UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018

For the transition period from              to             

Commission File Number 000-08467

WESBANCO, INC.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: 304-234-9000

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ☑    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15 (d) of the Act.    Yes  ☐    No  ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15 (d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  ☑    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (section 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).    Yes  ☑    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (section 229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act:

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.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act.)    Yes  ☐    No  ☑

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s outstanding voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates on June 30, 2018, determined using a per share closing price on that date of $45.04, was $1,977,764,728.

As of February 22, 2019, there were 54,598,634 shares of WesBanco, Inc. common stock $2.0833 par value per share, outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Certain specifically designated portions of WesBanco, Inc.’s definitive proxy statement which will be filed by April 30, 2019 for its Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the “Proxy Statement”) to be held in 2019 are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.

WESBANCO, INC.

ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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PART I

GENERAL

WesBanco, Inc. (“WesBanco”), a bank holding company incorporated in 1968 and headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia, offers a full range of financial services including retail banking, corporate banking, personal and corporate trust services, brokerage services, mortgage banking and insurance. WesBanco offers these services through two reportable segments, community banking and trust and investment services. For additional information regarding WesBanco’s business segments, please refer to Note 24, “Business Segments” in the Consolidated Financial Statements.

At December 31, 2018, WesBanco operated one commercial bank, WesBanco Bank, Inc. (“WesBanco Bank” or the “Bank”), through 209 branches and 202 ATM machines located in West Virginia, Ohio, western Pennsylvania, Kentucky and southern Indiana. Total assets of WesBanco Bank as of December 31, 2018 approximated $12.5 billion. WesBanco Bank also offers trust and investment services and various alternative investment products including mutual funds and annuities. The market value of assets under management of the trust and investment services segment was approximately $4.3 billion as of December 31, 2018. These assets are held by WesBanco Bank in fiduciary or agency capacities for its customers and therefore are not included as assets on WesBanco’s Consolidated Balance Sheets.

On April 5, 2018, WesBanco completed the acquisition of First Sentry Bancshares, Inc. (“FTSB”), a bank holding company headquartered in Huntington, West Virginia with approximately $704.8 million in assets excluding goodwill, $590.1 million in total deposits and $447.3 million in total loans, and five branches in West Virginia. The transaction enhanced WesBanco’s overall market share in the state of West Virginia and added a new metropolitan statistical area (“MSA”) in the Huntington, WV area, which is west of our existing Charleston, WV MSA.

On August 20, 2018, WesBanco completed the acquisition of Farmers Capital Bank Corp. (“FFKT”), a bank holding company headquartered in Frankfort, Kentucky with approximately $1.6 billion in assets excluding goodwill, $1.3 billion in total deposits and $1.0 billion in total loans, and 34 branches in Kentucky. The transaction expanded WesBanco’s existing franchise in Kentucky by adding a new MSA in the state capital of Frankfort, while enhancing our present market position in the Louisville, Lexington and Elizabethtown MSA’s. We also added locations in northern Kentucky to our Cincinnati, OH MSA.

WesBanco offers additional services through its non-banking subsidiaries, WesBanco Insurance Services, Inc. (“WesBanco Insurance”), a multi-line insurance agency specializing in property, casualty, life and title insurance, with benefit plan sales and administration for personal and commercial clients; and WesBanco Securities, Inc. (“WesBanco Securities”), a full service broker-dealer, which also offers discount brokerage services.

WesBanco Asset Management, Inc., which was incorporated in 2002, holds certain investment securities and loans in a Delaware-based subsidiary.

WesBanco Properties, Inc. holds certain commercial real estate properties. The commercial property is leased to WesBanco Bank and to certain non-related third parties. Kentuckiana Real Estate Holdings, LLC, and Southern Indiana Real Estate Holdings, LLC, are Indiana and Kentucky limited liability corporations, and they hold certain real estate properties in those markets.

CBIN Insurance Inc. is a captive insurance company, which issues policies to WesBanco’s banking subsidiaries for certain risks that are not covered by the Company’s commercial insurances purchased from third-party carriers. FFKT Insurance Services, Inc. is a captive insurance company, which was acquired from FFKT. It is in the process of winding up its business activities and will be dissolved.

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WesBanco has thirteen capital trusts, which are all wholly-owned trust subsidiaries formed for the purpose of issuing trust preferred securities (“Trust Preferred Securities”) and lending the proceeds to WesBanco. For more information regarding WesBanco’s issuance of trust preferred securities, please refer to Note 11, “Subordinated Debt and Junior Subordinated Debt” in the Consolidated Financial Statements.

AMSCO, Inc. (“AMSCO”) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of WesBanco Bank, which formerly engaged in the management of certain real estate development and construction of 1-4 family residential units. It is in the process of winding up its business activities and will be dissolved.    

WesBanco Bank’s Investment Department also serves as investment adviser to a family of mutual funds, namely the “WesMark Funds”. The fund family is comprised of the WesMark Growth Fund, the WesMark Balanced Fund, the WesMark Small Company Growth Fund, the WesMark Government Bond Fund, the WesMark West Virginia Municipal Bond Fund, and the WesMark Tactical Opportunity Fund.

As of December 31, 2018, none of WesBanco’s subsidiaries were engaged in any operations in foreign countries, and only one had any transactions with customers in foreign countries. The Bank provides letters of credit internationally for certain domestic customers and provides international wire services through a third-party correspondent bank.

EMPLOYEES

There were 2,388 full-time equivalent employees employed by WesBanco and its subsidiaries at December 31, 2018. None of the employees was represented by collective bargaining agreements. WesBanco believes its employee relations to be satisfactory.

WEB SITE ACCESS TO WESBANCO’S FILINGS WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

All of WesBanco’s electronic filings for 2018 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including this Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to these reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, are made available at no cost on WesBanco’s website, www.wesbanco.com, in the “About Us” section through the “Investor Relations” link as soon as reasonably practicable after WesBanco files such material with, or furnishes it to, the SEC. WesBanco’s SEC filings are also available through the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Upon written request of any shareholder of record on December 31, 2018, WesBanco will provide, without charge, a printed copy of this 2018 Annual Report on Form 10-K, including financial statements and schedules, as required to be filed with the SEC. To obtain a copy of this report, contact: John Iannone, WesBanco, Inc., 1 Bank Plaza, Wheeling, WV 26003 (304) 905-7021.

COMPETITION

Competition in the form of price and service from other banks, including local, regional and national banks and financial companies such as savings and loan companies, internet banks, payday lenders, money services businesses, credit unions, finance companies, brokerage firms and other non-banking companies providing various regulated and non-regulated financial services and products, is intense in most of the markets served by WesBanco and its subsidiaries. WesBanco’s trust and investment services segment receives competition from commercial banks, trust companies, mutual fund companies, investment advisory firms, law firms, brokerage firms and other financial services companies. As a result of consolidation within the financial services industry, mergers between, and the expansion of, financial institutions both within and outside of WesBanco’s major markets have provided significant competitive pressure in those markets. Many of WesBanco’s competitors have

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greater resources and, as such, may have higher lending limits and may offer other products and services that are not provided by WesBanco. WesBanco generally competes on the basis of superior customer service and responsiveness to customer needs, available loan and deposit products, rates of interest charged on loans, rates of interest paid for deposits, and the availability and pricing of trust, brokerage and insurance services. As a result of WesBanco’s expansion into certain larger metropolitan markets, it has faced entrenched larger bank competitors with an already existing customer base that may far exceed WesBanco’s initial entry position into those markets. As a result, WesBanco may be forced to compete more aggressively for loans, deposits, trust and insurance products in order to grow its market share, potentially reducing its current and future profit potential from such markets.

SUPERVISION AND REGULATION

As a bank holding company and a financial holding company under federal law, WesBanco is subject to supervision and examination by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Federal Reserve Board”) under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (the “BHCA”), and is required to file with the Federal Reserve Board reports and other information regarding its business operations and the business operations of its subsidiaries. WesBanco also is required to obtain Federal Reserve Board approval prior to acquiring, directly or indirectly, ownership or control of certain voting shares of other banks, as described below, and for certain capital actions. Since WesBanco is both a bank holding company and a financial holding company, WesBanco can offer customers virtually any type of service that is financial in nature or incidental thereto, including banking and activities closely related to banking, securities underwriting, insurance (both underwriting and agency) and merchant banking. As a result of the completed acquisitions of FTSB and FFKT in 2018, WesBanco is now subject to enhanced supervision from the Federal Reserve Board due to its exceeding the $10 billion asset threshold, and it intends to ensure that sufficient resources are allocated to compliance, risk management and internal audit, among other functions, so that the enhanced demands of the Federal Reserve Board are met.

As indicated above, WesBanco presently operates one bank subsidiary, WesBanco Bank, which is a West Virginia banking corporation and is not a member bank of the Federal Reserve System. It is subject to examination and supervision by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”) and the West Virginia Division of Financial Institutions (“WVDIF”). The deposits of WesBanco Bank are insured by the Deposit Insurance Fund (“DIF”) of the FDIC. WesBanco’s non-bank subsidiaries are subject to examination and supervision by the Federal Reserve Board and specifically, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Ohio (“Federal Reserve”) and examination by other federal and state agencies, including, in the case of certain securities activities, regulation by the SEC, the Financial Institution Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”), the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board and the Securities Investors Protection Corporation. WesBanco Bank maintains one designated financial subsidiary, WesBanco Insurance, which, as indicated above, is a multi-line insurance agency specializing in property, casualty, life and title insurance, with benefit plan sales and administration for personal and commercial clients. As a result of the aforementioned acquisitions in 2018, and exceeding the $10 billion asset threshold, WesBanco is now subject to enhanced prudential supervision from both the FDIC and WVDIF as part of their large bank supervision program.

WesBanco is also under the jurisdiction of the SEC and certain state securities commissions for matters relating to the offering and sale of its securities. WesBanco is subject to the disclosure and regulatory requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as administered by the SEC. WesBanco is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (the “NASDAQ”) under the trading symbol “WSBC” and is subject to the rules of the NASDAQ for listed companies.

Under the Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994, as amended (the “Riegle-Neal Act”), a bank holding company may acquire banks in states other than its home state, subject to certain limitations. The Riegle-Neal Act also authorizes banks to merge across state lines, thereby creating interstate banking. Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), banks are also permitted to establish de novo branches across state lines to the same extent that a state-chartered bank in each host state would be permitted to open branches.

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Under the BHCA, prior Federal Reserve Board approval is required for WesBanco to acquire more than 5% of the voting stock of any bank. In determining whether to approve a proposed bank acquisition, federal banking regulators will consider, among other factors, the effect of the acquisition on competition, the public benefits expected to be received from the acquisition, the projected capital ratios and levels on a post-acquisition basis, and the acquiring institution’s record of addressing the credit needs of the communities it serves, including the needs of low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound operation of the bank under the Community Reinvestment Act, as amended (the “CRA”).

HOLDING COMPANY REGULATIONS

As indicated above, WesBanco has one state bank subsidiary, WesBanco Bank, as well as non-bank subsidiaries, which are described further in “Item 1. Business—General” section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The subsidiary bank is subject to affiliate transaction restrictions under federal law, which limit “covered transactions” by the subsidiary bank with the parent and any non-bank subsidiaries of the parent, which are referred to in the aggregate in this paragraph as “affiliates” of the subsidiary bank. “Covered transactions” include loans or extensions of credit to an affiliate (including repurchase agreements), purchases of or investments in securities issued by an affiliate, purchases of assets from an affiliate, the acceptance of securities issued by an affiliate as collateral for a loan or extension of credit, the issuance of a guarantee, acceptance or letter of credit on behalf of an affiliate, certain transactions that involve borrowing or lending securities, and certain derivative transactions with an affiliate. Such covered transactions between the subsidiary bank and any single affiliate are limited in amount to 10% of the subsidiary bank’s capital and surplus, and, with respect to covered transactions with all affiliates in the aggregate, are limited in amount to 20% of the subsidiary bank’s capital and surplus. Furthermore, such loans or extensions of credit, guarantees, acceptances and letters of credit, and any credit exposure resulting from securities borrowing or lending transactions or derivatives transactions, are required to be secured by collateral at all times in amounts specified by law. In addition, all covered transactions must be conducted on terms and conditions that are consistent with safe and sound banking practices.

