42
Mortgage Banking Revenues
.
Mortgage banking revenues totaled $30.6 million in 2022 compared
to $52.4 million in 2021 and
$63.3 million in 2020.
Lower mortgage
banking revenues at CCHL for 2022 reflected a reduction in refinancing
activity and, to a
lesser degree, lower purchase mortgage originations primarily driven
by higher interest rates.
In addition, gain on sale margins
were pressured due to a lower level of governmental loan originations and mandatory
delivery loan sales (both of which provide a
higher gain on sale percentage).
Throughout 2022, strong best efforts origination volume allowed
us to book a steady flow of
adjustable rate residential loans in our portfolio which contributed to loan growth
and earnings.
In addition, continued stability in
our construction/permanent loan program partially offset the
slowdown in secondary market originations.
The decrease in 2021
was driven generally by lower refinancing volume, a shift in production mix (lower
government versus conventional product),
and lower market driven gain on sale margins.
We provide a detailed overview
of our mortgage banking operation, including a
detailed break-down of mortgage banking revenues, mortgage
servicing activity, and
warehouse funding within Note 4 -
Mortgage Banking Activities in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
Production volume totaled $1.02 billion in 2022,
$1.52 billion in 2021, and $1.56 billion in 2020.
Refinancing activity represented 13% of loan production in 2022, 30% in 2021,
and 40% in 2020.
For 2022, CCHL realized a $0.2 million net loss ($0.01 per diluted share) versus
$3.9 million net income
($0.23 per diluted share) in 2021, and $8.7 million net income ($0.52 per
diluted share) in 2020.
Other
.
Other noninterest income totaled $8.4 million in 2022 compared to $7.3 million
in 2021 and $5.9 million in 2020.
The
$1.1
million increase in 2022
was primarily attributable to higher loan servicing fees at CCHL of $0.5 and
a $0.4 million increase
in miscellaneous income, primarily from a $0.2 million gain on
the termination of a lease.
The $1.4 million increase in 2021 was
primarily attributable to higher loan servicing fees of $1.0 million at CCHL.
The higher level of loan servicing fees at CCHL for
both 2021 and 2022 reflected a higher volume of servicing retained loan
sales.
Noninterest Expense
For 2022, noninterest expense totaled $161.8 million, a $0.7 million
decrease from 2021 due to a decrease in compensation
expense of $0.9 million and other expense of $0.4 million, partially
offset by an increase in occupancy expense of $0.6 million.
The reduction in compensation expense was primarily due to a decrease in salary expense
of $1.6 million that was partially offset
by an increase in associate benefit expense of $0.7 million.
The variance in salary expense reflected lower variable/performance-
based compensation of $7.7 million and base salaries of $1.3 million at CCHL, partially
offset by an increase in salary expense at
the Bank, including variable/performance-based compensation totaling
$2.5 million, base salaries (merit and new market staffing
additions) of $3.1 million, and lower realized loan cost of $1.4 million
(credit offset to salary expense).
The increase in associate
benefit expense was due to an increase in insurance expense (utilized self-insurance
reserves in 2021) of $0.6 million and stock
compensation expense of $0.7 million at the Bank.
The net decrease in other expense was primarily due to lower pension plan
related costs, including a decrease of $4.9 million for the non-service
cost component of our pension plan (reflected in pension –
other) attributable to the utilization of a lower discount rate for plan liabilities
and a decrease of $0.8 million for pension plan
settlement expense.
These favorable variances were partially offset by an increase in
the expense for other real estate expense of
$1.2 million, travel/entertainment and advertising costs of $1.3 million
(return to pre-pandemic levels and market expansion),
other losses of $0.9 million (primarily debit card and check fraud), mortgage
servicing right amortization of $0.6 million, VISA
share swap conversion ratio payments of $0.4 million, FDIC insurance
fees of $0.3 million, and other miscellaneous costs related
to training, hiring, and variable costs related to loan production.
Gains from the sale of two banking offices in 2021 drove the
increase in other real estate expense.
The increase in occupancy expense is related to lease expense for four new banking
offices
added in 2022 and various software purchases, including network security
and end of life upgrades.
For 2021, noninterest expense totaled $162.5 million, a $12.5 million
increase over 2020 attributable to the addition of expenses
at CCHL (March 1, 2020 acquisition) of $2.3 million and higher expenses at the
Bank totaling $10.2 million.
The increase in
expenses at the Bank were primarily due to an increase in compensation expense
of $3.7 million, including an increase in salary
expense of $3.1 million (merit raises and realized loan cost) and associate benefit
expense of $0.6 million (primarily
pension/service cost), occupancy expense of $0.5 million, and other
expense of $5.9 million.
The increase in occupancy reflected
higher lease expense for two new loan production offices added in 2021
and higher depreciation expense related to technology
investments.
The increase in other expense was primarily
due to pension plan settlement expense of $3.1 million and higher
expense of $2.1 million for the non-service cost component of our pension
plan (reflected in pension – other) attributable to the
utilization of a lower discount rate for plan liabilities.
Increases in processing fees of $0.7 million (debit card volume),
professional fees of $0.6 million, and FDIC insurance fees of $0.5
million (higher asset size) that were partially offset by a
decrease in other real estate expense of $1.6 million (gains from the sale of
two banking offices in 2021), also contributed to the
increase in other expense.
Our operating efficiency ratio (expressed as noninterest
expense as a percent of taxable equivalent net interest income plus
noninterest income) was 71.47%, 77.11%
and 70.43% in 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
The decrease in this metric for 2022
was primarily driven by higher taxable equivalent net interest income (refer
to caption headed Net Interest Income and Margin)
and slightly lower noninterest expense.
The increase in this metric for 2021 reflected higher noninterest expense,
largely the
aforementioned higher level of pension plan expenses.