Day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Hancock Whitney Corporation Second Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session and instructions will follow at that time. As a reminder, this call may be recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to your host for today's conference, Tricia Carlson, Investor Relations Manager.
You may begin.
Thank you and good afternoon. During today's call, we may make forward looking statements. We would like to remind everyone to carefully review the Safe Harbor language That was published with the earnings release and presentation and in the company's most recent 10 ks and 10 Q, including the risks and uncertainties identified therein. You should keep in mind that any forward looking statements made by Hancock Whitney speak only as of the date on which they were made. As everyone understands, the current economic environment is rapidly evolving and changing.
Hancock Whitney's ability to accurately project results or predict the effects of future plans or strategies or predict market or economic developments is inherently We believe that the expectations reflected or implied by any forward looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, but are not guarantees of performance or results and our actual results and performance could differ materially from those set forth in our forward looking statements. Hancock Whitney undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward looking statements. Some of the remarks contain non GAAP financial measures. You can find reconciliations to the most Comparable GAAP measures in our earnings release and financial tables. The presentation slides included in our 8 ks are also posted with the conference call webcast link on the Investor Relations website.
We will reference some of these slides in today's call. Participating in today's call are John Mr. Hairston, President and CEO Mike Acree, CFO and Chris De Luca, Chief Credit Officer. I will now turn the call over to John Hairston.
Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I'm very pleased to report Hancock Whitney's continuation of improving performance. 2nd quarter operating results either met or exceeded expectations for nearly every category for the quarter, with linked quarter PPNR up $6,000,000 or 4%. Growth in core loans was well above expectations and guidance as our bankers and support teams returned fully to office in the Q1 And significantly outperformed our expected pull through rate on a robust pipeline in most categories and pay downs were well below our run rate for the pandemic. I do want to recognize and thank our entire team of associates for outperforming in nearly every category, while simultaneously working towards rightsizing our expense base.
Our Our credit metrics improved once again this quarter, facilitating another modest reserve release of $28,000,000 and a negative provision of 17 Sticky deposits and PPP forgiveness combined to result in elevated levels of excess liquidity on our balance sheet, which in turn compressed our NIM once again. However, while we reported decline in the overall ratio, note that thoughtful management of the balance sheet minimized the impact On net interest income producing a stable run rate linked quarter. As our markets continue to reopen and activity levels To pick up, we are seeing growth in COVID impacted lines of business within fee income. Bancorp and ATM fees are uplinked quarter, Buoyed by the revival of leisure and family tourism, continued success with our purchase card initiative, a helpful escalation of merchant transaction volume And our Merchant Services and Treasury Solutions teams are winning a number of new clients. Deposit service charges and wealth management revenue also performed well in the quarter.
As we've discussed with the market previously, 2021 brought into focus the importance of reassessing how we could meet The past year presented to our company and the whole banking industry. During the Q2, we completed our previously announced phased in plan To streamline and strengthen our operational framework according to our clients' changing needs and habits in the recovering economy, the initiatives we undertook Including a voluntary early retirement package for 6.47 of our associates, of which 260 accepted it, the consolidation or announcement to consolidate 38 Financial centers across our footprint, the closure of 2 trust offices in the Northeast and a reduction in force via the phase out of an additional 200 positions across the organization. With the rightsizing plan complete, we will continue reinvesting a portion of our harvested expenses back into revenue production for the benefit of future years. The net non operating expenses associated with the entire plan are included in the second quarter's results and totaled $42,000,000 or $0.37 per share. See Slide 26 in our presentation deck for details.
So the takeaways from the commentary and slides in the investor deck should be the expense rationalization plan is complete, We will absorb materially all the non operating expenses and the path is clear to achieving the 4Q 'twenty one run rate in our guidance. At this point, we are moving forward with renewed energy, focus and a solid capital position. We've had a good start to 2021, but are keenly focused on navigating the remaining pandemic uncertainty while simultaneously dedicated to improving performance and value. I will now turn over the call to Mike for further comments. Thanks, John.