The Dodd-Frank Act requires a bank holding company to act as a source of financial strength to its subsidiary bank. Under this source of strength requirement, the Federal Reserve Board may require a bank holding company to make capital infusions into a troubled subsidiary bank, and may charge the bank holding company with engaging in unsafe and unsound practices for failure to commit resources to such a subsidiary bank. A capital infusion conceivably could be required at a time when WesBanco may not have the resources to provide it.

PAYMENT OF DIVIDENDS

Dividends from the subsidiary bank are a significant source of funds for payment of dividends to WesBanco’s shareholders. For the year ended December 31, 2018, WesBanco declared cash dividends to its common shareholders of approximately $58.0 million.

As of December 31, 2018, WesBanco Bank was “well capitalized” under the definition in Section 325.103 of the FDIC Regulations. Therefore, as long as the Bank remains “well capitalized” or even becomes “adequately capitalized,” there would be no basis under Section 325.105 to limit the ability of the Bank to pay dividends because it had not become undercapitalized, significantly undercapitalized or critically undercapitalized. As of January 1, 2016, WesBanco Bank and WesBanco are subject to “capital conservation buffer” rules, phased in over a four year period ending in 2019, which require WesBanco and WesBanco Bank to have capital levels above the regulatory minimums in order to pay dividends (discussed below in connection with the Basel III initiative under “Item 1. Business—Capital Requirements”).

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All financial institutions are subject to the prompt corrective action provisions set forth in Section 38 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (the “FDI Act”) and the provisions set forth in Section 325.105 of the FDIC Regulations. Immediately upon a state non-member bank receiving notice, or being deemed to have notice, that the bank is undercapitalized, significantly undercapitalized, or critically undercapitalized, as defined in Section 325.103 of the FDIC Regulations, the bank is precluded from being able to pay dividends to its shareholders based upon the requirements in Section 38(d) of the FDI Act, 12. U.S.C. § 1831o(d).

In addition, with respect to possible dividends by the Bank, under Section 31A-4-25 of the West Virginia Code, the prior approval of the West Virginia Commissioner of Banking would be required if the total of all dividends declared by the Bank in any calendar year would exceed the total of the Bank’s net profits for that year combined with its retained net profits of the preceding two years. Further, Section 31A-4-25 limits the ability of a West Virginia banking institution to pay dividends until the surplus fund of the banking institution equals the common stock of the banking institution and if certain specified amounts of recent profits of the banking institution have not been carried to the surplus fund.

If, in the opinion of the applicable regulatory authority, a bank under its jurisdiction is engaged in or is about to engage in an unsafe or unsound practice which, depending on the financial condition of the bank, could include the payment of dividends, such authority may require, after notice and hearing, that such bank cease and desist from such practice. The Federal Reserve Board has issued policy statements, which provide that insured banks and bank holding companies should generally only pay dividends out of current operating earnings. Under applicable law, bank regulatory agency approval is required if the total of all dividends declared by a bank in any calendar year exceeds the available retained earnings or exceeds the aggregate of the bank’s net profits (as defined by regulatory agencies) for that year and its retained net profits for the preceding two years. As of December 31, 2018, under FDIC regulations, WesBanco could receive, without prior regulatory approval, a dividend of up to $105.4 million from WesBanco Bank. Additional information regarding dividend restrictions is set forth in Note 22, “Regulatory Matters,” in the Consolidated Financial Statements.

On February 24, 2009, the Federal Reserve Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation issued a letter providing direction to bank holding companies on the payment of dividends, capital repurchases and capital redemptions. Although the letter largely reiterates longstanding Federal Reserve supervisory policies, it emphasizes the need for a bank holding company to review various factors when considering the declaration of a dividend or taking action that would reduce regulatory capital provided by outstanding financial instruments. These factors include the potential need to increase loan loss reserves, write down assets and reflect declines in asset values in equity. In addition, the bank holding company should consider its past and anticipated future earnings, the dividend payout ratio in relation to earnings, and adequacy of regulatory capital before any action is taken. The consideration of capital adequacy should include a review of all known factors that may affect capital in the future.

In certain circumstances, defined by regulation relating to levels of earnings and capital, advance notification to, and in some circumstances, approval by the regulator could be required to declare a dividend or repurchase or redeem capital instruments.

FDIC INSURANCE

FDIC insurance premiums are assessed by the FDIC using a risk-based approach that places insured institutions into categories based on capital and risk profiles. In 2018, WesBanco Bank paid deposit insurance premiums of $3.0 million, compared to $3.2 million and $3.6 million in 2017 and 2016, respectively. The decrease from 2016 to 2017 was due to the FDIC reducing its assessment rate for banks with less than $10 billion in assets as of July 1, 2016. Certain risk factors as well as capital, net income and loan quality-related financial ratios also influenced the decreases year-over-year and particularly from 2017 to 2018, despite adding assets from the two acquisitions to the calculation. However, as a large bank with assets above $10 billion beginning March 31, 2018 and after four consecutive quarters with assets above $10 billion, the Bank expects to pay a higher assessment rate for quarters after March 31, 2019 utilizing a more complex calculation with additional loan and other risk factors.

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Effective July 1, 2016, the FDIC issued a final rule in order to implement section 334 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires the FDIC to (1) raise the minimum reserve ratio for the FDIC Deposit Insurance Fund to 1.35 percent, from 1.15 percent, (2) assess premiums on banks to reach the 1.35 percent goal by September 30, 2020, and (3) offset the effect of the increase in the minimum reserve ratio on insured depository institutions with assets of less than $10 billion. The final rule imposes a quarterly surcharge on insured depository institutions with $10 billion or more in assets of 4.5 basis points applied to their assessment base (after making certain adjustments), to be assessed over a period of eight quarters. Since the required reserve ratio was achieved in mid-2018, no additional surcharges will be assessed to banks with total consolidated assets greater than $10 billion beginning in the fourth quarter of 2018, and WesBanco will not experience such surcharge as it didn’t exceed $10 billion in assets for four consecutive quarters prior to the surcharge’s elimination. Since WesBanco was a small bank during the initial surcharge, the Bank will receive an assessment credit for the portion of WesBanco’s assessment that contributed to the growth in the reserve ratio from 1.15 to 1.35 percent. The assessed credit will be applied when the reserve ratio reaches 1.38 percent.

CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS

The Federal Reserve Board had historically issued risk-based capital ratio and leverage ratio guidelines for bank holding companies. The risk-based capital ratio guidelines establish a systematic analytical framework that makes regulatory capital requirements more sensitive to differences in risk profiles among banking organizations, takes off-balance sheet exposures into explicit account in assessing capital adequacy, and minimizes disincentives to holding liquid, low-risk assets. Under the guidelines and related policies, bank holding companies must maintain capital sufficient to meet both a risk-based asset ratio test and a leverage ratio test on a consolidated basis. The risk-based ratio is determined by allocating assets and specified off-balance sheet commitments into several weighted categories, with higher weightings being assigned to categories perceived as representing greater risk. A bank holding company’s capital is then divided by total risk-weighted assets to yield the risk-based ratio. The leverage ratio is determined by relating core capital to total assets adjusted as specified in the guidelines. The Bank is subject to substantially similar capital requirements.

The federal regulatory authorities’ risk-based capital guidelines are currently based upon agreements reached by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (the “Basel Committee”). The Basel Committee is a committee of central banks and bank supervisors and regulators from the major industrialized countries that develops broad policy guidelines for use by each country’s supervisors in determining the supervisory policies they apply. In December 2010, the Basel Committee issued a strengthened set of international capital and liquidity standards for banks and bank holding companies, known as “Basel III.” In July 2013, the U.S. federal banking agencies issued a joint final rule that implements the Basel III capital standards and establishes the minimum capital levels required under the Dodd-Frank Act. The rule was effective January 1, 2015 subject to a transition period providing for full implementation on January 1, 2019. The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection (EGRRCPA) Act, enacted into law in May 2018, exempts banks with total consolidated assets of less than $10 billion that exceed the community bank leverage ratio from the capital requirements under Basel III. WesBanco’s assets are in excess of $10 billion, however, so the exemption is inapplicable.

Generally, under the applicable guidelines, a financial institution’s capital is divided into common equity Tier 1 (“CET1”), total Tier 1 and Tier 2. CET1 includes common shares and retained earnings less goodwill, intangible assets subject to limitation and certain deferred tax assets subject to limitation. In addition, under the final capital rule, an institution may make a one-time, permanent election to continue to exclude accumulated other comprehensive income from capital. If an institution does not make this election, unrealized gains and losses will be included in the calculation of its CET1. Total Tier 1 is comprised of CET1 and certain restricted capital instruments, including qualifying cumulative perpetual preferred stock and qualifying trust preferred securities, in their Tier 1 capital, up to a limit of 25% of Tier 1 capital. (See below within this section for more information regarding the capital treatment of trust preferred securities.)

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Tier 2, or supplementary capital, includes, among other things, portions of trust preferred securities and cumulative perpetual preferred stock not otherwise counted in Tier 1 capital, as well as perpetual preferred stock, intermediate-term preferred stock, hybrid capital instruments, perpetual debt, mandatory convertible debt securities, term subordinated debt, unrealized holding gains on equity securities, and the allowance for loan and lease losses, all subject to certain limitations. “Total capital” is the sum of Tier 1 and Tier 2 capital. The amount of Tier 2 capital that exceeds the amount of Tier 1 capital must be excluded from the total capital calculation.

The Federal Reserve Board has established the following minimum capital levels banks and bank holding companies are required to maintain as a percentage of risk-weighted assets (including various off-balance sheet items): (i) CET1 of at least 4.5%, (ii) Tier 1 capital ratio of at least 6%, (iii) total capital ratio (Tier 1 and Tier 2 capital) of at least 8%; and (iv) a non-risk-based leverage ratio (Tier 1 capital to average consolidated assets) of 4%. The risk-based capital standards are designed to make regulatory capital requirements more sensitive to differences in credit and market risk profiles among banks and financial holding companies, to account for off-balance sheet exposure, and to minimize disincentives for holding liquid assets. Balance sheet and off-balance sheet exposures are assigned to one of several risk-weights primarily based on relative credit risk. The capital amounts and classifications are also subject to qualitative judgements by the regulators about components, risk-weightings, and other factors. Additionally, when the final capital rule is fully implemented, it will require an institution to maintain a 2.5% common equity Tier 1 capital conservation buffer over the minimum risk-based capital requirements to avoid restrictions on the ability to pay dividends, discretionary bonuses to executive officers, and engage in share repurchases. The capital conservation buffer was 1.25% for 2017, increasing to 1.875% effective January 1, 2018, and finally increasing to the full 2.5% effective January 1, 2019.

Failure to meet applicable capital guidelines could subject a financial institution to a variety of enforcement remedies available to the federal regulatory authorities, including limitations on the ability to pay dividends, the issuance by the regulatory authority of a capital directive to increase capital, and the termination of deposit insurance by the FDIC, as well as to the measures described below under “Prompt Corrective Action” as applicable to undercapitalized institutions.

As of December 31, 2018, WesBanco’s CET1, Tier 1 and total capital to risk-adjusted assets ratios were 13.14%, 15.09% and 15.99%, respectively. WesBanco made a timely permanent election to exclude accumulated other comprehensive income from regulatory capital. As of December 31, 2018, WesBanco Bank also had capital in excess of the minimum requirements. Neither WesBanco nor the Bank had been advised by the appropriate federal banking regulator of any specific leverage ratio applicable to it. As of December 31, 2018, WesBanco’s leverage ratio was 10.74%.

