First Citizens BancShares (FCNCB) reported a compelling QQ1 2024 performance anchored by the SVB integration, delivering a robust earnings base and improving risk metrics amid a challenging rate environment. GAAP net income was $731 million with basic/diluted EPS of $49.27/$49.26, while management highlighted a peer-leading net interest margin (NIM) of 3.67% and an adjusted efficiency ratio around 50%, underscoring strong operating leverage post-acquisition. Loans expanded by over $2 billion in the quarter, and deposits grew at an annualized 10.4%, supported by core deposit growth and the direct bank channel, reinforcing liquidity and funding stability.
The balance sheet remains exceptionally liquid, with cash and short-term investments totaling roughly $56.4 billion and total cash and equivalents of $31.5 billion, enabling optionality on capital deployment. The company reaffirmed capital discipline, with a CET1 ratio of 13.44% and plans to progressively reduce adjusted CET1 toward the 10.5% level by end-2025, primarily through regulated capital management and methodical share repurchases once regulatory feedback is obtained. Management maintained 2024 full-year guidance, including NII of $7.1–$7.3 billion, adjusted noninterest income of $1.8–$1.9 billion, and adjusted noninterest expense of $4.6–$4.7 billion, with the adjusted efficiency ratio targeted in the low-50s percentage range.
Strategically, First Citizens emphasized the ongoing SVB integration progress, regulatory readiness enhancements, and expanded wealth capabilities under First Citizens Wealth. The leadership conveyed cautious optimism for the innovation economy, noting a backlog of exit-ready companies and signs that IPO activity could improve in 2024, even as VC fundraising and private market activity remain uneven. The near-term outlook remains sensitive to interest-rate trajectories, with management guiding a NII range contingent on rate cuts and accretion dynamics, while signaling an orderly path toward accretion normalization and credit cost containment over the medium term.