expand by 10-20 bps over 2025, assuming two rate cuts late in the year; macro swap maturities expected to provide a cumulative NIM benefit of 5–6bps by year-end 2025.

• Fee income guidance of $22M-$23M per quarter in early 2025, growing gradually.

• Non-interest expense expected at $68M-$69M in Q1 2025, rising with merit increases and CenterBank integration.

• CenterBank acquisition to add ~$0.01/share to EPS per quarter starting Q3 2025.