As of December 31, 2018, WesBanco had $189.8 million in subordinated and junior subordinated debt on its Consolidated Balance Sheets, which includes $164.4 million of junior subordinated debt. For regulatory purposes, Trust Preferred Securities totaling $162.5 million underlying such junior subordinated debt were included in Tier 1 capital as of December 31, 2018, in accordance with regulatory reporting requirements. In 2013, the federal banking agencies amended capital requirements to generally exclude trust preferred securities from Tier 1 capital. A grandfather provision, however, permits bank holding companies with consolidated assets of less than $15 billion, such as WesBanco, to continue counting existing trust preferred securities as Tier 1 capital until they mature. The final Basel III capital rule permanently grandfathers trust preferred securities issued before May 19, 2010 for institutions of less than $15 billion in size, subject to a 25% limit of Tier 1 capital. The amount of trust preferred securities and certain other elements in excess of the 25% limit may be included in Tier 2 capital, subject to restrictions; however, all such securities would no longer be counted as Tier 1 capital (and would instead be counted as Tier 2 capital subject to limits) if, generally speaking, WesBanco’s total assets increase above $15 billion at some point in the future. For more information regarding trust preferred securities, please refer to Note 11, “Subordinated and Junior Subordinated Debt” in the Consolidated Financial Statements.

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The risk-based capital standards of the Federal Reserve and the FDIC specify that evaluations by the banking agencies of a bank’s capital adequacy will include an assessment of the exposure to declines in the economic value of the bank’s capital due to changes in interest rates. These banking agencies issued a joint policy statement on interest rate risk describing prudent methods for monitoring such risk that rely principally on internal measures of exposure and active oversight of risk management activities by senior management.

PROMPT CORRECTIVE ACTION

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 (“FDICIA”) requires federal banking regulatory authorities to take “prompt corrective action” with respect to depository institutions that do not meet minimum capital requirements. For these purposes, FDICIA establishes five capital tiers: well-capitalized, adequately capitalized, undercapitalized, significantly undercapitalized, and critically undercapitalized.

An institution is deemed to be “well-capitalized” if it has a total risk-based capital ratio of 10% or greater, a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 8% or greater, a Tier 1 leverage ratio of 5% or greater, and a new common equity Tier 1 ratio of 6.5% or greater, and is not subject to a regulatory order, agreement, or directive to meet and maintain a specific capital level for any capital measure. An institution is deemed to be “adequately capitalized” if it has a total risk-based capital ratio of 8% or greater, a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 6% or greater, generally a Tier 1 leverage ratio of 4% or greater, and a common equity Tier 1 ratio of 4.5% or greater, and the institution does not meet the definition of a “well-capitalized” institution. An institution that does not meet one or more of the “adequately capitalized” tests is deemed to be “undercapitalized.” If the institution has a total risk-based capital ratio that is less than 6%, a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio that is less than 4%, or a Tier 1 leverage ratio that is less than 3%, it is deemed to be “significantly undercapitalized.” Finally, an institution is deemed to be “critically undercapitalized” if it has a ratio of tangible equity (as defined in the regulations) to total assets that is equal to or less than 2%. At December 31, 2018, WesBanco Bank had capital levels that met the “well-capitalized” standards under FDICIA and its implementing regulations.

FDICIA generally prohibits a depository institution from making any capital distribution, including payment of a cash dividend, or paying any management fee to its holding company, if the depository institution would thereafter be undercapitalized. Undercapitalized institutions are subject to growth limitations and are required to submit a capital restoration plan. If any depository institution subsidiary of a holding company is required to submit a capital restoration plan, the holding company would be required to provide a limited guarantee regarding compliance with the plan as a condition of approval of such plan by the appropriate federal banking agency. If an undercapitalized institution fails to submit an acceptable plan, it is treated as if it is significantly undercapitalized. Significantly undercapitalized institutions may be subject to a number of requirements and restrictions, including orders to sell sufficient voting stock to become adequately capitalized, requirements to reduce total assets, and cessation of receipt of deposits from correspondent banks. Critically undercapitalized institutions may not, beginning 60 days after becoming critically undercapitalized, make any payment of principal or interest on their subordinated debt and/or trust preferred securities. In addition, critically undercapitalized institutions are subject to appointment of a receiver or conservator within 90 days of becoming critically undercapitalized.

GRAMM-LEACH-BLILEY ACT

Under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (the “GLB Act”), banks are no longer prohibited from associating with, or having management interlocks with, a business organization engaged principally in securities activities. By qualifying as a “financial holding company,” as authorized under the GLB Act, a bank holding company acquires new powers not otherwise available to it. WesBanco has elected to become a financial holding company under the GLB Act. It also has qualified a subsidiary of the Bank as a financial subsidiary under the GLB Act.

Financial holding company powers relate to “financial activities” that are determined by the Federal Reserve Board, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, to be financial in nature, incidental to an activity that is

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financial in nature, or complementary to a financial activity, provided that the complementary activity does not pose a safety and soundness risk. The GLB Act itself defines certain activities as financial in nature, including but not limited to: underwriting insurance or annuities; providing financial or investment advice; underwriting, dealing in, or making markets in securities; merchant banking, subject to significant limitations; insurance company portfolio investing, subject to significant limitations; and any activities previously found by the Federal Reserve Board to be closely related to banking.

National and state banks are permitted under the GLB Act, subject to capital, management, size, debt rating, and CRA qualification factors, to have “financial subsidiaries” that are permitted to engage in financial activities not otherwise permissible. However, unlike financial holding companies, financial subsidiaries may not engage in insurance or annuity underwriting; developing or investing in real estate; merchant banking (for at least five years); or insurance company portfolio investing.

DODD-FRANK ACT

The Dodd-Frank Act, enacted on July 21, 2010, and the rules implementing its provisions have resulted in numerous and wide-ranging reforms to the structure of the U.S. financial system and the enhanced regulation and supervision of WesBanco. This includes, among other things, rules to promote financial stability and prevent or mitigate the risks that may arise from the material distress or failure of a large bank holding company; enhance consumer protections; prohibit proprietary trading; and implement enhanced prudential requirements for large bank holding companies regarding risk-based capital and leverage, risk and liquidity management, stress testing, and recovery and resolution planning. The Dodd-Frank Act, including current and future rules implementing its provisions and the interpretation of those rules, have affected, and management expects will continue to affect, most of WesBanco’s businesses in some way, either directly through regulation of specific activities or indirectly through regulation of concentration risks, capital or liquidity.

Certain bank holding companies are subjected to increased capital requirements (discussed above under “Item 1. Business—Capital Requirements”).

The Volcker Rule and the final rules jointly issued by federal banking agencies implementing the rule’s provisions limit WesBanco’s ability to engage in proprietary trading, as well as its ability to sponsor or invest in hedge funds or private equity funds. The Volcker Rule includes certain compliance program requirements that apply to banking entities that engage in permissible proprietary trading or permitted covered fund activities. The type of compliance program required is determined based on the level of total consolidated assets held by the banking entity. Banking entities who, together with their affiliates and subsidiaries, have trading assets and liabilities (excluding obligations of or guaranteed by the United States or an agency of the United States) of, or greater than, $10 billion for four (4) consecutive quarters are subject to the “standard compliance program.” WesBanco is not subject to the “standard compliance program,” which imposes additional compliance program requirements, including a requirement to maintain additional documentation specific to covered fund activities. Regardless, WesBanco’s activities and investments are currently in full compliance with the Volcker Rule and its regulations and WesBanco has ensured that its compliance program meets the requirements of the “standard compliance program.”

Additionally, an interim final rule was issued in January 2014 that exempts investments in certain collateralized debt obligations backed primarily by trust preferred securities from the provisions of the Volcker Rule. This interim final rule was effective April 1, 2014 and did not have a material impact on WesBanco for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Passed in 2011, the Durbin Amendment requires the Federal Reserve to limit fee charges to retailers for debit card processing. The Federal Reserve Board promulgated Regulation II (Debit Card Interchange Fees and Routing) that limits the interchange fees paid by merchants to issuers when their debit cards are used as payment. An issuer is defined as “any person that authorizes the use of the debit card to perform an electronic debit

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transaction.” The application of the Durbin Amendment is determined by whether the issuer, together with its affiliates, has $10 billion in assets as of the end of the calendar year preceding the date of the electronic debit transaction. An affiliate is defined as “any company that controls, or is controlled by, or is under common control with another company.” Therefore, if an insured institution issues a debit card and it, together with its affiliates, has assets exceeding $10 billion, it is subject to this rule. The rule caps debit card interchange fees (also known as swipe fees) at $0.21 plus an additional 0.05% of the value of the transaction. Previously, the average interchange fee generated $0.44 per transaction for an insured institution. Financial institutions with more than $10 billion in assets by the year-end assessment deadline are subject to the cap on interchange income in July of the following year. As a result of the FTSB acquisition WesBanco and the Bank will be subject to the requirements imposed by the Durbin Amendment because, for purposes of determining whether an issuer has $10 billion in assets, the assets of the institution and its affiliates are combined, beginning in July of 2019.

Additionally, section 165(i)(2) of the Dodd-Frank Act—as amended by the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection (EGRRCPA) Act—, requires annual company-run stress tests for bank holding companies with total consolidated assets greater than $100 billion. Section 165(1)(2) also requires savings and loan holding companies and state member banks with $10 billion or more in total consolidated assets to conduct company-run stress tests until November 29, 2019, but the Federal Reserve Board, OCC, and FDIC have exempted savings and loan holding companies and state member banks with less than $100 billion in total consolidated assets from that requirement. After November 25, 2019, only savings and loan holding companies and state member banks with $250 billion or more in total consolidated assets will be subject to company-run stress tests. Total consolidated assets are reported on the insured institution’s Call Report or the holding company’s Consolidated Financial Statements for Holding Companies reporting form (FR Y-9C) and calculated over the four most recent consecutive quarters. The Federal Reserve Board and FDIC promulgated rules requiring these company-run stress tests. These rules establish the testing criteria, reporting requirements, and publication deadlines for all covered institutions, and are meant to be consistent across the federal banking agencies’ respective annual stress testing rules.

The Federal Reserve Board regulates bank holding companies, and therefore, if a bank holding company has total consolidated assets of $100 billion or more, it will be required to conduct the Federal Reserve Board stress-tests. WesBanco Bank, a subsidiary state nonmember bank, is governed by the FDIC. Under the FDIC rule, a covered bank includes “any state nonmember bank . . . with average total consolidated assets . . . that are greater than $10 billion but less than $50 billion.” However, the FDIC proposed a rule in December 2018 to conform this definition to Section 165 of the Dodd-Frank Act, as amended by the EGRRCPA, to state that a “covered bank” is a nonmember bank or state savings association with average total consolidated assets that are greater than $250 billion. WesBanco Bank has less than $100 billion in average total consolidated assets, and therefore, is not subject to the Federal Reserve Board’s or the FDIC’s stress-test rules.

If the Dodd-Frank Act stress test rules were to apply at some point in the future, WesBanco must assess the potential impact of a minimum of three macroeconomic scenarios—baseline, adverse, and severely adverse—on its consolidated losses, revenues, balance sheets (including risk-weighted assets) and capital. Each scenario includes economic variables, including macroeconomic activity, unemployment, exchange rates, prices, incomes and interest rates. The adverse and severely adverse scenarios are not forecasts, but rather hypothetical scenarios designed to assess the strength and resilience of financial institutions. Additionally, WesBanco must publicly disclose these test results on an annual basis. The required summary of results may be published on WesBanco’s web site or in any other forum that is reasonably accessible to the public.

As required by Section 165 of the Dodd-Frank Act, the Federal Reserve issued a rule that strengthens the supervision and regulation of large U.S. bank holding companies and foreign banking organizations by establishing a number of enhanced prudential standards. These standards include liquidity, risk management, and capital. Under the rule, a publicly traded bank holding company with $10 billion or more in consolidated assets is required to establish an enterprise-wide risk committee. However, the EGRRCPA raised the threshold to $50 billion. To conform the rule to the EGRRCPA, the Federal Reserve Board proposed a rule in November 2018 to increase the threshold to $50 billion. WesBanco is therefore, currently not subject to the Federal Reserve Enhanced Prudential Standards.

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The Dodd-Frank Act made several changes affecting the securitization markets, which may affect a bank’s ability or desire to use those markets to meet funding or liquidity needs. One of these changes calls for federal regulators to adopt regulations requiring the sponsor of a securitization to retain at least 5% of the credit risk, with exceptions for “qualified residential mortgages.”

