UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

___________________________________________________________





FORM 10-Q

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(Mark one)



For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2018

OR





For the transition period from                      to                      

Commission file number: 001-36827



HANCOCK WHITNEY CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)





(228) 868-4000

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

NOT APPLICABLE

(Former name, address and fiscal year, if changed since last report)



Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15 (d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.     ☒  Yes    ☐  No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).     ☒  Yes    ☐  No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):



If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).     ☐  Yes    ☒  No

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date. 

85,166,404 common shares were outstanding as of October 31, 2018. 



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Hancock Whitney Corporation

Index



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Hancock Whitney Corporation

Glossary of Defined Terms



Entities:

Hancock Whitney Corporation* – a  financial holding company registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission    

Hancock Whitney Bank* – a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hancock Whitney Corporation through which Hancock Whitney Corporation conducts its banking operations

Company – Hancock Whitney Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries

Parent – Hancock Whitney Corporation, exclusive of its subsidiaries

Bank – Hancock Whitney Bank 



*On May 25, 2018, Hancock Whitney Corporation changed its name from Hancock Holding Company, and Hancock Whitney Bank changed its name from Whitney Bank.



Other Terms:

AFS – available for sale securities

AOCI – accumulated other comprehensive income or loss

ALLL – allowance for loan and lease losses

ASC – Accounting Standards Codification

ASU – Accounting Standards Update

ATM - automated teller machine

Basel II - Basel Committee's 2004 Regulatory Capital Framework (Second Accord)

Basel III - Basel Committee's 2010 Regulatory Capital Framework (Third Accord)

Basel Committee - Basel Committee on Banking Supervision

Beige Book - Federal Reserve’s Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions    

BOLI – Bank-owned life insurance

bp(s) – Basis point(s)

C&I – commercial and industrial loans

Capital One – Capital One, National Association

CD – certificate of deposit

CDE – Community Development Entity

CMO – Collateralized Mortgage Obligation

CRE – commercial real estate

Dodd-Frank Act – The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

FASB – Financial Accounting Standards Board

FDIC – Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Federal Reserve Bank – The 12 banks that are the operating arms of the U.S. central bank. They implement the

policies of the Federal Reserve Board and also conduct economic research.

Federal Reserve Board – The 7-member Board of Governors that oversees the Federal Reserve System, establishes

monetary policy (interest rates, credit, etc.), and monitors the economic health of the country. Its members are appointed

by the President subject to Senate confirmation, and serve 14-year terms.

Federal Reserve System – The 12 Federal Reserve Banks, with each one serving member banks in its own district.

This system, supervised by the Federal Reserve Board, has broad regulatory powers over the money supply and the

credit structure.

FHLB – Federal Home Loan Bank

FNBC – The former New Orleans, Louisiana based First NBC Bank that failed on April 28, 2017

FNBC I – acquired selected assets and liabilities from FNBC under agreement dated March 10, 2017

FNBC II – acquired selected assets and liabilities from the FDIC as receiver for FNBC under agreement dated April 28, 2017

GAAP – Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States of America

HFC – Harrison Finance Company, a former consumer finance subsidiary

HTM – held to maturity securities

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LIBOR – London Interbank Offered Rate

LIHTC – Low Income Housing Tax Credit

MD&A – management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations

NAICS – North American Industry Classification System

n/m – not meaningful

OCI – other comprehensive income

OFI – Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions

ORE – other real estate defined as foreclosed and surplus real estate

PCI – purchased credit impaired loans

Repos – securities sold under agreements to repurchase

SEC – U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Securities Act – Securities Act of 1933, as amended

Tax Act – Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017

te – taxable equivalent adjustment, or the term used to indicate that a financial measure is presented on a fully taxable equivalent basis

TDR – troubled debt restructuring (as defined in ASC 310-40)

TSR – total shareholder return

U.S. Treasury – The United States Department of the Treasury

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Part I. Financial Information

Item 1. Financial Statements

Hancock Whitney Corporation and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Balance Sheets

(Unaudited)







See notes to unaudited consolidated financial statements.

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Hancock Whitney Corporation and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Statements of Income

(Unaudited)







See notes to unaudited consolidated financial statements.

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Hancock Whitney Corporation and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income

(Unaudited)







See notes to unaudited consolidated financial statements.

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Hancock Whitney Corporation and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity

(Unaudited)







See notes to unaudited consolidated financial statements.

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 Hancock Whitney Corporation and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(Unaudited)





See notes to unaudited consolidated financial statements.

 

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HANCOCK WHITNEY CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS



1.  Basis of Presentation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Hancock Whitney Corporation and all other entities in which it has a controlling interest (the “Company”). The financial statements include all adjustments that are, in the opinion of management, necessary to fairly state the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity and cash flows for the interim periods presented.  The Company has also evaluated all subsequent events for potential recognition and disclosure through the date of the filing of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.  Some financial information and disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q pursuant to Securities and Exchange Commission rules and regulations. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.  Financial information reported in these financial statements is not necessarily indicative of the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows for any other interim or annual period.

Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation.  These changes in presentation did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial condition or operating results.

On May 25, 2018, the Company changed its name from Hancock Holding Company to Hancock Whitney Corporation, and its wholly- owned banking subsidiary changed its name from Whitney Bank to Hancock Whitney Bank.  In connection with the name change, the Company changed its stock ticker symbol from “HBHC” to “HWC” on the NASDAQ Global Select Market.

Use of Estimates

The accounting principles the Company follows and the methods for applying these principles conform to GAAP and general practices followed by the banking industry.  These accounting principles require management to make estimates and assumptions about future events that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes.  Actual results could differ from those estimates.    

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates



There were no material changes or developments during the reporting period with respect to methodologies that the Company uses when applying what management believes are critical accounting policies and developing critical accounting estimates as disclosed in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.  Refer to Note 16 – Recent Accounting Pronouncements for a discussion of accounting standards adopted during the nine months ended September 30, 2018.

 



2.  Acquisitions and Divestiture



On July 13, 2018, the Company acquired the bank-managed high net worth individual and institutional investment management and trust business of Capital One, National Association (“Capital One”).  The transaction added assets under management of $4 billion and assets under management and administration of $10.4 billion to the Company’s existing trust and asset management business.  In addition, the Company assumed approximately $217 million of customer deposit liabilities. The net consideration received is subject to final settlement, which is expected to occur during the first quarter of 2019. The following table sets forth the preliminary acquisition date fair value of the assets acquired and the liabilities assumed, the consideration received, and the resulting goodwill.











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Identifiable intangible assets include customer relationships that are being amortized using an accelerated method based on forecasted cash flows over a useful life of approximately 17 years.  Goodwill represents the excess of the fair value of net liabilities assumed over the consideration received. It is comprised of estimated future economic benefits arising from the transaction that cannot be individually identified or do not qualify for separate recognition.  These benefits include expanded presence in existing markets and entry into new markets, and expected earnings streams and operational efficiencies that the Company believes will result from this business combination. The tax basis of the goodwill is expected to be deductible for federal income tax purposes. The following table presents the change in the Company’s goodwill during the nine months ended September 30, 2018.



(in thousands)





The results of acquired business are not material to the Company’s results of operations. As such, supplemental proforma financial information for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 is not presented. During the nine months ended September 30, 2018, the Company incurred acquisition related costs of approximately $5.7 million.



On March 10, 2017, the Company, through its banking subsidiary, Hancock Whitney Bank (“Hancock Whitney”), acquired certain assets and assumed certain liabilities, including nine branches, from First NBC Bank (“FNBC”), referred to as the FNBC I transaction.  Hancock Whitney paid approximately $323 million in cash consideration ($326 million cash paid net of $3 million in branch cash acquired), including a $41.6 million transaction premium for the earnings stream acquired. 



On April 28, 2017, the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions (“OFI”) closed FNBC and appointed the FDIC as receiver.  Hancock Whitney entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with the FDIC,  referred to as the FNBC II transaction. Pursuant to the agreement, Hancock Whitney acquired selected assets and assumed selected liabilities of the former FNBC, including substantially all of the transaction and savings deposits.  Hancock Whitney paid a premium of $35 million to the FDIC for the earnings stream acquired and received approximately $800 million in cash ($642 million from the FDIC for the net liabilities assumed and $158 million in branch cash acquired).  The terms of the agreement require the FDIC to indemnify Hancock Whitney against certain liabilities of FNBC and its affiliates not assumed or otherwise purchased by Hancock Whitney. Neither the Company nor Hancock Whitney acquired any assets, common stock, preferred stock or debt, or assumed any other obligations, of First NBC Bank Holding Company.



On March 9, 2018, the Company sold its consumer finance subsidiary, Harrison Finance Company (“HFC”).  The Company received cash of approximately $78.9 million and recorded a loss on the sale of $1.1 million. 









3.  Securities

The amortized cost, gross unrealized gains and losses, and estimated fair value of securities classified as available for sale and held to maturity follow.







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The following tables present the amortized cost and estimated fair value of debt securities available for sale and held to maturity at September 30, 2018 by contractual maturity.  Actual maturities will differ from contractual maturities because of rights to call or repay obligations with or without penalties and scheduled and unscheduled principal payments on mortgage-backed securities and collateralized mortgage obligations.









The Company held no securities classified as trading at September 30, 2018 or December 31, 2017.    



The fair value and gross unrealized losses for securities classified as available for sale with unrealized losses for the periods indicated follow. 





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The fair value and gross unrealized losses for securities classified as held to maturity with unrealized losses for the periods indicated follow. 











The unrealized losses relate primarily to changes in market rates on fixed rate debt securities since the respective purchase dates.  In all cases, the indicated impairment on these debt securities would be recovered no later than the security’s maturity date or possibly earlier if the market price for the security increases with a reduction in the yield required by the market.  None of the unrealized losses relate to the marketability of the securities or the issuers’ abilities to meet contractual obligations.  The Company had adequate liquidity as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017 and did not intend to nor believe that it would be required to sell these securities before recovery of the indicated impairment.  Accordingly, the unrealized losses on these securities were determined to be temporary. Should the Company’s intent to sell these securities change, the difference between the amortized cost and the fair value will be recognized into earnings at that time.

There were no sales of securities during the nine months ended September 30, 2018. Proceeds from the sales of securities were approximately $213.9 million with no gain or loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2017. 

Securities with carrying values totaling $3.1 billion and $3.3 billion at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively, were pledged as collateral, primarily to secure public deposits or securities sold under agreements to repurchase.



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4.  Loans and Allowance for Loan Losses

The Company generally makes loans in its market areas of south Mississippi, southern and central Alabama, south Louisiana, the Houston, Texas area, the northern, central and panhandle regions of Florida, and Nashville, Tennessee. Loans, net of unearned income, by portfolio are presented in the table below.





The following briefly describes the composition of each loan category.



Commercial and industrial



Commercial and industrial loans are made available to businesses for working capital (including financing of inventory and receivables), business expansion, to facilitate the acquisition of a business, and the purchase of equipment and machinery, including equipment leasing. These loans are primarily made based on the identified cash flows of the borrower and, when secured, have the added strength of the underlying collateral.



Commercial non-real estate loans may be secured by the assets being financed or other tangible or intangible business assets such as accounts receivable, inventory, ownership, enterprise value or commodity interests, and may incorporate a personal or corporate guarantee; however, some short-term loans may be made on an unsecured basis, including a small portfolio of corporate credit cards, generally issued as a part of overall customer relationships.



Commercial real estate – owner occupied loans consist of commercial mortgages on properties where repayment is generally dependent on the cash flow from the ongoing operations and activities of the borrower.  Like commercial non-real estate, these loans are primarily made based on the identified cash flows of the borrower, but also have the added strength of the value of underlying real estate collateral.  



Commercial real estate – income producing



Commercial real estate – income producing loans consist of loans secured by commercial mortgages on properties where the loan is made to real estate developers or investors and repayment is dependent on the sale, refinance, or income generated from the operation of the property.  Properties financed include retail, office, multifamily, senior housing, hotel/motel, skilled nursing facilities and other commercial properties. 



Construction and land development



Construction and land development loans are made to facilitate the acquisition, development, improvement and construction of both commercial and residential-purpose properties.  Such loans are made to builders and investors where repayment is expected to be made from the sale, refinance or operation of the property or to businesses to be used in their business operations.  This portfolio also includes a small amount of residential construction loans and loans secured by raw land not yet under development.   



Residential mortgages



Residential mortgages consist of closed-end loans secured by first liens on 1- 4 family residential properties. The portfolio includes both fixed and adjustable rate loans, although most longer term, fixed rate loans originated are sold in the secondary mortgage market.  



Consumer



Consumer loans include second lien mortgage home loans, home equity lines of credit and nonresidential consumer purpose loans. Nonresidential consumer loans include both direct and indirect loans.   Direct nonresidential consumer loans are made to finance the purchase of personal property, including automobiles, recreational vehicles and boats, and for other personal purposes (secured and unsecured), and deposit account secured loans. Indirect nonresidential consumer loans include automobile financing provided to the consumer through an agreement with automobile dealerships.  Consumer loans also include a small portfolio of credit card receivables issued on the basis of applications received through referrals from the Bank’s branches, online and other marketing efforts.   

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Allowance for Loan Losses

The following tables show activity in the allowance for loan losses by portfolio class for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, as well as the corresponding recorded investment in loans at the end of each period. Charge-off, recovery and provision activity in the purchased credit impaired portfolio previously segregated has been collapsed into the remainder of the portfolio’s activity as it is no longer material, and the respective reclassifications have been made to the prior period to conform to the current presentation. 