Good afternoon, everyone. Results for the The quarter were very solid. Net income totaled $89,000,000 or $1 per share. As John noted, the reported results Included $42,000,000 or $0.37 per share of net non operating items. Excluding these items, EPS would have been 1 $0.37 with operating earnings of over $121,000,000 So just a few comments on the major drivers of our balance sheet and NIM.
Total loans declined $516,000,000 as just over $1,000,000,000 PPP loans were forgiven in the quarter. Partially offsetting the decline was slightly over $100,000,000 in new PPP funding and $412,000,000 in organic loan growth. Core loan growth was one of the big headlines for us this quarter and we were happy to see the results of our bankers' efforts. An increase in the pull through rate for our pipeline led to growth across our footprint both regionally and by specialty lines. As you can see from the chart on Slide 6 in our earnings deck, growth was especially evident in our markets outside of Greater New as well as in equipment finance and healthcare.
A step down in payoffs compared to last quarter And stabilization in line utilization after several quarters of declines also contributed to the quarter's growth. Going forward, our goal is to build on this progress and deploy as much of our excess liquidity as possible into loans. While recognizing headwinds still exist from amortizing only portfolios like indirect and energy, as well as Elevated levels of residential mortgage payoffs. With the PPP process now closed and into forgiveness, Going forward, the overall impact of the PPP loans in our balance sheet and earnings will weigh in from this point. Slide 7 in the earnings deck expands on those points.
On the liability side of the balance sheet, our deposit levels remain resilient and have continued to increase. The elevated deposit levels and PPP forgiveness are combining to sustain and increase our levels of excess liquidity, which led to continued NIM compression. We are guiding to additional contraction in the second half 21 versus what we said last quarter. That updated guidance really stems from the current levels of excess liquidity continuing to build Through the end of this year, mostly from PPP forgiveness, we are expecting an additional $1,100,000,000 to be forgiven by year end, But also slower deposit outflows and in fact, we believe deposits will be up in the 3rd quarter and then flat as we move into the 4th quarter. Another factor around the NIM guidance stems from the relative size of our bond portfolio and the level of current reinvestment yields.
At nearly 25% of earning assets and with reinvestment yields recently trending down, I think has brought us to the point Where for Naida, we're likely to not deploy excess liquidity into bonds. The potential for higher rates down the road I've also a consideration. No major changes in the guide for what we're expecting for loan growth in the second half of twenty twenty one. We are expecting to leverage our 2nd quarter success in growing loans and believe we can further grow our loan book between $600,000,000 $800,000,000 over the second half of this year. So combining all those factors, We think the NIM could narrow another 4 basis points or so in the 3rd quarter and then possibly a similar level in the 4th quarter.
However, as our NII guidance indicates, we do expect NII to trend flat for the next two quarters. Before I turn the call back to John, I'd like to point out a few of the slides in the deck. With the recent focus on interest rate risk and asset sensitivity In light of expectations for a rise in rates in the future, we add some additional information on Slides 15 And 29 related to our hedge positions. Slide 15 also includes our usual disclosures on our variable rate loan portfolio and floors. And finally, you'll see our updated guidance on Slide 20.
As noted, the majority of our forward guidance is unchanged with the exception of NIM. With that, I'll turn the call back to John. Thanks, Mike. Let's open the call for questions.
We will now begin the question and answer session. And Our first question today will come from Michael Rose with Raymond James. Please go ahead.
Hey, good afternoon. Thanks for taking my questions.
Hey, how are you? Just wanted to get some color on the loan growth and if you can speak to kind of where that's coming from. If I look at the balances, it looks like you had Some decent construction growth this quarter, so that's part of it. But if I back up the PPP, it also looks like C and I is not doing terribly bad either. I know you talked about utilization rates, look like they were up slightly in the quarter, which is a Good sign.
Can you just give us some color, some greater color on where that expectation for $400,000,000 to $500,000,000 in the back half is coming from? Thanks.
Sure, Michael. This is John. I'll start. And you actually started out a pretty good list yourself. The outperformance generally came from a number of different directions, somewhat like Excited.
The anticipated tailwinds were really better than we expected and anticipated headwinds were a little less challenging than we expected. So the result is when you mesh it together the outside to outside. So if I start with pay downs and we'll walk our way into the more exciting part, They were quite muted compared to both our expectations and really the run rate for the pandemic. We did have a few pay downs that drifted from the expected late second Quarter end of Q3 and that's all cooked into the near term guidance for next quarter. So it's a little early to project a permanent reduction of pay downs Across the remainder of the year, just given the up and down and somewhat significant volatility still after the recovery.
But certainly the last few months, So we've seen improvement in the lumpiness of the pay down. So moving on to the other part, the better news. There were several specific areas of outperformance that may be interesting. First, the pipeline itself really began to grow more robust as Quarter progressed and the pull through rate, the percentage of the pipeline that actually moved for application to certified application to closings Was much stronger than we normally have. So the pull through rate was as high as we've ever seen it.
I mean, as I mentioned in the prepared remarks Excuse me, as I mentioned in the prepared remarks, we attribute back to the fact that our entire team was back in the office in March, About 80% or so by last August. And so we really began the quarter hitting on all cylinders and with a full complement of team members focused On moving quickly through the app process, getting all the necessary requirements and getting to closing, that pull through rate really was remarkably strong. So that was Certainly, very helpful. Another area of outperformance, Michael, you mentioned was in C and I and the equipment financing portion of C and I, about half the net growth It was from a precipitous increase in our clients finally getting gear that they had had on order and supply chain was simply in the way. The gear made it in and we got those deals closed.
And that was about half capital markets, about half end market Existing C and I clients and new C and I clients. So the supply chain roadblocks softening was certainly very, very helpful. Healthcare also stabilized and you see the growth numbers there on the waterfall chart in the deck, were really good and it's And exclusively in very high quality deals. And then line utilization, as you mentioned, actually found up about a quarter ahead of when we expected. That was part of the difference in what we expected versus the good news delivered is not only did it stabilize, but it actually ticked up just a And that was about a quarter earlier really than we anticipated.
Mike mentioned earlier in his comments that we grew Across the footprint with the exception of NOAH, but notably in that the central super region as we have it on the loan growth waterfall. But what's really different about this quarter in New Orleans was it essentially was flat. I think the actual number was $1,000,000 down, call that a push. So after several quarters of quarter over quarter continuous contraction in the NOVA book, it finally firmed up and was stable. So without that contraction, it wasn't nearly as big a contract as we've had to deal with through really the entire pandemic.
And then finally, I think I mentioned on the call or maybe in the QA last quarter that we began to see some green shoots forming in consumer lending. And we've invested pretty heavily in marketing consumer loans and the green shoots maybe flowered a bit early. And in June, we had As good or better a month both in applications and enclosed non HELOC consumer lending business as we've had even before the pandemic in a normal June. So While you don't see a whole lot of big numbers out of consumer, the fact that it's approaching covering the home equity runoff The mortgage refi is sort of a big point. You don't really see that much in the waterfall, but it was actually quite helpful.
So it's tempting, Michael, it sounds very bullish on growth, but still early. You see from the volatility just last week and this week, it's very Difficult to predict how much PE money will come into acquiring clients, which creates lumpiness and runoff and then the supply chain Improvement is happening. If that continues and maybe gets even better, that will certainly be a tailwind. And that's also a tailwind for C and D because one of the biggest holdups What we experienced in construction lending is the fact that it just takes time to get gear. And so as that improves, that should be a tailwind there.
So That's pretty much the rundown on the whole question. Did I cover everything you wanted, Michael, or was it?
No, you covered a lot there. I appreciate all the color. Just as my follow-up, it looks like you guys didn't repurchase any stock in the quarter. You're trading about 1.4 times tangible at this point. TCE is up.
With the stock trading where it is, I mean, why not use it? And would you expect to be a little bit more aggressive here? Are you waiting to hit certain capital level, whether it's 8%, TCE or whatever the threshold may be? Thanks.