Publicly traded companies are required by the Dodd-Frank Act to give shareholders an advisory vote on executive compensation, and, in some cases, golden parachute arrangements. Further, SEC and NASDAQ rulemaking under the Dodd-Frank Act requires NASDAQ-listed companies to have a compensation committee composed entirely of independent directors. WesBanco’s Compensation Committee members currently satisfy the independence criteria. The Dodd-Frank Act also called for regulators to issue new rules relating to incentive-based compensation arrangements deemed excessive, and proxy access by shareholders. The SEC has not issued rules relating to excessive compensation arrangements.

All banks and other insured depository institutions will have increased authority to open new branches across state lines (discussed above under “Item 1. Business—Supervision and Regulation”). A provision authorizing insured depository institutions to pay interest on checking accounts will likely increase WesBanco’s interest expenses. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”), a federal agency created by the Dodd-Frank Act, has the authority to write rules implementing numerous consumer protection laws applicable to all banks (discussed below under “Item 1. Business—Consumer Protection Laws”).

CONSUMER PROTECTION LAWS

In connection with its lending and leasing activities, all banks are subject to a number of federal and state laws designed to protect consumers and promote lending and other financial services to various sectors of the economy and population. These laws include the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”), the Truth in Savings Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”), the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and, in some cases, their respective state law counterparts. The CFPB has consolidated the authority to write regulations implementing these and other laws. WesBanco’s other subsidiaries that provide services relating to consumer financial products and services will also be subject to the CFPB’s regulations. As an institution with assets of less than $10 billion, WesBanco Bank has historically been examined by the FDIC for compliance with these rules. Through its recently completed acquisitions, the Bank’s assets have exceeded $10 billion for four consecutive quarters, and it has come under CFPB supervision and examination. Relating to mortgage lending, the Dodd-Frank Act authorized the CFPB to issue new regulations governing the ability to repay, qualified mortgages, mortgage servicing, appraisals and compensation of mortgage lenders, all of which have been issued and have taken effect. They limit the mortgage products offered by the Bank and have an impact on timely enforcement of delinquent mortgage loans.

The Dodd-Frank Act also directed the CFPB to integrate the mortgage loan disclosures under TILA and RESPA. The CFPB issued new integrated disclosures rules (“TRID”), which became effective October 3, 2015 and have combined the prior good faith estimate and truth in lending disclosure form into a new form, the loan estimate. They have also combined the HUD-1 and final truth in lending disclosure forms into a new form, the closing disclosure. The rule is extremely complex, contains significant uncertainties as to penalties, some of which can be quite material, contains prohibitions against correcting even technical mistakes, creates uncertainty regarding last minute changes in the transaction and has triggered significant ambiguity in compliance. Thus for covered transactions and most closed-end consumer credit transactions secured by real property, the TRID rules have presented significant and ongoing challenges to real estate lenders.

Federal law currently contains extensive customer privacy protection provisions. Under these provisions, a financial institution must provide to its customers, at the inception of the customer relationship and annually thereafter, the institution’s policies and procedures regarding the handling of customers’ nonpublic personal financial information. These provisions also provide that, except for certain limited exceptions, an institution

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may not provide such personal information to unaffiliated third parties unless the institution discloses to the customer that such information may be so provided and the customer is given the opportunity to opt out of such disclosure. Federal law makes it a criminal offense, except in limited circumstances, to obtain or attempt to obtain customer information of a financial nature by fraudulent or deceptive means.

The CRA requires WesBanco Bank’s primary federal bank regulatory agency, the FDIC, to assess WesBanco Bank’s record in meeting the credit needs of the communities served by the bank, including low and moderate-income neighborhoods and persons. Institutions are assigned one of four ratings: “Outstanding,” “Satisfactory,” “Needs to Improve” or “Substantial Noncompliance.” This assessment is reviewed when a bank applies to merge or consolidate with or acquire the assets or assume the liabilities of an insured depository institution, or to open or relocate a branch office. The Bank’s ongoing community development efforts recently culminated with the FDIC assigning the Bank an “Outstanding” rating for the Bank’s community development performance under the CRA received on February 21, 2017. The FDIC assigned this rating based on its examination of our performance from 2013 through June 30, 2016. It is the highest rating awarded by federal regulators. The Bank also received the “America Saves Designation of Savings Excellence for Banks,” a designation from America Saves that recognizes banks that went above and beyond to encourage people to save money during America Saves Week 2016. WesBanco has worked with America Saves for more than ten years, and has been an active participant in America Saves Week since its inception in 2007.

SECURITIES REGULATION

WesBanco’s full service broker-dealer subsidiary, WesBanco Securities, is registered as a broker-dealer with the SEC and in the states in which it does business. WesBanco Securities also is a member of FINRA. WesBanco Securities is subject to regulation by the SEC, FINRA and the securities administrators of the states in which it is registered. WesBanco Securities is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, which in the event of the liquidation of a broker-dealer, provides protection for customers’ securities accounts held by WesBanco Securities of up to $500,000 for each eligible customer, subject to a limitation of $250,000 for claims for cash balances.

In addition, WesBanco Bank’s Investment Department serves as an investment adviser to a family of mutual funds and is registered as an investment adviser with the SEC and in some states.

On March 15, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) regulation revising the definition of a “fiduciary” with respect to the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) and the Internal Revenue Act of 1986 (the “Fiduciary Rule”) in a panel decision. On June 1, 2018, the full Court affirmed the panel court’s decision. The DOL issued the Fiduciary Rule on April 8, 2016. The regulation categorized persons who provide investment advice or recommendations for a fee or other compensation to ERISA retirement plans and individual retirement accounts (hereinafter “IRAs”) as fiduciaries. After a brief delay of the compliance date issued by the DOL in April 2017 (the “Delaying Rule”), the Fiduciary Rule’s mandatory compliance date was set for June 9, 2017. Therefore, a firm whose activities were subject to the Fiduciary Rule was required to comply with ERISA’s fiduciary requirements, prohibited transaction restrictions and conditions for reliance on any applicable exemptions, such as the “best interest contract exemption” (“BIC Exemption”). The Delaying Rule simplified the conditions required for compliance with the BIC Exemption during a “Transition Period,” which was originally scheduled to expire on January 1, 2018. On August 31, 2017, the DOL proposed a new rule to extend the Transition Period until July 1, 2019. The DOL published the final rule on November 29, 2017. On May 7, 2018, the DOL issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2018-02, announcing a temporary enforcement policy to not pursue claims against fiduciaries working in good faith to comply with the Fiduciary Rule and to allow institutions relying on the BIC Exemption to continue to do so.

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ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING INITIATIVES AND THE USA PATRIOT ACT

A major focus of governmental policy on financial institutions in recent years has been aimed at combating money laundering and terrorist financing. The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 (the “USA Patriot Act”) substantially broadened the scope of United States anti-money laundering laws and regulations by imposing significant new compliance and due diligence obligations, creating new crimes and penalties and expanding the extra-territorial jurisdiction of the United States. The U.S. Treasury Department has issued various implementing regulations, which apply certain requirements of the USA Patriot Act to financial institutions, such as WesBanco Bank and WesBanco’s broker-dealer subsidiary. These regulations impose obligations on financial institutions to maintain appropriate policies, procedures and controls to detect, prevent and report money laundering and terrorist financing and to verify the identity of their customers. Failure of WesBanco and its subsidiaries to maintain and implement adequate programs to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, or to comply with all of the relevant laws or regulations, could have serious legal and reputational consequences for WesBanco and its subsidiaries.

The risks described below are not the only ones we face in our business. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial may also impair our business operations. If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition or operating results could be materially harmed.

DUE TO INCREASED COMPETITION, WESBANCO MAY NOT BE ABLE TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN BANKING CUSTOMERS AT CURRENT LEVELS.

WesBanco operates in a highly competitive banking and financial industry that could become even more competitive as a result of legislative, regulatory and technological changes. WesBanco faces banking competition in all the markets it serves from the following:

In particular, WesBanco’s competitors include several major national financial companies whose greater resources may afford them a marketplace advantage by enabling them to maintain numerous banking locations and mount extensive promotional and advertising campaigns. Additionally, banks and other financial institutions may have products and services not offered by WesBanco such as new payment system technologies and cryptocurrency, which may cause current and potential customers to choose those institutions. Areas of competition include interest rates for loans and deposits, efforts to obtain deposits and range and quality of services provided. Competitively priced deposits from other banks may cause a loss of deposits to be replaced by more expensive wholesale funding. WesBanco also faces competition from financial technology (“FinTech”) companies, who may more efficiently underwrite and close small business and consumer loans as well as more quickly and efficiently open deposit accounts. In addition to providing products and services traditionally offered

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by banks, some FinTech companies allow customers to complete financial transactions without the need for bank intermediaries. This could result in the loss of revenue from transaction fees and fewer customer accounts. If WesBanco is unable to attract new and retain current customers, loan and deposit growth could decrease, causing WesBanco’s results of operations and financial condition to be negatively impacted.

WESBANCO MAY NOT BE ABLE TO EXPAND ITS TRUST AND INVESTMENT SERVICES SEGMENT AND RETAIN ITS CURRENT CUSTOMERS.

WesBanco may not be able to attract new and retain current investment management clients due to competition from the following:

Its ability to successfully attract and retain investment management clients is dependent upon its ability to compete with competitors’ investment products, level of investment performance, client services and marketing and distribution capabilities. Due to changes in economic conditions, the performance of the trust and investment services segment may be negatively impacted by the financial markets in which investment clients’ assets are invested, causing clients to seek other alternative investment options. In addition, the acquisition of FFKT’s trust department may result in more rapid decline in their trust assets due to the loss of key employees, integration risks and changes in managed custodial account policies and fees. If WesBanco is not successful, its results from operations and financial position may be negatively impacted.

CUSTOMERS MAY DEFAULT ON THE REPAYMENT OF LOANS, WHICH COULD SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT RESULTS OF OPERATIONS THROUGH INCREASES IN THE PROVISION AND ALLOWANCE FOR LOAN LOSSES.

The Bank’s customers may default on the repayment of loans, which may negatively impact WesBanco’s earnings due to loss of principal and interest income. Increased operating expenses may result from the allocation of management time and resources to the collection and work-out of the loan. Collection efforts may or may not be successful causing WesBanco to write off the loan or repossess the collateral securing the loan, which may or may not exceed the balance of the loan.

WesBanco maintains an allowance for loan losses, which is a reserve established through a provision for loan losses charged to expense, to provide for probable incurred losses in our loan portfolio. Management evaluates the appropriateness of the allowance for loan losses at least quarterly, which includes testing certain individual loans as well as collective pools of loans for impairment. This evaluation includes an assessment of actual loss experience within each category of the portfolio, individual commercial and commercial real estate loans that exhibit credit weakness; current economic events, including employment statistics, trends in bankruptcy filings, and other pertinent factors; industry or geographic concentrations; and regulatory guidance.

WesBanco’s regulatory agencies (FDIC for WesBanco Bank, Inc. and the Federal Reserve for WesBanco, Inc.) periodically review the allowance for loan losses. The regulatory agencies’ interpretations may differ from WesBanco’s interpretations. These differences could negatively impact WesBanco’s results of operations or financial position.

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ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN WESBANCO’S MARKET AREAS COULD NEGATIVELY IMPACT EARNINGS.

WesBanco Bank serves both individuals and business customers throughout West Virginia, Ohio, western Pennsylvania, Kentucky and southern Indiana. The substantial majority of WesBanco’s loan portfolio is to individuals and businesses in these markets. As a result, the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of WesBanco are affected by local and regional economic conditions, as well as national economic conditions. A downturn in these economies could have a negative impact on WesBanco and the ability of the Bank’s customers to repay their loans. The value of the collateral securing loans to borrowers may also decline as the economy declines. As a result, deteriorating economic conditions in these markets could cause a decline in the overall quality of WesBanco’s loan portfolio requiring WesBanco to charge-off a higher percentage of loans and/or increase its allowance for loan losses. A decline in economic conditions in these markets may also force customers to utilize deposits held by WesBanco Bank in order to pay current expenses causing the Bank’s deposit base to shrink. As a result, the Bank may have to borrow funds at higher rates in order to meet liquidity needs. Lower oil and gas prices in prior years have reduced shale gas activity in the region, which somewhat negatively impacted local and regional economic conditions, affecting both commercial and retail customers, resulting in lower deposits and credit deterioration in the loan portfolio. While current prices for oil and gas have increased somewhat in the last two years, and shale gas activity has increased, these markets are volatile, and lower oil prices have returned in the latter half of 2018, potentially causing a negative impact on WesBanco’s earnings and financial condition.

