© Reuters.
By Senad Karaahmetovic
Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:) shares are trading over 6% lower in pre-market Wednesday after the Arizona-based lender issued a quarter-end update.
The lender noted a “significant” increase in the total insured deposit compared to the year-end period. In total, ~68% of all deposits are insured while the company’s coverage ratio is greater than 140%.
“As of quarter-end, immediately available liquidity (on-balance sheet liquidity and unused borrowing capacity) exceeded uninsured deposits, with a coverage ratio greater than 140%. As of quarter-end, the Bank had no borrowings outstanding from the Federal Reserve’s discount window after balance sheet repositioning,” the company said in a statement.
Western Alliance also expects its CET1 ratio to be “materially consistent with year-end 2022.”
“Western Alliance’s uniquely flexible, diversified business model positioned us to weather the liquidity tightness that enveloped the industry over the past month. Put simply, Western Alliance Bank is different; this diversification continues to distinguish us from monoline or sector-concentrated peer banks,” said Kenneth A. Vecchione, President and CEO.
WAL is due to report full results on April 18.
Wedbush analysts said the update was “mixed”.
“We now forecast deposits could be down about 15% in 1Q compared to our prior expectation of deposits declining 9%, and the actual outcome will depend on the extent to which WAL pledged assets as collateral to uninsured depositors, in our view,” analysts said in a note.
WAL shares are down 43.7% year-to-date (YTD).