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Impaired Loans

The following table shows the composition of nonaccrual loans by portfolio class.  Purchased credit impaired loans accounted for in pools with an accretable yield are considered to be performing and are excluded from the table. 







Nonaccrual loans include nonaccruing loans modified in troubled debt restructurings (“TDRs”) of $92.7 million and $99.2 million at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.  Total TDRs, both accruing and nonaccruing, were $254.9 million at September 30, 2018 and $219.7 million at December 31, 2017.  All TDRs are individually evaluated for impairment.  At September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, the Company had unfunded commitments of $8.2 million and $7.3 million, respectively, to borrowers whose loan terms have been modified in a TDR.

The tables below detail by portfolio class TDRs that were modified during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017:

 















The TDRs modified during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 reflected in the table above include $50.7 million of loans with extended amortization terms or other payment concessions, $14.6 million with significant covenant waivers and $29.1 million with other modifications.  The TDRs modified during the nine months ended September 30, 2017 include $96.1 million of loans with extended amortization terms or other payment concessions, $50.1 million with significant covenant waivers and $1.3 million with other modifications.

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One residential mortgage totaling $0.2 million and one owner-occupied commercial real estate loan totaling $1.9 million that defaulted during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 were modified in TDRs during the twelve months prior to default.  There were no defaults on loans during the nine months ended September 30, 2017 that had been modified in a TDR during the prior twelve months.

The tables below present loans that are individually evaluated for impairment disaggregated by portfolio class at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017.  Loans individually evaluated for impairment include TDRs and loans that are determined to be impaired and have aggregate relationship balances of $1 million or more. 









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The tables below present the average balances and interest income for total impaired loans for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017.  Interest income recognized represents interest on accruing loans modified in a TDR.









Aging Analysis

The tables below present the age analysis of past due loans by portfolio class at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017.  Purchased credit impaired loans accounted for in pools with an accretable yield are considered to be current. 













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Credit Quality Indicators

The following tables present the credit quality indicators by segments and portfolio class of loans at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017. 













Below are the definitions of the Company’s internally assigned grades:

Commercial:

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Residential and Consumer:



Purchased Credit Impaired Loans

Changes in the carrying amount of purchased credit impaired loans and related accretable yield are presented in the following table for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and the year ended December 31, 2017.









Certain of the Company’s purchased credit impaired loans were covered by a loss share agreement with the FDIC. The agreement was terminated by the Company during the third quarter of 2017. Prior to termination, the Company carried a receivable from the FDIC representing an indemnification asset arising from the agreement.  The receivable was accounted for separately from the covered loans as the agreement was not contractually part of the loans and were not transferrable should the Company have disposed of the loans.      





Residential Mortgage Loans in Process of Foreclosure



Included in loans are $6.9 million and $7.5 million of consumer loans secured by single family residential real estate that are in process of foreclosure as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.   Loans in process of foreclosure include those for which formal foreclosure proceedings are in process according to local requirements of the applicable jurisdiction.  In addition to the single family residential real estate loans in process of foreclosure, the Company also held $1.9 million and $3.4 million of foreclosed single family residential properties in other real estate owned as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.





5.  Securities Sold under Agreements to Repurchase

Included in short-term borrowings are customer securities sold under agreements to repurchase (“repurchase agreements”) that mature daily and are secured by U.S. agency securities totaling $416.0 million and $430.6 million at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.  The Company borrows funds on a secured basis by selling securities under agreements to repurchase, mainly in connection with treasury management services offered to its deposit customers. As the Company maintains effective control over assets sold under agreements to repurchase, the securities continue to be carried on the consolidated statements of financial condition. Because the Company acts as borrower transferring assets to the counterparty, and the agreements mature daily, the Company’s risk is limited. 



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6.  Derivatives

On January 1, 2018, the Company adopted the provisions of Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2017-12, “Derivatives and Hedging,” using the modified retrospective transition approach.  As a result of adoption of the update, the Company has made certain adjustments to its existing designation documentation for active hedging relationships to take advantage of specific provisions of the update. Adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial condition or results of operations.  Following is a discussion of the provisions of the guidance relevant to the Company: 

Ineffectiveness measurement and presentation

The provisions of the update eliminate the concept of ineffectiveness from an accounting perspective. The guidance provides that, as long as a hedging instrument is designated and the results of the effectiveness testing support that the instrument qualifies for hedge accounting treatment, there will be no periodic measurement or recognition of ineffectiveness.  Rather, the full impact of hedge gains and losses will be recognized in the period in which the hedged transactions impact the entity’s earnings. 

Presentation of reclassifications from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

The update provides that amounts in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income that are included in the assessment of effectiveness should be reclassified into earnings in the same period in which the hedged forecasted transactions impact earnings.  As such, the Company will recognize all reclassifications out of Other Comprehensive Income in the same statement of income line item in which the earnings effect of the hedged item is presented.

Changes to hedged risk 

The update also states that if the designated hedged risk changes during the life of the hedging relationship, an entity may continue to apply hedge accounting as long as the hedging instrument is highly effective at achieving offsetting cash flows attributable to the revised hedged risk. Regardless of the description of the hedged transactions contained in the initial designation documentation, the Company intends to utilize this provision in the updated guidance to the extent possible.

Risk component hedging in fair value hedges

The update allows an entity to make a one-time transition election regarding the fair value measurement methodology applied to fair value hedges in place at adoption.  The Company did not elect either of the one-time transition options; rather, it will continue to measure the hedged items as documented in the initial hedge documentation. 

Risk Management Objective of Using Derivatives

The Company enters into derivative financial instruments to manage risks related to differences in the amount, timing, and duration of the Company’s known or expected cash receipts and its known or expected cash payments, currently related to select pools of variable rate loans and fixed rate brokered deposits.  The Bank also enters into interest rate derivative agreements as a service to certain qualifying customers.  The Bank manages a matched book with respect to these customer derivatives in order to minimize its net risk exposure resulting from such agreements.  The Bank also enters into risk participation agreements under which it may either sell or buy credit risk associated with a customer’s performance under certain interest rate derivative contracts related to loans in which participation interests have been sold to or purchased from other banks.

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Fair Values of Derivative Instruments on the Balance Sheet

The table below presents the notional or contractual amounts and fair values of the Company’s derivative financial instruments as well as their classification on the consolidated balance sheets as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017. 









Cash Flow Hedges of Interest Rate Risk

The Company is party to various interest rate swap agreements designated and qualifying as cash flow hedges of the Company’s forecasted variable cash flows for pools of variable rate loans.   For each agreement, the Company receives interest at a fixed rate and pays at a variable rate.  During the nine months ended September 30, 2018, the Company terminated five of its shorter-term swap agreements with notional amounts totaling $450 million and entered into five longer-term agreements with notional amounts totaling $450 million.  The Company paid termination fees of approximately $10.6 million to settle the interest rate swap liabilities, and the resulting accumulated other comprehensive loss is being amortized over the remaining maturities of the designated instruments. Amortization of other comprehensive loss on terminated cash flow hedges totaled $1.6 million and $4.1 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively.  The notional amounts of the swap agreements in place at September 30, 2018 expire as follows: $425 million in 2022;  $350 million in 2023; and $100 million in 2024.

Fair Value Hedges of Interest Rate Risk 

The Company enters into interest rate swap agreements that modify the Company’s exposure to interest rate risk by effectively converting a portion of the Company’s brokered certificates of deposit from fixed rates to variable rates. The maturities and call features of these interest rate swaps match the features of the hedged deposits.  As interest rates fall, the decline in the value of the certificates of deposit is offset by the increase in the value of the interest rate swaps.  Conversely, as interest rates rise, the value of the underlying hedged deposits increases, but the value of the interest rate swaps decreases, resulting in no impact on earnings.  Interest expense is adjusted by the difference between the fixed and floating rates for the period the swaps are in effect. 

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Derivatives Not Designated as Hedges

Customer interest rate derivative program

The Bank enters into interest rate derivative agreements, primarily rate swaps, with commercial banking customers to facilitate their risk management strategies.  The Bank enters into offsetting agreements with unrelated financial institutions, thereby mitigating its net risk exposure resulting from such transactions.  Because the interest rate derivatives associated with this program do not meet hedge accounting requirements, changes in the fair value of both the customer derivatives and the offsetting derivatives are recognized directly in earnings.

Risk participation agreements

The Bank also enters into risk participation agreements under which it may either assume or sell credit risk associated with a borrower’s performance under certain interest rate derivative contracts.  In those instances where the Bank has assumed credit risk, it is not a direct counterparty to the derivative contract with the borrower and has entered into the risk participation agreement because it is a party to the related loan agreement with the borrower.  In those instances in which the Bank has sold credit risk, it is the sole counterparty to the derivative contract with the borrower and has entered into the risk participation agreement because other banks participate in the related loan agreement.  The Bank manages its credit risk under risk participation agreements by monitoring the creditworthiness of the borrower, based on the Bank’s normal credit review process.

Mortgage banking derivatives

The Bank also enters into certain derivative agreements as part of its mortgage banking activities.  These agreements include interest rate lock commitments on prospective residential mortgage loans and forward commitments to sell these loans to investors on a best efforts delivery basis.

Customer foreign exchange forward contract derivatives

The Bank enters into foreign exchange forward derivative agreements, primarily forward foreign currency contracts, with commercial banking customers to facilitate their risk management strategies.  The Bank manages its risk exposure from such transactions by entering into offsetting agreements with unrelated financial institutions.  Because the foreign exchange forward contract derivatives associated with this program do not meet hedge accounting requirements, changes in the fair value of both the customer derivatives and the offsetting derivatives are recognized directly in earnings.

Effect of Derivative Instruments on the Statement of Income

The effects of derivative instruments on the consolidated statements of income for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 are presented in the table below.  For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, the reduction of interest income attributable to cash flow hedges includes amortization of accumulated other comprehensive loss that resulted from termination of five interest rate swap contracts.







Credit Risk-Related Contingent Features

Certain of the Bank’s derivative instruments contain provisions allowing the financial institution counterparty to terminate the contracts in certain circumstances, such as a downgrade of the Bank’s credit ratings below specified levels, a default by the Bank on its indebtedness, or the failure of the Bank to maintain specified minimum regulatory capital ratios or its regulatory status as a well-capitalized institution.  These derivative agreements also contain provisions regarding the posting of collateral by each party.  As of September 30, 2018, the Company was not in violation of any such provisions.

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Offsetting Assets and Liabilities

The Bank’s derivative instruments with certain counterparties contain legally enforceable netting provisions that allow for net settlement of multiple transactions to a single amount, which may be positive, negative, or zero.  Agreements with certain bilateral counterparties require both parties to maintain collateral in the event that the fair values of derivative instruments exceed established exposure thresholds.  For centrally cleared derivatives, the Company is subject to initial margin posting and daily variation margin exchange with the central clearinghouses.  Offsetting information in regards to all derivative assets and liabilities, including accrued interest, subject to these master netting agreements at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017 is presented in the following tables.















The Company has excess collateral compared to total exposure due to initial margin requirements for day-to-day rate volatility. 





7.    Stockholders’ Equity



Common Shares Outstanding



Common shares outstanding excludes treasury shares totaling 1.1 million and 1.2 million at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively, with a first-in-first-out cost basis  of $23.8 million and $25.5  million at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.  Shares outstanding also excludes unvested restricted share awards totaling 1.5 million at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017.



Stock Buyback Program



On May 24, 2018, the Company’s board of directors approved a stock buyback program that authorized the repurchase of up to 5%, or approximately 4.3 million shares, of its outstanding common stock. The approved program allows the Company to repurchase its common shares either in the open market in compliance with Rule 10b-18 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or in privately negotiated transactions with non-affiliated sellers or as otherwise determined by the Company in one or more transactions, from time to time until December 31, 2019. The Company is not obligated to purchase any shares under this program, and the board of directors may terminate or amend the program at any time prior to the expiration date. As of September 30, 2018, no shares of the Company’s common stock had been purchased under this program. 





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Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

The components of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss and changes in those components are presented in the following table.











Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income or Loss (“AOCI”) is reported as a component of stockholders’ equity.  AOCI can include, among other items, unrealized holding gains and losses on securities available for sale (“AFS”), gains and losses associated with pension or other post-retirement benefits that are not recognized immediately as a component of net periodic benefit cost, and gains and losses on derivative instruments that are designated as, and qualify as, cash flow hedges.  Net unrealized gains and losses on AFS securities reclassified as securities held to maturity (“HTM”) also continue to be reported as a component of AOCI and will be amortized over the estimated remaining life of the securities as an adjustment to interest income.    Subject to certain thresholds, unrealized losses on employee benefit plans will be reclassified into income as pension and post-retirement costs are recognized over the remaining service period of plan participants.  Accumulated gains or losses on the cash flow hedge of the variable rate loans described in Note 6 will be reclassified into income over the life of the hedge.  Accumulated other comprehensive loss resulting from the terminated interest rate swaps will be amortized over the remaining maturities of the designated instruments. Gains and losses within AOCI are net of deferred income taxes.    

The following table shows the line items of the consolidated statements of income affected by amounts reclassified from AOCI.







 

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8. Revenue Recognition



Effective January 1, 2018, the Company adopted the amended provisions of the Financial Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” using the modified retrospective approach.  The standard applies to most of the Company’s noninterest income, with a significant portion of the Company’s revenue excluded from the scope of the standard, including interest and loan origination fees associated with financial instruments, gains and losses on investment securities, derivatives and sales of financial instruments. 