WESBANCO COULD BE ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY CHANGES TO THE FISCAL, POLITICAL AND OTHER FEDERAL POLICIES.

Changes in general economic or political policies in the United States or other regions could adversely impact WesBanco’s business as well as the Bank’s customers. The current United States administration has indicated that it may propose significant changes with respect to a variety of issues, including international trade agreements, import and export regulations, tariffs and customs duties, foreign relations, tax laws, corporate governance laws and corporate fuel economy standards, that could have a positive or negative impact on WesBanco’s business and the Bank’s customers including those in the wholesale and distribution, manufacturing and retail industries.

CURRENT MARKET INTEREST RATES AND COST OF FUNDS MAY NEGATIVELY IMPACT WESBANCO’S BANKING BUSINESS.

Fluctuations in interest rates may negatively impact the business of the Bank. The Bank’s main source of income from operations is net interest income, which is equal to the difference between the interest income received on interest-bearing assets (usually loans and investment securities) and the interest expense incurred in connection with interest-bearing liabilities (usually deposits and borrowings). These rates are highly sensitive to many factors beyond WesBanco’s control, including general economic conditions, both domestic and foreign, and the monetary and fiscal policies of various governmental and regulatory authorities. WesBanco Bank’s net interest income can be affected significantly by changes in market interest rates and the shape of the yield curve. Changes in relative interest rates may reduce the Bank’s net interest income as the difference between interest income and interest expense decreases. As a result, the Bank has adopted asset and liability management policies to minimize the potential adverse effects of changes in interest rates on net interest income, primarily by altering the mix and maturity of loans, investments and funding sources. However, even with these policies in place, WesBanco cannot be certain that changes in interest rates or the shape of the interest rate yield curve will not negatively impact its results of operations or financial position. The higher interest rates in 2018 caused a decrease in fair value of certain lower-rate securities within our investment portfolio of which the unrealized losses were recorded in other comprehensive income.

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In the current rising rate and a relatively flat yield curve environment, WesBanco’s cost of funds for banking operations may increase at a faster pace than loan and investment yields. Cost of funds also may increase as a result of future general economic conditions, interest rates and competitive pressures. The Bank has traditionally obtained funds principally through deposits and borrowings from the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB), correspondent banks, and other wholesale borrowing sources. As a general matter, deposits are a cheaper source of funds than borrowings because interest rates paid for deposits are typically less than interest rates charged for borrowings. If, as a result of general economic conditions, market interest rates, competitive pressures or higher deposit betas in relation to increases in federal funds rate increases, the value of deposits at the Bank decreases relative to its overall banking operations, the Bank may have to rely more heavily on borrowings as a source of funds in the future.

INTEREST RATES ON WESBANCO’S OUTSTANDING FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS MIGHT BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE BASED ON REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS.

LIBOR and certain other “benchmarks” are the subject of recent national, international, and other regulatory guidance and proposals for reform. These reforms may cause such benchmarks to perform differently than in the past or have other consequences, which cannot be predicted. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, publicly announced that it intends to stop persuading or compelling banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021. The Federal Reserve Board has identified the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) as the preferred reference rate alternative to LIBOR for hedge accounting purposes. If LIBOR ceases to exist or if the methods of calculating LIBOR change from current methods for any reason, interest rates on our floating rate obligations, loans, deposits, derivatives, and other financial instruments tied to LIBOR rates, as well as the revenue and expenses associated with those financial instruments, may be adversely affected. Further, any uncertainty regarding the continued use and reliability of LIBOR as a benchmark interest rate could adversely affect the value of our floating rate obligations, loans, deposits, derivatives, and other financial instruments tied to LIBOR rates.

SIGNIFICANT DECLINES IN U.S. AND GLOBAL MARKETS COULD HAVE A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON WESBANCO’S EARNINGS.

The capital and credit markets could experience extreme disruption. These conditions result in less liquidity, greater volatility, widening of credit spreads and a lack of price transparency in certain asset types. In many cases as has occurred in the fourth quarter of 2018, markets could exert downward pressure on stock prices, security prices and credit capacity for certain issuers without regard to those issuers’ underlying financial strength. Sustained weakness in business and economic conditions in any or all of the domestic or foreign financial markets could result in credit deterioration in investment securities held by us, rating agency downgrades for such securities or other market factors that (such as lack of liquidity for re-sales, absence of reliable pricing information or unanticipated changes in the competitive market) could result in us having to recognize other-than-temporary impairment in the value of such investment securities, with a corresponding charge against earnings. Furthermore, our pension assets are primarily invested in equity and debt securities, and weakness in capital and credit markets could result in deterioration of these assets, and changes in certain key pension assumptions based on current interest rates, long-term rates of return and other economic or actuarial assumptions may increase minimum funding contributions and future pension expense. If these markets were to deteriorate further, these conditions may be material to WesBanco’s ability to access capital and may adversely impact results of operations.

Further, WesBanco’s trust and investment services income could be impacted by fluctuations in the securities market. A portion of this revenue is based on the value of the underlying investment portfolios. If the values of those investment portfolios decline, the Bank’s revenue could be negatively impacted.

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

As of December 31, 2018, approximately 32% 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 current 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 rates could also cause the current market values of our municipal bond portfolio to decline as they all have a fixed interest component. Any of the above default risks, early redemption risks and credit risks could cause WesBanco to take impairment charges, which could be significant, that would negatively impact earnings.

WESBANCO MAY BE REQUIRED TO WRITE DOWN GOODWILL AND OTHER INTANGIBLE ASSETS, CAUSING ITS FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS TO BE NEGATIVELY AFFECTED.

When WesBanco acquires a business, a portion of the purchase price of the acquisition is allocated to goodwill and other identifiable intangible assets. The amount of the purchase price which is allocated to goodwill and other intangible assets is determined by the excess of the purchase price over the net identifiable assets acquired. WesBanco’s goodwill is $861.9 million or 44% and $573.9 million or 41% of stockholders’ equity as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Under current accounting standards, if WesBanco determines that goodwill or intangible assets are impaired, it is required to write down the carrying value of these assets. WesBanco conducts an annual review to determine whether goodwill and other identifiable intangible assets are impaired. WesBanco completed such an impairment analysis in late 2018 and concluded that no impairment charge was necessary for the year ended December 31, 2018. WesBanco cannot provide assurance that it will not be required to take an impairment charge in the future. Any impairment charge would have a negative effect on its shareholders’ equity and financial results and may cause a decline in our stock price.

WESBANCO IS SUBJECT TO EXTENSIVE GOVERNMENT REGULATION AND SUPERVISION.

WesBanco is subject to extensive federal and state regulation, supervision and examination. Banking regulations are primarily intended to protect depositors’ funds, federal deposit insurance funds and the banking system as a whole, rather than corporate shareholders. These regulations affect WesBanco’s lending practices, capital structure, investment practices, dividend policy, operations and growth, among other things. These regulations also impose obligations to maintain appropriate policies, procedure and controls. Congress and federal regulatory agencies continually review banking laws, regulations and policies for possible changes. Changes to statutes, regulations or regulatory policies, including changes in interpretation or implementation of statutes, regulations or policies, could affect WesBanco in substantial and unpredictable ways. Such changes could subject WesBanco to additional costs, limit the types of financial services and products that could be offered, and/or increase the ability of non-banks to offer competing financial services and products, among other things. Failure to comply with laws, regulations or policies could result in sanctions by regulatory agencies, civil penalties and/or reputation damage, which could have a material adverse effect on WesBanco’s business, financial condition and result of operations.

As of December 31, 2018, WesBanco had $189.8 million in subordinated and junior subordinated debt presented as a separate category of long-term debt on its Consolidated Balance Sheets, which includes

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$164.4 million in junior subordinated debt. For regulatory purposes, Trust Preferred Securities totaling $162.5 million underlying such junior subordinated debt are included in Tier 1 capital in accordance with regulatory reporting requirements. On March 1, 2005, the Federal Reserve Board adopted a rule that retains trust preferred securities in Tier 1 capital, but with stricter quantitative limits and clearer qualitative standards. Under the rule, the aggregate amount of trust preferred securities and certain other capital elements is limited to 25% of Tier 1 capital elements, net of goodwill. The amount of trust preferred securities and certain other elements in excess of the limit can be included in Tier 2 capital, subject to restrictions. The Dodd-Frank Act required the federal banking agencies to develop new consolidated capital requirements applicable to bank holding companies and banks. Rules issued in 2013 generally exclude trust preferred securities from Tier 1 capital beginning in 2015. However, a grandfather provision will permit bank holding companies with consolidated assets of less than $15 billion, such as WesBanco, to continue counting existing trust preferred securities as Tier 1 capital until they mature. However, if WesBanco’s consolidated assets were to increase to greater than $15 billion, the existing trust preferred securities would be included as Tier 2 capital until the instruments are redeemed or mature.

In addition, new international capital standards known as Basel III, which were implemented by a U.S. federal banking agencies’ joint final rule issued in July 2013, and effective January 1, 2015, further increases the minimum capital requirements applicable to WesBanco and the Bank, which may negatively impact both entities. The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection (EGRRCPA) Act, enacted into law in May 2018, exempts banks with total consolidated assets of less than $10 billion that exceed the community bank leverage ratio from the capital requirements under Basel III. WesBanco’s assets are in excess of $10 billion, however, so the exemption is inapplicable. Additional information about these changes in capital requirements are described above in “Item 1. Business—Capital Requirements.”

Regulation of WesBanco and its subsidiaries is expected to continue to expand in scope and complexity in the future. These laws are expected to have the effect of increasing WesBanco’s costs of doing business and reducing its revenues, and may limit its ability to pursue business opportunities or otherwise adversely affect its business and financial condition. The Dodd-Frank Act and other laws, as well as rules implementing or related to them, may adversely affect WesBanco. Specifically, any governmental or regulatory action having the effect of requiring WesBanco to obtain additional capital or increase short-term liquidity could reduce earnings and have a material dilutive effect on current shareholders, including the Dodd-Frank Act source of strength requirement that bank holding companies make capital infusions into a troubled subsidiary bank. Legislation and regulation of debit card fees, credit cards and other bank services, as well as changes in WesBanco’s practices relating to those and other bank services, may affect WesBanco’s revenue and other financial results. Additional information about increased regulation is provided in “Item 1. Business” under the headings “Supervision and Regulation,” “Holding Company Regulations,” “Capital Requirements,” “Dodd-Frank Act,” and “Consumer Protection Laws.”

LIMITED AVAILABILITY OF BORROWINGS AND LIQUIDITY FROM THE FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANK SYSTEM AND OTHER SOURCES COULD NEGATIVELY IMPACT EARNINGS.

WesBanco Bank is currently a member bank of the Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) of Pittsburgh, and while it retains certain short-term borrowings and for capital stock from the FHLB of Cincinnati and the FHLB of Indianapolis from prior bank acquisitions, it is no longer considered a member bank of such FHLBs. Membership in this system of quasi-governmental, regional home-loan oriented agency banks allows us to participate in various programs offered by the FHLB. We borrow funds from the FHLB, which are secured by a blanket lien on certain residential and commercial mortgage loans, and if applicable, investment securities with collateral values in excess of the outstanding balances. Future earnings shortfalls and minimum capital requirements of the FHLB may impact the collateral necessary to secure borrowings and limit the borrowings extended to their member banks, as well as require additional capital contributions by member banks. The FHLB’s rating assigned to WesBanco Bank may also negatively impact the amount of term collateral and other conditions imposed by the FHLB upon WesBanco Bank. Should these situations occur, WesBanco’s short-term liquidity needs could be negatively impacted. If WesBanco was restricted from using FHLB advances due to weakness in the system or with the FHLB of Pittsburgh, WesBanco may be forced to find alternative funding

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sources. If WesBanco is required to rely more heavily on higher cost funding sources, revenues may not increase proportionately to cover these costs, which would adversely affect WesBanco’s results of operations and financial position.

THE SOUNDNESS OF OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS COULD ADVERSELY IMPACT WESBANCO.

Financial service institutions are interrelated as a result of trading, clearing, counterparty, or other relationships. WesBanco has exposure to various industries and counterparties, and WesBanco routinely executes transactions with counterparties in the financial industry, including brokers and dealers, commercial banks, investment banks, mutual and hedge funds and other institutions. As a result, a default by, or potential default by, a financial institution could result in market-wide liquidity problems, losses or other financial institution defaults. Many of these transactions could expose WesBanco to credit risk in the event of default of our counterparty or client. These losses or defaults could adversely effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

WESBANCO’S FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS DEPEND ON THE SUCCESSFUL GROWTH OF ITS SUBSIDIARIES.

WesBanco’s primary business activity for the foreseeable future will be to act as the holding company of its banking and other subsidiaries. Therefore, WesBanco’s future profitability will depend on the success and growth of these subsidiaries. In the future, part of WesBanco’s growth may come from buying other banks and buying or establishing other companies. Such entities may not be profitable after they are purchased or established, and they may lose money or be dilutive to earnings per share, particularly for the first few years. A new bank or company may bring with it unexpected liabilities, bad loans, or poor employee relations, or the new bank or company may lose customers and the associated revenue. Dilution of book and tangible book value may occur as a result of an acquisition that may not be earned back for several years, if at all.

WESBANCO’S ABILITY TO PAY DIVIDENDS IS LIMITED, AND COMMON STOCK DIVIDENDS MAY HAVE TO BE REDUCED OR ELIMINATED.

Holders of shares of WesBanco’s common stock are entitled to dividends if, when, and as declared by WesBanco’s Board of Directors out of funds legally available for that purpose. Although the Board of Directors has declared cash dividends in the past, the current ability to pay dividends is largely dependent upon the receipt of dividends from the Bank. Federal and state laws impose restrictions on the ability of the Bank to pay dividends, which restrictions are more fully described in “Item 1. Business—Payment of Dividends.” In general, future dividend policy is subject to the discretion of the Board of Directors and will depend upon a number of factors, including WesBanco’s and the Bank’s future earnings, liquidity and capital requirements, regulatory constraints and financial condition.

FUTURE EXPANSION BY WESBANCO MAY ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS AS WELL AS DILUTE THE INTERESTS OF OUR SHAREHOLDERS AND NEGATIVELY AFFECT THE PRICE OF OUR COMMON STOCK.

WesBanco may acquire other financial institutions, or branches or assets of other financial institutions, in the future. WesBanco may also open new branches and enter into new lines of business or offer new products or services. Any such expansion of our business will involve a number of expenses and risks, which may include:

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We can give no assurance that integration efforts for any future acquisitions will be successful. We may issue equity securities in connection with acquisitions, which could dilute the economic and voting interests of our existing shareholders. WesBanco acquired FFKT on August 20, 2018 and plan to fully integrate FFKT’s branches and core system during the first quarter of 2019.

SUITABLE ACQUISITION OPPORTUNITIES MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE TO WESBANCO IN THE FUTURE.

WesBanco continually evaluates opportunities to acquire other businesses. However, WesBanco may not have the opportunity to make suitable acquisitions on favorable terms in the future, which could negatively impact the growth of its business. WesBanco expects that other banking and financial companies, many of which have significantly greater resources, will compete to acquire compatible businesses. This competition could increase prices for acquisitions that WesBanco would likely pursue, and its competitors may have greater resources than it does. Also, acquisitions of regulated businesses such as banks are subject to various regulatory approvals. If WesBanco fails to receive the appropriate regulatory approvals, it will not be able to consummate an acquisition that it believes is in its best interests.

HIGHER FDIC DEPOSIT INSURANCE PREMIUMS AND ASSESSMENTS COULD ADVERSELY AFFECT WESBANCO’S FINANCIAL CONDITION.

Since 2008, the economic environment caused higher levels of bank failures, which dramatically increased FDIC resolution costs and led to a significant reduction in the deposit insurance fund. In order to restore reserve ratios of the deposit insurance fund, the FDIC has in the past significantly increased the assessment rates paid by financial institutions for deposit insurance. In 2016, the FDIC achieved their targeted reserve fund ratio of 1.15 percent, which allowed banks with total assets of less than $10 billion to have a reduction in costs. In September 2018, the FDIC achieved their targeted fund reserve ratio of 1.35 percent, which allowed banks with total assets greater than $10 billion in total assets to no longer pay a 4.5 basis point surcharge. Since WesBanco’s total assets exceed $10 billion, under the Dodd Frank Act, to the extent the FDIC increases reserves against future losses, any increased assessments are to be borne primarily by institutions with assets of greater than $10 billion. Per the enacted Federal tax reform legislation, FDIC insurance premiums are no longer fully deductible for federal income tax purposes for banks above $10 billion in size. Additional increases in FDIC insurance premiums and future special assessments may adversely affect WesBanco’s results of operations and financial condition.

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A NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARD WILL RESULT IN A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN HOW WE RECOGNIZE CREDIT LOSSES AND MAY HAVE A MATERIAL IMPACT ON OUR FINANCIAL CONDITION OR RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.

In June 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued an accounting standard update, “Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326), Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments,” which replaces the current “incurred loss” model for recognizing credit losses with an “expected loss” model referred to as the Current Expected Credit Loss (“CECL”) model. Under the CECL model, we will be required to present certain financial assets carried at amortized cost, such as loans held for investment and held-to-maturity debt securities, at the net amount expected to be collected. The measurement of expected credit losses is to be based on information about past events, including historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts that affect the collectability of the reported amount. This measurement will take place at the time the financial asset is first added to the balance sheet and periodically thereafter. This differs significantly from the “incurred loss” model required under current generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”), which delays recognition until it is probable a loss has been incurred. Accordingly, we expect that the adoption of the CECL model will materially affect how we determine our allowance for loan losses and could require us to significantly increase our allowance. Moreover, the CECL model may create more volatility in the level of our allowance for loan losses. Any material increase in our level of allowance for loan losses or expenses incurred to determine the appropriate level of the allowance for loan losses could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The new CECL standard will become effective for WesBanco for the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2020. WesBanco formed a cross-functional team to oversee the implementation of this ASU, and has completed an initial data gap assessment, finalized the loan segmentation procedures, and is currently evaluating the various forecasting and modeling assumptions, including qualitative factors, that will be used to estimate the initial current expected credit loss allowance. Substantial progress has been made on the identification and staging of data, development of models, refinement of economic forecasting processes, and documentation of accounting policy decisions. In conjunction with this implementation, WesBanco is reviewing business processes and evaluating potential changes to the control environment. WesBanco plans to perform several parallel runs of the new methodology in 2019 prior to adoption of the ASU. WesBanco currently anticipates that an increase to the allowance for credit losses will be recognized upon adoption to provide for the expected credit losses over the estimated life of the financial assets. The magnitude of the increase will depend on economic conditions and trends in the loan portfolio at the time of adoption.

INTERRUPTION TO OUR INFORMATION SYSTEMS OR BREACHES IN SECURITY COULD ADVERSELY AFFECT WESBANCO’S OPERATIONS.

WesBanco relies on information systems and communications for operating and monitoring all major aspects of business, as well as internal management functions. Any failure, interruption, intrusion or breach in security of these systems could result in failures or disruptions in the WesBanco customer relationship, management, general ledger, deposit, loan and other systems. While WesBanco has policies, procedures and technical safeguards designed to prevent or limit the effect of any failure, interruption, intrusion or security breach of its information systems, and also performs testing of business continuity and disaster recovery plans, there can be no absolute assurance that the above-noted issues will not occur or, if they do occur, that they will be adequately addressed.

There have been efforts on the part of third parties to breach data security at financial institutions. The ability of our customers to bank remotely, including online and through mobile devices, requires secure transmission of confidential information and increases the risk of data security breaches. Because the techniques used to attack financial services company communications and information systems change frequently (and generally increase in sophistication), often attacks are not recognized until launched against a target, may be supported by foreign governments or other well-financed entities, and may originate from less regulated and

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remote areas around the world, we may be unable to address these techniques in advance of attacks, including by implementing adequate preventative measures. Certain financial institutions in the United States have also experienced attacks from technically sophisticated and well-resourced third parties that were intended to disrupt normal business activities by making internet banking systems inaccessible to customers for extended periods. These “denial-of-service” attacks, if attempted, would require substantial resources to defend, and may affect customer satisfaction and behavior. Moreover, the development and maintenance of preventative and detective measures is costly and requires ongoing monitoring and updating as technologies change and efforts to overcome security measures become more sophisticated. Despite our efforts, the possibility of these events occurring cannot be eliminated.

Cyber-attacks on third party retailers or other business establishments that widely accept debit card or check payments could compromise sensitive bank customer information, such as debit card and account numbers. Such an attack could result in significant costs to the bank, such as costs to reimburse customers, reissue debit cards and open new customer accounts.

The occurrence of any such failure, disruption or security breach of WesBanco’s information systems, particularly if widespread or resulting in financial losses to our customers, could damage WesBanco’s reputation, result in a loss of customer business, subject WesBanco to additional regulatory scrutiny, and expose WesBanco to civil litigation and possible financial liability. In addition, the prevalence of cyber-attacks and other efforts to breach or disrupt our systems has led, and will continue to lead, to costs to WesBanco with respect to prevention and mitigation of these risks, as well as costs reimbursing customers for losses suffered as a result of these actions. Successful attacks or systems failures at other large financial institutions, whether or not WesBanco is included, could lead to a general loss of customer confidence in financial institutions with a potential negative impact on WesBanco’s business, additional demands on the part of our regulators, and increased costs to deal with risks identified as a result of the problems affecting others. The risks described above could have a material effect on WesBanco’s business, results of operations and financial condition.

WESBANCO DEPENDS ON THIRD PARTIES FOR PROCESSING AND HANDLING OF COMPANY RECORDS AND DATA.

WesBanco relies on software developed by third party vendors to process various transactions. These transactions include, but are not limited to, general ledger, payroll, employee benefits, trust record keeping, loan and deposit processing, merchant processing, and securities portfolio management. While WesBanco performs a review of controls instituted by the vendors over these programs in accordance with industry standards and performs its own testing of user controls, WesBanco must rely on the continued maintenance and improvement of these controls by the third party, including safeguards over the security of customer data. In addition, WesBanco maintains backups of key processing output daily in the event of a failure on the part of any of these systems. Nonetheless, WesBanco may incur a temporary disruption in its ability to conduct its business or process its transactions or incur damage to its reputation if the third party vendor, or the third party vendor’s subcontractor, fails to adequately maintain internal controls or institute necessary changes to systems. Such disruption or breach of security may have a material adverse effect on WesBanco’s business, financial condition, and results of operations.

WESBANCO IS EXPOSED TO OPERATIONAL RISK THAT COULD ADVERSELY IMPACT THE COMPANY.

WesBanco is exposed to multiple types of operational risk, including reputational risk, legal and compliance risk, the risk of fraud or theft by employees or outsiders, clerical or record-keeping errors and computer or telecommunications systems malfunctions. WesBanco’s business is dependent on the processing of the ability to process a large number of increasingly complex transactions. WesBanco could be materially and adversely affected if employees, clients, counterparties or other third parties caused an operational breakdown or failure, as a result of either human error, fraudulent manipulation or purposeful damage to any of our operations or systems.

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LOSS OF KEY EMPLOYEES COULD IMPACT GROWTH AND EARNINGS AND MAY HAVE AN ADVERSE IMPACT ON BUSINESS.

Our operating results and ability to adequately manage our growth are highly dependent on the services, managerial abilities and performance of our key employees, including executive officers and senior management. Our success depends upon our ability to attract and retain highly skilled and qualified management, loan origination, finance, administrative, marketing and technical personnel and upon the continued contributions of this management and personnel. The loss of services, or the inability to successfully complete planned or unplanned transitions of key personnel approaching normal retirement age, could have an adverse impact on WesBanco’s business, operating results and financial condition because of their skills, knowledge of the local markets, years of industry experience and the difficulty of promptly finding qualified replacement personnel. 

