SOUTH PLAINS FINANCIAL, INC. 10-Q

Item 1A. Risk Factors In evaluating an investment in any of our securities, investors should consider carefully, among other things, information under the heading “Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in Part I, Item 2, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended June 30, 2020 (this “Form 10-Q”) and the risk factors previously disclosed under the heading “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of our 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The following risk factors represent material changes in the risk factors disclosed by the Company in the 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The COVID-19 pandemic is adversely affecting us and our customers, employees, and third-party service providers, and the adverse impacts on our business, financial position, results of operations, and prospects could be significant. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to negatively impacted the global economy, disrupt global supply chains, lower equity market valuations, create significant volatility and disruption in financial markets, increase unemployment levels and decrease consumer confidence generally. In addition, the pandemic caused the temporary closures of many businesses and the institution of social distancing and sheltering in place requirements in many states and communities. The pandemic could influence the recognition of credit losses in our loan portfolios and increase our allowance for credit losses, particularly as businesses remain closed and as more customers are expected to draw on their lines of credit or seek additional loans to help finance their businesses. Furthermore, the pandemic could affect the stability of our deposit base as well as our capital and liquidity position, impair the ability of borrowers to repay outstanding loans, impair the value of collateral securing loans, result in lost revenue and cause us to incur additional expenses. Similarly, because of changing economic and market conditions affecting issuers, we may be required to recognize other-than-temporary impairments in future periods on the securities we hold as well as reductions in other comprehensive income. The extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our capital, liquidity, and other financial positions and on our business, results of operations, and prospects will depend on a number of evolving factors, including: (i) the duration, extent, and severity of the pandemic, (ii) the response of governmental and nongovernmental authorities, (iii) the effect on our customers, counterparties, employees, and third-party service providers , (iv) the effect on economies and markets, and (v) the success of hardship relief efforts to bridge the gap to reopening the economy. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, we may continue to experience materially adverse impacts to our business as a result of the pandemic’s global economic impact, including the availability of credit, adverse impacts on our liquidity and any recession that has occurred or may occur in the future. The duration of the pandemic and the resulting business interruptions and related impacts on our business and operations, which will depend on future developments, are highly uncertain and cannot be reasonably estimated at this time. The pandemic could cause us to experience higher credit losses in our lending portfolio, impairment of our goodwill and other financial assets, reduced demand for our products and services, and other negative impacts on our financial position, results of operations, and prospects. 50 Table of Contents The U.S. government has implemented programs to directly compensate individuals and grant or loan money to businesses in an effort to provide funding while the economy is shut down and in the process of re-opening. Many banks, including City Bank, have implemented hardship relief programs that include payment deferral and short-term funding options. The success of these programs could mute the effect on the Company’s credit losses, which may be difficult to determine. A significant number of our borrowers have requested and received short-term loan payment deferrals. Although we expect most of these loans to return to normal payment schedules upon the expiration of their deferral, these deferrals may negatively impact our revenue and other results of operations in the near term and, if not effective in mitigating the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on our customers, may adversely affect our business and results of operations more substantially over a longer period of time. Moreover, the cumulative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures implemented by governments to combat the pandemic on the mortgaged properties may cause borrowers to be unable to meet their payment obligations under mortgage loans that we hold and may result in significant losses. There are no comparable recent events that provide guidance as to the effect the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic may have, and, as a result, the ultimate impact of the outbreak is highly uncertain and subject to change. We do not yet know the full extent of the impacts on our business, our operations or the global economy as a whole. However, the effects could have a material impact on our results of operations and heighten many of our known risks described in the “Risk Factors” section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019. Current and future restrictions on our workforce’s access to our facilities and our reliance on third parties could limit our ability to meet customer servicing expectations and have a material adverse effect on our operations. We rely on business processes and profit center activity that largely depend on people, technology, and the use of complex systems and models to manage our business, including access to information technology systems and models as well as information, applications, payment systems and other services provided by third parties. In response to COVID-19, we have modified our business practices with a majority of our employees working remotely from their homes to have our operations uninterrupted as much as possible. Further, technology in employees’ homes may not be as robust as in our offices and could cause the networks, information systems, applications, and other tools available to employees to be more limited or less reliable than in our offices, the continuation of these work-from-home measures introduces additional operational risk, especially including increased cybersecurity risk. These cyber risks include greater phishing, malware, and other cybersecurity attacks, vulnerability to disruptions of our information technology infrastructure and telecommunications systems for remote operations, increased risk of unauthorized dissemination of confidential information, limited ability to restore the systems in the event of a systems failure or interruption, great risk of a security breach resulting in destruction or misuse of valuable information, and potential impairment of our ability to perform critical functions, including wiring funds, all of which could expose us to risks of data or financial loss, litigation and liability and could seriously disrupt our operations and the operations of any impacted customers. Moreover, we rely on many third parties in our business operations, including appraisers of real property collateral, vendors that supply essential services such as loan servicers, providers of financial information, systems and analytical tools and providers of electronic payment and settlement systems, and local and federal government agencies, offices, and courthouses. In light of the developing measures responding to the pandemic, many of these entities have limited the availability and access of their services. For example, loan origination could be delayed due to the limited availability of real estate appraisers for the collateral. Loan closings could be delayed related to reductions in available staff in recording offices or the closing of courthouses in certain counties, which slows the process for title work, mortgage and UCC filings in those counties. If the third party service providers continue to have limited capacities for a prolonged period or if additional limitations or potential disruptions in these services materialize, it may negatively affect our operations. Changes in market interest rates or capital markets, including volatility resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, could affect our revenues and expenses, the value of assets and obligations, and the availability and cost of capital or liquidity. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to significantly affect the financial markets and has resulted in a number of Federal Reserve actions. Market interest rates have declined significantly. On March 3, 2020, the 10-year Treasury yield fell below 1.00% for the first time, and the Federal Reserve reduced the target federal funds rate by 50 basis points to 1.00% to 1.25%. On March 15, 2020, the Federal Reserve further reduced the target federal funds rate by 100 basis points to 0.00% to 0.25% and announced a $700 billion quantitative easing program in response to the expected economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Federal Reserve reduced the interest that it pays on excess reserves from 1.60% to 1.10% on March 3, 2020, and then to 0.10% on March 15, 2020. We expect that these reductions in interest rates, especially if prolonged, could adversely affect our net interest income and margins and our profitability. 51 Table of Contents Given our business mix, and the fact that most of our assets and liabilities are financial in nature, we tend to be sensitive to market interest rate movements and the performance of the financial markets. Our primary source of income is net interest income, which is the difference between the interest income generated by our interest-earning assets (consisting primarily of loans and, to a lesser extent, securities) and the interest expense generated by our interest-bearing liabilities. Prevailing economic conditions, fiscal and monetary policies and the policies of various regulatory agencies all affect market rates of interest and the availability and cost of credit, which, in turn, significantly affect financial institutions’ net interest income. If the interest we pay on deposits and other borrowings increases at a faster rate than increases in the interest we receive on loans and investments, net interest income, and, therefore, our earnings, could be affected. Earnings could also be affected if the interest we receive on loans and other investments falls more quickly than the interest we pay on deposits and other borrowings. In addition, the continued spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has also led to disruption and volatility in financial markets, which could increase our cost of capital and adversely affect our ability to access financial markets, which may in turn affect the value of the subordinated notes. This market volatility has resulted in a significant decline, and we may continue to experience further declines, in our stock price and market capitalization, which could result in goodwill impairment charges. As a participating lender in the PPP, we are subject to additional risks of litigation from our customers or other parties and regulatory enforcement regarding our processing and forgiveness of PPP loans, as well as risks that the SBA may not fund some or all PPP loan guaranties. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump signed into law the CARES Act on March 27, 2020. Among other things, the CARES Act created a new facility, titled the “Paycheck Protection Program,” to the SBA’s 7(a) Loan Program. Under the PPP, small businesses and other entities and individuals can apply for loans from existing SBA lenders and other approved regulated lenders that enroll in the program, subject to numerous limitations and eligibility criteria. We are participating as a lender in the PPP and, as of June 30, 2020, the Bank had funded approximately 2,050 loans under the PPP, representing an unpaid principal balance of $215 million. The PPP opened on April 3, 2020; however, because of the short time frame between the passing of the CARES Act and the opening of the PPP, there was and continues to be ambiguity in the laws, rules, and guidance regarding the requirements and operation of the PPP, which exposes the Company to risks relating to noncompliance with the PPP. For instance, other financial institutions have experienced litigation related to their policies and procedures for accepting and processing applications for the PPP. Any financial liability, litigation costs or reputational damage caused by PPP related litigation could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we have credit risk on PPP loans if a determination is made by the SBA that there is a deficiency in the manner in which the loan was originated, funded, or serviced. We also have credit risk related to how forgiveness of the PPP loans is handled and how the forgiveness amounts are determined. We cannot predict what operational, credit, or other shortfalls may arise as a result of the Company making loans under the PPP or how such shortfalls may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and future prospects. Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds None. Item 3. Defaults upon Senior Securities Not applicable. Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures Not applicable.