First Western Reports Fourth Quarter 2022 Financial Results

Fourth Quarter 2022 Summary

• Total deposits increased $237.8 million, at an annualized rate of 43.9%, in Q4 2022
• Total loans held for investment increased $121.2 million, at an annualized rate of 20.6%, in Q4 2022
• Net income available to common shareholders of $5.5 million in Q4 2022, compared to $6.2 million in Q3 2022 and $1.9 million in Q4 2021
• Diluted EPS of $0.56 in Q4 2022, compared to $0.64 in Q3 2022 and $0.23 in Q4 2021
• Pre-tax, pre-provision net income(1) of $8.5 million in Q4 2022, compared to $10.0 million in Q3 2022 and $3.4 million in Q4 2021
• Book value per common share increased to $25.37, or 2.5%, from $24.74 as of Q3 2022, and was up 9.1% from $23.25 as of Q4 2021

DENVER, Jan. 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Western Financial, Inc. (“First Western” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: MYFW), today reported financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2022.

Net income available to common shareholders was $5.5 million, or $0.56 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2022. This compares to $6.2 million, or $0.64 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2022, and $1.9 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2021.

Scott C. Wylie, CEO of First Western, commented, “We had another strong quarter of business development resulting in double-digit annualized loan and deposit growth. While tightening our underwriting criteria and loan pricing, given the potential for weakening economic conditions, we still had 21% annualized loan growth, partially driven by increasing contributions from the teams we have added to expand our presence in Arizona, Wyoming and Montana. Importantly, our increased focus on deposit gathering resulted in deposit growth that was more than twice the rate of our loan growth, which significantly reduced our loan-to-deposit ratio. Our balance sheet growth enabled us to continue generating strong earnings and further growth in book value and tangible book value per share.

“With our conservatively underwritten, well diversified loan portfolio and the financial strength of the clients we serve, we have consistently maintained strong asset quality during past economic downturns and we expect it to continue performing well this year. At the same time, given the strong business development capabilities we have built and the increasing traction we are getting in our newer markets, we expect to continue generating solid balance sheet growth, realizing more operating leverage, and delivering a higher level of earnings. While it appears that the macroeconomic environment will be challenging in 2023, we believe we are well positioned to continue profitably growing our franchise and creating shareholder value,” said Mr. Wylie.

(1) Represents a Non-GAAP financial measure. See “Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures” for a reconciliation of our Non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

____________________(1) Represents a Non-GAAP financial measure. See “Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures” for a reconciliation of our Non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

Operating Results for the Fourth Quarter 2022

Revenue

Gross revenue (1) was $29.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2022, a slight decrease of 1.0% from $29.3 million for the third quarter of 2022. Relative to the fourth quarter of 2021, gross revenue increased 23.8% from $23.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2021, primarily driven by growth in interest-earning assets and an increase in net interest margin.

(1) Represents a Non-GAAP financial measure. See “Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures” for a reconciliation of our Non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

Net Interest Income

Net interest income for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $21.8 million, a decrease of 4.6% from $22.9 million in the third quarter of 2022. The decrease was due to higher interest expense resulting from the strong growth in total deposits in the fourth quarter, as well as an increase in the average cost of deposits due to the rising rate environment and a highly competitive deposit market.

Relative to the fourth quarter of 2021, net interest income increased 51.6% from $14.4 million. The year-over-year increase in net interest income was due to an increase in net interest margin attributable to the higher rate environment and increased average interest-earning assets. The increase in average interest-earning assets was driven by growth in average loans of $782.4 million compared to December 31, 2021, resulting from organic loan growth and the Teton acquisition.

Net Interest Margin

Net interest margin for the fourth quarter of 2022 decreased 44 bps to 3.32% from 3.76% reported in the third quarter of 2022, primarily due to a 106 bps increase in average cost of funds, driven by a rising rate environment and a highly competitive deposit market.

The yield on interest-earning assets increased to 4.93% in the fourth quarter of 2022 from 4.38% in the third quarter of 2022 and the cost of interest-bearing deposits increased to 2.09% in the fourth quarter of 2022 from 0.73% in the third quarter of 2022.

Relative to the fourth quarter of 2021, net interest margin increased from 2.92%, primarily due to increased yields attributable to the rising rate environment and higher average loan balances as a result of strong organic loan growth and the Teton acquisition, more than offsetting the increase in cost of funds.

Non-interest Income

Non-interest income for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $6.6 million, an increase of 3.4%, from $6.3 million in the third quarter of 2022. This was primarily due to an $0.8 million increase in risk management and insurance fees due to seasonal increases, partially offset by losses on loans held for investment under the fair value option of $0.5 million due primarily to the rising rate environment.

Relative to the fourth quarter of 2021, non-interest income decreased 31.1% from $9.5 million. The decrease was primarily due to lower mortgage segment activity as higher interest rates drove declines in both refinance and purchase volume, and lower Trust and investment management fees derived from reduced assets under management (“AUM”) balances, which were negatively impacted by lower equity and fixed income market valuations.

