Diluted earnings per share were $0.97, or $0.94 adjusted.
Adjusted earnings per share was down 3% sequentially and up 3.1% year-over-year.
Period-end loan growth was $745 million or 8.1% annualized resulting from total funded loan production of $3.6 billion.
Period-end deposit growth was $972 million or 10.3% annualized.
Core transaction deposits increased $373 million and total deposit cost declined 13 basis points from the prior quarter.
Net interest margin was 3.65%, a decline of 4 basis points from the prior quarter.
Excluding the impact of purchase accounting adjustments, the net interest margin was 3.40%, down 2 basis points from the prior quarter.
Non-interest income was $98 million in the fourth quarter, an increase of $9.2 million from the prior quarter and $30 million from the prior year quarter, led by capital markets and fiduciary activities.
And credit quality metrics remain solid with the non-performing loan ratio and the non-performing asset ratio declining by 5 basis points from the prior quarter to 0.27% and 0.37% respectively.
The net charge off ratio was 0.10%.
We repurchased $36.5 million in common stock or 1.1 million shares during the quarter which completed our 2019 share repurchase authorization of $725 million.
Outstanding shares were reduced 11% from the beginning of the year.
Our 2020 share repurchase authorization should allow us to continue operating with the CET1 ratio around 9%.
I'm also pleased to report that our Board approved a 10% increase in the quarterly dividend to $0.33 per share of common stock effective with the April 1 dividend.
We had another strong quarter of loan growth with a net increase of nearly $750 million on production of $3.6 billion.
This strategic focus support continued reductions in the total cost of deposits, which fell 18 basis points from the peak in July and 13 basis points from the previous quarter.
As you can see on Slide 6, the core net interest margin decreased 2 basis points to 3.4%.
Excluding purchase accounting accretion, lower interest rates resulted in an 18 basis point reduction in loan yield and a 13 basis point reduction in the cost of deposits.
As a reminder, GAAP margin at 3.65% benefited from purchase accounting accretion which was $26 million in the fourth quarter.
The benefit to NII from purchase accounting will decline substantially in 2020 to a full-year total of approximately $8 million.
On Slide 7, you will see we have had continued success in fee revenue growth, which increased to $98 million or $92 million adjusted.
Included in our GAAP non-interest income is an $8 million increase in the fair value of certain equity investments.
In the fourth quarter, fee revenue growth was led by capital markets and fiduciary activities of $2 million and $1 million respectively, which more than offset reductions in areas such as mortgage banking income.
An example of this success includes a 29% year-over-year increase and implementations by Treasury & Payment Solutions.
Slide 8 shows adjusted expenses of $265 million which is an increase of $6 million from the previous quarter.
Significant increases noted on this slide reflect a $3 million increase in FDIC expense associated with the reclassification of certain loan categories over the past four years.
There was also a $2 million increase in servicing expense that was more than offset with higher revenue resulted from a renegotiation of a third-party consumer lending partnerships.
Key credit quality metrics on Slide 9 remains favorable, including NPL and NPA ratio that each declined by 5 basis points.
These reductions were achieved with a net charge off ratio of 10 basis points for the quarter.
The net charge off rate was 16 basis points for the year.
Provision expense of $24.5 million included the costs associated with a $466 million increase in net loan growth from the prior period.
Onto Slide 10, we remain confident in our overall capital position and are pleased to report that we completed the $725 million share repurchase authorization in 2019.
This included fourth quarter repurchase activity of $37 million, which reflected a reduction of an additional 1.1 million shares.
Total shares were reduced 11% from the beginning of the year.
In 2019, we added 58 net new revenue producing team members across our foot print, in many of the fastest growing markets in which we serve.
We also experienced strong growth in banker productivity during the year with funded loan production of $11.1 billion, up $3 billion or 37% from 2018.
Moreover, the increase in production led to a 5.5% pro forma outstandings growth in total loans with C&I, CRE and consumer asset classes all increasing.
In 2019, we also delivered 10.6% fee income growth versus 2018 on a pro forma Synovus FCB basis.
Strong growth was delivered across multiple businesses including mortgage, capital markets, card and our fiduciary and asset management businesses which saw assets under management grow 21%, as we continue to expand our capabilities and presence across the footprint.
As a result of the growth in these categories, we saw the percentage of our revenue derived from fee income increase throughout the year, now totaling 19% in the fourth quarter.
The legacy FCB wholesale team continued on a path of growth with loans increasing $350 million during the year.
Deposit accounts growing by 8% and record levels of capital market income of $18 million, up 38% year-over-year.
The legacy FCB branch network also saw performance gains in 2019 with branch unit sales per month of 51, slightly higher than the legacy Synovus branches.
In the middle of 2019, the Synovus structured lending division was formed and in a very short period of time has already generated a $150 million in loan commitments.
We have reviewed over 20 initiatives that provide opportunities for incremental growth from the revenue side as well as additional efficiencies.
We are pleased with the positive momentum in the balance sheet growth which has been driven by new talent, the enhancement of capabilities and sales tools, as well as stronger growth in our larger Tier 1 markets.
Our approach and the momentum is expected to continue to support asset growth of 4% to 7% in 2020.
One of the most significant headwinds to the 2020 income statement is purchase accounting adjustments, which are expected to reduce revenues by approximately $90 million from 2019.
Excluding PAA, adjusted net interest income should increase 0% to 3% as we continue to actively manage our balance sheet to optimize the margin as well as returns.
Adjusted non-interest income is expected to increase 3% to 6% with broad-based growth.
Adjusted non-interest expense is expected to increase 3% to 5%.
The 2019 tax rate of 26% was negatively impacted by significant non-deductible, merger-related expenses that are not expected in 2020 as well as certain discrete items that were also negative.
We expect the net charge off ratio of 15 basis points to 25 basis points as the credit cycle matures and recovery subside.
Given our current profile of loan growth and expectations for the economy, we anticipate adding up to 10 basis point to the allowance for credit losses ratio throughout 2020 to account for the change in provisioning to the life of loans.
Moving on to capital; in 2019, we completed subordinated debt and preferred stock issuances and purchased 20 million shares, which effectively optimized the capital stack, given the current balance sheet size and risk profile.
We reiterated our comfort with a CET1 ratio of 9% under the current conditions and are committed to first funding organic growth; second, maintaining a competitive dividend; and third, effective capital deployment.
As such, we will be increasing the common dividend by 10% in 2020 targeting a payout ratio of 35% to 40%.

Summary:
Diluted earnings per share were $0.97, or $0.94 adjusted.
Net interest margin was 3.65%, a decline of 4 basis points from the prior quarter.
I'm also pleased to report that our Board approved a 10% increase in the quarterly dividend to $0.33 per share of common stock effective with the April 1 dividend.
These reductions were achieved with a net charge off ratio of 10 basis points for the quarter.
Given our current profile of loan growth and expectations for the economy, we anticipate adding up to 10 basis point to the allowance for credit losses ratio throughout 2020 to account for the change in provisioning to the life of loans.
As such, we will be increasing the common dividend by 10% in 2020 targeting a payout ratio of 35% to 40%.