The Company’s evaluation of contracts for compliance with the standard did not identify any material changes to the timing of revenue recognition as the standard was largely consistent with the existing guidance and current practices. Therefore, the adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial condition or results of operations and there was no cumulative effect adjustment to opening retained earnings. However, upon adoption the Company has begun presenting certain underwriting costs (previously offset against Investment and Annuity Fees), as well as certain subadvisor costs (previously offset against Trust Fees) gross as noninterest expense, neither of which are material to operating results.



Due to the nature of the Company’s primary sources of revenue, there are no significant receivables, contract assets or contract liabilities not otherwise disclosed. The Company has assessed that its current disclosures are consistent with the requirements of the standard to present revenue disaggregated into categories that depict how the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows are affected by economic factors.  The following provides additional qualitative disclosures about the Company’s noninterest income and revenue recognition policies. 



Service Charges on Deposit Accounts

Service charges on deposit accounts include transaction based fees for non-sufficient funds, account analysis fees, and other service charges on deposits, including monthly account service fees. Non-sufficient funds fees are recognized at the time when the account overdraft occurs in accordance with regulatory guidelines.  Account analysis fees consist of fees charged on certain business deposit accounts based upon account activity as well as other monthly account fees, and are recorded under the accrual method of accounting as services are performed. 



Other service charges are earned by providing depositors safeguard and remittance of funds as well as by providing other elective services for depositors that are performed upon the depositor’s request. Charges for deposit services for the safeguard and remittance of funds are recognized at the end of the statement cycle, after services are provided, as the customer retains funds in the account. Revenue for other elective services is earned at the point in time the customer uses the service.



Trust Fees

Trust fee income represents revenue generated from asset management services provided to individuals, businesses, and institutions. The Company has a fiduciary responsibility to the beneficiary of the trust to perform agreed upon services which can include investing assets, periodic reporting, and providing tax information regarding the trust. In exchange for these trust and custodial services, the Company collects fee income from beneficiaries as contractually determined via fee schedules. The Company’s performance obligation is primarily satisfied over time as the services are performed and provided to the customer.  These fees are recorded under the accrual method of accounting as the services are performed.  The Company generally acts as the principal in these transactions and records revenue and expenses on a gross basis. 



Bank Card and Automated Teller Machine (“ATM”) Fees

Bank card and ATM fees include credit card, debit card and ATM transaction revenue. The majority of this revenue is card interchange fees earned through a third party network. Performance obligations are satisfied for each transaction when the card is used and the funds are remitted. The network establishes interchange fees that the merchant remits for each transaction, and costs are incurred from the network for facilitating the interchange with the merchant.  Card fees also include merchant services fees earned for providing merchants with card processing capabilities.  



ATM income is generated from allowing customers to withdraw funds from other banks’ machines and from allowing a non-customer cardholder to withdraw funds from the Company’s machines. The Company satisfies its performance obligations for each transaction at the point in time that the withdrawal is processed.



Bank card and ATM fee income is recorded on accrual basis as services are provided with the related expense reflected in data processing expense. 



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Investment and Annuity Fees and Insurance Commissions

Investment and annuity services fee income represents income earned from investment and advisory services. The Company provides its customers with access to investment products through the use of third party carriers to meet their financial needs and investment objectives. Upon selection of an investment product, the customer enters into a policy with the carrier. The performance obligation is satisfied by fulfilling its responsibility to acquire the investment for which a commission fee is earned from the carrier based on agreed-upon fee percentages on a trade date basis. The Company has a contractual relationship with a third party broker dealer to provide full service brokerage and investment advisory activities. As the agent in the arrangement, the Company recognizes the investment services commissions on a net basis.  Investment revenue also includes portfolio management fees, which represent monthly fees charged on a contractual basis to customers for the management of their investment portfolios and are recorded under the accrual method of accounting on a gross basis, with expenses recorded in the appropriate expense line item. 



This revenue line item includes investment banking income, which includes fees for services arising from securities offerings or placements in which the Company acts as a principal. Revenue is recognized at the time the underwriting is completed and the revenue is reasonably determinable.



Insurance commission revenue is recognized, net of cost, as of the effective date of the insurance policy as the Company’s performance obligation is connecting the customer to the insurance products.  The Company also receives contingent commissions from insurance companies as additional incentive for achieving specified premium volume goals and/or the loss experience of the insurance placed. Contingent commissions from insurance companies are recognized when determinable, which is generally when such commissions are received or when we receive data from the insurance companies that allows the reasonable estimation of these amounts.



Secondary Mortgage Market Operations

Secondary mortgage market operations revenue is primarily comprised of service release premiums earned on the sale of closed-end mortgage loans to other financial institutions or government agencies that are recognized in revenue as each sales transaction occurs.



Income from Bank-Owned Life Insurance

Bank-owned life insurance income primarily represents income earned from the appreciation of the cash surrender value of insurance contracts held and the proceeds of insurance benefits. Revenue from the proceeds of insurance benefits is recognized at the time a claim is confirmed.



Credit Related Fee Income

Credit-related fee income includes letters of credit fees and unused commercial commitment fees. Revenue for letters of credit fees is recognized over time. Revenue for unused commercial commitment fees are recognized based on contractual terms, generally when collected.



Income from Derivatives

Income from derivatives consists primarily of interest rate swap fees, net of fair value adjustments for customer derivatives and the related offsetting agreements with unrelated financial institutions for which the derivative instruments are not designated as hedges. This line item also includes the resulting gain or loss from ineffectiveness on derivatives that are designated as hedged items. 



Gain (Loss) on Sales of Assets

Gain (loss) on sales of assets reflects the excess (deficiency) of proceeds received over the carrying amount of assets sold plus cost to sell for various assets other than foreclosed real estate. Gain or loss on the sale of assets are recognized as each transaction occurs.



Other Miscellaneous Income

Other miscellaneous income represents a variety of revenue streams, including safe deposit box income, wire transfer fees, syndication fees and any other income not reflected above.  Income is recorded once the performance obligation is satisfied, generally on the accrual basis or on a cash basis if not material and/or considered constrained.

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9.  Other Noninterest Income  

Components of other noninterest income are as follows: 



































10.  Other Noninterest Expense

Components of other noninterest expense are as follows:

















11.  Earnings Per Common Share

The Company calculates earnings per share using the two-class method.  The two-class method allocates net income to each class of common stock and participating security according to common dividends declared and participation rights in undistributed earnings.  Participating securities consist of nonvested share-based payment awards that contain nonforfeitable rights to dividends or dividend equivalents. 

A summary of the information used in the computation of earnings per common share follows.





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Potential common shares consist of stock options, nonvested performance-based awards, and nonvested restricted share awards deferred under the Company’s nonqualified deferred compensation plan.  These potential common shares do not enter into the calculation of diluted earnings per share if the impact would be antidilutive, i.e., increase earnings per share or reduce a loss per share.  Weighted average antidilutive potential common shares totaled 14,904 and 18,257, respectively, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018. Weighted average antidilutive potential common shares totaled 1,380 and 11,057, respectively, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017.    

 



12.  Retirement Plans



The Company sponsors a qualified defined benefit pension plan, the Hancock Whitney Corporation Pension Plan (“Pension Plan”), covering certain eligible associates. Eligibility is based on minimum age and service-related requirements. During the second quarter of 2017, the Pension Plan was amended to exclude any individual hired or rehired by the Company after June 30, 2017 from eligibility to participate. The Pension Plan amendment further provided that the accrued benefits of each participant in the Pension Plan whose combined age plus years of service as of January 1, 2018 totals less than 55 were to be frozen as of January 1, 2018 and thereafter not increase. The Company makes contributions to the Pension Plan in amounts sufficient to meet funding requirements set forth in federal employee benefit and tax laws, plus such additional amounts as the Company may determine to be appropriate.  During the third quarter of 2018, the Company made a discretionary contribution of $39 million to the Pension Plan designated to the 2017 plan year. 



The Company also offers a defined contribution retirement benefit plan, the Hancock Whitney Corporation 401(k) Savings Plan (“401(k) Plan”), that covers substantially all associates who have been employed 60 days and meet a minimum age requirement and employment classification criteria. The Company matches 100% of the first 1% of compensation saved by a participant, and 50% of the next 5% of compensation saved. Newly eligible associates are automatically enrolled at an initial 3% savings rate unless the associate actively opts out of participation in the plan. The 401(k) Plan was also amended during the second quarter of 2017 for participants whose benefits are frozen under the Pension Plan to add an enhanced Company contribution beginning January 1, 2018, in the amount of 2%,  4% or 6% of such participant’s eligible compensation, based on the participant’s age and years of service with the Company. The 401(k) Plan’s amendment further provided that the Company will contribute to the benefit of those associates of the Company hired or rehired after June 30, 2017 and those associates of the Company never enrolled in the Pension Plan an additional basic contribution in an amount equal to 2% of the associate’s eligible compensation beginning January 1, 2018. Participants will vest in the new basic and enhanced Company contributions upon completion of three years of service.



The Company sponsors a nonqualified defined benefit plan covering certain legacy Whitney employees that was frozen as of December 31, 2012 and no future benefits are accrued under this plan.

The Company sponsors defined benefit postretirement plans for both legacy Hancock and legacy Whitney employees that provide health care and life insurance benefits.  Benefits under the Hancock plan are not available to employees hired on or after January 1, 2000. Benefits under the Whitney plan are restricted to retirees who were already receiving benefits at the time of plan amendments in 2007 or active participants who were eligible to receive benefits as of December 31, 2007.

The following tables show the components of net periodic benefits cost included in expense for the plans for the periods indicated.





Effective January 1, 2018, the Company adopted ASU 2017-07, “Compensation – Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Costs.” In accordance with the Update, only the service component of net periodic benefit cost is included in the Employee Benefits line item on the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Income.  All other components have been included in Other Noninterest Expense.  Prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to current presentation. 

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13.  Share-Based Payment Arrangements

The Company maintains incentive compensation plans that provide for awards of share-based compensation to employees and directors.  These plans have been approved by the Company’s shareholders.  Detailed descriptions of these plans were included in Note 17 to the consolidated financial statements in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.     

A summary of stock option activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 is presented below:





The total intrinsic value of options exercised for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 was $0.6 million and $4.1 million, respectively. 

The Company’s restricted and performance-based share awards to certain employees and directors are subject to service requirements. A summary of the status of the Company’s nonvested restricted and performance-based share awards as of September 30, 2018 and changes during the nine months ended September 30, 2018, are presented in the following table.





As of September 30, 2018, there was $39.0 million of total unrecognized compensation expense related to nonvested restricted and performance shares expected to vest.  This compensation is expected to be recognized in expense over a weighted average period of 2.97 years.  The total fair value of shares which vested during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 was $2.0 million and $10.1 million, respectively. 

During the nine months ended September 30, 2018, the Company granted 26,147 performance share awards subject to a total shareholder return (“TSR”) performance metric with a grant date fair value of $51.13 per share and 26,147 performance shares subject to an operating earnings per share performance metric with a grant date fair value of $44.84 per share to key members of executive management. The number of performance shares subject to TSR that ultimately vest at the end of the three-year performance period, if any, will be based on the relative rank of the Company’s three-year TSR among the TSRs of a peer group of 43 regional banks. The fair value of the performance shares subject to TSR at the grant date was determined using a Monte Carlo simulation method.  The number of performance shares subject to core earnings per share that ultimately vest will be based on the Company’s attainment of certain core earnings per share goals over the two-year performance period.  The maximum number of performance shares that could vest is 200% of the target award.  Compensation expense for these performance shares is recognized on a straight line basis over the three-year service period.   

 

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14. Commitments and Contingencies

In the normal course of business, the Bank enters into financial instruments, such as commitments to extend credit and letters of credit, to meet the financing needs of its customers.  Such instruments are not reflected in the accompanying consolidated financial statements until they are funded, although they expose the Bank to varying degrees of credit risk and interest rate risk in much the same way as funded loans. Under regulatory capital guidelines, the Company and Bank must include unfunded commitments meeting certain criteria in risk-weighted capital calculations.

Commitments to extend credit include revolving commercial credit lines, nonrevolving loan commitments issued mainly to finance the acquisition and development or construction of real property or equipment, and credit card and personal credit lines.  The availability of funds under commercial credit lines and loan commitments generally depends on whether the borrower continues to meet credit standards established in the underlying contract and has not violated other contractual conditions.  Loan commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of a fee by the borrower.  Credit card and personal credit lines are generally subject to cancellation if the borrower’s credit quality deteriorates.  A number of commercial and personal credit lines are used only partially or, in some cases, not at all before they expire, and the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements of the Company.

A substantial majority of the letters of credit are standby agreements that obligate the Bank to fulfill a customer’s financial commitments to a third party if the customer is unable to perform.  The Bank issues standby letters of credit primarily to provide credit enhancement to its customers’ other commercial or public financing arrangements and to help them demonstrate financial capacity to vendors of essential goods and services. 

The contract amounts of these instruments reflect the Company’s exposure to credit risk.  The Company undertakes the same credit evaluation in making loan commitments and assuming conditional obligations as it does for on-balance sheet instruments and may require collateral or other credit support.  The following table presents a summary of the Company’s off-balance sheet financial instruments as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017:









Legal Proceedings



The Company is party to various legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business.  Management does not believe that loss contingencies, if any, arising from pending litigation and regulatory matters will have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial position or liquidity of the Company. 



 

 

15.  Fair Value Measurements

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) defines fair value as the exchange price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date.  The FASB’s guidance also establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to these valuation techniques used to measure fair value, giving preference to quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (“level 1”) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs such as a reporting entity’s own data (“level 3”).    Level 2 inputs include quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, observable inputs other than quoted prices, such as interest rates and yield curves, and inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data by correlation or other means.

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Fair Value of Assets and Liabilities Measured on a Recurring Basis

The following tables present for each of the fair value hierarchy levels the Company’s assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis in the consolidated balance sheets.

















Securities classified as level 2 include obligations of U.S. Government agencies and U.S. Government-sponsored agencies, residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities and collateralized mortgage obligations that are issued or guaranteed by U.S. government agencies, and state and municipal bonds.  The level 2 fair value measurements for investment securities are obtained quarterly from a third-party pricing service that uses industry-standard pricing models.  Substantially all of the model inputs are observable in the marketplace or can be supported by observable data. 

The Company invests only in securities of investment grade quality with a targeted duration, for the overall portfolio, generally between two and five years.  Company policies generally limit investments to U.S. agency securities and municipal securities determined to be investment grade according to an internally generated score which generally includes a rating of not less than “Baa” or its equivalent by a nationally recognized statistical rating agency.  

The fair value of derivative financial instruments, which are predominantly customer interest rate swaps, is obtained from a third-party pricing service that uses an industry-standard discounted cash flow model that relies on inputs, LIBOR swap curves and Overnight Index swap rate curves, observable in the marketplace.  To comply with the accounting guidance, credit valuation adjustments are incorporated in the fair values to appropriately reflect nonperformance risk for both the Company and the counterparties.  Although the Company has determined that the majority of the inputs used to value the derivative instruments fall within level 2 of the fair value hierarchy, the credit value adjustments utilize level 3 inputs, such as estimates of current credit spreads.  The Company has determined that the impact of the credit valuation adjustments is not significant to the overall valuation of these derivatives.  As a result, the Company has classified its derivative valuations in their entirety in level 2 of the fair value hierarchy. The Company’s policy is to

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measure counterparty credit risk quarterly for all derivative instruments, including those subject to master netting arrangements consistent with how market participants would price the net risk exposure at the measurement date. 

The Company also has certain derivative instruments associated with the Bank’s mortgage banking activities.  These derivative instruments include interest rate lock commitments on prospective residential mortgage loans and forward commitments to sell these loans to investors on a best efforts delivery basis.  The fair value of these derivative instruments is measured using observable market prices for similar instruments and is classified as a level 2 measurement. 

The Company’s policy is to recognize transfers between valuation hierarchy levels as of the end of a reporting period.  There were no transfers between levels during the periods presented.

Fair Value of Assets Measured on a Nonrecurring Basis

Certain assets and liabilities are measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis.  Collateral-dependent impaired loans are level 2 assets measured at the fair value of the underlying collateral based on independent third-party appraisals that take into consideration market-based information such as recent sales activity for similar assets in the property’s market. 

Other real estate owned, including both foreclosed property and surplus banking property, are level 3 assets that are adjusted to fair value, less estimated selling costs, upon transfer to other real estate owned.  Subsequently, other real estate owned is carried at the lower of carrying value or fair value less estimated selling costs.  Fair values are determined by sales agreement or third-party appraisals as discounted for estimated selling costs, information from comparable sales, and marketability of the property. 

The fair value information presented below is not as of the period end, rather it was as of the date the fair value adjustment was recorded during the twelve months for each of the dates presented below, and excludes nonrecurring fair value measurements of assets no longer on the balance sheet. 

The following tables present the Company’s financial assets that are measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis for each of the fair value hierarchy levels.













Accounting guidance from the FASB requires the disclosure of estimated fair value information about certain on- and off-balance sheet financial instruments, including those financial instruments that are not measured and reported at fair value on a recurring basis.  The significant methods and assumptions used by the Company to estimate the fair value of financial instruments are discussed below.

Cash, Short‑Term Investments and Federal Funds Sold – For these short‑term instruments, the carrying amount is a reasonable estimate of fair value.

Securities – The fair value measurement for securities available for sale was discussed earlier in the note.  The same measurement techniques were applied to the valuation of securities held to maturity. 

Loans, Net – The fair value measurement for certain impaired loans was discussed earlier in the note.  For the remaining portfolio, fair values were generally determined by discounting scheduled cash flows using discount rates determined with reference to current market rates at which loans with similar terms would be made to borrowers of similar credit quality. 

Loans Held for Sale – These loans are recorded at fair value and carried at the lower of cost or market.  The carrying amount is considered a reasonable estimate of fair value. 

Deposits – The accounting guidance requires that the fair value of deposits with no stated maturity, such as noninterest-bearing demand deposits, interest-bearing checking and savings accounts, be assigned fair values equal to amounts payable upon demand (“carrying amounts”).  The fair value of fixed maturity certificates of deposit is estimated using the rates currently offered for deposits of similar remaining maturities.

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Securities Sold under Agreements to Repurchase, Federal Funds Purchased, and FHLB Borrowings – For these short-term liabilities, the carrying amount is a reasonable estimate of fair value.

Long-Term Debt – The fair value is estimated by discounting the future contractual cash flows using current market rates at which debt with similar terms could be obtained. 

Derivative Financial Instruments – The fair value measurement for derivative financial instruments was discussed earlier in the note.

The following tables present the estimated fair values of the Company’s financial instruments by fair value hierarchy levels and the corresponding carrying amount at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017.

















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16. Recent Accounting Pronouncements



Accounting Standards Adopted in 2018



In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-15, “Intangibles – Goodwill and Other – Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract.” The amendments in this Update improve current GAAP by clarifying the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract, which aligns with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software (and hosting arrangements that include an internal use software license). The amendments in this Update are effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The Company early adopted this standard during the third quarter of 2018.  Adoption of this standard did not have a material impact upon the Company’s financial condition or results of operations.



In March 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-05, “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Amendments to SEC Paragraphs Pursuant to SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118.” The ASU amends Topic 740 to incorporate SEC guidance issued in its Staff Bulletin No. 118 (SAB 118). SAB 118 addressed the application of GAAP in situations when a registrant does not have the necessary information available, prepared or analyzed (including computations) in reasonable detail to complete the accounting for certain income tax effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The amendments in this update were effective upon issuance, at which time the Company adopted the standard. Adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial condition or results of operations.



In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-12, “Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities,” with the objective of improving financial reporting of hedging relationships to better portray the economic results of an entity’s risk management activities in its financial statements. The update provides changes to both the designation and measurement guidance for qualifying hedging relationships and the presentation of hedge results. The amendments in this update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early application is permitted in any interim period after issuance of the update. All transition requirements and elections are to be applied to hedging relationships existing on the date of adoption, and the effect of the adoption should be reflected as of the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption.  The Company early adopted this standard effective January 1, 2018 and has made certain adjustments to its existing designation documentation for active hedging relationships in order to take advantage of specific provisions in the new guidance and to fully align its documentation with the ASU.  The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial condition or results of operations.  See further discussion in Note 6 – Derivatives.



In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-07, “Compensation – Retirement Benefits (Topic 715):  Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Costs,” to improve the presentation of net periodic pension cost and net periodic postretirement benefit cost.  The amendments require that an employer report the service cost component in the same line item or items as other compensation costs arising from services rendered by the pertinent employees during the period.  The other components of net benefit cost are required to be presented in the income statement separately from the service cost component and outside a subtotal of income from operations, if one is presented.  The amendments also allow only the service cost component to be eligible for capitalization when applicable.  These amendments are effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those annual periods.  Disclosures of the nature of and reason for the change in accounting principle are required in the first interim and annual periods of adoption.  The Company adopted the standard effective January 1, 2018 and the amendments were applied retrospectively for the presentation of the service cost component and the other components of net periodic pension and postretirement benefit costs in the statement of income. Refer to Note 12 – Retirement Plans – for detail on the components of net periodic pension and post-retirement benefit costs that were reclassified for each reporting period.   The provisions of this update apply only to presentation and therefore did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial condition or results of operations.



In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606),” affecting any entity that enters into contracts with customers to transfer goods or services or enters into contracts for the transfer of nonfinancial assets unless those contracts are within the scope of other standards. The core principle of this standard is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. Most revenue associated with financial instruments, including interest and loan origination fees, is outside the scope of the guidance. Gains and losses on investment securities, derivatives, and sales of financial instruments are also excluded from the scope.  Subsequent to issuance of the revenue recognition guidance, the FASB has issued several updates that deferred by one year the effective date for revenue recognition guidance; clarified its guidance for performing the principal-versus-agent analysis; clarified guidance for identifying performance obligations allowing entities to ignore immaterial promised goods and services in the context of a contract with a customer and other clarifying guidance and technical corrections.  Entities could elect to adopt the guidance either on a full or modified retrospective basis.  The standard was effective and the Company adopted this guidance on January 1, 2018, using the modified retrospective approach.  The Company inventoried and evaluated its contracts with customers for compliance with the standard. The Company did not identify material changes to the timing of revenue recognition and the adoption of

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this guidance did not have a material impact on its financial condition or results of operations. See Note 8 - Revenue Recognition for additional information regarding the implementation of this standard. 



Additionally, the following ASUs were adopted by the Company on January 1, 2018, but did not have a significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements:





Issued but Not Yet Adopted Accounting Standards



In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-14, “Compensation – Retirement Benefits – Defined Benefit Plans – General (Subtopic 715-20): Disclosure Framework – Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Defined Benefit Plans.” The amendments in this Update modify certain disclosure requirements by removing disclosures that are no longer considered cost beneficial, clarifying specific requirements of disclosures, and adding disclosure requirements identified as relevant. The amendments in this Update are effective for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2020 for public business entities, and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently assessing the impact of adoption of this guidance upon its pension and postretirement plan disclosures. Adoption of this guidance will have no impact upon the Company’s results of operations or financial condition.



In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13, “Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework – Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement.” The amendments in this Update modify certain disclosure requirements on fair value measurements set forth in Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements. In addition, the amendments in this Update eliminate the phrase “an entity shall disclose at a minimum” to promote the appropriate exercise of discretion by entities when considering fair value measurement disclosures to clarify that materiality is an appropriate consideration of entities and their auditors when evaluating disclosure requirements. The amendments in this Update are effective for all entities for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 31, 2019, and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently assessing the impact of adoption of this guidance upon its fair value measurements disclosures. Adoption of this guidance will have no impact upon the Company’s results of operations or financial condition.



In July 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-09, “Codification Improvements,” that clarifies certain topics within the Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) in an effort to correct unintended application of guidance. The amendments in this Update affect a wide variety of Topics in the Codification, some topics of which are applicable to the Company. The amendments apply to all reporting entities within the scope of the affected accounting guidance. The transition and effective date guidance is based on the facts and circumstances of each amendment, with some of the amendments effective upon issuance of this Update and with other transition guidance effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018 for public business entities. The Company is currently assessing the impact of adoption of this guidance, but does not expect it to have a material impact upon its financial condition or results of operations.



In June 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-07, “Compensation – Stock Compensation – (Topic 718): Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting,” to expand the scope of Topic 718 to include share-based payment transactions for acquiring goods and services from nonemployees. The amendments specify that Topic 718 applies to all share-based payment transactions in which a grantor acquires goods and services to be used or consumed in a grantor’s own operations by issuing share-based payment awards.  The amendments also clarify that Topic 718 does not apply to share-based payments used to effectively provide financing to the issuer or awards granted in conjunction with the selling of goods or services to customers as part of a contract accounted for under Topic 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers.”  The amendments in this Update are effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within that fiscal year. Early adoption is permitted, but no earlier than an entity’s adoption date of Topic 606.  The Company does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact upon its financial condition or results of operations.

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In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, “Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments,” to improve financial reporting by requiring timelier recording of credit losses on loans and other financial instruments held by financial institutions and other organizations.  The ASU, more commonly referred to as Current Expected Credit Losses, or CECL, requires the measurement of all expected credit losses for financial assets held at the reporting date based on historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts.  Financial institutions and other organizations will now use forward-looking information to better inform their credit loss estimates.  Many of the loss estimation techniques currently applied will still be permitted, although the inputs to those techniques will change to reflect the full amount of expected credit losses.  Organizations will continue to use judgment to determine which loss estimation method is appropriate for their circumstances.  In addition, the ASU amends the accounting for credit losses on debt securities and purchased financial assets with credit deterioration.  The ASU is effective for SEC filers for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2019, with a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the year of adoption.  Early application is permitted for all organizations for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2018.  The Company is not planning to early adopt this guidance.  The Company has engaged third party consultants and formed cross-functional working groups comprised of individuals from various areas including credit, finance, risk management and information technology for implementation.  Five work streams have been created to develop the expected credit loss models; execute system implementation; complete balance sheet scoping; ensure the design of effective internal controls surrounding new processes; and provide executive oversight of the project.  Balance sheet scoping is largely complete.  The Company has contracted with a vendor for a software solution and has begun configuration for an implementation expected to be complete in second quarter of 2019.  An internal analytics team is developing and testing credit loss models expected to be used in the calculation.  While the Company has not yet quantified the financial impact of adoption, the expectation is that application of this guidance will result in an increase in the allowance for loan losses given the change in methodology from covering losses inherent in the portfolio to covering losses over the remaining expected life of the portfolio, and the reclassification  of nonaccretable difference on purchased credit impaired loans to allowance (offset by an increase in the carrying value of the related loans). Application of the guidance is also expected to result in the establishment of an allowance for credit loss on held to maturity debt securities.  The amount of the increase in these allowances will be impacted by the portfolio composition and quality at the adoption date as well as economic conditions and forecasts at that time.



