This Annual Report on Form 10-K (this "Report"), including Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and elsewhere, contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are not historical facts and include expressions about management’s confidence and strategies and management’s expectations about new and existing programs and products, acquisitions, relationships, opportunities, taxation, technology, market conditions and economic expectations. These statements may be identified by such forward-looking terminology as "should," "will," "may," "expect," "believe," "view," "opportunity," "allow," "continues," "reflects," "typically," "usually," "anticipate," "could," "forecast," "intend" or similar statements or variations of such terms. Such forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties and our actual results may differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements in addition to those risk factors discussed in Part I. Item 1A of this Report include, but are not limited to, the following:

Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any such forward-looking statements, whether in response to new information, future events or otherwise. Any public statements or disclosures made by the Company following the date of this Report which modify or impact any of the forward-looking statements contained in this Report will be deemed to modify or supersede such statements.

The Bank contends with considerable competition both in generating loans and attracting deposits. The Bank’s competition for generating loans is primarily from other commercial banks, savings banks, credit unions, mortgage banking companies, finance companies, online lenders or online banks, and other institutional lenders. Competitive factors considered for loan generation include interest rates, terms offered, loan fees charged, loan products offered, services provided, and geographic locations and a simplified application process.

In attracting deposits, the Bank’s primary competitors are savings banks, commercial and co-operative banks, credit unions, internet banks, as well as other nonbank institutions that offer financial alternatives such as brokerage firms and insurance companies. Competitive factors considered in attracting and retaining deposits include deposit and investment products and their respective rates of return, brand awareness, liquidity, and risk, among other factors, such as convenient branch locations and hours of operation, personalized customer service, online and mobile access to accounts and automated teller machines.

The Bank’s market area is attractive and entry into the market by financial institutions previously not competing in the market area may continue to occur which could impact the Bank’s growth or profitability. The Bank’s market area is generally comprised of Eastern Massachusetts, including Greater Boston, North Shore, South Shore, Cape Cod and the Islands, as well as Worcester County and Rhode Island.

The following pie chart shows the diversification of the commercial real estate portfolio as of December 31, 2021, which also reflects the loans acquired in the acquisition of Meridian:2022:

Commercial and industrial loans consist of both term loans and revolving lines of credit. Term loans generally have a repayment schedule of five years or less and are collateralized by equipment, machinery or other business assets. In addition, the Bank generally obtains personal guarantees from the principal owners of the borrower for its commercial and industrial loans. Revolving lines of credit, including asset-based lines, are typically collateralized by accounts receivable, inventory, or both, as well as other business assets. Commercial revolving lines of credit and asset based lines generally are reviewed on an annual basis and usually require either a borrowing base formula or varying levels of substantial repayment of principal during the course of a year. Additionally, other commercial term loans are typically secured by owner occupied commercial real estate and/or machinery and equipment. To limit the risk within this portfolio, the loans typically are underwritten with maturitiesmade across a diverse set of five to ten years. These loans generally have amortization periodsindustry groups. The following pie chart shows the diversification of 20 to 25 years, with interest rates that float in accordance with a designated indexthe commercial and industrial portfolio as of December 31, 2022:

The Bank's primary sources of funds are derived from deposits were $16.9 billion. and to a lesser extent, borrowings as well as the amortization, prepayment, and maturities of loans and securities.

Deposits obtained through the Bank’s branch banking network have traditionally been the principal source of the Bank’s funds for use in lending and for other general business purposes. The Bank has built a stable base of in-market core deposits from consumers, businesses, and municipalities. The Bank offers a range of demand deposits, interest checking, money market accounts, savings accounts, and time certificates of deposit, including free checking accounts with no minimum balance and no monthly fees. Interest rates on deposits are based on factors that include loan demand, deposit maturities, alternative costs of funds, and interest rates offered by competing financial institutions in the Bank’s market area. The Bank believes it has been able to attract and maintain satisfactory levels of deposits based on the level of service it provides to its customers, the convenience of its banking locations, its electronic banking options, and its interest rates, all of which are generally competitive with those of competing financial institutions. Additionally, the Bank has a municipal banking department that focuses on providing core depository services to local municipalities. Municipal deposits totaled $1.0 billion as of December 31, 2021.