Yes, Michael, this is Mike. So Just a couple of thoughts about that. So certainly in the past quarter, we said that we consider things like buybacks or even looking at the dividend In the second half of the year, and we'll absolutely do that. Nothing to report in terms of any changes and what we'll do or how we'll look at it. Certainly, that's something that's a consideration for the next quarter or 2.
We absolutely get those points.
Understood. Thanks for taking my questions.
You bet. Thanks, Mike.
And our next Question will come from Brett Rabatin with Hovde Group. Please go ahead.
Hey, good morning. Good afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon.
I wanted to ask about the margin and the guidance going forward. Just A couple of key things. One is thinking about the expectations for 3Q and 4Q being down due to continued excess liquidity. Can you just walk me through what's your expectations? You indicated you didn't want to do much with liquidity currently, but just how that might play out Over the next year, obviously, you want to deploy in loans.
But just thinking about, 1, the liquidity, what you end up doing with it as Time progresses. And then 2, just it seems like the margin, ex the liquidity noise has bottomed here. So I was also hoping to get Maybe some thoughts on origination rates versus the current portfolio yield?
Sure, Brad. So just a couple of thoughts to begin with, probably your last question first. So over the course of the second quarter, as John indicated, we have had absolutely fantastic levels of new production that was up some 40% to 45%. Now the yields that that new production came on the loan portfolio Was down about 25 basis points or so to around 3.3%. So certainly, that's a factor And something that was a bit of a headwind certainly as we looked at the NIM contraction that we had this quarter.
The yield in our bond portfolio was also down. That was down about 9 basis points. Certainly, With the gyrations of rates during the quarter and the 10 year kind of up and down and then back down, the reinvestment yields That were available to us in the bond portfolio about 134 basis points. So again, that was a bit of a headwind as well. And then finally, as we've mentioned on this call and in last quarter, just the abundance of excess liquidity that flowed on to our balance sheet And really not much in the way of viable options to put that excess liquidity in the absence of any meaningful loan growth.
Yes. Certainly, we've got some meaningful loan growth this quarter. A lot of that growth was weighted a little bit towards the back half of the quarter versus the front half. So that certainly speaks for the contraction that we're expecting and for future quarters To be certainly less than we've experienced the last couple of quarters. Kind of the final point I would mention is Just in terms of how we kind of manage the balance sheet and look at things like the level that we have in our bond portfolio This is cash that we kind of keep on the sidelines.
Our bond portfolio is pretty big. It currently is about 25 or so of our earning assets and that really at least for now is about as big as we'd like the bond portfolio to get. So certainly for the next quarter or so, we're looking at kind of pairing back inflows into the bond portfolio. So Now the bond portfolio is likely to come down a little bit, not a tremendous amount, but just a bit from the current levels that exist at right now. That will result in more excess liquidity kind of piling up at the Fed.
And certainly, we look to loan growth picking up In the second half of the year and especially as we go into 2022 to deploy that liquidity into. So hopefully that was helpful. Yes.
That was very helpful. I guess the other thing I was curious about was just thinking about the expense guidance and With the 4Q 2021 expense
level of $187,000,000
being a run rate for 2022 and you mentioned in the prepared comments Reinvesting for some growth going forward, I guess I'm just curious, obviously, you've done a great job managing the expense levels down The past year from here, would it be fair to assume that there would at least be some inflationary pressure in expenses kind of plus what you've accomplished This year, how should we think about the go forward rate?
Yes, I think so. Certainly, With all the news and all the discussion lately around inflation, that's certainly something I think that we're going to have to contend with in future quarters. And who knows how transitory that may be or not, but that certainly is something that we've kind of built into our guidance on a go forward basis. So we obviously had announced a good deal of efficiency measures during the quarter. John kind of Yes.