Non-interest Expense

Non-interest expense for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $19.9 million, an increase of 3.3%, from $19.3 million in the third quarter of 2022. The increase was primarily due to an increase in data processing fees and other operational costs attributable to nonrecurring implementation charges related to the trust and investment management system enhancements.

Relative to the fourth quarter of 2021, non-interest expense decreased 3.0% from $20.5 million. The decrease was primarily due to the addition of Teton’s operations at the end of 2021 which increased data processing costs for one-time system conversion and termination fees.

The impact of the merger and acquisition activity was as follows (in thousands):

_____________________(1) Represents a Non-GAAP financial measure. See “Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures” for a reconciliation of our Non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.(2) Represents reduced contract termination fees from the system conversion.

The Company’s efficiency ratio(1) was 67.7% in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared with 64.9% in the third quarter of 2022 and 71.8% in the fourth quarter of 2021.

(1) Represents a Non-GAAP financial measure. See “Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures” for a reconciliation of our Non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

Income Taxes

The Company recorded income tax expense of $1.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2022, representing an effective tax rate of 25.1%, compared to 24.5% for the third quarter of 2022.

Loans

Total loans held for investment were $2.48 billion as of December 31, 2022, an increase of 5.1% from $2.35 billion as of September 30, 2022, and an increase of 26.7% from $1.95 billion as of December 31, 2021. The increase in total loans held for investment from September 30, 2022 was primarily attributable to growth in the residential mortgage, construction and development, and commercial and industrial portfolios. The increase in total loans held for investment from December 31, 2021 was attributable to loan growth distributed amongst our residential mortgage, construction and development, commercial and industrial, and commercial real estate portfolios.

Deposits

Total deposits were $2.41 billion as of December 31, 2022, an increase of 11.0% from $2.17 billion as of September 30, 2022. Relative to the fourth quarter of 2021, total deposits increased 9.0% from $2.21 billion as of December 31, 2021, driven primarily by organic growth through expanded client relationships.

Borrowings

Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) and Federal Reserve borrowings were $146.9 million as of December 31, 2022, a decrease of $126.3 million from $273.2 million as of September 30, 2022, and an increase of $108.3 million from $38.6 million as of December 31, 2021. The decrease in borrowings from September 30, 2022 was driven by our reduced reliance on FHLB borrowings due to deposit growth throughout the quarter. Relative to the fourth quarter of 2021, total borrowings increased to support the strong loan growth throughout 2022.

Subordinated notes were $52.1 million as of December 31, 2022, an increase of $19.5 million from $32.6 million as of September 30, 2022 and an increase of $13.1 million from $39.0 million as of December 31, 2021. On December 5, 2022, the Company completed the issuance and sale of subordinated notes (the "December 2022 Sub Notes") totaling $20.0 million in aggregate principal amount. The December 2022 Sub Notes mature on December 15, 2032 (the "Maturity Date") and accrue interest at a rate of 7.00% per annum, payable semi-annually in arrears, to, but excluding, December 15, 2027. From and including December 15, 2027 to, but excluding the Maturity Date or early redemption date, the interest rate will reset quarterly to an interest rate per annum equal to Three-Month term SOFR, or an alternative rate determined in accordance with the terms of the Notes if Three-Month Term SOFR cannot be determined or a Benchmark Transition Event (as defined in the Notes) has occurred, plus 328 basis points, payable quarterly in arrears.

Assets Under Management

AUM increased by $188.6 million during the fourth quarter to $6.11 billion as of December 31, 2022, compared to $5.92 billion as of September 30, 2022. This increase was attributable to an increase in market values at the end of the fourth quarter 2022. Total AUM decreased by $1.24 billion compared to December 31, 2021 from $7.35 billion, which was primarily attributable to a decline in market values throughout 2022 resulting in a decrease in the value of AUM balances.

Credit Quality

Non-performing assets totaled $12.3 million, or 0.43% of total assets, as of December 31, 2022, compared to $3.9 million, or 0.14% of total assets, as of September 30, 2022 and $4.3 million, or 0.17% of total assets, as of December 31, 2021. The increase in non-performing assets is related to the addition of $8.9 million in problem loan credits at the end of the fourth quarter. The Company did not add a specific reserve to these new problem credits due to adequate collateral coverage as of December 31, 2022.

The Company recorded a provision of $1.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to a provision of $1.8 million in the third quarter of 2022 and $0.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. The provision recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022 represented general provisioning consistent with our net growth of the bank originated loan portfolio and changes in our portfolio mix.

The Company adopted the new current expected credit losses ("CECL") standard effective January 1, 2023. Based on preliminary results, the Company expects its allowance for credit losses ("ACL") coverage ratio to be within a range of approximately 75-90 bps of total loans and 30-45 bps coverage on off-balance sheet commitments.

Capital

As of December 31, 2022, First Western (“Consolidated”) and First Western Trust Bank (“Bank”) exceeded the minimum capital levels required by their respective regulators. As of December 31, 2022, the Bank was classified as “well capitalized,” as summarized in the following table:

Book value per common share increased 2.5% from $24.74 as of September 30, 2022 to $25.37 as of December 31, 2022, and was up 9.1% from $23.25 as of December 31, 2021.

