To my fellow shareholders:
At HTLF, we see Growth. And in 2021, we saw tremendous growth and success across our company, delivering against our ambitious and disciplined growth strategies.
Our results are record breaking:
- Record net income available to common stockholders of $211.9 million
- Record earnings per diluted common share of $5.00, a remarkable 40 percent increase over 2020
- Strong organic loan growth of $689 million
- Total deposit growth of $1.4 billion to a record $16.4 billion. Our total deposits have grown for 11 consecutive quarters.
Our total assets are now over $19 billion, driven by strong momentum in Commercial and Consumer lending, and significant growth in deposits.
For the sixth consecutive year, HTLF was recognized by Forbes as one of “America’s Best Banks.” HTLF ranked #28 — our highest ranking to date.
We are realizing our vision to be a top-performing and admired banking organization, driven in part by growth strategies around talent acquisition and expansion into adjacent high growth markets.
We introduced our HTLF Food and Agribusiness division in California, offering a full suite of banking services and solutions dedicated to meet the needs of businesses across the entire food supply chain, and complementing our other HTLF Specialized Industries teams across our footprint.
In 2021, we also extended our reach in several high growth adjacent markets in the Midwest. We opened offices in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, St. Paul, and two offices in the western suburbs of Chicago. Meanwhile, we closed, consolidated and sold branches as we continue to optimize our branch network.
HTLF is winding down our PPP operations, with most customers having completed the forgiveness process. Over the lifetime of PPP, we processed nearly 8,000 loans totaling more than $1.6 billion, helping thousands of small businesses in our communities.
We accelerated several of our strategic investments and initiatives to improve the customer experience. We enhanced commercial account analytics and improved customer service operational efficiency.
We added HTLF’s first Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion officer to lead our DEI efforts and reinforce our company values.
And we refreshed our branding to better reflect the company HTLF is today and reinforce the Strength, Insight and Growth we bring to our employees, customers, communities and shareholders.
We began executing the consolidation of our 11 separate bank charters into a single HTLF Bank charter in Colorado to drive long-term efficiency, improve agility, reduce expenses and enhance scalability, supporting future growth both organically and through M&A, all while enriching the customer experience.
Our 11 banks will maintain their local brands, local leadership and local decision-making, while HTLF will maintain its strong and sizable presence in Dubuque, Iowa.
Charter consolidation is expected to be complete by late 2023.
I’d like to congratulate John K. Schmidt on being elected independent Chairman of HTLF’s Board of Directors. John has an extensive history with the company and has served as a Director since 2001. I look forward to working with him in his new role as Chairman.
Our momentum continues into 2022. We are executing our strategy, we are well positioned, and we see continued growth.
Together, we are HTLF.
Sincerely,
Bruce K. Lee