First Horizon delays Iberiabank integration due to Ida

First Horizon in Memphis, Tenn., will delay the integration of IberiaBank until the first quarter due to the “widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Ida.”

The integration of Iberiabank, which was based in Lafayette, La., was supposed to take place this year. First Horizon also said that pretax merger integration costs will likely be $20 million to $30 million more than originally forecast, falling somewhere between $520 million to $530 million.

The $88 billion-asset First Horizon said it should achieve its targeted $200 million of pretax annualized cost savings by the fourth quarter of 2022.

“Recovery efforts are in full force as we provide critical aid to our associates and special assistance to our clients,” Bryan Jordan, First Horizon’s president and CEO, said in a Wednesday press release.

“Given the significant loss of basic necessities such as power, water and sewer and the recovery challenges that our associates and clients are facing in communities across the path of the storm, we believe it’s prudent to pause our near-term integration activities to focus on addressing our impacted communities’ most critical needs,” Jordan added.

The company estimated that about 8,350 clients with about $3 billion of loans are in areas impacted by the hurricane. Those loans represent about 5% of loans outstanding. First Horizon said it is waiving foreign ATM fees and surcharge credits, and it is offering a variety of loan options to assist with recovery.

Nine of the company’s 27 branches, including four of 19 locations in New Orleans, are fully functional. Four more branches are expected to open in coming days.