Tangible book value per common share (1) increased 3.0% from $21.35 as of September 30, 2022 to $21.99 as of December 31, 2022, and was up 10.7% from $19.87 as of December 31, 2021.

(1) Represents a Non-GAAP financial measure. See “Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures” for a reconciliation of our Non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

Conference Call, Webcast and Slide Presentation

The Company will host a conference call and webcast at 10:00 a.m. MT/ 12:00 p.m. ET on Friday, January 27, 2023. Telephone access: https://register.vevent.com/register/BIef5fe496336a49e087313418c55050b5

A slide presentation relating to the fourth quarter 2022 results will be accessible prior to the scheduled conference call. The slide presentation and webcast of the conference call can be accessed on the Events and Presentations page of the Company’s investor relations website at https://myfw.gcs-web.com.

About First Western

First Western is a financial services holding company headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with operations in Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming, California, and Montana. First Western and its subsidiaries provide a fully integrated suite of wealth management services on a private trust bank platform, which includes a comprehensive selection of deposit, loan, trust, wealth planning and investment management products and services. First Western’s common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “MYFW.” For more information, please visit www.myfw.com.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Some of the financial measures included in this press release are not measures of financial performance recognized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”). These non-GAAP financial measures include “Tangible Common Equity,” “Tangible Common Book Value per Share,” “Return on Tangible Common Equity,” “Efficiency Ratio,” “Gross Revenue,” “Allowance for Loan Losses to Bank Originated Loans Excluding PPP,” “Adjusted Net Income Available to Common Shareholders,” “Adjusted Basic Earnings Per Share,” “Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share,” “Adjusted Return on Average Assets,” “Adjusted Return on Average Shareholders’ Equity,” and “Adjusted Return on Tangible Common Equity”. The Company believes these non-GAAP financial measures provide both management and investors a more complete understanding of the Company’s financial position and performance. These non-GAAP financial measures are supplemental and are not a substitute for any analysis based on GAAP financial measures. Not all companies use the same calculation of these measures; therefore, this presentation may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures as presented by other companies. Reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures, to GAAP financial measures are provided at the end of this press release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this news release regarding our expectations and beliefs about our future financial performance and financial condition, as well as trends in our business and markets are “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements often include words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate,” “project,” “position,” “outlook,” or words of similar meaning, or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “would,” “should,” “opportunity,” “could,” or “may.” The forward-looking statements in this news release are based on current information and on assumptions that we make about future events and circumstances that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that are often difficult to predict and beyond our control. As a result of those risks and uncertainties, our actual financial results in the future could differ, possibly materially, from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this news release and could cause us to make changes to our future plans. Those risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects; integration risks and projected cost savings in connection with acquisitions; the risk of geographic concentration in Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming, California, and Montana; the risk of changes in the economy affecting real estate values and liquidity; the risk in our ability to continue to originate residential real estate loans and sell such loans; risks specific to commercial loans and borrowers; the risk of claims and litigation pertaining to our fiduciary responsibilities; the risk of competition for investment managers and professionals; the risk of fluctuation in the value of our investment securities; the risk of changes in interest rates; and the risk of the adequacy of our allowance for loan losses and the risk in our ability to maintain a strong core deposit base or other low-cost funding sources. Additional information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties to which our business and future financial performance are subject is contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 15, 2022 (“Form 10-K”), and other documents we file with the SEC from time to time. We urge readers of this news release to review the “Risk Factors” section our Form 10-K and any updates to those risk factors set forth in our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and our other filings with the SEC. Also, our actual financial results in the future may differ from those currently expected due to additional risks and uncertainties of which we are not currently aware or which we do not currently view as, but in the future may become, material to our business or operating results. Due to these and other possible uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this news release, which speak only as of today’s date, or to make predictions based solely on historical financial performance. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

Contacts:Financial Profiles, Inc.Tony Rossi310-622-8221MYFW@finprofiles.comIR@myfw.com

First Western Financial, Inc.Consolidated Financial Summary (unaudited)

First Western Financial, Inc.Consolidated Financial Summary (unaudited)

First Western Financial, Inc.Consolidated Financial Summary (unaudited)

___________________(1) Includes PPP loans of $7.1 million as of December 31, 2022, $7.7 million as of September 30, 2022, and $46.8 million as of December 31, 2021.(2) Includes loans held for investment accounted for under fair value option of $23.4 million and $22.6 million as of December 31, 2022 and September 30, 2022, respectively.(3) Includes fair value adjustments on loans held for investment accounted for under the fair value option.

First Western Financial, Inc.Consolidated Financial Summary (unaudited) (continued)

First Western Financial, Inc.Consolidated Financial Summary (unaudited) (continued)

____________________(1) Represents a Non-GAAP financial measure. See “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures” for a reconciliation of our Non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.(2) Value results in an immaterial amount.

First Western Financial, Inc.Consolidated Financial Summary (unaudited) (continued)

Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

____________________(1) Presented in Other Non-interest income on the Consolidated Financial Summary statements

First Western Financial, Inc.Consolidated Financial Summary (unaudited) (continued)