Todd talked about those in his prepared comments. And really on a go forward basis, the vast majority of those things are really in the rearview mirror. It doesn't mean that we're not going to continue to work on cost initiatives and continuing to become more efficient. Yes, I think some examples will be things related to strategic procurement that we'll continue to work on. But again, the objective With the cost cutting efforts that we've gone through really is twofold.
1st and foremost, it's become more efficient and more profitable as a company. And then secondly is to create room so that we can reinvest back in the company as we've kind of talked about in the past. Okay, great. Thanks for
all the color and nice
to see the loan growth in 2Q. Okay. Thank you. Thanks for the questions.
And our next question will come from Brad Milsaps with Piper Sandler. Please go ahead.
Hey, good evening, guys.
Hey, Brad.
Mike, I think I heard you correctly that you thought That deposit growth might kind of level off from here. Just kind
of curious kind of what kind of gives you that assurance and are there some specific things out there you guys You're running off.
I know it's just really difficult to predict on the deposit side of the equation and that sort of leads into the whole liquidity discussion. Yes. So we actually thought that deposit growth last quarter going forward would have probably leveled off a bit It actually did. So in the Q2, we actually had about $63,000,000 of positive deposit growth. And what we're expecting for the Q3 is as much as $150,000,000 or so and then after that kind of level off.
So That's kind of how we're looking at it at this point. But certainly, there are an awful lot of variables to consider as we think about things like deposits.
And then you provided additional color on some of the
cash flow hedges on Page 29. Just kind of curious, are you guys contemplating maybe doing something there, closing that out?
Or is that just you
just wanted off before disclosure? Just kind of curious kind of how you're thinking about that at this point?
We've always kind of disclosed the cash flow hedges and the new disclosure this quarter was the fair For value hedges that we have on the bond portfolio. I think the objective there was really just to help folks understand Yes, some of the things that we're doing to potentially increase our asset sensitivity down the road a little bit and that really is the objective And the fair value hedges that we have on the bond portfolio. As far as the cash flow hedges, I I think it's probably more likely than not that we'll look at terminating some part of those over the coming quarter or so. And when that happens, of course, we're able to kind of lock in those gains and amortize that back into earnings. So that's something that you have to continue to look out for.
Great. Very helpful. Thank you, guys. Last quarter.
You bet. Thank you.
And our next question will come from Jennifer Demba with Truist Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good evening. Question on mortgage lending. Can you just talk about the growth in Please this quarter and give some thoughts on your outlook there?
The growth in what I Cut out a little bit. Mortgage fees. Mortgage fees. Yes. Thank you for the question, Jennifer.
We expected the volumes for mortgage to drop a bit in Q2 and it did. There was a processing change to where we incurred a bit of a one time benefit in Q2 that caused the fee increase To be actually in the green versus the red overall. So all things being equal, we do think that's probably the last green quarter, unless Yes, the rate environment is so hard to predict. Who would have thought we'd see 30 years of the rates we're at today, just a month ago. So while we think that Short term and what we'll see is a fall off in mortgage activity for Q3.
That Q2 number was really driven by the one time money. So all in all, it would have been a little bit less than last quarter. Did I answer your question?
Yes. Can you just talk about what you're thinking about in terms of loan loss releases In future quarters and could that reserve approach your CET1 level?
You want to
tackle that one, Mike? Yes. I don't know that, Karen, for right now. There's certainly any intent or plan to kind of get back to the CECL Day 1 and day 2 levels. And just as a reminder, that was around 128 basis points, 130 basis So that did include the energy book.
The guidance that we give in common on a go forward basis is this notion of Continuing to expect what we kind of refer to as modest reserve releases. And so certainly that could be Well, they could mean that we would have reserve releases kind of in the neighborhood maybe of what we've done in the last couple of quarters. So in the Q1, that was around $23,000,000 in the second quarter, just over $27,000,000 So kind of on a go forward basis, we think about that level of reserve release that probably is a good proxy around what to expect in a go forward basis. And then certainly, our charge offs, We had $10,500,000 this quarter. We think that could trend down just a bit maybe in future quarters.
And then certainly, the provision will be kind of the result in number between those
Thanks so much.
