BOK Financial Reports Quarterly Earnings of $77 Million

BOK Financial Corporation reported net income of $76.6 million or $1.11 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2014. Net income was $73.0 million or $1.06 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2013 and $88.0 million or $1.28 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2013.

Steven G. Bradshaw, Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We are executing well on our strategic objectives, and as a result the first quarter was solid for BOK Financial Corporation. Sustained loan growth, sequential revenue growth from key fee-generating lines of business, and careful expense controls led to a strong bottom line. Credit quality remains pristine with net recoveries in the quarter, and our capital base remains at industry-leading levels.”

Bradshaw added, “We also closed on our acquisition of GTRUST Financial Corporation, and announced the acquisition of MBM Advisors during the quarter. Each of these acquisitions strengthens our presence in an important growth market while bringing a new wealth management product line that can be delivered across the footprint.”

Highlights of first quarter of 2014 included:

• Net interest revenue totaled $162.6 million for the first quarter of 2014 compared to $166.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2013. Net interest margin was 2.71% for the first quarter of 2014 and 2.74% for the fourth quarter of 2013.
• Fees and commissions revenue totaled $140.9 million for the first quarter of 2014 compared to $142.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2013.
• Operating expenses were $185.1 million for the first quarter, a decrease of $30.3 million compared to the previous quarter. Personnel expense decreased $21.2 million. The Company reversed $15.5 million accrued in 2011 through 2013 for amounts payable to certain executive officers under the 2011 True-Up Plan. Non-personnel expense decreased $9.1 million.
• No provision for credit losses was recorded in the first quarter of 2014 compared to an $11.4 million negative provision for credit losses in the fourth quarter of 2013. BOK Financial had a net recovery of $2.5 million for the first quarter of 2014 compared to a net recovery of $3.0 million in the previous quarter.
• The combined allowance for credit losses totaled $190 million or 1.45% of outstanding loans at March 31, 2014 compared to $187 million or 1.47% of outstanding loans at December 31, 2013. Nonperforming assets that are not guaranteed by U.S. government agencies totaled $153 million or 1.18% of outstanding loans and repossessed assets (excluding those guaranteed by U.S. government agencies) at March 31, 2014 and $155 million or 1.23% of outstanding loans and repossessed assets (excluding those guaranteed by U.S. government agencies) at December 31, 2013.
• Average loans increased by $486 million over the previous quarter due primarily to growth in commercial loans. Average commercial loans were up $234 million and average commercial real estate loans increased $252 million. Period-end outstanding loan balances were $13.1 billion at March 31, 2014, a $286 million increase over December 31, 2013. Commercial loan balances increased $108 million and commercial real estate loans increased $216 million.
• Average deposits increased $360 million over the previous quarter. Growth in interest-bearing transaction accounts was partially offset by a decrease in demand and time deposit balances. Period-end deposits were $20.4 billion at March 31, 2014, a $120 million increase over December 31, 2013, primarily due to growth in demand deposit balances.
• The Company's Tier 1 common equity ratio, as defined by banking regulations, was 13.59% at both March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013. The Company and its subsidiary bank continue to exceed the regulatory definition of well capitalized. The Company's Tier 1 capital ratio was 13.77% at both March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013. Total capital ratio was 15.55% at March 31, 2014 and 15.56% at December 31, 2013. The Company's leverage ratio was 10.17% at March 31, 2014 and 10.05% at December 31, 2013.
• The Company paid a regular quarterly cash dividend of $28 million or $0.40 per common share during the first quarter of 2014. On April 29, 2014, the board of directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.40 per common share payable on or about May 30, 2014 to shareholders of record as of May 16, 2014.

Net Interest Revenue

Net interest revenue decreased $3.6 million compared to the fourth quarter of 2013. Net interest margin was 2.71% for the first quarter of 2014 compared to 2.74% for the fourth quarter of 2013.

