Company: WSBC
Filing Date: 2025-03-03
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000950170-25-030795
Chunk: 138

Company: WESBANCO INC
Filing Date: 2025-03-03
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 138
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 liability. Regulatory changes in tax legislation, zoning or similar external conditions including environmental liability may affect property values and the economic feasibility of existing and proposed real estate projects.

The Company’s CRE loan portfolio is concentrated predominantly in West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, northern Virginia and Tennessee. There are a wide variety of economic conditions within the local markets of the eight states in which most of the company’s CRE loan portfolio is situated. Rates of employment, consumer loan demand, household formation, and the level of economic activity can vary widely from state to state and among metropolitan areas, cities and towns. Metropolitan markets comprise various submarkets where property values and demand can be affected by many factors, such as demographic makeup, geographic features, transportation, recreation, local government, school systems, utility infrastructure, tax burden, building-stock age, zoning and building codes, and available land for development. As a result of the high concentration of the company’s loan portfolio, it may be more sensitive, as compared to more diversified institutions, to future disruptions in and deterioration of this market, which could lead to losses, which could have a material adverse effect on the business, financial condition and results of operations of the company.

RISKS INHERENT IN MUNICIPAL BONDS COULD HAVE A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON WESBANCO’S EARNINGS.

As of December 31, 2024, approximately 34% of Wesbanco’s total securities portfolio was invested in municipal bonds. Although Wesbanco’s municipal portfolio is broadly spread across the U.S., any downturn in the economy of a state or municipality in which Wesbanco holds municipal obligations could increase the default risk of the respective debt. In addition, a portion of Wesbanco’s municipal portfolio is comprised of Build America bonds. Due to the government sequester reducing the interest subsidy that the government provides to the issuing municipalities, extraordinary redemption provisions ("ERP") may be executed by the municipality if it is in their favor to do so. There is a risk that when an ERP is executed, Wesbanco may not recover its amortized cost in the bond if it was purchased at a premium. Credit risks are also prevalent when downgrades of credit ratings are issued by major credit rating agencies, which are caused by creditworthiness issues of both bond insurers and the municipality itself. Credit rating downgrades to a non-investment grade level may force Wesbanco to sell a municipal bond at a price where amortized cost may not be recovered. Rising interest