Okay. Thanks for the questions.
And our next question will come from Catherine Mealor with KBW. Please go ahead.
Thanks. I just had a follow-up on your fee guidance. It looks like we're seeing service charges remain fairly low, but you're Seeing kind of a rebound in bank card and ACM fees. So just any kind of thoughts and guidance on how you're thinking about those 2 line items as We get into a more normalized environment.
Yes, I'll start and thanks for the question. This is John. In the Q2, we did have a couple of unusual items related to I mentioned the processing benefit, We took secondary from a little less than flat to a little up. And then it will trail down and it's just hard to predict the activity. But Let's go into our guidance.
It is a drop off from 2Q. The deposit service charges did indeed finally stabilize as the liquidity The levels in the accounts that typically generate deposit charges begin to work their way down a bit. So that number is probably stable to up. And then, Trust had a really good quarter. We typically enjoy the benefit of the tax prep fees in Q2.
But so that may drop down a little bit in the Q3. So there's a lots of puts and takes, Catherine, in that number that kind of rolls together for the guidance. But the heavy movers really are the one time action going away offset by continuing good news in card related revenue. And remember, we keep merchant revenue inside cards. So when we say cards, we're talking about commercial purchase cards, which has been an extremely bright spot and getting brighter.
Consumer credit and ATM, which actually was unusually high for the Q2, I think as people We've accrued some of the proceeds from the various stimulus programs and then wealth overall we think is going to perform pretty well. So the big news, take away the one time charges with a little bit of a drop down in mortgage and you kind of arrive at Hey, John, it's Mike. The only thing I would add to that, John, is the guidance for the Q3 is just mentioned that maybe down $3,000,000 to 5,000,000 I would suggest that it's more likely than not that we would be kind of on the lower end of that range, so potentially down to around 3. And it really points to the absence of the 2 items that John called out that really kind of avoid The second quarter numbers, so the mortgage fee item and then the seasonal tax fees that we typically book In the Q2 related to trust, the delta probably on a go forward basis or the wildcard, if you will, is going to be specialty income. Had very little of that on a net basis in the Q2.
So the things like BOLI and derivative fee valuations and syndication fees Always pretty hard to forecast or project. So to the extent that we have any kind of meaningful activity on those line items, We could outperform the guidance.
Got it. That's very helpful. And then just kind of thinking big picture, You've given some really helpful near term guidance. What do you think you'll return to giving And thinking more in terms of the longer term profitability outlook.
I think we'll do that in 22, Jeff, Catherine, it's Susan. So look for our guidance to probably expand a little bit and go back to Yes, this notion of big term guidance, which for us is our CFOs on a go forward basis.
I understand the environment is very uncertain now, but that's very helpful. All right, great. Thank you so much and congrats on the improved growth.
You bet. Thanks, Catherine.
And our next question will come from Matt Olney with Stephens. Please go ahead.
Great. Thanks for taking my question. I want to go back to Catherine's question around consumer fees. And I'm curious if you think the bank's Pricing of its products and specifically service charges, overdraft charges and other miscellaneous fees, is the Pricing of those products, is it appropriate at this point or is this something you consider modifying? And I guess the question comes from more of a Political standpoint, I think we've seen the administration make some noise around consumer fees over the last few weeks.
So would love to hear any thoughts you have about the bank's pricing on these Products for the consumer? Thanks.
Sure. It's a good question. Thanks for asking it. When overdraft and NSF fees, I presume that's what you're really referring to, began to fall under the force scrutiny number of years ago. We assured that whatever our practices were, we're well inside the FDIC guidance.
As you know, there's really no rule, there's just guidance. And we fall within to well within depending on which part of the guidance is scrutinized All of those pricing, it's not just pricing, it's really processing order, it's habits, it's maximums, etcetera. And so We know that we're well within all of that guidance already. So certainly, our current posture would simply be to pay attention To any evolving regulatory guidance or changes, and as it develops, we'll certainly adhere to it. I think our regulators have Heard a lot of information from a lot of different constituencies about this subject matter through the years.
