DEF: Synovus Financial Corp. Invites Shareholders to 2025 Annual Meeting, Highlights 2024 Performance

Synovus Financial Corp. announces its 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders and reflects on a year of strategic repositioning and financial performance amidst industry challenges.

Summary

• Synovus Financial Corp. invites shareholders to its 2025 Annual Meeting on April 24, 2025, to be held virtually.
• The meeting will address the election of directors, an advisory vote on executive compensation, and the ratification of KPMG LLP as the independent auditor for 2025.
• In 2024, Synovus focused on safety and soundness, increasing its common equity tier 1 capital ratio and improving its liquidity position.
• The company partially repositioned its securities portfolio, leading to a $2.0 billion reduction in risk-weighted assets and a $1.6 billion investment securities repositioning.
• This repositioning resulted in realized net losses of $257 million but is expected to improve net interest margin.
• Synovus repurchased 6.4 million common shares and increased its CET1 ratio by 0.62% to 10.84%.
• Total revenue declined 10% in 2024, but adjusted total revenue taxable equivalent declined only 2%.
• The reported efficiency ratio was 62.5%, while the adjusted tangible efficiency ratio was 54.0%.
• Adjusted non-interest revenue increased 6%, driven by higher commercial sponsorship income and growth in treasury and payments solutions.
• The decrease in the provision for credit losses was a significant driver of the year-over-year increase in adjusted EPS.
• The company delivered a 41% total shareholder return in 2024, which was the highest among banks in the KBW Nasdaq Regional Bank Index.

Sentiment

Score: 7

Explanation: The document presents a generally positive outlook, highlighting strong shareholder returns and strategic initiatives, although it acknowledges industry challenges and revenue declines.

Positives

• Synovus increased its common equity tier 1 capital ratio and improved its liquidity position.
• The company repurchased 6.4 million common shares and increased its CET1 ratio to 10.84%.
• Adjusted non-interest revenue increased 6%, driven by higher commercial sponsorship income and growth in treasury and payments solutions.
• The company delivered a 41% total shareholder return in 2024, the highest among banks in the KBW Nasdaq Regional Bank Index.
• The CHCC approved short-term incentive payouts of between 150% to 173% of target for the named executive officers.

Negatives

• Total revenue declined 10% in 2024 compared to the prior year.
• The company executed a $1.6 billion investment securities repositioning, resulting in $257 million in realized net losses.
• Reported non-interest revenue declined 41%, largely driven by the investment securities repositioning.

Risks

• The document mentions a challenging industry environment and an uncertain political and regulatory landscape.
• Elevated short-term interest rates for the majority of the year helped drive funding costs higher.

Future Outlook

The company's strategic plan for 2025 will continue to focus on a relationship-based approach to banking but centered on accelerated growth investments through the franchise, with a particular focus on middle market banking, specialty lending, CIB, and wealth services.

Management Comments

• Against a challenging industry environment and an uncertain political and regulatory landscape, we continued to focus on safety and soundness in 2024.
• Our Board works diligently to oversee the development and execution of Synovus strategy and to align decisions accordingly.
• We consider our long-standing commitment to responsible corporate citizenship to be fundamental to our long-term growth and to fulfilling our purpose in every area and with every constituency we serve.
• The external landscape may be dynamic in many respects, but we remain steadfast in our 135-plus year commitment of doing the right thing for our stakeholders and shareholders.

Industry Context

The document highlights Synovus' performance relative to the KBW Nasdaq Regional Bank Index, indicating a focus on competitive positioning within the regional banking sector.

Comparison to Industry Standards

• The document compares Synovus' total shareholder return to the KBW Nasdaq Regional Bank Index, noting that Synovus had the highest return among banks in that index.
• The peer group used for executive compensation benchmarking includes BOK Financial Corp., New York Community Bancorp, Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc., and Regions Financial Corp., among others.
• The document mentions that the CHCC reviews market comparisons for compensation levels among CEOs at peer companies when determining executive compensation.

Stakeholder Impact

• The document highlights the company's commitment to responsible corporate citizenship and its impact on shareholders, clients, employees, and communities.
• The company continued making impactful workforce investments and meaningful contributions to our communities and practicing strong governance of our business.

Next Steps

• Shareholders are encouraged to vote on the proposals outlined in the Proxy Statement.
• The Board will continue to monitor and consider additional and evolving changes to our corporate governance practices for the future.
• The Company plans to conduct another employee engagement survey in 2025.
• The Company will continue to focus on foundational infrastructure investments related to the client experience, process efficiencies, and controls and risk mitigation.

Key Dates