Rockland Trust’s one hundred twenty-three124 branch locations feature expanded use of video-tellers, and are supplemented by internet and mobile banking services as well as automated teller machine ("ATM") cards and debit cards which may be used to conduct various banking transactions at ATMs maintained at each of the Bank’s full-service offices and twenty-nine28 additional remote ATM locations. The ATM cards and debit cards also allow customers access to a variety of national and international ATM networks. The Bank's mobile banking services give customers the ability to use a variety of mobile devices to check balances, track account activity, pay bills, search transactions, and set up alerts for text or e-mail messages for changes in their account. Customers can also transfer funds between Rockland Trust accounts, deposit checks into their account, and identify the nearest branch or ATM directly from their mobile device. Rockland Trust also now offers person-to-person payment capabilities, allowing for simple and secure funds transfers between most banks and credit unions.

The following discussion sets forth certain material elements of the regulatory framework applicable to bank holding companies and their subsidiaries and provides certain specific information relevant to the Company. To the extent that the following information describes statutory and regulatory provisions, it is qualified in its entirety by reference to the particular statutory and regulatory provisions. A change in applicable statutes, regulations or regulatory policy may have a material effect on the Company’s business. The laws and regulations governing the Company and the Bank that are described in the following discussion generally have been promulgated to offer protection to customers, including depositors and borrowers and not for the purpose of protecting shareholders.

Under the BHCA, the Federal Reserve is authorized to approve the ownership by the Company of shares in any company, the activities of which the Federal Reserve has determined to be so closely related to banking or to managing or controlling banks as to be a proper incident thereto. The Federal Reserve has, by regulation, determined that some activities are closely related to banking within the meaning of the BHCA. These activities include, but are not limited to, operating a mortgage company, finance company, credit card company, factoring company, trust company or savings association; performing data processing operations; providing some securities brokerage services; acting as an investment or financial adviser; acting as an insurance agent for types of credit-related insurance; engaging in insurance underwriting under limited circumstances; leasing personal property on a full-payout, nonoperating basis; providing tax planning and preparation services; operating a collection agency and a credit bureau; and providing consumer financial counseling and courier services. The Federal Reserve also has determined that other activities, including real estate brokerage and syndication, land development, property management and, except under limited circumstances, underwriting of life insurance not related to credit transactions, are not closely related to banking and are not a proper incident thereto.

Under the Rules, the minimum capital ratios for the Company and the Bank are as follows:

The Rules also require the Company and the Bank to maintain a "capital conservation buffer" in an amount greater than 2.5%, on top of the minimum risk-weighted asset ratios. The capital conservation buffer is designed to absorb losses during periods of economic stress. Banking institutions that meet the minimum capital requirements of 4.5%, 6.0% and 8.0% for CET1, Tier 1 and Total capital, respectively, but fall below the capital conservation buffer, will face constraints on capital distributions and discretionary bonus payments to executive officers based on the amount of the shortfall. The capital conservation buffer effectively increases the minimum CET1 capital ratio to 7.0%, the minimum Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio to 8.5%, and the minimum total risk-based capital ratio to 10.5%, for banking organizations seeking to avoid the limitations on capital distributions and discretionary bonus payments to executive officers. The Company and the Bank maintain all capital ratios above the required capital conservation buffer of 2.5%.

The Rules provided for a number of complex deductions from and adjustments to CET1 and its various capital components.

Pursuant to Section 38 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, by: (i) introducing a CET1 ratio requirement at eachFederal banking agencies are required to take “prompt corrective action” if an insured depository institution fails to meet certain capital quality level (other than critically under capitalized), withadequacy standards. The following table summarizes the required CET1 ratio being 6.5% for well-capitalized status; (ii) increasing the minimum Tier 1 capital ratio requirement for each category, with the minimum Tier 1 capital ratio for well-capitalized status being 8% (as compared to the previous 6%); and (iii) requiring a leverage ratio of 5% to be well-capitalized (as compared to the previously required leverage ratio of 3 or 4%). The Rules did not change the total risk-based capital requirement for any "prompt corrective action" category. When the capital conservation buffer is fully phased in, the capital ratios applicable to depository institutions under the Rules will exceed the ratios to be considered well-capitalized under the "prompt corrective action" regulations.