The yield on average earning assets was 2.99%, a decrease of 3 basis points compared to the prior quarter. The loan portfolio yield decreased 12 basis points from the previous quarter to 3.89% primarily due to continued market pricing pressure and improved credit quality of new loans. The yield on the available for sale securities portfolio increased 2 basis points to 1.91%. Cash flows received from payments on the securities portfolio funded loan growth or reduced short-term borrowings. Excess cash flows were reinvested in short-duration securities that yield nearly 2%. Funding costs decreased 1 basis point compared to the prior quarter to 0.41%.

Average earning assets increased $16 million during the first quarter of 2014. Growth in average loan balances of $486 million over the previous quarter was offset by a $358 million decrease in the available for sale securities portfolio. The average balance of interest-bearing cash and cash equivalents, trading securities, restricted equity securities and residential mortgage loans held for sale all decreased compared to the prior quarter. Average deposits increased $360 million and the average balance of borrowed funds decreased $218 million compared to the fourth quarter of 2013.

Steven Nell, Chief Financial Officer, stated, "We are executing our plan to reduce the size of our bond portfolio to position the balance sheet for a rising rate environment. During the first quarter, the bond portfolio decreased by $213 million, and by the end of 2014 our goal is to reduce it by $1 billion total. The strong loan growth we are experiencing is enabling us to accomplish this goal while minimizing the impact on net interest income."

Fees and Commissions Revenue

Fees and commissions revenue totaled $140.9 million for the first quarter of 2014, a decrease of $1.5 million compared to the fourth quarter of 2013. The fourth quarter of 2013 included $2.0 million from the favorable resolution of a lawsuit.

Brokerage and trading revenue increased $1.0 million over the prior quarter. Retail brokerage and investment banking revenue both increased, partially offset by a decrease in customer hedging revenue. Securities trading revenue was largely unchanged compared to the prior quarter.

Mortgage banking revenue totaled $22.8 million for the first quarter of 2014, an increase of $968 thousand over the fourth quarter of 2013. Revenue from mortgage loan production was up $721 thousand. Loan production revenue is largely recognized at the time the commitment to originate the mortgage loan is made. Outstanding commitments to originate mortgage loans grew by $129 million over December 31 to $388 million at March 31. Residential mortgage loans funded for sale totaled $728 million, a decrease of $121 million compared to the previous quarter. Approximately 38% of loans originated in the first quarter were through correspondent channels, compared to 39% in the previous quarter. Origination from the Home Direct mortgage origination channel grew to 7% of loans originated in the first quarter. Refinanced mortgage loans represented 32% of loans originated for sale in the first quarter of 2014 compared to 29% in the fourth quarter of 2013. Revenue from mortgage loan servicing grew by $247 thousand due to an increase in the volume of loans serviced.

Fiduciary and asset management revenue grew by $648 thousand over the fourth quarter of 2013 primarily due to the increase in the fair value of assets managed. Deposit service charges and fees decreased $751 thousand. Overdraft fees decreased, partially offset by increased service fees on commercial accounts. Transaction card revenue was unchanged compared to the prior quarter. Growth in merchant services fees was offset by a decrease in interchange fees paid on debit cards issued by the Company.

Operating Expenses

Total operating expenses were $185.1 million for the first quarter of 2014, a decrease of $30.3 million compared to the fourth quarter of 2013.

Personnel costs decreased $21.2 million compared to the fourth quarter of 2013. The accrual for amounts payable to certain executive officers of the Company under the 2011 True-Up Plan was reduced by $15.5 million based on information published by peer banks during the first quarter of 2014 in their annual proxy filings. The accrual amount is determined based on the compensation levels of comparable senior executives at a defined group of peer banks. The composition of this peer group and related compensation levels of senior executives both changed based on annual proxy filings. The expense recognized for the 2011 True-Up Plan in the fourth quarter of 2013 was $4.5 million. Amounts due under the 2011 True-Up Plan, which is currently accrued at $54 million, will be paid in May 2014.