In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842),” to increase transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements. With the exception of short-term leases, lessees will be required to recognize a lease liability representing the lessee’s obligation to make lease payments arising from a lease, measured on a discounted basis, and a right-of-use asset representing the lessee’s right to use, or control the use of, a specified asset for the lease term.  Consequently, lessees will no longer be able to utilize leases as a source of off-balance sheet financing.  Lessor accounting is largely unchanged under the new guidance, except for clarification of the definition of initial direct costs which may impact the timing of recognition of those costs. Subsequent to the issuance of this Update, the FASB issued three additional ASUs that provide codification improvements and certain transition elections, including ASU 2018-11, which permits an additional transition method whereby an entity may elect to record a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption. Consequently, the entity’s reporting for the comparative periods presented in the financial statements in which the entity adopts the new lease requirements would continue to be in accordance with current GAAP (Topic 840), including disclosures. The Company plans to elect this transition method. Public business entities are required to apply the amendments for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company has preliminarily determined the practical expedients expected to be applied and continues to review existing service contracts that may include embedded leases. The Company has completed the upgrade of its existing third-party leasing software and has tested the capitalization functionality of the platform. The Company will record a gross-up of its Consolidated Balance Sheets as a result of recognizing lease liabilities and right of use assets upon adoption. The impact upon the Company’s consolidated financial statements will be based on the present value of future minimum lease payments as adjusted for lease incentives for the population of leases on the date of adoption and interest rates on the date of adoption. As such, the amount is not yet known. The Company does not expect material changes to its consolidated results of operations as a result of the application of this guidance.





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Item 2.  Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations



FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS



This report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning and protections of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.  Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements we make in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in other reports or documents that we file from time to time with the SEC and include, but are not limited to, the following:





Also, any statement that does not describe historical or current facts is a forward-looking statement. These statements often include the words “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “intends,” “plans,” “forecast,” “goals,” “targets,” “initiatives,” “focus,” “potentially,” “probably,” “projects,” “outlook,” or similar expressions or future conditional verbs such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” and “could.” Forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of management and on information currently available to management. Our statements speak as of the date hereof, and we do not assume any obligation to update these statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those contained in such statements in light of new information or future events.

Forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Investors are cautioned against placing undue reliance on such statements. Actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward looking statements. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and in other periodic reports that we file with the SEC.

OVERVIEW



Non-GAAP Financial Measures



Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations include non-GAAP measures used to describe our performance.  A reconciliation of those measures to GAAP measures are provided within the Selected Financial Data section on page 48 of this report. The following is a summary of these non-GAAP measures and an explanation as to why they are deemed useful. 



Consistent with Securities and Exchange Commission Industry Guide 3, we present net interest income, net interest margin and efficiency ratios on a fully taxable equivalent (“te”) basis. The te basis adjusts for the tax-favored status of net interest income from certain loans and investments using statutory federal tax rates of 21% and 35% for 2018 and 2017, respectively, to increase tax-exempt interest income to a taxable equivalent basis. We believe this measure to be the preferred industry measurement of net interest income, and that it enhances comparability of net interest income arising from taxable and tax-exempt sources.



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We present certain additional non-GAAP financial measures to assist the reader with a better understanding of the Company’s performance period over period, as well as to provide investors with assistance in understanding the success management has experienced in executing its strategic initiatives. These non-GAAP measures may reference the concepts “core” or “operating.” We use the term “core” to describe a financial measure that excludes income or expense arising from accretion or amortization of fair value adjustments recorded as part of purchase accounting. We use the term “operating” to describe a financial measure that excludes income or expense considered to be nonoperating in nature. Items identified as nonoperating are those that, when excluded from a reported financial measure, provide management or the reader with a measure that may be more indicative of forward-looking trends in our business.

We define Core Net Interest Income as net interest income (te) excluding net purchase accounting accretion and amortization. We define Core Net Interest Margin as core net interest income expressed as a percentage of average earning assets. Management believes that core net interest income and core net interest margin provide investors with meaningful financial measures of the Company’s performance over time.

We define Operating Revenue as net interest income (te) and noninterest income less nonoperating revenue.  We define Operating Pre-Provision Net Revenue as operating revenue (te) less noninterest expense, excluding nonoperating items. Management believes that operating pre-provision net revenue is a useful financial measure because it enables investors and others to assess the Company’s ability to generate capital to cover credit losses through a credit cycle.

We define Operating Earnings as reported net income excluding nonoperating items net of income tax.  We define Operating Earnings per Share as operating earnings expressed as an amount available to each common shareholder on a diluted basis.



Rebranding



On May 24, 2018, our shareholders approved the Company’s proposal to change the name of the organization from “Hancock Holding Company” to “Hancock Whitney Corporation.”  Related to the name change, the Company also changed its common stock ticker from “HBHC” to “HWC.”  Both changes were effective May 25, 2018. 



Additional corporate changes resulting from rebranding are as follows:



Acquisitions



On July 13, 2018, we completed the acquisition of the bank-managed high net worth individual and institutional investment management and trust business of Capital One, National Association (“Capital One”).  In addition, we assumed approximately $217 million of customer deposit liabilities. The combination brings assets under administration and assets under management to approximately $26 billion and $10 billion, respectively, and is expected to provide opportunity to develop relationships for other private, wholesale and retail services. 

On March 10, 2017, our wholly-owned subsidiary, Hancock Whitney Bank (“Hancock Whitney”), completed a transaction with First NBC Bank (“FNBC”), whereby Hancock Whitney acquired approximately $1.2 billion in loans (net of fair value discount or “loan mark”), nine branch locations with $398 million in deposits, and assumed $604 million in FHLB borrowings.  The operational conversion of the branch locations occurred in the second quarter of 2017, along with the simultaneous closure of 10 overlapping branches.  This transaction is referred to as the FNBC I transaction throughout this document.



On April 28, 2017, Hancock Whitney entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with the FDIC (“Agreement”), which acted as the receiver for the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions (OFI) following the OFI’s closure of FNBC.  This transaction is referred to as the FNBC II transaction throughout this document. Pursuant to the Agreement, Hancock Whitney acquired selected assets and liabilities of FNBC from the FDIC and continued to operate the 29 former FNBC branch locations until systems conversion, which occurred in July 2017.  In the third quarter of 2017, Hancock Whitney exercised its option to acquire seven former FNBC locations and closed and consolidated 25 overlapping branch locations.



Under the Agreement, Hancock Whitney assumed approximately $1.6 billion in deposits and customer repurchase agreements and acquired $165 million in performing loans, and $791 million in other assets.  Hancock Whitney paid a premium of $35 million to the FDIC for the earnings stream acquired and received approximately $800 million in cash ($642 million from the FDIC for the net liabilities assumed and $158 million in branch cash acquired).



The terms of the Agreement require the FDIC to indemnify Hancock Whitney against certain liabilities of FNBC and its affiliates not assumed or otherwise purchased by Hancock Whitney. Neither the Company nor Hancock Whitney acquired any assets, common stock, preferred stock or debt, or assumed any other obligations, of First NBC Bank Holding Company.





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Divestiture



On March 9, 2018, we sold our consumer finance subsidiary, Harrison Finance Company (“HFC”), due to a change in corporate strategy.  The subsidiary operated in 35 branches with 137 employees and had $95 million in loans as of December 31, 2017.  The transaction resulted in a loss on sale totaling $1.1 million. 

Current Economic Environment

Most of our market area experienced a solid to moderate expansion in economic activity during the third quarter of 2018, according to the Federal Reserve’s Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions (“Beige Book”).  Overall, the economic outlook remains positive, with some uncertainty on the impact of tariffs on trade.  Drilling activity leveled off for energy related businesses operating mainly in our south Louisiana and Houston, Texas markets due to pipeline capacity constraints.  However, outlooks remained positive as additional pipeline capacity is expected in 2019.   

The commercial real estate market maintained strong demand in most of our footprint, with the pace of nonresidential construction activity at least matched with the year-ago level except for retail construction, which was unchanged to down.  In the Houston market, a large number of new apartments continued to suppress rent growth and office space net absorption remained weak in part due to the broader national trend among firms to move out of larger spaces into more efficient, smaller ones.

The residential real estate market has a varied outlook with most of our markets reporting modest but ongoing growth, with an increase in construction activity.  However, constraints on the availability of lots and land as well as the construction labor market may affect growth in the short term.   In our Houston market, new home sales were slower than expected and existing home sales were flat but remained near recent highs.  There was also some concern regarding higher interest rates, rising building costs, and uncertainty surrounding trade and immigration policies on future sales, with some expectation that sales will start to flatten in the near term.  

Retail sales activity and consumer spending outlook was positive with an increase in sales levels.  Auto sales were up in all of our markets.  The labor market remained tight, citing low availability of quality labor as a growing challenge.

Economic reports indicate that loan growth slowed in most of our markets as higher interest rates and savings from tax reform impacted loan demand.  Reports also indicated that financial institutions were relying more on borrowings and noncore deposits to fund asset growth, with the competition for core deposits fueling an increase in mergers and acquisitions.  However, loan demand expanded in our Houston market, with broad based growth. Our loan production in the third quarter of 2018 was up $173 million, or 4% annualized.     

Highlights of Third Quarter 2018



Net income for the third quarter of 2018 was $83.9 million, or $.96 per diluted common share (EPS), compared to $71.2 million, or $.82 EPS in the second quarter of 2018 and $58.9 million, or $.68 EPS, in the third quarter of 2017. The third quarter of 2018 included $4.8 million ($.05 per share after-tax impact) of nonoperating items. The second quarter of 2018 included $15.8 million ($.14 per share impact) of nonoperating items and the third quarter of 2017 included nonoperating items of $11.4 million ($.08 per share impact).



Highlights of our third quarter 2018 results (compared to second quarter 2018):







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Results of the third quarter reflect steady progress towards achieving our goals and enhancing shareholder value. We achieved our corporate strategic objective (“CSO”) for operating EPS this quarter at $1.01, and our operating return of average asset ratio of 1.24% is just below the top end of our targeted range. Asset quality improved with criticized commercial loans, both energy and nonenergy, down compared to prior quarter. Loan growth was positive despite the continued decline of the energy portfolio, which is now below 5% of total loans, and more balanced among upstream reserve-based lending, midstream and support services. We completed the trust and asset management acquisition, which contributed to the quarter’s improved operating leverage.







RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Net Interest Income

Net interest income (te) for the third quarter of 2018 was $218.3 million, a $2.7 million, or 1%, increase from the second quarter of 2018.  Over the same period, core net interest income increased $3.6 million.  Net interest income (te) for the third quarter of 2018 increased $6.9 million, or 3%, compared to the third quarter of 2017, while core net interest income was up $9.0 million, or 4%, over the same period.  The linked quarter increase is primarily attributable to one additional accrual day and a higher level of average earning assets, partially offset by a lower net interest margin. 

The net interest margin was 3.36% for the third quarter of 2018,  down 4 basis points (bps) from the second quarter of 2018.  The decrease in the net interest margin (te) from the prior quarter reflects an 11 bp increase in the cost of funds, partially offset by a positive impact from a 6 bp increase in the average earning asset yield, (an 8 bp increase in loan yield and a 5 bp increase in yield on the securities portfolio.  The core net interest margin for the third quarter of 2018 was 3.28%, down 3 bps from the second quarter of 2018.  Contributing to the decline in the margin was an increase in our deposit beta from 17% in the second quarter of 2018 to 35% this quarter while our loan beta increased to 52% from 44% in the second quarter.  The deposit and loan betas are defined as the amount by which deposit and loan costs change in response to the movement in short-term interest rates. The deposit beta increased partly due to the higher-cost deposits that we assumed in the trust and asset management acquisition, a 24 bp increase in the cost of brokered CDs, and a 14 bp increase in the rate paid on public fund deposits.  Also contributing to the decline in the net interest margin was the impact from narrowing of the spread of the 30 day LIBOR to federal funds had on the loan yield and a shift in funding mix to higher cost Federal Home Loan Bank advances. We expect some improvement in funding mix in the fourth quarter of 2018 with the usual inflow of seasonal deposits and expect loan yields to improve with the full quarter impact of the September rate increase.  

Compared to the third quarter of 2017, the net interest margin decreased 8 bps and the core net interest margin was down 4 bps.  The net interest margin was negatively impacted by 8 bps from lower taxable equivalent adjustment as a result of a lower statutory income tax rate.  Excluding the tax rate change, the margin was flat to the third quarter of 2017, primarily due to the benefits from the increased average earning asset yield being offset by the increased rates paid on interest bearing liabilities along with unfavorable changes to the funding mix.

Net interest income (te) for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 totaled $643.5 million, up $33.8 million, or 6%, from the nine months ended September 30 2017.  Core net interest income was up $36.0 million, which is net of a decline in the taxable equivalent adjustment of $13.3 million.  Interest earned on loans, excluding purchase accounting accretion, increased $72.5 million as average total loans grew $1.1 billion, or 6%, due to the FNBC transactions and organic loan growth and a 26 bp increase in loan yield.  The securities yield of 2.50% was flat compared to the same period in 2017, which reflects a negative impact of 10 bps from tax reform.  The cost of funds was up 23 bps to .66%, due in part to interest rate hikes, promotional pricing campaigns aimed at attracting and retaining deposits, and a less favorable mix in funding sources.

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The following tables detail the components of our net interest income (te) and net interest margin.



















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Provision for Loan Losses

During the third quarter of 2018,  we recorded a provision for loan losses of $6.9 million, down $2.0 million from the second quarter of 2018 and down $6.2 million from the third quarter of 2017.    For the nine months ended September 30, 2018, we recorded a total provision for loan losses of $28.0 million, compared to $44.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2017.