The Bank is currently assessed a deposit insurance charge from the FDIC based upon the Bank's overall assessment base multiplied by an assessment rate, determined in part from five established risk categories. The Bank's assessment base is defined as average consolidated total assets minus average tangible equity, adjusted for the impact of the risk category factors.

In addition, a bank and its subsidiaries may engage in covered transactions and other specified transactions only on terms and under circumstances that are substantially the same, or at least as favorable to the bank or its subsidiary, as those prevailing at the time for comparable transactions with nonaffiliated companies. A "covered transaction" includes:

In addition, under Regulation W:

Regulation W generally excludes all nonbank and nonsavings association subsidiaries of banks from treatment as affiliates, except to the extent that the Federal Reserve decides to treat these subsidiaries as affiliates.

Key provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act are as follows:

Under the Durbin Amendment contained in the Dodd-Frank Act, the Federal Reserve adopted rules that apply to banks with more than $10 billion in assets, which establish a maximum permissible interchange fee equal to no more than 21 cents plus 5 basis points of the transaction value for many types of debit interchange transactions. The Federal Reserve also adopted a rule to allow a debit card issuer to recover 1 cent per transaction for fraud prevention purposes if the issuer complies with certain fraud-related requirements required by the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve also has rules governing routing and exclusivity that require issuers to offer two unaffiliated networks for routing transactions on each debit or prepaid product. The Bank became subject to the Durbin Amendment, effective July 1, 2020, as a result of crossing the $10 billion in assets threshold.

In May 24, 2018, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act ("EGRRCPA")") was signed into law, making certain limited amendments to the Dodd-Frank Act, as well as certain targeted modifications to other post-financial crisis regulations. While the EGRRCPA eased some regulatory obligations imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act, including the requirement to conduct stress testing, if and when the Company exceeds the $10 billion asset threshold, it had minimal impact on the Company’s operations.

In June 2010, the Federal Reserve, OCC and FDIC issued comprehensive final guidance on incentive compensation policies intended to ensure that the incentive compensation policies of banking organizations do not undermine the safety and soundness of such organizations by encouraging excessive risk-taking. The guidance, which covers all employees that have the ability to materially affect the risk profile of an organization, either individually or as part of a group, is based upon the key principles that a banking organization’s incentive compensation arrangements should (i) provide incentives that do not encourage risk-taking beyond the organization’s ability to effectively identify and manage risks, (ii) be compatible with effective internal controls and risk management, and (iii) be supported by strong corporate governance, including active and effective oversight by the organization’s board of directors. These three principles are incorporated into the proposed joint compensation regulations under the Dodd-Frank Act.

The Federal Reserve reviews, as part of the regular, risk-focused examination process, the incentive compensation arrangements of banking organizations, such as the Company, that are not "large, complex banking organizations." These reviews are tailored to each organization based on the scope and complexity of the organization’s activities and the prevalence of incentive compensation arrangements.

The Bank is subject to federal consumer protection statutes and regulations promulgated under those laws, including, but not limited to the following:

The Bank’s deposit operations are also subject to the following federal statutes and regulations, among others:

The CFPB examines the Bank's compliance with such laws and the regulations under them.

Further, asAs depicted in the graph below, the workforce is comprised of colleagues of the following generations:

Benefits include Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance, Long-Term Disability Insurance, Life Insurance, 401(k) Voluntary Savings Plan, Additional Defined Contribution Retirement Savings Plan, Paid Time Off, Illness/Personal Time, Paid Parental Leave, Childcare Assistance, Wellness Program RockFit, AFLAC, Pet Insurance, and more.