Personnel costs during the first quarter of 2014 were also adjusted downward by $1.7 million to reflect changes in deferred compensation owed to certain executive officers. This adjustment was offset by a decrease in the value of specific assets held as an economic hedge against the deferred compensation liability. The decreased value of these assets is reported in Gain (loss) on other assets, net.

Non-personnel expense decreased $9.1 million compared to the fourth quarter of 2013. Mortgage banking costs decreased $3.4 million compared to the prior quarter primarily due to lower provisions for losses related to mortgage loans sold with standard representations and warranties and losses related to repurchases of loans sold to U.S. government agencies that no longer qualify for sale accounting. The Company also finalized hold-back claims related to purchased mortgage loan servicing rights which reduced expenses by $1.3 million in the first quarter. Other expenses decreased $2.5 million, professional fees and services expense decreased $2.4 million and net occupancy expense decreased $2.2 million compared to the fourth quarter. BOK Financial made a $2.4 million discretionary contribution of appreciated stock to the BOKF Foundation during the first quarter. This contribution also resulted in a $1.2 million reduction in income tax expense.

Loans, Deposits and Capital

Loans

Outstanding loans were $13.1 billion at March 31, 2014, an increase of $286 million over the previous quarter. Commercial and commercial real estate balances grew over the prior quarter, partially offset by a decrease in residential mortgage and consumer loan balances.

Outstanding commercial loan balances increased $108 million or 5% on an annualized basis over December 31, 2013 primarily due to a $122 million increase in healthcare sector loans. Manufacturing sector loan balances grew by $52 million and wholesale/retail sector loans were up $25 million over the prior quarter. Service sector loans decreased $50 million and integrated food services loans decreased $24 million. Energy and other commercial and industrial loans were also down compared to December 31, 2013. Unfunded energy loan commitments increased by $117 million in the first quarter to $2.6 billion. All other unfunded commercial loan commitments totaled $3.5 billion at March 31, 2014, a decrease of $53 million compared to December 31, 2013.

Commercial real estate loans grew by $216 million or 9% over December 31, 2013. Loans secured by multifamily residential properties were up $86 million. Loans secured by industrial facilities increased $61 million. Retail sector loans grew by $54 million and loans secured by office buildings increased $25 million over the prior quarter. Construction and land development loan balances decreased $21 million. Unfunded commercial real estate loan commitments totaled $524 million at March 31, 2014, an $11 million decrease from December 31, 2013.

Residential mortgage loans decreased $33 million compared to December 31, 2013, due primarily to a decrease in non-government guaranteed permanent mortgage loan balances. Home equity loans also decreased compared to the prior quarter. Consumer loans decreased $5.6 million compared to the prior quarter.

Daniel H. Ellinor, Chief Operating Officer, noted, “Loan growth has been strong all across the commercial banking line of business. Our healthcare group continues to execute well and generated continued double-digit annualized loan growth in the first quarter. Commercial real estate is also accelerating, with nine percent loan growth in the first quarter driven by highly-rated borrowers in the multifamily, retail, and industrial markets. While our core energy specialty lending group remained flat during the quarter, the lending pipeline is the strongest it has been in over a year. Our exploration and production portfolio was up $50 million during the quarter. In total, we continue to expect mid to high single-digit annualized loan growth for the balance of 2014.”

Ellinor added, “The market remains intensely competitive with continued price competition across all lending lines. Accordingly, spreads continue to narrow. However, we have the ability to compete on price while remaining disciplined on credit structure. Our diversified fee-generating businesses give us the opportunity to drive additional revenue from new borrowers. In addition, average spreads during the quarter were impacted by $100 million in net new loans to investment-grade municipal and commercial borrowers.”

