Synovus Financial Corp at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Great. Thanks, Kevin. So maybe a couple of bigger picture questions before we get into the specifics of the guidance that you provided. So Kevin, you're out in the market talking to clients a lot. I'm assuming you've been out a little post election. Can you maybe just talk about if you've changed any -- have you witnessed any change and client sentiment since the election. And obviously, you noted that loan growth was slower in the quarter, but are you seeing any improvement leading indicators for a borrowing coming back?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Maybe we can dig in a little bit further on the loan growth expectations that you laid out. So you highlighted, Kevin, utilization and CRE paydowns could be some factors. But maybe just talk about -- you laid out all the hiring that you've done. How dependent is the return of loan growth on all these relationship matter hiring that you've done versus a broader pickup in the market versus an increase in utilization. And so can you break that down for us and also help us think about what puts us on low versus high in the range?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : That's super helpful. Jamie, maybe to dig into some of the revenue line items that have been included in the guidance. And maybe we'll start with the easier one, the $500 million to $520 million of fee income. I know there's a lot of headwinds to fee income due to the business sales and the like in 2024. Maybe just talk a little bit about what's underlying the amount of fee income growth? And do you expect it to accelerate over the course of the year?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : And when you think about the adjusted revenue were 3% to 7% you take out the fees, it implies at the midpoint a pretty nice NII growth. But obviously, there's a range of outcomes here and you've laid out some scenarios, at least some data points that you've included. Can you maybe just talk to us about what drives the variation in the NII? Is it you've made assumptions regarding -- obviously, loan growth would be one big factor. But what are some of the other factors that are driving the high versus low end in terms of NII growth?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : And Kevin, a lot of good details in terms of the expenses and maybe I'll have some specific questions. But when you take a step back and think about the guidance, revenues may grow 3% to 7%, expenses are going to grow 3% to 7%. Do you anticipate the bank generating positive operating leverage in 2025?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : And just to be clear, if -- let's say, we get into a scenario where revenue growth is coming in slower, is it pacing of the strategic investment and the desire to do more on the efficiencies that will drive the ability to at least keep revenues and expenses in more checks.

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : And Jamie, you talked about having success in the quarter in terms of deposit repricing. Maybe you could expand upon that a little bit. And when you think about the net interest margin that you've outlined for the -- for 2025, which starts setting and starts to improve, what sort of deposit repricing assumptions are embedded in that? And how do you think about the trajectory of the margin under different rate assumptions?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : And then when you think about charge-offs, obviously, you're providing for the first half, similar to what you did last year because who knows what's going to happen in the second half of the year. But I guess maybe just talk about when you think about the underlying assumptions of maybe what were the drivers of credit losses in 2024. How do you see that evolving into 2025 and '24 was the year where we actually credit gets better over the back half of the year. Do you think '25 with your crystal ball will be more a year of stability throughout?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Got you. You said you're going to give the 2025 capital plan with 4Q earnings. Obviously, they won't stop me from asking. How to think about capital and share repurchases. And maybe just broadly, the plans to hold capital steady. Obviously, you have pretty robust plans -- hopeful plans for loan growth. Maybe just talk about the toggle how you're thinking about using it, we do see better loan growth versus if we don't?

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Kevin, the bank has only done one deal in a while. It doesn't seem like it's a huge priority. Maybe just talk about an environment where we do start to see pickup in activity. What would you need to change to -- what would you need to see happen to change your priority? And second, when we've seen a lot of transactions in smaller banks, a lot of them have come with capital raises just to keep capital levels neutral. I don't know if that's going to be the same in the new regulatory regime. But broadly speaking, like how do you think about if M&A were an interest to you, the desire to have to shore up the capital ratio through issuance? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 11, 2024 / 4:20PM, SNV.N - Synovus Financial Corp at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference

Question: Ryan Nash - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : So I'm going to leave you with one question. So you showed on slide 10 that you were the number 1 at 50 the last 12 months in terms of total shareholder return. Convince us that we're going to be sitting up here 12 months from now that we're going to see the same results. What do you think is going to drive that?