The provision includes net charge-offs totaling $6.9 million, which represents 0.14% of average total loans on an annualized basis in the third quarter of 2018, compared to $5.1 million, or 0.11% of average total loans in the second quarter of 2018.  In the energy portfolio, there were no net charge offs in the third quarter of 2018, compared to a $1.9 million net recovery in the second quarter of 2018.  The provision for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 included net charge-offs totaling $24.1 million compared to $47.8 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2017, with energy related net charge-offs down $24 million.

The provision for loan losses reflects a continued decline in energy allowance, with reduced exposure and an overall improvement in portfolio performance, and an increase in nonenergy allowance as that portfolio continues to grow. The discussion of Allowance for Loan Losses and Asset Quality later in this Item provides additional information on changes in the allowance for loan losses and general credit quality.

Noninterest Income

Noninterest income totaled $75.5 million for the third quarter of 2018, up $6.7 million, or 10%, from the second quarter of 2018 and up $8.4 million, or 13%, compared to the third quarter of 2017.  The increase over the prior quarter was primarily driven by an increase in trust fees as a result of the the trust and asset management acquisition.    The increase compared to the third quarter of 2017 was also largely driven by higher trust fees as well as higher bank card and ATM fees discussed in more detail below. 

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The components of noninterest income are presented in the following table for the indicated periods.





Service charges on deposits totaled $21.4 million for the third quarter of 2018, up $0.4 million, or 2%, from the second quarter of 2018 and down $0.1 million, or less than 1%, from the third quarter of 2017. The increase from the prior quarter was primarily due to a seasonal increase in consumer overdraft fees.  The decrease from the third quarter of 2017 is due to lower consumer overdraft fees and service charges, partially offset by increased check printing fees. 



Trust fees increased $5.1 million, or 44%, linked quarter as a result of the acquisition of a trust and asset management business on July 13, 2018.  Trust fee income in the third quarter of 2018 attributable to the acquired business was approximately $5.5 million.  Compared to the third quarter of 2017, trust fees increased $6.0 million, or 56%, also largely due to the trust and asset management acquisition. 

Bank card and ATM fees totaled $14.9 million for the third quarter of 2018, down  $0.6 million, or 4%, from the second quarter of 2018, due to seasonally lower activity in the third quarter. Compared to the third quarter of 2017, bank card and ATM fees were up $1.5 million, or 11%, due to increased card activity.

Investment and annuity fees and insurance commissions increased $0.4 million, or 6%, compared to second quarter 2018 due to higher annuity sales volume and underwriting activity,  and increased $0.4 million, or 7%, compared to third quarter 2017. 

Fee income from secondary mortgage market operations was up $0.4 million, or 9%, from second quarter of 2018 with seasonally higher sales activity, and up $0.2 million, or 4%, from the third quarter of 2017.    



Income from our customer interest rate derivative program resulted in a $1.4 million net gain for the third quarter of 2018 compared to net gains of $1.6 million in the second quarter of 2018 and $1.3 million for the third quarter of 2017.  Derivative income can be volatile and is dependent upon both customer sales activity as well as market value adjustments due to interest rate movement. 



Noninterest income was $210.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, up $12.5 million, or 6%, from the same period in 2017.  Excluding nonoperating items, which include a loss related to the sale of Harrison Finance in 2018 and a gain related to the sale of select Hancock Horizon funds in 2017, noninterest income was $211.7 million,  up $18.0 million, or 9%, from the first nine months of 2017.  Trust fees were up $6.3 million, or 19%, at $39.7 million,  due primarily to the July 13, 2018 trust and asset management acquisition.  Bank card and ATM fees were up $5.2 million, or 13%, at $44.8 million due to increased card activity. Service charges were up $3.1 million, or 5%, at $63.8 million, primarily due to an increase in check printing fees and overdraft fees driven from the sustained overdraft fee introduced in the third quarter of 2017.    The loss share agreements with the FDIC were terminated in July 2017, resulting in an increase in income from the prior year of $2.4 million due to the elimination of amortization of the FDIC loss share receivable.  Investment and annuity fees and insurance commissions totaled $19.0 million, an increase of $1.1 million, or 6%, mostly due to increased annuity income partially offset by lower insurance commissions due to the sale of Harrison Finance on March 9, 2018.



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Noninterest Expense

Noninterest expense for the third quarter of 2018 was $181.2 million, down  $3.2 million, or 2%, from the second quarter of 2018, and up $3.6 million, or 2%, from the third quarter of 2017.  Excluding nonoperating expenses, operating expense for the third quarter of 2018 totaled $176.4 million, an increase of $7.8 million, or 5%, linked quarter and up $10.1 million, or 6%, from the third quarter of 2017.  For the nine months ended September 30, 2018, total noninterest expense was $536.4 million, an $11.8 million, or 2%, increase over the same period in 2017.  Excluding nonoperating expenses,  operating expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 totaled $509.9 million, up $13.7 million, or 3%, over the same period in 2017.

Nonoperating expenses in the third quarter of 2018 totaled $4.8 million and primarily included costs associated with the trust and asset management acquisition.  Nonoperating expenses in the second quarter of 2018 were $15.8 million and included costs associated with the brand consolidation project, the trust and asset management acquisition,  and a charge related to the restructuring of a portion of our bank-owned life insurance contracts.  The year-to-date 2018 nonoperating expenses of $26.5 million also includes a one-time all hands bonus. The nonoperating expenses in the third quarter of 2017 and the nine months ended September 30, 2017 of $11.4 million and $28.5 million, respectively, included costs associated with the FNBC transactions. The nine months ended September 30, 2017 also included costs associated with termination of the FDIC loss share agreements.  The components of noninterest operating and nonoperating expense are presented in the following tables for the indicated periods.

























































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The following discussion of the components of operating expense excludes nonoperating items for each period.

Personnel expense totaled $101.2 million for the third quarter of 2018, up $4.3 million, or 4%, compared to the prior quarter, due to the addition of trust and asset management employees and higher incentives.   Personnel costs are up $4.2 million, or 4%, compared to the third quarter of 2017 due to merit increases and the additional payroll expense related to the trust and asset management acquisition.  Year to date September 30, 2018 personnel expense was up $5.7 million, or 2%, compared to the prior year.

Occupancy and equipment expenses totaled $15.5 million in the third quarter of 2018, up $0.1 million, or 1%, from the second quarter of 2018 and down $0.3 million from the third quarter of 2017.  The increase compared to prior quarter is primarily due to an increase in depreciation related to new signage following the Company’s rebranding.  The reduction compared to the prior year is due largely to costs related to FNBC branches that had not yet been consolidated.  Occupancy and equipment expenses totaled $45.2 million for the first nine months of 2018, $1.7 million, or 4%, less than the first nine months of 2017, due to previously mentioned items.    

Data processing expense was $18.4 million for the third quarter of 2018, up $1.1 million, or 7%, from the second quarter of 2018, and up $2.5 million, or 16%, from the third quarter of 2017.  Data processing expense was $52.1 million for the first nine months of 2018, $4.0 million, or 8%, over the first nine months of 2017.  The increase in expense is attributable to revenue-generating initiatives related to new digital offerings, higher card transaction processing costs resulting from increased card activity and additional processing cost associated with the acquired trust and asset management business that is awaiting system conversion.

Professional service expense totaled $8.9 million in the third quarter of 2018, up $0.7 million, or 9%, compared to the previous quarter and up $1.7 million, or 24% compared to the same quarter last year.  Professional service expense totaled $25.0 million for the first nine months of 2018, up $2.9 million, or 13%, compared to the first nine months of 2017.  The increase over the previous quarter was due to loan collection costs and various other projects.  Professional service expense includes legal, audit, accounting and other consulting services.

Deposit insurance and regulatory fees and corporate value and franchise taxes were $12.1 million, an increase of $0.1 million, or 1%, from the second quarter of 2018 and up $1.1 million, or 10%, from the third quarter of 2017.  Deposit insurance and regulatory fees and corporate value and franchise taxes totaled $35.4 million for the first nine months of 2018, up $4.4 million, or 14%, from the first nine months of 2017.  Deposit insurance and regulatory fees and corporate value and franchise taxes were up both quarter over quarter and year over year primarily due to asset growth.



Business development-related expenses (including advertising, travel and entertainment and contributions) were $6.7 million for the third quarter of 2018, down $0.1 million, or 1%, from the second quarter of 2018 and down $0.1 million, or 1%, from the third quarter of 2017.   Business development expense totaled $19.4 million for the first nine months of 2018, $0.4 million, or 2%, less than the first nine months of 2017.



There was virtually no other real estate (“ORE”) expense in the third quarter of 2018, compared to net gains on ORE dispositions of $0.3 million during the second quarter of 2018 and net ORE costs of $0.2 million in the third quarter of 2017.  Net gains on ORE dispositions exceeded ORE costs by $0.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and  $0.8 million for the same period in 2017. ORE income/loss can vary from period to period.



All other expenses, excluding amortization of intangibles and nonoperating expense items, totaled $8.0 million for the third quarter of 2018, up $0.8 million, or 11%, from the second quarter of 2018, and up $1.6 million, or 24%, from the third quarter of 2017.  All other expenses, excluding amortization of intangibles and nonoperating expense items, totaled $22.0 million for the first nine months of

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2018, down $2.0 million, or 8%, from the first nine months of 2017.  The decrease compared to prior year are primarily due to lower other retirement expense and the elimination of FNBC related costs through branch consolidation.















Income Taxes

The effective income tax rate for the third quarter of 2018 was approximately 17.5%, compared to 18.3% in the second quarter of 2018 and 25.7% in the third quarter of 2017. The decrease in the effective tax rate from the prior quarter is due to an expected increase in investments in new market tax credits, and the decrease from the third quarter of 2017 is primarily due to the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Act”) on December 22, 2017.  The Tax Act significantly revised U.S. corporate income tax laws by, among other things, lowering the statutory corporate federal income tax rate from 35% to 21%, eliminating or reducing the deductibility of certain meals and entertainment expenses, limiting the deduction of FDIC insurance premiums, as well as modifying the deductibility of executive compensation through the elimination of the performance-based compensation exception and changes to the definition of a covered employee. 

Our deferred tax assets and liabilities were re-measured to reflect the lower income tax rate during the fourth quarter of 2017.  Pursuant to ASU 2018-05, entities have a measurement period not to exceed one year from the enactment date of the Tax Act to record provisional amounts related to the impact of the Tax Act.  As of September 30, 2018, no adjustment had been made to the provisional benefit recorded. Management does not expect to adjust the provisional benefit recorded unless new guidance is issued by federal and/or state tax authorities that would require us to reevaluate our original estimate of provisional impact.  If so, any such adjustments could materially impact income tax expense in the period in which the adjustments are made.

Our effective tax rate has historically varied from the federal statutory rate primarily because of tax-exempt income and tax credits.  Interest income on bonds issued by or loans to state and municipal governments and authorities, and earnings from the bank-owned life insurance program are the major components of tax-exempt income.  The $3.2 million charge recorded during the second quarter of 2018 related to restructuring a portion of our bank-owned life insurance contracts negatively impacted the tax benefit attributable to life insurance contracts, as reflected in the table below.

The main source of tax credits has been investments in tax-advantaged securities and tax credit projects.  These investments are made primarily in the markets the Company serves and are directed at tax credits issued under the Qualified Zone Academy Bonds (“QZAB”), Qualified School Construction Bonds (“QSCB”) and Federal and State New Market Tax Credit (“NMTC”) programs. The investments generate tax credits, which reduce current and future taxes and are recognized when earned as a benefit in the provision for income taxes.  The Tax Act repealed the provision related to tax credit bonds effective for bonds issued after December 31, 2017.  As such, these bonds are no longer viable alternatives for lowering our effective tax rate.

We have invested in NMTC projects through investments in our Community Development Entity (“CDE”), as well as other unrelated CDEs.  These investments are expected to generate approximately $104 million in federal and state tax credits.  Federal tax credits from NMTC investments are recognized over a seven-year period, while recognition of the benefits from state tax credits varies from three to five years. In February 2018, the U.S. Department of Treasury announced the 2017 New Market Tax Credit allocation.  We were awarded a New Market Tax Credit allocation that will allow us to invest $50 million in tax credit projects and receive a total of $19.5 million in tax credits to be recognized over a seven-year period.

We intend to continue making investments in tax credit projects.  However, our ability to access new credits will depend upon, among other factors, federal and state tax policies and the level of competition for such credits.  Based on tax credit investments that have been made to date and those we expect to make from our new allocation award, we expect to realize benefits from federal and state tax credits totaling $8.2 million, $5.8 million and $3.8 million for 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Additionally, the effective tax rate is affected by other items that may impact comparability from quarter to quarter, such as the excess benefit of vested employee share-based compensation. As of September 30, 2018, the year to date excess benefit of vested share-based compensation decreased income tax expense by $0.5 million. Management expects an effective tax rate of 8% to 10% for the fourth quarter of 2018 and 15% to 17% for the year ended December 31, 2018 due to fourth quarter stock compensation vesting and other tax reform related strategies that together will generate an additional income tax benefit of approximately $9 to $11 million, based on the Company’s share price at September 28, 2018.

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The following table reconciles reported income tax expense to that computed at the statutory federal tax rate for the indicated periods.



















 

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Selected Financial Data

The following tables contain selected financial data as of the dates and for the periods indicated.