The Company launched a specialized development program, Strategies and Tactics for Emerging Professionals, (STEP), in April 2021 to address the factors that can help advance the careers of professionals of color. AtSince the conclusion of the program, 75%first cohort, 63% of participants had a three year career plan comparedhave been promoted, many more than once, and one participant has been promoted to 21% atan officer-level role. Future cohorts will be launched and the start ofCompany looks forward to the program. Additionally, 100%continued success and development of participants said the program increased their trust, commitment, and loyalty to the organization. Participants will be tracked to monitor their career progression.in this program.

Measures taken in 2020 and 2021 the Company saw improvements in expected overall macro-economic assumptions, continued strong asset quality metrics, and lower organic loan growth. With the continued spread of COVID-19 in the United States, the Company's forecast of macroeconomic conditions and operating results including expected lifetime credit losses on the Company's loan portfolio, is subject to meaningful uncertainty.

The Company is unable to estimate the near-term and ultimate effects of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company's business and operations at this time. The pandemic and the resulting economic effects could cause the Company to experience higher credit losses in its lending portfolio, additional increases in the allowance for credit losses, impairment of goodwill and other financial assets, diminished access to capital markets and other funding sources, further reduced demand for the Company's products and services, and other negative impacts on the Company's financial position, results of operations, and prospects. In addition, while the Company continues to anticipate that its capital and liquidity positions will be sufficient, sustained adverse effects may impair these positions, prevent the Company from satisfying its minimum regulatory capital ratios and other supervisory requirements, and result in downgrades in its credit ratings.

Factors such as inflation, recession, unemployment, money supply, global disorder, instability in domestic and foreign financial markets, political uncertainty, and other factors beyond the Company’s control, may affect interest rates. Changes in market interest rates also affect the level of voluntary prepayments on loans and the receipt of payments on mortgage-backed securities, which can impact the expected timing of receipt of proceeds. Particularly in a decreasing interest rate environment, prepayments may result in proceeds having to be reinvested at a lower rate than the loan or mortgage-backed security being prepaid. Conversely, in a period of rising interest rates such as the current interest rate environment, the interest income earned on the Company’s assets may not increase as rapidly as the interest that the Company pays on its liabilities. Additionally, increases in interest rates may decrease loan demand or make it more difficult for borrowers to repay variable rate loans.

Potential sovereign debt defaults, actions that the U.S. government may take to avoid exceeding the debt ceiling, or uncertainties surrounding the debt ceiling and the federal budget may severely impact global and domestic economies and may lead to significantly tighter liquidity and impact the availability of credit. Economic growth may continue to slow down and the national or global economy may experience additional downturns, including recessionary periods. Market disruption, including potential disruption resulting from inflation and global supply chain interruption, government and central bank policy actions designed to counteract the effects of recession, changes in investor expectations regarding compensation for market risk, credit risk and liquidity risk and changing economic data could impact both the volatility and magnitude of the directional movements of interest rates. Although the Company pursues an asset/liability management strategy designed to manage its risk arising from changes in interest rates, the Company's strategy may not be fully effective, or may be effective in part, and changes in market interest rates can have a material adverse effect on the Company’s profitability.

Although the Company has incorporated LIBOR replacement language in many of its governing documents, the Company will continue to have a significant number of loans, derivative contracts, borrowings and other financial instruments with attributes that are directly or indirectly dependent on LIBOR. The transition from LIBOR could create considerable costs and additional risk for the Company. As proposed alternative rates areSOFR is calculated differently from LIBOR, payments under contracts referencing newSOFR-based rates will differ from those referencing LIBOR. The transition willcould change the Company’s market risk profiles, requiring changes to risk and pricing models, valuation tools, product design and hedging strategies. Further, the Company’s failure to adequately manage the transition process with its customers could impact its reputation. Although the Company is currently unable to assess what the ultimate impact of the transition from LIBOR will be, any market-wide transition away from LIBOR could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The policies and procedures the Company has adopted for the purposes detecting and preventing the use of its banking network for money laundering and related activities may not completely eliminate instances in which the Company may be used by customers to engage in money laundering and other illegal or improper activities. To the extent the Company fails to fully comply with applicable laws and regulations, banking agencies have the authority to impose fines and other penalties on the Company. In addition, the Company’s business and reputation could suffer if customers use its banking network for money laundering or illegal or improper purposes.