And they work really hard, I think, to find A balance that's prudent between protecting consumers from what could be overly aggressive practices, certainly not in this institution, but elsewhere, While simultaneously assuring that overdraft practices are available to clients who actually need them. And so, I think they'll do a continuing good job Finding what we think the appropriate balance is and then we will typically remain conservative and well within whatever that guidance may be. So I guess I'm saying all that to say based on the guidance that's out there now, how we're handling that business is something better than appropriate. If the guidance changes, then we'll manage to whatever that change is.
Okay. That's perfect. Thank you for that. And then I guess switching gears, Mike, just a clarification. I think you mentioned what the day 1 allowance ratio Would have been X Energy, but I didn't catch the whole thing.
Can
you Yes. I didn't give the X Energy point, Matt, what I've simply said is that the 128 day 2 for us included the energy book that we largely sold in the Q2 of last year. Got it.
Okay. Okay, perfect. Thank you, guys.
Thanks, Ed.
And our next question will come from Kevin Fitzsimons with D. A. Davidson. Please go ahead.
Hey, good afternoon everyone. Hi, Kevin. Just wanted to follow-up. I joined late. Mike, I believe you answered a question about Buybacks before and I don't think you guys had said you were looking at buybacks for the Q2, but that it was a possibility for Second half, is that the outlook or is it something different?
No, that's accurate, Kevin. And we had said Last quarter that there will be something that we would certainly address and look at in the second half of this year. And certainly, that's what our plans are to do. But there is nothing really new or to announce today, certainly. Okay.
But there is Is there an authorization in place or no? Yes. We put a new authorization in place last quarter And that was one of the things that we announced about intra quarter through our 8 ks. Okay. And then just a quick Follow-up and I apologize if you all went over this already.
Are there any notable data points or wins in terms of things being scheduled for later this year or early next year in Metro New Orleans from a tourism or hospitality standpoint that are worth mode in queue. Yes. Thanks for asking the question. It is a bright spot in our story and You may have missed when we were talking about loan growth, we shared that as a central super region is kind of dominated by the New Orleans balance In this quarter, for the Q1 since the pandemic began, it was a push. And a lot of that is because of all the renewed sentiment and a good bit Of enthusiasm that's happening inside Noah now as tourism returns.
So we certainly can't speak for officials or what have you, but the shared commentary from the statewide folks around our region and this includes Louisiana would suggest very little appetite For pulling in their horns, so I think what we would expect to see as is continuing improvement in both The leisure tourism, which has been enormously successful really for several months beginning in March in New Orleans, with the return of conventions and festivals. The first couple of conventions in Q3 already happened and the attendance rate was very positive. And the number of conventions We're not canceled from back last year when people were in the business of canceling conventions. They all seem to be having pretty good attendance. I think it's something better than a green shoot.
And the festivals as of now appear to be all on. And I think we have S Fest, which is typically a big, big April, show that coincides with the Gulf South Banking Conference was moved To October, it's happening. The lineup was announced a couple of weeks ago. Looks pretty good. The French Quarter Festival It's happening.
A lot of the food festivals are getting scheduled. So it really is sort of the last of our markets It's to look more like it's fully recovering for hospitality. The beach communities really Didn't have a pandemic economy last summer. They were moving quickly and even before there was vaccination news. But New Orleans is certainly Continuing to improve right now, so we're pretty enthusiastic about it.
And Kevin, just a quick add. So Kevin, Slide 8 In our earnings deck, there is an updated version of the slides we had last quarter and that's simply by major region, I have a listing of the major hospitality related events that have come in a couple of quarters. And that Central region in the middle, that's primarily New Orleans. That's great. Okay.
Thanks, Mike. Thanks, John. You bet. Thanks for the questions.
And this will conclude our question and answer session. I'd like to turn the conference back over to John Harrison for any closing remarks.
Yes. Thanks, Cole, for moderating today and thanks to everyone for their interest in Hancock Whitney. Stay safe and we'll see you soon.
The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines at this time.