A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF WESBANCO’S LOAN PORTFOLIO IS IN WEST VIRGINIA, OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA, KENTUCKY, AND INDIANA AND IN COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE. DETERIORATIONS IN ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN THIS AREA OR IN THE REAL ESTATE MARKET GENERALLY COULD BE MORE HARMFUL TO THE COMPANY COMPARED TO MORE DIVERSIFIED INSTITUTIONS.

As of December 31, 2018, approximately 21% of WesBanco’s loan portfolio was comprised of residential real estate loans, and 50% was comprised of commercial real estate loans.

Inherent risks of commercial real estate (“CRE”) lending include the cyclical nature of the real estate market, construction risk and interest rate risk. The cyclical nature of real estate markets can cause CRE loans to suffer considerable distress. During these times of distress, a property’s performance can be negatively affected by tenants’ deteriorating credit strength and lease expirations in times of softening demand caused by economic deterioration or over-supply conditions. Even if borrowers are able to meet their payment obligations, they may find it difficult to refinance their full loan amounts at maturity due to declines in property value. Other risks associated with CRE lending include regulatory changes and environmental 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 in West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Indiana. There is a wide variety of economic conditions within the local markets of the three 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.

WESBANCO MAY NEED TO RAISE CAPITAL IN THE FUTURE, BUT CAPITAL MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE WHEN NEEDED OR AT ACCEPTABLE TERMS.

Federal and state banking regulators require WesBanco and its banking subsidiary, WesBanco Bank, to maintain adequate levels of capital to support its operations. In addition, in the future WesBanco may need to raise additional capital to support its business or to finance acquisitions, if any, or WesBanco may otherwise elect to raise additional capital in anticipation of future growth opportunities. If WesBanco’s total assets were to increase to $15 billion due to acquisitions, certain trust preferred securities would no longer be included in the Tier 1 capital of the risk-based capital guidelines, although it is expected it should count as Tier 2 capital.

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WesBanco has $164.4 million and $138.6 million in junior subordinated debt in its Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. WesBanco received approval from the Federal Reserve Bank to early redeem $17.0 million of trust preferred securities in 2018 with available cash and without raising replacement capital, but there is no guarantee we will not be required to raise additional Tier 1 capital when all remaining trust preferred securities become Tier 2 capital after crossing $15 billion in total assets in the future.

WesBanco’s ability to raise additional capital for parent company or banking subsidiary needs will depend on conditions at that time in the capital markets, overall economic conditions, WesBanco’s financial performance and condition, and other factors, many of which are outside our control. There is no assurance that, if needed, WesBanco will be able to raise additional capital or unsecured debt that may count as tier 2 capital on favorable terms or at all. An inability to raise additional capital may have a material adverse effect on our ability to expand operations, and on our financial condition, results of operations and future prospects.

None.

WesBanco’s subsidiaries generally own their respective offices, related facilities and any unimproved real property held for future expansion. At December 31, 2018, WesBanco operated 209 banking offices in West Virginia, Ohio, western Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and southern Indiana, of which 161 were owned and 48 were leased. WesBanco also operated four loan production offices leased in West Virginia, Ohio and western Pennsylvania. These leases expire at various dates through November 2040 and generally include options to renew. The Bank also owns several regional headquarters buildings in various markets, most of which also house a banking office and/or certain back office functions.

The main office of WesBanco is located at 1 Bank Plaza, Wheeling, West Virginia, in a building owned by the Bank. The building contains approximately 100,000 square feet and serves as the main office for both WesBanco’s community banking segment and its trust and investment services segment, as well as its executive offices. The Bank’s major back office operations currently occupy approximately 90% of the space available in an office building connected via sky-bridge to the main office. This adjacent back office building is owned by WesBanco Properties, Inc., a subsidiary of WesBanco, with the remainder of the building leased to unrelated businesses.

At various building locations, WesBanco rents or makes available commercial office space to unrelated businesses. Rental income totaled $1.0 million, $1.3 million and $0.8 million in 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. For additional disclosures related to WesBanco’s properties, other fixed assets and leases, please refer to Note 6, “Premises and Equipment” in the Consolidated Financial Statements.

WesBanco is also involved in lawsuits, claims, investigations and proceedings, which arise in the ordinary course of business. While any litigation contains an element of uncertainty, WesBanco does not believe that a material loss related to such proceedings or claims pending or known to be threatened is reasonably possible.

Not Applicable.

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PART II

WesBanco’s common stock is quoted on the NASDAQ Global Select Stock Market under the symbol WSBC. The approximate number of record holders of WesBanco’s $2.0833 par value common stock as of February 15, 2019 was 7,617. The number of holders does not include WesBanco employees who have purchased stock or had stock allocated to them through WesBanco’s Employee Stock Ownership and 401(k) plan (the “KSOP”). All WesBanco employees who meet the eligibility requirements of the KSOP are included in this retirement plan.

At December 31, 2018, the closing stock price of WesBanco’s stock was $36.69. For 2018, the stock price high and low was $51.12 and $34.14, respectively, with a quarterly dividend of $0.29 per share. The dividend was increased again in February 2019 to $0.31 per share, a $0.02 per share or 6.9% increase to be paid April 1, 2019.

In April 2015, WesBanco shareholders approved an increase in the number of authorized shares of common stock from 50,000,000 shares to 100,000,000 shares.

At December 31, 2018, WesBanco had thirteen capital trusts, which are all wholly-owned trust subsidiaries of WesBanco formed for the purpose of issuing Trust Preferred Securities and lending the proceeds to WesBanco. The debentures and trust preferred securities issued by the trusts provide that WesBanco has the right to elect to defer the payment of interest on the debentures and trust preferred securities for up to an aggregate of 20 quarterly periods. However, if WesBanco should defer the payment of interest or default on the payment of interest, it may not declare or pay any dividends on its common stock during any such period. For additional disclosure relating to WesBanco Trust Preferred Securities, refer to Note 11, “Subordinated Debt and Junior Subordinated Debt” in the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Federal and state laws impose restrictions on the ability of the Bank to pay dividends, which restrictions are more fully described in “Item 1. Business—Payment of Dividends.”

As of December 31, 2018, WesBanco had two active one million share stock repurchase plans. The first plan was originally approved by the Board of Directors on March 21, 2007 and the second, which is incremental to the first, was approved October 22, 2015. Each provides for shares to be repurchased for general corporate purposes, which may include a subsequent resource for potential acquisitions, shareholder dividend reinvestment and employee benefit plans. The timing, price and quantity of purchases are at the discretion of WesBanco, and the plan may be discontinued or suspended at any time. As per the below table, the first plan has 92,535 shares remaining to repurchase, and the second plan has 1,000,000 shares remaining to repurchase.

Repurchases in the fourth quarter include those for the KSOP and dividend reinvestment plans and repurchases to facilitate stock compensation transactions and related income tax withholdings.

Certain information relating to securities authorized for issuance under equity compensation plans is set forth under the heading “Equity Compensation Plan Information” in Part III, “Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.”

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The following table shows the activity in WesBanco’s stock repurchase plan and other purchases for the quarter ended December 31, 2018:

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The following graph shows a comparison of cumulative total shareholder returns for WesBanco, the Russell 2000 Index, the SNL Small Cap Bank Index and the SNL Mid Cap Bank Index. The total shareholder return assumes a $100 investment in the common stock of WesBanco and each index since December 31, 2013 with reinvestment of dividends.

The SNL Small Cap Bank Index, used in prior years as a specific industry index to compare to WesBanco’s stock performance, is no longer comparable, as WesBanco’s market capitalization has increased to over $2 billion. WesBanco has replaced the index with the SNL Mid Cap Bank Index as it represents banks more similar in size to WesBanco, as this index is comprised of banks with market capitalization between $1 and $5 billion.

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The following consolidated selected financial data is derived from WesBanco’s audited financial statements as of and for the five years ended December 31, 2018. The following consolidated financial data should be read in conjunction with Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) and the Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes included elsewhere in this report. WesBanco’s acquisitions during the five years ended December 31, 2018 include FFKT on August 20, 2018, FTSB on April 5, 2018, YCB on September 9, 2016 and ESB on February 10, 2015 and include the results of operations since the date of acquisition.

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N/A—not applicable

Non-GAAP Measures

The following non-GAAP financial measures used by WesBanco provide information that WesBanco believes is useful to investors in understanding WesBanco’s operating performance and trends, and facilitates comparisons with the performance of WesBanco’s peers. The following tables summarize the non-GAAP financial measures derived from amounts reported in WesBanco’s financial statements.

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Management’s Discussion and Analysis represents an overview of the results of operations and financial condition of WesBanco. This discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Forward-looking statements in this report relating to WesBanco’s plans, strategies, objectives, expectations, intentions and adequacy of resources, are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The information contained in this report should be read in conjunction with WesBanco’s Form 10-Qs for the prior quarters ended March 31, June 30 and September 30, 2018, respectively, and documents subsequently filed by WesBanco which are available at the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov or at WesBanco’s website, www.wesbanco.com. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements, which are not historical fact, involve risks and uncertainties, including those detailed under “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Such statements are subject to important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such statements, including, without limitation, that the businesses of WesBanco and FFKT may not be integrated successfully or such integration may take longer to accomplish than excepted; the expected cost savings and any revenue synergies from the merger of WesBanco and FFKT may not be fully realized within the expected timeframes; disruption from the merger of WesBanco and FFKT may make it more difficult to maintain relationships with clients, associates, or suppliers; the effects of changing regional and national economic conditions; changes in interest rates, spreads on earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities, and associated interest rate sensitivity; sources of liquidity available to WesBanco and its related subsidiary operations; potential future credit losses and the credit risk of commercial, real estate, and consumer loan customers and their borrowing activities; actions of the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, the SEC, FINRA, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, the Securities Investors Protection Corporation, and other regulatory bodies; potential legislative and federal and state regulatory actions and reform, including, without limitation, the impact of the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act; adverse decisions of federal and state courts; fraud, scams and schemes of third parties; cyber security breaches; competitive conditions in the financial services industry; rapidly changing technology affecting financial services; marketability of debt instruments and corresponding impact on fair value adjustments; and/or other external developments materially impacting WesBanco’s operational and financial performance. WesBanco does not assume any duty to update forward-looking statements.

APPLICATION OF CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES

WesBanco’s Consolidated Financial Statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and follow general practices within the industries in which it operates. Application of these principles requires management to make estimates, assumptions and judgments that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. These estimates, assumptions and judgments are based on information available as of the date of the financial statements; accordingly, as this information changes, the financial statements could reflect different estimates, assumptions and judgments. Certain policies inherently have a greater reliance on the use of estimates, assumptions and judgments and as such have a greater possibility of producing results that could be materially different than originally reported.

The most significant accounting policies followed by WesBanco are included in Note 1, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” of the Consolidated Financial Statements. These policies, along with other Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements and this MD&A, provide information on how significant assets and liabilities are valued in the financial statements and how those values are determined. Management has identified the allowance for loan losses and the evaluation of goodwill and other intangible assets for impairment to be the accounting estimates that require the most subjective or complex judgments, and as such could be most subject to revision as new information becomes available.

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Allowance for Credit Losses—The allowance for credit losses represents management’s estimate of probable losses inherent in the loan portfolio and in future advances against loan commitments. Determining the amount of the allowance requires significant judgment about the collectability of loans and the factors that deserve consideration in estimating probable credit losses. The allowance is increased by a provision charged to operating expense and reduced by charge-offs, net of recoveries. Management evaluates the appropriateness of the allowance at least quarterly. This evaluation is inherently subjective, as it requires material estimates that may be susceptible to significant change from period to period.

The evaluation includes an assessment of quantitative factors such as actual loss experience within each category of loans and testing of certain commercial loans for impairment. The evaluation also considers qualitative factors such as economic trends and conditions, which includes levels of unemployment, real estate values and the impact on specific industries and geographical markets, changes in lending policies and underwriting standards, delinquency and other credit quality trends, concentrations of credit risk, if any, the results of internal loan reviews and examinations by bank regulatory agencies, the volatility of historical loss rates, the velocity of changes in historical loss rates, and regulatory guidance pertaining to the allowance for credit losses. Management relies on observable data from internal and external sources to the extent it is available to evaluate each of these factors and adjusts the actual historical loss rates to reflect the impact these factors may have on probable losses in the portfolio.