Information security risks have increased because of the proliferation of new technologies and the increased sophistication and activities of perpetrators of cyber-attacks. Many financial institutions and service providers to financial institutions have reported significant breaches in the security of their websites or other systems, some of which have involved sophisticated and targeted attacks intended to obtain unauthorized access to confidential information, destroy data, denial-of-service, or sabotage systems, often through the introduction of computer viruses or malware, cyber-attacks and other means. The Company frequently experiences attempted cyber-security attacks against its systems, and expects such attacks will continue, and may intensify, in the future. Although to date the Company has not experienced any material losses relating to cyber-attacks or other information security breaches, there can be no assurance that we will not suffer losses in the future.

The Company expects risk exposure to cyber-attacks will remain elevated or increase in the future due to, among other things, the increasing size and prominence of the Company in the financial services industry, its expansion of Internet and mobile banking tools and products based on customer needs, and its increasing use of operational software hosted on the Internet as more and more software solutions used in the Company’s operations migrate from solutions hosted within the Company’s firewalls to internet-hosted solutions at third partythird-party locations.

To help manage the Company’s cyber-risks, when entering a new vendor relationship, the Company reviews and assesses the cyber-security risk of third-party service providers. A successful cyber-security attack on one of the Company’s third-party service providers could disrupt operations, adversely affect the Company’s business, or result in the disclosure or misuse of the Company’s confidential information, including customer confidential information. There can be no assurance that the precautions the Company takes to seek to manage cyber risk related to third partythird-party service providers will be effective or prevent a cyber-attack that could expose the Company to significant operational costs and damages or reputational harm. Although the Company maintains an insurance policy that it believes provides sufficient coverage at a manageable expense for an institution of the Company’s size and scope with similar technological systems, there can be no assurance that this policy will afford coverage for all possible losses or would be adequate to cover all financial losses, damages, penalties, including lost revenues, should the Company experience any system failure or cyber-attack in one or more Company or third-party systems.

The Company’s risk-based technology and systems or the personnel who monitor such technology and systems may not identify and prevent or effectively mitigate successful cyber-attacks when they occur. Significant operational costs and damages or reputational harm may occur if the Company fails to identify and prevent or effectively mitigate, or there is a delay in identifying, a cyber-attack on its systems, or those of its third-party service providers. Any breach, damage or failure that causes an interruption in operations could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations due to the time and money needed to correct the issue. Computer break-ins, phishing and other disruptions could also jeopardize the security of information stored in and transmitted through Company computer systems and network infrastructure, which may result in litigation or significant liability to the Company and may cause existing and potential customers to refrain from doing business with the Company. Finally, depending on the type of incident, banking regulators may impose restrictions on the Company’s business and consumer laws may require reimbursement of customer losses.

Failure to adapt to or comply with regulatory requirements or investor or stakeholder expectations and standards could negatively impact our reputation, our ability to do business with certain customers, vendors, suppliers or other third parties, the Company’s ability to attract and retain employees and our stock price. The Company could also face negative publicity or reputational harm based on the identity of those with whom we choose to do business. Increased ESG-related compliance costs could result in increases to our overall operational costs, which could impact our profitability. New government regulations could also result in new or more stringent forms of ESG oversight and expanding mandatory and voluntary reporting, diligence, and disclosure, which would result in increased compliance requirements and costs. Any of the foregoing could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

At December 31, 2021,2022, Rockland Trust was involved in pending lawsuits that arose in the ordinary course of business. Management has reviewed these pending lawsuits with legal counsel and has taken into consideration the view of counsel as to their outcome. In the opinion of management, the final disposition of such pending lawsuits is not expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position or results of operations.

