PrivateBancorp, Inc. Q2 2008 Earnings Call Transcript

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PrivateBancorp, Inc. (PVTB)

Q2 2008 Earnings Call Transcript

July 29, 2008 11:00 am ET

Executives

Ralph Mandell – Chairman

Larry Richman – President & CEO

Dennis Klaeser – CFO

Kevin Van Solkema – Chief Risk Officer

Analysts

Steven Alexopoulos - JP Morgan

David Long [ph]

Ben Crabtree [ph]

Daniel Arnold [ph]

Terry McEvoy [ph]

Kenneth James [ph]

John Rowan [ph]

Christopher Miramax [ph]

Peyton Green [ph]

Mike Hodes [ph]

Justin Mauer [ph]

Daniel Cardenas [ph]

Presentation

Operator

Welcome to PrivateBancorp, Inc. second quarter 2008 earnings call. At this time I would like to inform you that this conference is being recorded and that all participants are in a listen-only mode. At the request of the company, we will open the conference up for question and answers at the end of the presentation. Please note that the company will be taking questions from individuals and companies that have been invited to attend the live portion of the conference call. I will now turn the conference over to Larry Richman, CEO of PrivateBancorp, Inc. Please go ahead sir.

Larry Richman

Good morning and welcome to our second quarter earnings conference call. Joining me this morning is Ralph Mandell, Chairman of the Board; Dennis Klaeser, our Chief Financial Officer; and Kevin Van Solkema, our Chief Risk Officer.

Prior to discussing our second quarter results, I'd like to ask Dennis to read our Safe Harbor statement. Dennis?

Dennis Klaeser

Good morning. Statements made during this conference call that are not historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements, within the meaning of Federal Security’s Laws. Management’s ability to predict results or the actual effect of future plans or strategies is inherently uncertain. Factors which have a material adverse affect on our operations and future prospects are disclosed in the filings we make with the SEC, including our Form 8-K dated today relating to our second quarter 2008 results. You should consider these risks and uncertainties when evaluating any forward-looking statements, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. The company assumes no obligation to update publicly any of these statements in light of future events.

Larry Richman

Thank you Dennis. We'll begin our call with insights on our second quarter results from Ralph Mandell, the co-founder of PrivateBancorp and its Chairman. Ralph?

Ralph Mandell

Thank you Larry and good morning. I thought I'd start by commenting on just a couple of important developments in the quarter. First, while we completed to develop with the hiring for the primary phase of our strategic growth plan in the fourth and first quarters, we continue to take advantage of opportunities in our various markets to bring on talented, experienced professionals. These are people who can quickly help us attract new clients and improve our ability to serve existing clients. That includes additional resources and support areas such as risk management and operations. As well as client-facing professionals in banking, treasury management and capital markets.

Since November 1, we have added 115 managing directors and associate managing directors with 25 in the most recent quarter, and our total employee count as of June 30 is 712. These are all quality individuals who share a common commitment to serving our clients and creating value for our stockholders.

Secondly, the changing landscape for banks and other financial services companies has benefited us on a number of fronts besides just the great professionals we've signed down. We also have been able to leverage the disruption and uncertainty into attracting clients as well. In times like this, clients warrant deep, stable relationships. We have the bankers to provide those. We can also be more selective in the deals we are doing and more discipline in how we structure them. These factors certainly leave us well positioned to realize significant benefits once the markets turn.

I and our other board members continue to be pleased with the great progress we are making against our strategic growth plan. We have a clear vision for what we want this company to be. Larry and the entire executive leadership team have done a great job of getting our employees in all of our offices engage achieving our vision, serving our clients, and delivering results for our stock holders. Now Larry will provide additional insights on our company.

Larry Richman

Thank you Ralph. Before I talk in more detail about our second quarter results, I wanted to make one special comment. As I'm sure all of you are aware earlier this month, Norman Bobins joined the board of our holding company and I had the distinct privilege of turning over the chairmanship of the Private Bank Chicago to him.

Norman's a good friend to both Ralph and me, and we look forward to having his experienced insight and counsel as we continue to grow our company and move towards our vision.

Now let me turn to our second quarter performance. Today, we reported a net loss for the second quarter of 2008 of $13.3 million or $0.48 per diluted share compared to net income of $8.8 million or $0.40 for diluted share for the second quarter of 2007.

The loss was primarily due to two factors. The first is the ongoing investment in our strategic growth plan. This includes expenses related to the adding of quality members to our team as well as professional fees to support the rapid expansion of our product and service offering and related development costs. Additionally, reflected in our compensation expenses is the correction of the accounting errors which was explained in the release.

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