Shares of Western Alliance Bancorp (WAL) experienced a decline of more than 5% in after-hours trading on Tuesday. The Phoenix-based bank narrowly missed the market’s quarterly earnings expectations. However, the bank reassured investors that it had taken steps to strengthen its liquidity.
For the second quarter, Western Alliance reported earnings of $215.7 million, or $1.96 per share. This is a decrease from the $260.2 million, or $2.39 per share, earned in the same period last year. Despite this decline, the bank saw a 21% increase in revenue, reaching $669.3 million.
Chief Executive Kenneth A. Vecchione expressed confidence in the bank’s performance, stating that Western Alliance successfully executed its balance sheet repositioning strategy and was returning to normal business operations. Vecchione highlighted the achievement of bolstering liquidity and capital, sustaining profitability, and expanding core client relationships.
One significant development for the bank was a quarterly deposit growth of $3.5 billion. This improvement lowered the bank’s loan-to-deposit ratio to 94%. Additionally, total insured and collateralized deposits accounted for 81% of deposits, and there was an available liquidity coverage of 276% of uninsured deposits.
Despite the after-hours decline, shares of Western Alliance ended the regular trading day up more than 8%, indicating that investors still have confidence in the bank’s long-term prospects.