(a.) Independent Bank Corp.’s common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol INDB. The Company declared aggregate cash dividends of $1.92$2.08 and $1.84$1.92 per share in 20212022 and in 2020,2021, respectively. The ratio of dividends paid to earnings in 2022 and 2021 was 35.53% and 2020 was 51.85% and 50.21%, respectively.

Payment of dividends by the Company on its common stock is subject to various regulatory restrictions and guidelines. Since substantially all of the funds available for the payment of dividends are derived from the Bank, future dividends will depend on the earnings of the Bank, its financial condition, its need for funds, applicable governmental policies and regulations, and other such matters as the Board of Directors deems appropriate. Management believes that the Bank will continue to generate adequate earnings to continue to pay comparable common dividends on a quarterly basis.

As of February 23, 2022,24, 2023, there were 47,399,98045,064,851 shares of common stock outstanding which were held by approximately 4,3844,196 holders of record. The number of record-holders may not reflect the number of persons or entities holding stock in

The stock performance graph below and associated table compare the cumulative total shareholder return of the Company’s common stock from December 31, 20162017 to December 31, 20212022 to the cumulative total return of the NASDAQ Composite Index (U.S. Companies) and the KBW NASDAQ Bank Index. The lines in the graph and the numbers in the table below represent yearly index levels derived from compounded daily returns that include reinvestment or retention of all dividends. If the yearly interval, based on the last day of a fiscal year, was not a trading day, the preceding trading day was

The following information in this Item 5 of this Report is not deemed to be "soliciting material" or to be "filed" with the SEC or subject to Regulation 14A or 14C under the Exchange Act or to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Exchange Act and will not be deemed incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except to the extent the Company specifically incorporates it by reference into such a filing. The stock price performance shown on the stock performance graph and associated table below is not necessarily indicative of future price performance. Information used in the graph and table was obtained from a third party provider, a source believed to be reliable, but the Company is not responsible for any errors or omissions in such information.

All material intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. When necessary, certain amounts in prior year financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the current year’s presentation. The following should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes.

Management’s assetThe results depicted in the following table reflect the trend of the Company's interest-earning assets over the past five years and reflect a longer term overall strategy that typically emphasizes loan growth however, the mix of the Company's interest earning assets has experienced volatility in recent periods duecommensurate with overall economic growth. Compared to the unique operating environment. For 2021,prior year, the increase in interest-earningcomposition of interest-earnings assets was driven primarily by an increase in commercial loan balances, primarily reflecting the acquisition of Meridian's $4.5 billion commercial portfolio, offset partially by a net reduction in PPP loan balances of $616.2 million during the year endedat December 31, 2021. The Company continued to experience elevated levels of interest earning2022 primarily reflects reduced cash balances driven largely by significant growth in deposits during 2021, a portion of which the Company elected to deploy into investmentdecreased deposit balances and additional securities resulting in net growth of the securities portfolio of $1.5 billion during the year.purchases. The following table summarizes the Company's interest-earning assets as of December 31st for each year presented:

Management strives to be disciplined about loan pricing and considers interest rate sensitivity when generating loan assets. In addition, management takes a disciplined approach to credit underwriting, seeking to avoid undue credit risk and credit losses.

The Company's overall sources of funding reflect strong business and retail deposit growth with a management emphasis on core deposit growth to fund loans. During 2021, the Company experienced significant growth in deposits, which increased $5.9 billion, or 53.9%, from December 31, 2020 to $16.9 billion. This increase was primarily attributable to Meridian acquired deposit balances of $4.4 billion, along with robust new account opening activity. The following chart shows the sources of funding and the percentage of core deposits to total deposits as of December 31st for the trailing five years:

Non-interestNoninterest income represented 20.9% of the Company's total revenue for 2021, and is primarily comprised of deposit account fees, interchange and ATM fees, investment management fees and mortgage banking income. The following chart shows the components of noninterest income over the past five years:

Management seeks to take a balanced approach to noninterest expense control by monitoring ongoing operating expenses while making needed capital expenditures and prudently investing in growth initiatives. The Company’s primary expenses arise from Rockland Trust’s employee salaries and benefits, as well as expenses associated with buildings and equipment. Noninterest expense for the year ended December 31, 2021 was also inclusive of $40.8 million in merger related costs associated with the Meridian acquisition.