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Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures



Reported to core net interest income (te) and core net interest margin





Operating revenue (te) and operating pre-provision net revenue (te)





Operating earnings per share - diluted







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LIQUIDITY

Liquidity management is focused on ensuring that funds are available to meet the cash flow requirements of our depositors and borrowers, while also meeting the operating, capital and strategic cash flow needs of the Company, the Bank and other subsidiaries.  We develop liquidity management strategies, and measure and regularly monitor liquidity risk as part of our overall asset/liability management process.

The asset portion of the balance sheet provides liquidity primarily through loan principal repayments, as well as maturities and repayments of investment securities.  Short-term investments such as federal funds sold, securities purchased under agreements to resell and interest-bearing deposits with the Federal Reserve Bank or with other commercial banks are additional sources of liquidity to meet cash flow requirements.  Free securities represent unpledged securities that can be sold or used as collateral for borrowings, and include unpledged securities assigned to short-term dealer repurchase agreements or to the Federal Reserve Bank discount window.  As shown in the table below, our ratio of free securities to total securities was 48.90% at September 30, 2018, compared to 49.31% at June 30, 2018 and 36.61% at September 30, 2017.  The total of pledged securities at September 30, 2018 was $3.1 billion, down $29 million from June 30,  2018 as collateral related to seasonal public fund tax deposits was released. Total securities at September 30, 2018 was $0.4 billion higher than at September 30, 2017.





The liability portion of the balance sheet provides liquidity mainly through the ability to use cash sourced from various customers’ interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing deposit and sweep accounts.  Core deposits consist of total deposits excluding certificates of deposit (“CDs”) of $250,000 or more and brokered deposits. The ratio of core deposits to total deposits was 89.71% at September 30, 2018, compared to 89.65% at June 30, 2018 and 91.70% at September 30, 2017. Core deposits totaled $20.1 billion at September 30, 2018, an increase of $0.2 billion from June 30, 2018, and $0.4 billion from September 30, 2017. Brokered deposits totaled $1.4 billion as of September 30, 2018, a $26 million increase compared to June 30, 2018 and $354 million compared to September 30, 2017. The use of brokered deposits as a funding source is subject to strict parameters regarding the amount, term and interest rate.

Purchases of federal funds, securities sold under agreements to repurchase and other short-term borrowings from customers provide additional sources of liquidity to meet short-term funding requirements. Besides funding from customer sources, the Bank has a line of credit with the FHLB that is secured by blanket pledges of certain mortgage loans. At September 30, 2018, the Bank had borrowings of approximately $1.8 billion and had approximately $2.8 billion available under this line. The Bank also has unused borrowing capacity at the Federal Reserve’s discount window of approximately $2.3 billion; there were no outstanding borrowings with the Federal Reserve at any date during the twelve months ended September 30, 2018. 

Wholesale funds, which are comprised of short-term borrowings, long-term debt and brokered deposits were 19.34% of core deposits at September 30, 2018, compared to 19.93% at June 30, 2018 and 15.94% at September 30, 2017.  The linked quarter decrease in wholesale funds was primarily related to decreases in FHLB borrowings, customer repurchase agreements, and long-term debt, partially offset by an increase in federal funds purchased. The year over year increase in wholesale funds was primarily related to increases in FHLB borrowings and brokered deposits, partially offset by a decrease in long-term debt.  Management has established an internal target for wholesale funds to be less than 25% of core deposits. 

Another key measure used to monitor our liquidity position is the loan-to-deposit ratio (average loans outstanding for the reporting period divided by average deposits outstanding).  The loan-to-deposit ratio measures the amount of funds the Company lends for each dollar of deposits on hand.  Our loan-to-deposit ratio for the third quarter of 2018 was 88.39%, compared to 86.84% for the second quarter of 2018 and 87.08% for the third quarter of 2017.  Management has an established target range for its loan-to-deposit ratio of 83% to 87%, but will operate temporarily outside of that range depending on market conditions.  

Cash generated from operations is another important source of funds to meet liquidity needs.  The consolidated statements of cash flows present operating cash flows and summarize all significant sources and uses of funds for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017. 

Dividends received from the Bank have been the primary source of funds available to the Parent for the payment of dividends to our stockholders and for servicing its debt.  The liquidity management process takes into account the various regulatory provisions that can limit the amount of dividends the Bank can distribute to the Parent.  The Parent targets cash and other liquid assets to provide liquidity in an amount sufficient to fund approximately six quarters of anticipated common stockholder dividends. 

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CAPITAL RESOURCES



Stockholders’ equity totaled $3.0 billion at September 30, 2018, up $49 million, or 2% from June 30, 2018 and up $116 million, or 4%, from September 30, 2017.  The tangible common equity ratio was 7.67% at September 30, 2018,  compared to 7.76% at June 30, 2018  and 7.80% at September 30, 2017.  The decrease in the ratio from prior quarter is due to increase in goodwill and other intangibles resulting from the trust and asset management acquisition, partially offset by net tangible retained earnings.  The decrease from September 30, 2017 was primarily related to the change in accumulated other comprehensive loss, tangible asset growth, and an increase in intangible assets related to acquisition transactions, partially offset by an increase in net tangible retained earnings.  Management has established an internal target for the tangible common equity ratio of at least 8.00%; however, management will allow the tangible common equity ratio to drop below 8.00% on a temporary basis if it believes that the shortfall can be replenished through normal operations.  We expect to be back within our target range in the first half of 2019.



The regulatory capital ratios of the Company and the Bank as of September 30, 2018 declined compared to prior quarter due mostly to the intangible assets generated from the trust and asset management transaction and asset growth, however, the ratios remain strong and are well in excess of current regulatory minimum requirements. The Company and the Bank have been categorized as “well-capitalized” in the most recent notices received from our regulators. Both entities currently exceed all capital requirements of the Basel III requirements, including the fully phased-in conservation buffer.    See the Supervision and Regulation section in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 for further discussion of our capital requirements.

The following table shows the regulatory capital ratios for the Company and the Bank as calculated under current rules for the indicated periods. The Company’s and Bank’s regulatory filings for quarters ending March 31, 2018 and prior were filed in the names of Hancock Holding Company and Whitney Bank, respectively.





Regulatory definitions:

 

On May 24, 2018, our board of directors approved a stock buyback program that authorized the repurchase of up to 5%, or approximately 4.3 million shares of its outstanding common stock. The approved program allows us to repurchase shares of our common stock either in the open market in compliance with Rule 10b-18 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or in privately negotiated transactions with non-affiliated sellers or as otherwise determined by the Company in one or more transactions, from time to time until December 31, 2019. The Company is not obligated to purchase any shares under this program and the board of directors may terminate or amend the program at any time prior to the expiration. As of September 30, 2018, we had not purchased any shares of our common stock under this program.



On July 26, 2018, the board of directors declared the regular third quarter cash dividend at $0.27 per share, a 12.5% increase from the prior quarter.  The annual cash dividend payable rate increased to $1.08 per share, compared to the previous rate of $0.96 per share.  The Company has paid uninterrupted quarter dividends to shareholders since 1967.

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BALANCE SHEET ANALYSIS

Securities

Investments in securities totaled approximately $6.0 billion at September 30, 2018, down $126 million, or 2%, from June 30, 2018, and up $363 million from September 30, 2017.  At September 30, 2018, securities available for sale totaled $2.9 billion and securities held to maturity totaled $3.1 billion. 

The securities portfolio consists mainly of residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities and collateralized mortgage obligations issued or guaranteed by U.S. government agencies. The portfolio is designed to enhance liquidity while providing an acceptable rate of return.  The Company invests only in high quality investment grade securities with a targeted effective duration for the overall portfolio of between two and five years.  The effective duration calculates the price sensitivity to changes in interest rates.  At September 30, 2018, the average maturity of the portfolio was 5.61 years with an effective duration of 4.90 years and a nominal weighted-average yield of 2.54%. Management simulations indicate that the effective duration would decrease to 4.84 years with a 100 bps increase in the yield curve and increase to 4.91 years with a 200 bps increase.  At June 30, 2018, the average maturity of the portfolio was 6.09 years with an effective duration of 4.89 years and a nominal weighted-average yield of 2.53%. The average maturity of the portfolio at September 30, 2017 was 5.57 years, while the duration was 4.64 years, and the nominal weighted average yield was 2.36%.

Loans

Total loans at September 30, 2018 were $19.5 billion, up approximately $173 million, or 1%, from June 30, 2018, and up $757 million, or 4%, from September 30, 2017.  The increase from June 30, 2018 is net of approximately $90 million of paydowns on two relationships that occurred at quarter end, approximately half of which was in the energy related transportation sector, where we are working to reduce our exposure. Net loan growth continues to be diversified both regionally and in areas identified as a part of the Company’s revenue generating initiatives, including equipment finance and healthcare.  Loans to energy related entities decreased $58 million during third quarter of 2018 and are down $206 million compared to September 30, 2017 as we continue to reduce our exposure to the energy sector. 

The following table shows the composition of our loan portfolio:







Our commercial customer base is diversified over a range of industries, including energy, healthcare, wholesale and retail trade in various durable and nondurable products and the manufacture of such products, marine transportation and maritime construction, financial and professional services, and agricultural production.

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The following table provides detail of the more significant industry concentrations for our commercial and industrial loan portfolio, which is based on NAICS codes.





(a) Certain balances within each of these industry categories may contain loans considered to be energy related lending, as our definition of energy related is based on the borrower’s source of revenue. The energy related portfolio totaled approximately $.9 billion at September 30, 2018, $1.0 billion at June 30, 2018, and $1.1 billion at March 31, 2018, December 31, 2017 and September 30, 2017.



At September 30, 2018, commercial and industrial (“C&I”) loans, including both non-real estate and owner occupied real estate secured loans, totaled approximately $10.7 billion, an increase of $94 million, or 1%, from June 30, 2018.  Included in C&I are $927 million in energy related loans, which are comprised of credits to both the exploration and production segment and the support services segment.  Energy related loans comprised 4.7% of total loans at September 30, 2018, down from 12.4% in fourth quarter of 2014, the beginning of the downturn in the energy cycle, meeting our strategic target to reduce concentration of energy loans to 5% or lower.  The energy portfolio is also more balanced across the segments with 53% in support services and 47% in upstream and midstream at September 30, 2018, compared to 62% and 38%, respectively, at June 30, 2018. Third quarter 2018 activity in the energy portfolio included payoffs and paydowns of approximately $151 million, partially offset by approximately $93 million in draws on existing lines of credit.  There were no energy charge-offs during the third quarter of 2018.

The Bank lends mainly to middle market and smaller commercial entities, although it participates in larger shared credit loan facilities.  Shared national credits funded at September 30, 2018 totaling approximately $1.8 billion, or 9%, of total loans were up $77.9 million from June 30, 2018. Approximately $458 million of our shared national credits were with energy related customers at September 30, 2018.



Commercial real estate – income producing loans totaled approximately $2.3 billion at September 30, 2018, a decrease of $30.5 million, or 1%, from June 30, 2018.  The decrease was related primarily to healthcare facilities and multifamily properties.  The following table details for the preceding five quarters the end-of-period commercial real estate – income producing loan balances by property type. 



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Construction and land development loans, totaling approximately $1.5 billion at September 30, 2018, was relatively unchanged from June 30, 2018.  Residential mortgages increased $66.6 million and consumer loans increased $34.2 million during the third quarter of 2018. 



We currently expect a slight slowdown in production in the fourth quarter of 2018, with end of period fourth quarter net loan growth estimated at $200 to $225 million.

Allowance for Loan Losses and Asset Quality

The Company's total allowance for loan losses was $214.5 million at September 30, 2018 virtually unchanged from June 30, 2018 and down $2.8 million from $217.3 million at December 31, 2017.  The ratio of the allowance for loan losses to period-end loans decreased slightly to 1.10%, compared to 1.11% at June 30, 2018 and 1.14% at year end.  The allowance for loan losses compared to second quarter 2018 reflects the net of an $8.8 million increase in allowance for loan losses on the nonenergy portfolio, offset by a decrease of $8.8 million in energy reserves.  The increase in the nonenergy allowance reflects increased growth and diversification of this portfolio, the impact that rising interest rates may have on ability to repay and criticized and nonperforming levels that, while down compared to the prior period-end, remain elevated compared to the last several years.  The decline in energy reserves reflects the stabilization in crude oil prices, a sizable decline in energy exposure and a significant reduction in criticized loan balances.  While there are a few problem energy credits for which we anticipate future charge-offs, management believes the allowance level is sufficient to cover that potential.

The Company’s balance of criticized commercial loans totaled $0.8 billion at September 30, 2018, down $63 million, or 7%, compared to June 30, 2018, with a decrease in nonenergy criticized loans of $12 million and a decrease in energy of $51 million. Commercial criticized loans are down $242 million compared to December 31, 2017, with the energy portfolio down $193 million and nonenergy down $49 million.  Criticized loans are defined as those having potential weaknesses that deserve management’s close attention (risk-rated special mention, substandard and doubtful), including both accruing and nonaccruing loans. Our nonenergy criticized portfolio, totaling $477 million at September 30, 2018 is comprised of loans that are diversified as to both industry and geography, and the level of criticized loans as a percentage of total loans is not outside of historical norms. As of September 30, 2018, criticized loans in the energy portfolio were $357 million, or approximately 39%, of that portfolio. Energy related loans delinquent for more than 30 days, including accrual and nonaccrual loans, totaled $71 million, or 8%, of the energy portfolio at September 30, 2018, up from $62 million, or 6%, at June 30, 2018.