Deposits

Deposits totaled $20.4 billion at March 31, 2014, an increase of $120 million over December 31, 2013. Demand deposit balances grew by $156 million and savings account balances were up $33 million over the prior quarter. Interest-bearing transaction account balances decreased $34 million and time deposits decreased $34 million. Among the lines of business, commercial deposits increased $99 million, consumer deposits increased $125 million and wealth management deposits decreased $165 million. Growth in commercial deposit balances was primarily due to growth in balances attributed to treasury service customers. Growth in commercial and industrial and small business customer balances were partially offset by a decrease in balances attributed to energy and healthcare customers during the first quarter.

Capital

The Company and its subsidiary bank exceeded the regulatory definition of well capitalized at March 31, 2014. The Company's Tier 1 capital ratio was 13.77% at both March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013. The total capital ratio was 15.55% at March 31, 2014 and 15.56% at December 31, 2013. In addition, the Company's tangible common equity ratio, a non-GAAP measure, was 10.06% at March 31, 2014 and 9.90% at December 31, 2013.

In July 2013, banking regulators issued the final rule revising regulatory capital rules for substantially all U.S. banking organizations. The new capital rule will be effective for BOK Financial on January 1, 2015. The new capital rule establishes a 7% threshold for the Tier 1 common equity ratio consisting of a minimum level plus a capital conservation buffer. The Company expects to exclude unrealized gains and losses from available for sale securities from its calculation of Tier 1 capital, consistent with the treatment under current capital rules. BOK Financial's Tier 1 common equity ratio based on the existing Basel I standards was 13.59% as of March 31, 2014. Based on our interpretation of the new capital rule, our estimated Tier 1 common equity ratio on a fully phased-in basis would be 12.60%, 560 basis points above the 7% regulatory threshold.

Credit Quality

Nonperforming assets totaled $256 million or 1.94% of outstanding loans and repossessed assets at March 31, 2014 compared to $248 million or 1.92% of outstanding loans and repossessed assets at December 31, 2013. Nonperforming assets that are not guaranteed by U.S. government agencies totaled $153 million or 1.18% of outstanding loans and repossessed assets (excluding those guaranteed by U.S. government agencies) at March 31, 2014 and $155 million or 1.23% at December 31, 2013, a decrease of $2.2 million.

Nonaccruing loans totaled $105 million or 0.80% of outstanding loans at March 31, 2014 compared to $101 million or 0.79% of outstanding loans at December 31, 2013. New nonaccruing loans identified in the first quarter totaled $16.2 million, offset by $7.5 million in payments received, $2.8 million in charge-offs and $2.3 million in foreclosures and repossessions. At March 31, 2014, nonaccruing commercial loans totaled $19 million or 0.24% of outstanding commercial loans, nonaccruing commercial real estate loans totaled $39 million or 1.49% of outstanding commercial real estate loans, and nonaccruing residential mortgage loans totaled $45 million or 2.25% of outstanding residential mortgage loans.

BOK Financial had a net recovery of $2.5 million for the first quarter of 2014 compared with a net recovery of $3.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2013. Gross charge-offs totaled $2.8 million for the first quarter, compared to $3.1 million for the previous quarter. Recoveries totaled $5.4 million for the first quarter of 2014 and $6.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2013.

After evaluating all credit factors, the Company determined that no provision for credit losses was necessary during the first quarter of 2014. The combined allowance for credit losses totaled $190 million or 1.45% of outstanding loans and 181.46% of nonaccruing loans at March 31, 2014. The allowance for loan losses was $188 million and the accrual for off-balance sheet credit losses was $1.7 million.

Real estate and other repossessed assets totaled $96 million at March 31, 2014, primarily consisting of $60 million of 1-4 family residential properties (including $46 million guaranteed by U.S. government agencies), $15 million of developed commercial real estate properties, $13 million of undeveloped land and $6.5 million of residential land and land development properties.

Securities and Derivatives

The fair value of the available for sale securities portfolio totaled $9.9 billion at March 31, 2014 and $10.1 billion at December 31, 2013. At March 31, 2014, the available for sale portfolio consisted primarily of $7.5 billion of residential mortgage-backed securities fully backed by U.S. government agencies and $2.1 billion of commercial mortgage-backed securities fully backed by U.S. government agencies.

