Premier Financial Corp. (PFC) operates as a financial services holding company, delivering a comprehensive suite of banking solutions through its subsidiaries. It ...
Premier Financial Corp. is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Defiance, Ohio, operating primarily through its banking subsidiary, Premier Bank. The firm’s business centers on core deposit and lending relationships for individuals and businesses, supported by a diversified portfolio of liquid investments. The company offers deposit accounts including checking, ...Premier Financial Corp. is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Defiance, Ohio, operating primarily through its banking subsidiary, Premier Bank. The firm’s business centers on core deposit and lending relationships for individuals and businesses, supported by a diversified portfolio of liquid investments. The company offers deposit accounts including checking, savings, money market accounts, and time deposits such as certificates of deposit (CDs), including CDARS. On the lending side, Premier provides residential and commercial real estate loans, commercial operating loans, construction financing, home improvement and home equity lending, as well as other consumer credit products.
In addition to traditional banking products, Premier maintains an investment portfolio that includes U.S. Treasury and federal government agency obligations, state and municipal bonds, agency-issued mortgage-backed securities (MBS), collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs), and corporate debt instruments—supporting liquidity management and earning diversification. The company also provides insurance agency services, including property and casualty, life, and group health insurance, and it offers mezzanine funding solutions, expanding its coverage of corporate and financial needs beyond standard bank lending.
Premier’s digital banking platform supports mobile banking, person-to-person (P2P) payments, online bill payment, and online account opening. Access to the MoneyPass ATM network supports customer convenience and complements its branch network.
Operationally, Premier serves customers across five states—Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia—through a network of banking centers (and dedicated loan offices), reflecting a community/regional banking model rather than a purely national approach. At the staffing level, the company reports roughly 938 full-time employees, placing it in the 501–1,000 employee range.
From a corporate/financial perspective, as reflected in provided market data, Premier trades on the NASDAQ Global Select market under the ticker PFC. A notable strategic development is the announced acquisition of Premier Financial Corp. by WesBanco, Inc., with completion reported for February 28, 2025. This acquisition context is important for understanding the company’s longer-term trajectory, capital allocation, and potential operational integration.
Key people include CEO Gary M. Small (as listed in the provided overview). Overall, Premier’s “wishes” and strategic priorities typically align with maintaining credit quality and customer retention, growing fee and deposit relationships, optimizing funding and interest-rate risk, and leveraging digital channels to improve customer experience—goals consistent with regional bank business models.
YoYYoY means Year-over-Year. It compares the latest annual value with the previous annual value to show long-term trend strength.
QoQQoQ means Quarter-over-Quarter. It compares the latest quarter with the immediately previous quarter to show short-term momentum changes.
RevenueThe total money that came through the front door from selling things, before paying a single bill. Think of it as the grand total of every credit card swipe from customers. (YoY compares this year to last year's performance, while QoQ compares the current three months to the previous three).
$243.6M
-19.0%
+2.4%
Net IncomeThe absolute bottom line. If the company paid every single supplier, employee, banker, and tax collector, this is the actual money left in their pocket at the end of the day.
$64.0M
-38.7%
+14.0%
Gross MarginThe basic markup. If they sell a $100 pair of sneakers, this percentage tells you how much of that price tag is profit right after paying for the rubber and shoelaces, but before paying for things like store rent or TV commercials.
+100.0%
+2.1%
-45.4%
Operating MarginThe 'day job' efficiency score. Out of every dollar a customer spends, this shows how many cents the company keeps after making the product AND paying for all the everyday corporate overhead (like salaries, marketing, and keeping the lights on).
-118.1%
-298.4%
-438.5%
Net MarginThe final take-home percentage. When you strip away every conceivable cost, tax, and interest payment, this is the exact number of cents the company truly gets to keep from every dollar in sales.
+26.3%
-24.4%
+11.3%
Free Cash FlowThe holy grail of corporate cash. It's the spendable, physical money left over after the business pays for its daily operations AND buys the big, expensive upgrades (like new factories or servers) it needs to survive. This is the 'free' money they can use to pay dividends or buy back stock.
$89.7M
+27.7%
-53.2%
FCF MarginThe ultimate cash conversion rate. It shows how good the company is at turning regular sales directly into cold, hard, spendable cash. A high percentage means the business is an absolute cash-printing machine.
+36.8%
+57.6%
-54.3%
Debt / EquityThe financial risk gauge. It compares how much of the company's empire was built using borrowed money (loans) versus the owners' own money (shareholders). A high number means they are heavily leveraged and playing a riskier game; a low number means they are playing it safe.
59.1%
+57.9%
+40.0%
Current RatioThe 12-month survival check. It simply compares the cash they have right now (plus things they can quickly turn into cash) against the immediate bills they absolutely must pay this year. A score above 1 means they have enough in the wallet to cover the upcoming bills without panicking.
—
—
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Total AssetsThe absolute size of the company's empire. It bundles together absolutely everything of value they own—from the cash in the register and the inventory in the warehouse, to the software patents in the vault and the factories on the ground.
Operator: Good morning, and welcome to the Premier Financial Corp. First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Paul Nungester with Premier Financial Corp. Please go ahead.
Paul Nungester: Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for today's first quarter 2024 earnings conference call. This call is also being webcast, and the audio replay will be available at the Premier Financial Corp. website at premierfincorp.com. Following our prepared comments on the company's strategy and performance, we will be available to take your questions.
Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that during the conference call today, including during the question-and-answer period, you may hear forward-looking statements related to future financial results and business operations for Premier Financial Corp. Actual results may differ materially from current management forecasts and projections as a result of factors over which the company has no control. Information on these risk factors and additional information on forward-looking statements are included in the news release and in the company's reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
I'll now turn the call over to Gary for his opening comments.
Gary Small: Thank you, Paul, and good morning to everyone, and thanks again for joining us today. Quickly for the quarter, we reported net income of $17.8 million or $0.50 per share, and I will begin with comments on our most significant topic in the quarter. Our average annual deposit growth was a respectable 2.6% for the quarter. Consumer deposits were once again strength of the storyline. Average outstandings were up 7.5% annualized, and that's a continuation of being up 6.7% annualized during the second half of '23 so that's 3 very strong quarters on the consumer side.
Public funds grew $66 million from point-to-point over the course of the quarter, which was about 4%. Commercial deposits provided the unfavorable surprise for the quarter, with commercial noninterest-bearing deposit balances down $86 million, and that's about 8% in the month of January. And that's far in excess of the typical post year-end balance decline that you are accustomed to for tax payments and distributions and so forth. We performed a detailed client relationship review, and it revealed the elevated use of the deposit liquidity to fund more typical CapEx financings and other financeable working capital borrowing needs. Clients are making efficient use of their capital. And the NIB balances -- balance movement did stabilize over February and March, and balances were beginning to replenish in April.
Premier secured higher cost funding to replace those NIB balances and we expect to recover the majority of those lost NIB balances over the course of the next 2 quarters as businesses refill their coffers.
The atypical January event …