Management continues to closely monitor the ability of our energy related customers to service their debt, including reviews of customers’ balance sheets, leverage ratios, collateral values and other critical lending metrics.  With oil prices approximating $70 per barrel, and continued stabilization in prices, we anticipate the cycle for us could end soon.  We believe we are adequately reserved for losses on remaining credits, and do not expect a significant provision for any additional issues. Management maintains the estimate that net charge offs from energy related credits could be as high as $95 million over the duration of the cycle, which started in the fourth quarter of 2014.  To date, we have recorded approximately $79 million in energy related net charge-offs since the cycle began. See Item 7 in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 for further discussion of our energy portfolio and its potential impact on the allowance for loan losses.

The following table provides a breakout of the allowance for loan loss for the energy portfolio, allocated by sector, as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017.



Net charge-offs were $6.9 million, or 0.14%, of average total loans on an annualized basis in the third quarter of 2018, up from $5.1 million, or 0.11%, of average total loans in the second quarter of 2018.  There were no energy charge-offs during the third quarter of 2018 compared to a net recovery in the second quarter of 2018 of $1.9 million.  Commercial nonenergy net charge-offs were up $0.4 million to $3.2 million in third quarter of 2018. Consumer loan charge-offs of $4.7 million were up $1.1 million compared to the second quarter of 2018, but were more in line with first quarter 2018 and fourth quarter 2017 when adjusted to exclude Harrison

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Finance. The mortgage portfolio continued to perform well during third quarter of 2018 with a net recovery of $1.1 million compared to net recovery of $0.3 million in second quarter of 2018.

The following table sets forth activity in the allowance for loan losses for the periods indicated:





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The following table sets forth nonperforming assets by type for the periods indicated, consisting of nonaccrual loans, troubled debt restructurings and foreclosed and surplus ORE and other foreclosed assets.  Loans past due 90 days or more and still accruing are also disclosed.









Nonperforming assets totaled $391.3 million at September 30, 2018, down $25.2 million from June 30, 2018 and $9.5 million from December 31, 2017, but up $3.7 million from September 30, 2017.  Nonperforming loans decreased approximately $30.4 million compared to June 30, 2018, with the energy portfolio down $17.5 million and nonenergy down $12.9 million. Nonperforming assets as a percent of total loans, ORE and other foreclosed assets was 2.00% at September 30, 2018, down 15 bps from June 30, 2018, 11 bps from December 31, 2017, and 6 bps from September 30, 2017.  

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Short-Term Investments

Short-term liquidity assets are held to ensure funds are available to meet the cash flow needs of both borrowers and depositors.  Short-term liquidity investments, including interest-bearing bank deposits and federal funds sold, were $108.1 million at September 30, 2018. This represents an increase of $3.9 million from June 30, 2018 and a decrease of $3.7 million compared to September 30, 2017. These assets are highly volatile on a daily basis depending upon movement in customer loan and deposit accounts.  Average short-term investments of $155.3 million for the third quarter of 2018 were up $12.2 million compared to the second quarter of 2018, and down $39.3 million compared to the third quarter of 2017. See the Liquidity section earlier in this Item for further discussion regarding the management of our short-term investment portfolio and the impact upon our liquidity in general.

Deposits

Total deposits were $22.4 billion at September 30, 2018, up $182.5 million, or 1%, from June 30, 2018, and up $883.9 million, or 4%, from September 30, 2017.  Average deposits for the third quarter of 2018 were $22.0 billion, down $79.9 million, or less than 1%, from the second quarter of 2018 and up $671.7 million, or 3%, from the third quarter of 2017.



Noninterest-bearing demand deposits were $8.1 billion at September 30, 2018, down $25.3 million, or less than 1%, linked quarter, and up $244.1 million, or 3%, year over year. Noninterest-bearing demand deposits comprised 36% of total deposits at September 30, 2018, and 37% at June 30, 2018 and September 30, 2017.  



Interest-bearing transaction and savings accounts of $8.0 billion at September 30, 2018 increased $260.9 million, or 3%, compared to June 30, 2018, mainly due to $229 million of customer deposits related to the trust and asset management acquisition, and increased $78.9 million, or 1%, compared to September 30, 2017.    

Interest-bearing public fund deposits totaled $2.6 billion at September 30, 2018, down $241 million, or 8%, from June 30, 2018, consistent with seasonal trends, and down $148.2 million, or 5%, compared to September 30, 2017.  Time deposits other than public funds totaled $3.7 billion at September 30, 2018 up $187.8 million from June 30, 2018, driven by promotional certificate of deposit offers across our markets.  Time deposits other than public funds was up $709.1 million, or 24%, compared to September 30, 2017, due to both increased retail and brokered deposits.

Short-Term Borrowings

At September 30, 2018, short-term borrowings totaled $2.3 billion, down $37.5 million from June 30, 2018, as FHLB borrowings decreased $50.3 million, securities sold under repurchase agreements decreased $37.0 million, and federal funds purchased increased $49.8 million.  Short-term borrowings increased $539.5 million from September 30, 2017.

Average short-term borrowings of $2.6 billion in the third quarter of 2018 were up $620.8 million, or 31%, compared to the second quarter of 2018, and up $700.8 million, or 37%, compared to the third quarter of 2017.  Customer repurchase agreements and FHLB borrowings are the major sources of short-term borrowings. Customer repurchase agreements are offered mainly to commercial customers to assist them with their cash management strategies or to provide a temporary investment vehicle for their excess liquidity pending redeployment for corporate or investment purposes. While customer repurchase agreements provide a recurring source of funds to the Bank, the amounts available over time can be volatile.  FHLB borrowings are funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank that are collateralized by single family and commercial real estate loans included in the Bank’s loan portfolio, subject to specific criteria.

Long-Term Debt

At September 30, 2018, long-term debt totaled $215.9 million, down $50.1 million from June 30, 2018.  The decrease in long-term debt during the third quarter 2018 reflects a $50 million early payoff of the Parent’s term scheduled to mature in December 2018.

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OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS

Loan Commitments and Letters of Credit

In the normal course of business, the Bank enters into financial instruments, such as commitments to extend credit and letters of credit, to meet the financing needs of their customers.  Such instruments are not reflected in the accompanying consolidated financial statements until they are funded, although they expose the Bank to varying degrees of credit risk and interest rate risk in much the same way as funded loans. Under regulatory capital guidelines, the Company and Bank must include unfunded commitments meeting certain criteria in risk-weighted capital calculations.

Commitments to extend credit include revolving commercial credit lines, nonrevolving loan commitments issued mainly to finance the acquisition and development or construction of real property or equipment, and credit card and personal credit lines.  The availability of funds under commercial credit lines and loan commitments generally depends on whether the borrower continues to meet credit standards established in the underlying contract and has not violated other contractual conditions.  Loan commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of a fee by the borrower.  Credit card and personal credit lines are generally subject to cancellation if the borrower’s credit quality deteriorates.  A number of commercial and personal credit lines are used only partially or, in some cases, not at all before they expire, and the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements of the Company.

A substantial majority of the letters of credit are standby agreements that obligate the Bank to fulfill a customer’s financial commitments to a third party if the customer is unable to perform.  The Bank issues standby letters of credit primarily to provide credit enhancement to its customers’ other commercial or public financing arrangements and to help them demonstrate financial capacity to vendors of essential goods and services. 

The contract amounts of these instruments reflect the Company's exposure to credit risk.  The Company undertakes the same credit evaluation in making loan commitments and assuming conditional obligations as it does for on-balance sheet instruments and may require collateral or other credit support. 

The following table shows the commitments to extend credit and letters of credit at September 30, 2018 according to expiration date. 







 



CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES

There were no material changes or developments with respect to methodologies that the Company uses when applying what management believes are critical accounting policies and developing critical accounting estimates as disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017. 

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America and with those generally practiced within the banking industry which require management to make estimates and assumptions about future events.  Estimates are based on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, and the resulting estimates form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of certain assets and liabilities not readily apparent from other sources.  Actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.



  

NEW ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

Refer to Note 16 to our Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this report.  

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Item 3.  Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

The Company’s net income is materially dependent on net interest income.  The Company’s primary market risk is interest rate risk which stems from uncertainty with respect to absolute and relative levels of future market interest rates that affect financial products and services.  In order to manage the exposures to interest rate risk, management measures the sensitivity of net interest income and cash flows under various market interest rate scenarios, establishes interest rate risk management policies, and implements asset/liability management strategies designed to produce a relatively stable net interest margin under varying rate environments.

The Company measures its interest rate sensitivity primarily by running various net interest income simulations.  The Company’s balance sheet is asset sensitive over a two-year period due to a larger volume of rate sensitive assets than rate sensitive liabilities.  The model measures annual net interest income sensitivity relative to a base case scenario and incorporates assumptions regarding balance sheet growth and the mix of earning assets and funding sources as well as pricing, repricing and maturity characteristics of the existing and projected balance sheet. 

The table below presents the results of simulations run as of September 30, 2018 for year 1 and year 2, assuming the indicated instantaneous and sustained parallel shift in the yield curve at the measurement date. The results demonstrate an increase in net interest income as rates rise and a decline should rates fall as compared to the stable rate environment assumed for the base case.





Note: Decrease in interest rates limited to 100 basis points in the current rate environment

The foregoing disclosures related to our market risk should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements, related notes and management’s discussion and analysis included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.

 

Item 4. Controls and Procedures

In connection with the preparation of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, an evaluation was carried out by the Company’s management, with the participation of the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act).  Disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures. Based on that evaluation, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that, as of September 30, 2018, the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective.

Our management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, identified no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the three month period ended September 30, 2018, that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal controls over financial reporting.



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PART II.  OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1.   Legal Proceedings

The Company, including subsidiaries, is party to various legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business.  We do not believe that loss contingencies, if any, arising from pending litigation and regulatory matters will have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position or liquidity.

Item 1A.  Risk Factors

The Company disclosed risk factors in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.  The risks described may not be the only risks facing us.  Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that are currently considered to not be material also may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and/or operating results.  The following risk factor regarding cybersecurity matters has been included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q in response to the SEC’s Statement and Guidance on Public Company Cybersecurity Disclosures published on February 26, 2018.



Our operational and communications systems and infrastructure may fail or may be the subject of a breach or cyber-attack that, if successful, could adversely affect our business and disrupt business continuity.



We depend on our ability to process, record and monitor a large number of client transactions and to communicate with clients and other institutions on a continuous basis. As client, industry, public and regulatory expectations regarding operational and information security have increased, our operational systems and infrastructure continue to be safeguarded and monitored for potential failures, disruptions and breakdowns, whether as a result of events beyond our control or otherwise.



Our business, financial, accounting, data processing, or other operating systems and facilities may stop operating properly or become disabled or damaged as a result of a number of factors, including events that are wholly or partially beyond our control. For example, there could be sudden increases in client transaction volume; electrical or telecommunications outages; natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, and hurricanes; disease pandemics; events arising from local or larger scale political or social matters, including terrorist acts; occurrences of employee error, fraud, or malfeasance; and, as described below, cyber-attacks.



Although we have business continuity plans and other safeguards in place, our operations and communications may be adversely affected by significant and widespread disruption to our systems and infrastructure that support our businesses and clients. While we continue to evolve and modify our business continuity plans, there can be no assurance in an escalating threat environment that they will be effective in avoiding disruption and business impacts. Our insurance may not be adequate to compensate us for all resulting losses, and the cost to obtain adequate coverage may increase for us or the industry.



Security risks for financial institutions such as ours have dramatically increased in recent years, in part because of the proliferation of new technologies, the use of the internet and telecommunications technologies to conduct financial transactions, and the increased sophistication, resources and activities of hackers, terrorists, activists, organized crime, and other external parties, including nation state actors. In addition, clients may use devices or software to access our products and services that are beyond our control environment, which may provide additional avenues for attackers to gain access to confidential information. Although we have information security procedures and controls in place, our technologies, systems, networks, and clients’ devices and software may become the target of cyber-attacks or information security breaches that could result in the unauthorized release, gathering, monitoring, misuse, loss, change or destruction of our or our clients’ confidential, proprietary and other information (including personal identifying information of individuals), or otherwise disrupt our or our clients’ or other third parties’ business operations. Other U.S. financial institutions and financial service companies have reported breaches in the security of their websites or other systems, including attempts to shut down access to their networks and systems in an attempt to extract compensation from them to regain control. Financial institutions have experienced distributed denial-of-service attacks, a sophisticated and targeted attack intended to disable or degrade internet service or to sabotage systems.



We and others in our industry are regularly the subject of attempts by attackers to gain unauthorized access to our networks, systems, and data, or to obtain, change, or destroy confidential data (including personal identifying information of individuals) through a variety of means, including computer viruses, malware, and phishing. In the future, these attacks may result in unauthorized individuals obtaining access to our confidential information or that of our clients, or otherwise accessing, damaging, or disrupting our systems or infrastructure.



We are continuously enhancing our controls, processes and practices designed to protect our systems, computers, software, data and networks from attack, damage or unauthorized access. This continued enhancement will require us to expend additional resources, including to investigate and remediate any information security vulnerabilities that may be detected. Despite our ongoing investments in security resources, talent, and business practices, we are unable to assure that security measures will be effective.

If our systems and infrastructure were to be breached, damaged, or disrupted, or if we were to experience a loss of our confidential information or that of our clients, we could be subject to serious negative consequences, including disruption of our operations,

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damage to our reputation, a loss of trust in us on the part of our clients, vendors or other counterparties, client attrition, reimbursement or other costs, increased compliance costs, significant litigation exposure and legal liability, or regulatory fines, penalties or intervention. Any of these could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, our financial condition, and/or our share price.

Item 2.  Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

None.

Item 6.  Exhibits 

(a)  Exhibits:





































* Compensatory plan or arrangement









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SIGNATURES



Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.





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