At March 31, 2014 the available for sale securities portfolio had a net unrealized gain of $15 million compared to a net unrealized loss of $38 million at December 31, 2013. Net unrealized gains on residential mortgage-backed securities issued by U.S. government agencies at March 31, 2014 increased $42 million during the first quarter to a net unrealized gain of $38 million at March 31, 2014. Commercial mortgage-backed securities had a net unrealized loss of $36 million at March 31, 2014, compared to a net unrealized loss of $44 million at December 31, 2013.

In the first quarter of 2014, the Company recognized net gains of $1.2 million from sales of $531 million of available for sale securities. Securities were sold either because they had reached their expected maximum potential return or sold to reinvest those proceeds into shorter average life securities. Net gains from sales of $270 million of available for sale securities in the fourth quarter of 2013 totaled $1.6 million.

The Company also maintains a portfolio of residential mortgage-backed securities issued by U.S. government agencies and interest rate derivative contracts designated as an economic hedge of the changes in the fair value of our mortgage servicing rights. Due to fluctuations in residential mortgage interest rates during the first quarter of 2014, the value of our mortgage servicing rights decreased by $4.5 million. The value of securities and interest rate derivative contracts held as an economic hedge increased by $3.6 million.

Conference Call and Webcast

The Company will hold a conference call at 9:00 a.m. central time on Wednesday, April 30, 2014 to discuss the financial results with investors. The live audio webcast and presentation slides will be available on the company’s website at www.bokf.com. The conference call can also be accessed by dialing 1-412-317-6016. A conference call and webcast replay will also be available shortly after conclusion of the live call at www.bokf.com or by dialing 1-412-317-0088 and referencing conference ID # 10043696.

About BOK Financial Corporation

BOK Financial is a $27 billion regional financial services company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Company's stock is publicly traded on NASDAQ under the Global Select market listings (symbol: BOKF). BOK Financial's holdings include BOKF, NA, BOSC, Inc., The Milestone Group, Inc. and Cavanal Hill Investment Management, Inc. BOKF, NA operates the TransFund electronic funds network and seven banking divisions: Bank of Albuquerque, Bank of Arizona, Bank of Arkansas, Bank of Kansas City, Bank of Oklahoma, Bank of Texas and Colorado State Bank and Trust. Through its subsidiaries, the Company provides commercial and consumer banking, investment and trust services, mortgage origination and servicing, and an electronic funds transfer network. For more information, visit www.bokf.com.

The Company will continue to evaluate critical assumptions and estimates, such as the appropriateness of the allowance for credit losses and asset impairment as of March 31, 2014 through the date its financial statements are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and will adjust amounts reported if necessary.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on management's beliefs, assumptions, current expectations, estimates and projections about BOK Financial, the financial services industry and the economy generally. Words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “projects,” variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Management judgments relating to and discussion of the provision and allowance for credit losses involve judgments as to future events and are inherently forward-looking statements. Assessments that BOK Financial's acquisitions and other growth endeavors will be profitable are necessary statements of belief as to the outcome of future events based in part on information provided by others which BOK Financial has not independently verified. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions which are difficult to predict with regard to timing, extent, likelihood and degree of occurrence. Therefore, actual results and outcomes may materially differ from what is expected, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. Internal and external factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to (1) the ability to fully realize expected cost savings from mergers within the expected time frames, (2) the ability of other companies on which BOK Financial relies to provide goods and services in a timely and accurate manner, (3) changes in interest rates and interest rate relationships, (4) demand for products and services, (5) the degree of competition by traditional and nontraditional competitors, (6) changes in banking regulations, tax laws, prices, levies and assessments, (7) the impact of technological advances and (8) trends in consumer behavior as well as their ability to repay loans. BOK Financial and its affiliates undertake no obligation to update, amend or clarify forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Loans attributed to a geographical region may not always represent the location of the borrower or the collateral.