UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

July 9, 2019

Date of Report

(Date of earliest event reported) 

WSFS Financial Corporation

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware	001-35638		22-2866913
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)	(SEC Commission File Number)		(IRS Employer Identification Number)
500 Delaware Avenue, Wilmington, Delaware		19801
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (302) 792-6000

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

☐	Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act
☐	Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act
☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act
☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share	WSFS	Nasdaq Global Select Market

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (17 CFR 230.405) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (17 CFR 40.12b-2).

Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Item 2.02 Results of Operation and Financial Condition

On July 9, 2019, WSFS Financial Corporation (“WSFS or the “Company”) announced the impact of two events, occurring within the last 30 days, which affected two Commercial and Industrial (“C&I”) relationships which will result in higher levels of provision for loan losses and concurrent charge-offs in 2Q 2019. These two local C&I relationships include (i) a $5.9 million loan to a managed health care facility that was recently placed into receivership by state authorities and (ii) a $5.7 million loan related to a refinery that experienced an isolated event which impacted the facilities operations. Both of these relationships have been classified as nonperforming loans for an extended period and included in WSFS’ disclosure of nonperforming assets in prior periods as WSFS actively worked toward resolution prior to these recent events.

Including the aforementioned C&I relationships, WSFS anticipates elevated net charge-offs totaling between $12 million and $14 million for 2Q 2019. Total credit costs (provision for loan losses, loan workout expenses, OREO expenses and other credit costs), are expected to range between $13 million and $15 million for 2Q 2019, though WSFS has not yet finalized its financial results for 2Q 2019 and therefore the actual amount of net charge-offs and total credit costs could differ from the amounts WSFS anticipates as of this date.

Excluding the impact of these two C&I relationships, WSFS expects overall credit quality metrics to be consistent with recent quarterly trends.

This information is being furnished under Item 2.02 of this Current Report on Form 8-K and shall not be deemed filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“Exchange Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, and such information shall not be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.

Forward-Looking Statement Disclaimer

This Current Report on Form 8-K contains estimates, predictions, opinions, projections and other “forward-looking statements” as that phrase is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, without limitation, references to the Company’s predictions or expectations of future business or financial performance as well as its goals and objectives for future operations, financial and business trends, business prospects, and management’s outlook or expectations for earnings, revenues, expenses, capital levels, liquidity levels, asset quality or other future financial or business performance, strategies or expectations. The words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “estimate,” “target,” “project” and similar expressions, among others, generally identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on various assumptions (some of which may be beyond the Company’s control) and are subject to risks and uncertainties (which change over time) and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those related to difficult market conditions and unfavorable economic trends in the United States generally, and particularly in the markets in which the Company operates and in which its loans are concentrated, including the effects of declines in housing markets, an increase in unemployment levels and slowdowns in economic growth; the Company’s level of nonperforming assets and the costs associated with resolving problem loans including litigation and other costs; possible additional loan losses and impairment of the collectability of loans; changes in market interest rates which may increase funding costs and reduce earning asset yields and thus reduce margin; the impact of changes in interest rates and the credit quality and strength of underlying collateral and the effect of such changes on the market value of the Company’s investment securities portfolio; the credit risk associated with the substantial amount of commercial real estate, construction and land development, and commercial and industrial loans in our loan portfolio; the extensive federal and state regulation, supervision and examination governing almost every aspect of the Company’s operations including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (which amended the Dodd-Frank Act), and the rules and regulations issued in accordance therewith and potential expenses associated with complying with such regulations; the Company’s ability to comply with applicable capital and liquidity requirements (including the finalized Basel III capital standards), including our ability to generate liquidity internally or raise capital on favorable terms; possible changes in trade, monetary and fiscal policies, laws and regulations and other activities of governments, agencies, and similar organizations; any impairment of the Company’s goodwill or other intangible assets; failure of the financial and operational controls of the Company’s Cash Connect® division; conditions in the financial markets that may limit the Company’s access to additional funding to meet its liquidity needs; the success of the Company’s growth plans, including the successful integration of past and future acquisitions; including the acquisition of Beneficial Bancorp, Inc.; the Company’s ability to fully realize the cost savings and other benefits of its acquisitions, manage risks related to business disruption following those acquisitions, and post-acquisition customer acceptance of the Company’s products and services and related Customer disintermediation; negative perceptions or publicity with respect to the Company’s trust and wealth management business; adverse judgments or other resolution of pending and future legal proceedings, and cost incurred in defending such proceedings; system failure or cybersecurity incidents or other breaches of the Company’s network security; the Company’s ability to recruit and retain key employees; the effects of problems encountered by other financial institutions that adversely affect the Company or the banking industry generally; the effects of weather and natural disasters such as floods, droughts, wind, tornadoes and hurricanes as well as effects from geopolitical instability and man-made disasters including terrorist attacks; possible changes in the speed of loan prepayments by the Company’s customers and loan origination or sales volumes; possible changes in the speed of prepayments of mortgage-backed securities due to changes in the interest rate environment, and the related acceleration of premium amortization on prepayments in the event that prepayments accelerate; regulatory limits on the Company’s ability to receive dividends from its subsidiaries and pay dividends to its stockholders; the effects of any reputation, credit, interest rate, market, operational, legal, liquidity, regulatory and compliance risk resulting from developments related to any of the risks discussed above; and the costs associated with resolving any problem loans, litigation, and other risks and uncertainties, including those discussed in the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and other documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, hereunto duly authorized.

		WSFS FINANCIAL CORPORATION
Date:	July 9, 2019	By:	/s/ Dominic C. Canuso
			Dominic C. Canuso Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer