Asset Quality
Overview
At September 30, 2020, the Company experienced increases in NPAs compared to December 31, 2019, primarily due to the inclusion of assets not previously reported as nonperforming that are now considered such under the CECL methodology. Total past due loan levels as a percentage of total loans held for investment at September 30, 2020 were down from total past due loan levels at December 31, 2019.
Net charge-offs decreased for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2019. Total net charge-offs as a percentage of total average loans on an annualized basis also decreased for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2019. The allowance for credit losses increased from December 31, 2019, as a result of the adoption of ASC 326 as well as a worsening economic forecast due to the impact of COVID-19, which also led to an increase in the provision for credit losses.
As discussed under “Recent Developments” within this Item 2, the pandemic is having a wide range of economic impacts, including impacts in the Company’s area of operations and on the Company’s clients and borrowers. While the Company has not yet experienced deterioration in asset quality as compared to pre-pandemic performance, the Company does expect that at some point asset quality will be adversely affected to some degree due to pandemic-related bankruptcies, business closures, unemployment, and other effects. At this time, it is impossible for the Company to estimate either the timing or the magnitude of any such adverse changes in asset quality.
Troubled Debt Restructurings
The total recorded investment in TDRs as of September 30, 2020 was $21.6 million, an increase of $2.1 million, or 10.6%, from $19.5 million at December 31, 2019 and an increase of $2.8 million, or 15.1%, from $18.7 million at September 30, 2019. Of the $21.6 million of TDRs at September 30, 2020, $14.5 million, or 67.3%, were considered performing while the remaining $7.1 million were considered nonperforming.
Loan Modifications for Borrowers Affected by COVID-19
On March 22, 2020, the five federal bank regulatory agencies and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors issued joint
guidance (subsequently revised on April 7, 2020) with respect to loan modifications for borrowers affected by COVID-19 (the “March 22 Joint Guidance”). The March 22 Joint Guidance encourages banks, savings associations, and credit unions to make loan modifications for borrowers affected by COVID-19 and, importantly, assures those financial institutions that they will not (i) receive supervisory criticism for such prudent loan modifications and (ii) be required by examiners to automatically categorize COVID-19-related loan modifications as TDRs. The federal banking regulators have confirmed with the FASB that short-term loan modifications made on a good faith basis in response to COVID-19 to borrowers who were current (i.e., less than 30 days past due on contractual payments) when the modification program was implemented are not considered TDRs.
In addition, Section 4013 of the CARES Act, provides banks, savings associations, and credit unions with the ability to make loan modifications related to COVID-19 without categorizing the loan as a TDR or conducting the analysis to make the determination, which is intended to streamline the loan modification process. Any such suspension is effective for the term of the loan modification; however, the suspension is only permitted for loan modifications made during the effective period of Section 4013 and only for those loans that were not more than thirty days past due as of December 31, 2019.
The Company has made certain loan modifications pursuant to the March 22 Joint Guidance or Section 4013 of the CARES Act and as of September 30, 2020 approximately $769.6 million remain under their modified terms. The majority of the Company’s modifications as of September 30, 2020 were in the commercial real estate portfolios.
The Company’s modification program included payment deferrals and interest only modifications. A majority of the modifications were three-month deferrals.
Nonperforming Assets
At September 30, 2020, NPAs totaled $43.2 million, an increase of $10.2 million from December 31, 2019. NPAs as a percentage of total outstanding loans at September 30, 2020 were 0.30%, an increase of 4 basis points from 0.26% at December 31, 2019. Excluding the impact of the PPP loans(2), NPAs as a percentage of total outstanding loans were 0.34%, an