Commercial real estate and commercial and industrial loans greater than $1 million that are reported as non-accrual or as a troubled debt restructuring are tested individually for impairment. Specific reserves are established when appropriate for such loans based on the present value of expected future cash flows of the loan or the estimated realizable value of the collateral, if any.

General reserves are established for loans that are not individually tested for impairment based on historical loss rates adjusted for the impact of the qualitative factors discussed above. Historical loss rates for commercial real estate and commercial and industrial loans are determined for each internal risk grade or group of pass grades using a migration analysis. Historical loss rates for commercial real estate land and construction, residential real estate, home equity and consumer loans that are not risk graded are determined for the total of each category of loans. Historical loss rates for deposit account overdrafts are based on actual losses in relation to average overdrafts for the period.

Management may also adjust its assumptions to account for differences between estimated and actual incurred losses from period to period. The variability of management’s assumptions could alter the level of the allowance for credit losses and may have a material impact on future results of operations and financial condition. The loss estimation models and methods used to determine the allowance for credit losses are continually refined and enhanced; however, there have been no material substantive changes compared to prior periods.

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets—WesBanco accounts for business combinations using the acquisition method of accounting. Accordingly, the identifiable assets acquired, the liabilities assumed, and any non-controlling interest of an acquired business are recorded at their estimated fair values as of the date of acquisition with any excess of the cost of the acquisition over the fair value recorded as goodwill. Other intangible assets represent purchased assets that lack physical substance but can be distinguished from goodwill because of contractual or other legal rights or because the asset is capable of being sold or exchanged either on its own or in combination with a related contract, asset, or liability. As of December 31, 2018, the carrying value of goodwill and other intangibles was $861.9 million and $57.0 million, respectively, which represents approximately 43.6% and 2.9% of total shareholders’ equity, respectively. As of December 31, 2018, WesBanco’s Community Banking segment had two reporting units with goodwill.

Goodwill is not amortized but is evaluated for impairment annually, or more often if events or circumstances indicate it may be impaired. Finite-lived intangible assets, which consist primarily of core deposit and customer list intangibles (long-term customer-relationship intangible assets) are amortized using straight-line

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and accelerated methods over their weighted-average estimated useful lives, ranging from ten to sixteen years in total, and are tested for impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate that their carrying amount may not be recoverable. Non-compete agreements are recognized in other assets on the balance sheet and are amortized on a straight-line basis over the life of the respective agreements, ranging from one to four years.

WesBanco evaluated goodwill for impairment by determining if the fair value is greater than the carrying value of its reporting units. WesBanco uses market capitalization, multiples of tangible book value, a discounted cash flow model, and various other market-based methods to estimate the current fair value of its reporting units. In particular, the discounted cash flow model includes various assumptions regarding an investor’s required rate of return on WesBanco common stock, future loan loss provisions, future net interest margins, along with various growth and economic recovery and stabilization assumptions of the economy as a whole. The resulting fair values of each method are then weighted based on the relevance and reliability of each respective method in light of the current economic environment to arrive at a weighted average fair value. The evaluation also considered macroeconomic conditions such as the general economic outlook, regional and national unemployment rates, and recent trends in equity and credit markets. Additionally, industry and market considerations, such as market-dependent multiples and metrics relative to peers, were evaluated. WesBanco also considered recent trends in credit quality, overall financial performance, stock price appreciation, internal forecasts and various other market-based methods to estimate the current fair value of its reporting units. Since adopting Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2017-04, “Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350)”, the impairment charge is based on the excess of a reporting unit’s carrying amount over its fair value.

WesBanco concluded that goodwill at the reporting units was not impaired as of November 30, 2018, and also determined that goodwill was not impaired as of December 31, 2018 as there were no significant changes in market conditions, consolidated operating results, or forecasted future results from November 30, 2018, the date of the most recent goodwill impairment evaluation.

Intangible assets with finite useful lives are evaluated for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying amount may not be recoverable. An impairment loss is recognized when the carrying amount of an intangible asset with a finite useful life is not recoverable from its undiscounted cash flows and is measured as the difference between the carrying amount and the fair value of the asset. WesBanco does not have any indefinite-lived intangible assets. Intangible assets with finite useful lives as of December 31, 2018 are comprised of $54.5 million in core deposit intangibles held at the community banking segment and $2.5 million in trust customer relationship intangibles held at the trust and investment services segment. As of December 31, 2018, there were no indicators of impairment related to intangible assets with finite useful lives.

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EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW

On April 5, 2018, WesBanco completed the acquisition of First Sentry Bancshares, Inc. (“FTSB”), a bank holding company headquartered in Huntington, WV with approximately $0.7 billion in assets, excluding goodwill, and five branches in West Virginia. On August 20, 2018, WesBanco completed the acquisition of Farmers Capital Bank Corporation (“FFKT”), a bank holding company headquartered in Frankfort, KY with approximately $1.6 billion in assets, excluding goodwill, and 34 branches in Kentucky.

Net income increased $48.6 million or 51.5% to $143.1 million in 2018 compared to 2017. Net income excluding after-tax merger-related expenses and net deferred tax asset revaluation (non-GAAP measure) increased $49.3 million or 45.7% to $157.2 million. Net interest income improved $56.9 million or 19.6%, primarily through a 14.8% increase in average earning assets from the FTSB and FFKT acquisitions, larger investment portfolio and a higher net interest margin of 3.52% as compared to 3.44% in 2017. The net interest margin benefited from increases in the Federal Reserve Board’s target federal fund rates through 2018, purchase accounting-related accretion for both acquisitions and the higher margin on the acquired FFKT net assets, partially offset by higher funding costs and a flattening yield curve. Non-interest income increased $11.4 million or 12.9% in 2018 compared to 2017. Growth was achieved in certain categories of non-interest income: electronic banking fees increased $4.1 million, service charges on deposits increased $3.1 million, trust fees increased $1.9 million, bank-owned life insurance increased $1.6 million and payment processing fees increased $1.0 million. Excluding merger-related costs, non-interest expense increased $27.4 million or 12.5% reflecting three quarters of the FTSB acquisition and one and half quarters of the FFKT acquisition. Overall, WesBanco’s costs continued to be well controlled in 2018 as WesBanco achieved the best efficiency ratio in the last five years of 54.60% (non-GAAP measure), a 184 basis point improvement from 2017.

Total assets as of December 31, 2018 increased $2.6 billion or 26.9% compared to December 31, 2017, primarily due to the acquisitions of FTSB and FFKT. In addition, WesBanco crossed the $10 billion asset threshold during the first quarter of 2018. Portfolio loans of $7.7 billion increased 20.7% over the last twelve months, reflecting the acquired loan portfolios of FTSB and FFKT. Secondary market loan sales in the residential real estate portfolio continued to increase, which reduced the amount of new mortgage loans that would otherwise be held on the balance sheet. As of December 31, 2018, despite the addition of approximately $1.4 billion of portfolio loans from the acquisitions of FTSB and FFKT, non-performing loans and non-performing assets decreased in 2018 compared to 2017 both on an absolute dollar basis and as a percentage of the portfolio. Criticized and classified loan balances decreased as a percentage of total loans in 2018 compared to the prior period. Total deposits, excluding CDs, increased 27.9%, which includes 5.8% organic growth in interest bearing and non-interest bearing demand deposits, which now represent 51.9% of total deposits as of December 31, 2018.

WesBanco continues to maintain strong regulatory capital ratios as both consolidated and bank-level regulatory capital ratios are above the applicable “well-capitalized” standards promulgated by bank regulators and the BASEL III capital standards. As of December 31, 2018, Tier I leverage was 10.74%, Tier I risk-based capital was 15.09%, and total risk-based capital was 15.99% and the Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio, was 13.14%. Total tangible equity to tangible assets (non-GAAP measure) was 9.28% at December 31, 2018, increasing from 8.79% at December 31, 2017, as a result of increases in tangible shareholders’ equity at a faster pace than the increase in tangible assets.

Strong earnings and improved total capital have enabled WesBanco to increase the quarterly dividend rate 11.5% to $0.29 per share in the first quarter of 2018, the eleventh increase over the last eight years, cumulatively representing a 107% increase. The dividend was increased again in February 2019 to $0.31 per share, a $0.02 per share or 6.9% increase, to be paid April 1, 2019.

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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

EARNINGS SUMMARY

For the twelve months ending December 31, 2018, net income was $143.1 million, or $2.92 per diluted share, compared to $94.5 million, or $2.14 per diluted share, for 2017. Per share earnings increased to $2.92 per diluted share for 2018 compared to $2.14 per diluted share for 2017, an increase of 36.4%. Excluding the 2017 net deferred tax asset revaluation, as a result of the late 2017 enacted Federal tax reform legislation, and after-tax merger-related expenses in both years (non-GAAP measure), net income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2018, increased 45.7% to $157.2 million compared to $107.9 million for 2017. On the same basis, per share earnings increased to $3.21 per diluted share for 2018 compared to $2.45 per diluted share for 2017, an increase of 31.0%.

For the twelve months ending December 31, 2018, net interest income increased $56.9 million, or 19.6%, primarily due to the FTSB and FFKT acquisitions, which closed on April 5, 2018 and August 20, 2018, respectively. The net interest margin increased eight basis points to 3.52%. The increase in the net interest margin reflects the benefit from the increases in the Federal Reserve Board’s target federal funds rate over the past year. Average loan total balances increased 10.3% and average total taxable securities increased 32.6% from 2017, primarily due to the FTSB and FFKT acquisitions as well as additional investment securities purchased in the first quarter of 2018. The increase in the cost of interest bearing liabilities is primarily due to higher rates for interest bearing demand deposits, which include public funds, higher tier money market accounts and Federal Home Loan Bank and other borrowings. The average interest bearing deposit balances increased 10.9% from 2017 primarily due to the FTSB and FFKT acquisitions.

For 2018, non-interest income increased $11.4 million or 12.9% compared to 2017. Electronic banking fees increased $4.1 million or 21.5%, service charges on deposits increased $3.1 million or 15.3%, trust fees increased $1.9 million or 8.3%, bank-owned life insurance increased $1.6 million or 34.1% and payment processing fees increased $1.0 million or 100.0% through the acquisitions of FTSB and FFKT. Payment processing fees are from a business acquired from FFKT, which provides bill payment and electronic funds transfer services for its customers. Net securities gains decreased $1.5 million or 258.7% due primarily to a $0.9 million decrease related to the market adjustment on the deferred compensation plan.

The following comments on non-interest expense exclude merger-related expenses in both years. Non-interest expense in 2018 increased $27.4 million or 12.5% compared to 2017. With net revenue growth of 18.0% in 2018, this positive operating leverage helped to improve the efficiency ratio in 2018 to 54.6% from 56.4% in 2017. For 2018, salaries and wages increased $17.2 million or 17.7% due to increased compensation expense related to a 23.1% increase in full-time equivalent employees, primarily due to the FTSB and FFKT acquisitions, key revenue-producing positions throughout the markets and certain risk management additions as a result of the increase in total assets above the $10 billion level. Increases in net occupancy and equipment were also primarily from costs related to the additional branches from the FTSB and FFKT acquisitions and routine maintenance costs. ATM and electronic banking interchange expenses increased $1.2 million or 26.8% compared to 2017 due to the expanded customer based from the acquisitions combined with WesBanco’s legacy customers increased usage of electronic banking.

The provision for federal and state income taxes decreased to $31.4 million in 2018 compared to $53.8 million in 2017, which includes $12.8 million from the revaluation of net deferred tax assets resulting from the enacted Federal tax reform legislation in 2017. In 2018, the federal statutory rate was 21% compared to 35% in 2017. The effective tax rate was 18.0% for the year ended December 31, 2018 and for the year ended December 31, 2017, the effective tax rate was 36.3%, of which 8.6% relates to the late 2017 tax reform remeasurement.

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TABLE 1. NET INTEREST INCOME