The following chart depicts the Company's efficiency ratio on a U.S. GAAP basis (calculated by dividing noninterest expense by the sum of noninterest income and net interest income), as well as the Company's efficiency ratio on a non-GAAP operating basis, (calculated by dividing noninterest expense, excluding certain noncore items, by the sum of noninterest income, excluding certain noncore items, and net interest income) over the past five years:

The Company's approach with respect to revenue and expense is designed to promote long-term earnings growth, which in turn contributes to capital growth. At December 31, 2021, the Company's tangible book valueStrong earnings retention has contributed to capital growth, both on an absolute level and per share was $42.25, representing an increase of 18.7% frombasis, which has been offset in the priorlast year reflecting the immediate accretive impact of the Meridian acquisition, as well as earnings retention.by share repurchases and other comprehensive losses. The following chart shows the Company's book value and tangible book value per share over the past five years:

Cash dividends declared by the Company increased from an aggregate of $1.84 per share in 2020 to $1.92 per share in 2021 to $2.08 per share in 2022, representing an increase of 4.3%8.3%. In 2022, the Company repurchased a total of 1.8 million shares of its common stock at an average price of $78.32 under the January 2022 program which was completed in the third quarter of 2022. In consideration of the Company's strong current capital position, on October 20, 2022 the Company announced a new share repurchase program, which authorizes repurchases by the Company of up to $120 million in common stock. The new plan will be in effect through October 19, 2023 and no repurchases had been executed by the Company under the plan as of December 31, 2022.

When management assesses the Company’s financial performance for purposes of making day-to-day and strategic decisions, it does so based upon the performance of its core banking business, which is primarily derived from the combination of net interest income and noninterest or fee income, reduced by operating expenses, the provision for credit losses, and the impact of income taxes and other noncore items shown in the table that follows. There are items that impact the Company's results that management believes are unrelated to its core banking business such as gains or losses on the sales of securities, merger and acquisition expenses, provision for credit losses on acquired portfolios, loss on extinguishment of debt, impairment, and other items, such as one-time adjustments as a result of changes in laws and regulations. Management, therefore, excludes items management considers to be noncore when computing the Company’s non-GAAP operating earnings and operating EPS, noninterest income on an operating basis and efficiency ratio on an operating basis. Management believes excluding these items facilitates greater visibility into the Company’s core banking business and underlying trends that may, to some extent, be obscured by inclusion of such items.

Management also supplements its evaluation of financial performance with an analysis of tangible book value per share (which is computed by dividing stockholders' equity less goodwill and identifiable intangible assets, or tangible common equity, by common shares outstanding) and with the Company's tangible common equity ratio (which is computed by dividing tangible common equity by tangible assets) which are non-GAAP measures. The Company has included information on these tangible ratios because management believes that investors may find it useful to have access to the same analytical tools used by management to assess performance and identify trends.  The Company has recognized goodwill and other intangible assets in conjunction with merger and acquisition activities.  Excluding the impact of goodwill and other intangibles in measuring asset and capital values for the ratios provided, along with other bank standard capital ratios, facilitates comparison of the capital adequacy of the Company to other companies in the financial services industry.

These non-GAAP measures should not be viewed as a substitute for financial results determined in accordance with GAAP. An item which management deems to be noncore and excludes when computing these non-GAAP measures can be of substantial importance to the Company’s results for any particular period. The Company’s non-GAAP performance measures are not necessarily comparable to similarly named non-GAAP performance measures which may be presented by other companies.

The following table summarizes the impact of noncore items on net income and reconciles non-GAAP net operating earnings to net income available to common shareholders for the periods indicated:

The following table summarizes the impact of noncore items with respect to the Company's total revenue, noninterest income as a percentage of total revenue, and the efficiency ratio for the periods indicated: