Truist’s Strong Financial Performance in 2024

Truist Financial Corporation had an impressive year in 2024, delivering solid financial results and making strategic moves to position the company for future growth. The company’s net income available to common shareholders totaled $4.5 billion, or $3.36 per share, a significant turnaround from the prior year’s net loss.

Highlights of Truist’s 2024 Performance

• Truist completed the divestiture of its insurance holdings (TIH) segment, which represented a material strategic shift for the company. The sale generated after-tax cash proceeds of $10.1 billion, which Truist used to reposition its balance sheet.
• Following the TIH sale, Truist executed a strategic balance sheet repositioning, selling $27.7 billion of lower-yielding investment securities and reinvesting the proceeds in higher-yielding securities. This resulted in an after-tax loss of $5.1 billion but improved the company’s net interest margin and capital position.
• Truist returned $3.8 billion of capital to common shareholders through $2.8 billion in dividends and $1.0 billion in share repurchases. The company has $4.0 billion remaining under its $5.0 billion common share repurchase authorization through 2026.
• The company redeemed all outstanding shares of its perpetual preferred stock series L for $750 million, further strengthening its capital structure.
• Truist’s CET1 ratio, a key measure of capital strength, increased to 11.5% as of December 31, 2024, up 140 basis points from the prior year.

Solid Revenue and Profitability

Truist’s total taxable-equivalent revenue for 2024 was $13.5 billion, down from $20.2 billion in the prior year due to the $6.7 billion in securities losses from the balance sheet repositioning. Excluding these losses, revenue was $20.1 billion, a slight decrease of $101 million compared to 2023.

• Net interest income on a taxable-equivalent basis was $14.3 billion, down 3.0% from the prior year, primarily due to a smaller balance sheet after the repositioning. However, the net interest margin improved by 5 basis points to 3.03%, as Truist was able to reinvest the proceeds from the securities sales into higher-yielding assets.
• Noninterest income, excluding the securities losses, increased by $340 million, or 6.2%, driven by higher investment banking and trading income, wealth management income, service charges on deposits, and other income.

Truist’s net income from continuing operations was a loss of $45 million, compared to a loss of $1.5 billion in the prior year. This improvement was primarily due to the absence of the $6.1 billion goodwill impairment charge that was recorded in 2023.

Disciplined Credit and Risk Management

Truist maintained its strong credit quality and risk management practices throughout 2024:

• Nonperforming assets totaled $1.5 billion at the end of 2024, down slightly from the prior year. Nonperforming loans and leases represented 0.47% of total loans and leases, up 3 basis points from 2023.
• The allowance for credit losses was $5.2 billion, or 1.59% of loans and leases, up 5 basis points from the prior year. This allowance covered nonperforming loans and leases 3.4 times.
• Net charge-offs were 0.59% of average loans and leases, up 9 basis points from 2023, primarily due to higher charge-offs in the commercial real estate, other consumer, credit card, and indirect auto portfolios.

Truist’s commercial loan portfolio remains well-diversified across industries and geographies, with no significant concentrations of risk. The company closely monitors its commercial real estate and commercial construction exposures, which represented 28.9 billion, or 9.4% of the total loan portfolio, as of December 31, 2024.

Segment Performance

Truist operates two main business segments: Consumer and Small Business Banking (CSBB) and Wholesale Banking (WB). The company’s Other, Treasury, and Corporate (OT&C) segment includes corporate functions and activities.

• CSBB net income was $3.5 billion, a significant increase from $126 million in the prior year. This was driven by lower noninterest expense, including the absence of the 2023 goodwill impairment charge, and a lower provision for credit losses.
• WB net income was $4.0 billion, up from $346 million in 2023. This improvement was due to higher noninterest income, primarily from investment banking and wealth management activities, as well as lower noninterest expense.
• The OT&C segment generated a net loss of $7.5 billion, compared to a $2.0 billion loss in the prior year. This was largely attributable to the $6.7 billion in securities losses from the balance sheet repositioning.

Outlook and Strategic Priorities

Truist’s strategic direction is to build the top super regional bank that grows with its clients with care. The company’s key strategic objectives for 2025 include:

1. Leveraging its strong capital position to grow and capture additional market share in its high-growth markets and existing client base, particularly in Wholesale Banking and Consumer and Small Business Banking.
2. Deepening and growing existing client relationships in areas like Payments and Wealth, enhancing the client digital experience, and capturing more share of the commercial middle market in Wholesale Banking.
3. Growing core deposits, deepening relationships with Premier clients, enhancing the digital experience, and driving additional fee and loan growth through differentiated consumer lending solutions in Consumer and Small Business Banking.
4. Continuing to invest in talent, technology, risk, and cybersecurity, while maintaining expense discipline to drive positive operating leverage.
5. Maintaining credit and risk discipline.
6. Returning capital to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

Truist is well-positioned to execute on these strategic priorities and deliver long-term value for its shareholders, clients, and communities.