• | changes in political conditions or the legislative or regulatory environment, including governmental initiatives affecting the financial services industry; |
• | changes in economic conditions resulting in, among other things, a deterioration in credit quality; |
• | changes occurring in business conditions and inflation; |
• | changes in access to funding or increased regulatory requirements with regard to funding; |
• | increased cybersecurity risk, including potential business disruptions or financial losses; |
• | changes in deposit flows; |
• | the adequacy of the level of our allowance for loan losses and the amount of loan loss provisions required in future periods; |
• | examinations by our regulatory authorities, including the possibility that the regulatory authorities may, among other things, require us to increase our allowance for loan losses or write-down assets; |
• | changes in monetary and tax policies; |
• | changes in accounting policies and practices; |
• | the rate of delinquencies and amounts of loans charged-off; |
• | the rate of loan growth in recent years and the lack of seasoning of a portion of our loan portfolio; |
• | our ability to maintain appropriate levels of capital and to comply with our capital ratio requirements; |
• | our ability to attract and retain key personnel; |
• | our ability to retain our existing clients, including our deposit relationships; |
• | adverse changes in asset quality and resulting credit risk-related losses and expenses; and |
• | other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in our filings with the SEC. |
If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if any of the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements proves to be incorrect, our results could differ materially from those expressed, implied or projected by us in such forward-looking statements. For information with respect to factors that could cause actual results to differ from the expectations stated in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" under Part I, Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. We urge investors to consider all of these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. We make these forward-looking statements as of the date of this document and we do not intend, and assume no obligation, to update the forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those expressed, implied or projected by us in the forward-looking statements.
OVERVIEW
We are a bank holding company headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, and were incorporated in March 1999 under the laws of South Carolina. We provide a wide range of banking services and products to our clients through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Southern First Bank, a South Carolina state bank. We do not engage in any significant operations other than the ownership of Bank.
The Bank is primarily engaged in the business of accepting demand deposits and savings deposits insured by the FDIC, and providing commercial, consumer and mortgage loans to the general public. We currently have eight offices located in Greenville, Lexington, Richland, and Charleston Counties of South Carolina. In December 2012, we opened our Charleston office at 480 East Bay Street, Charleston, South Carolina and our third full-service office in Columbia, South Carolina. During the second quarter of 2013, we purchased a piece of property
for a future full-service office in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. This office will be our second office in the Charleston, South Carolina market.
Our business model continues to be client-focused, utilizing relationship teams to provide our clients with a specific banker contact and support team responsible for all of their banking needs. The purpose of this structure is to provide a consistent and superior level of professional service, and we believe it provides us with a distinct competitive advantage. We consider exceptional client service to be a critical part of our culture, which we refer to as "ClientFIRST."
At June 30, 2013, we had total assets of $839.0 million, a 5.1% increase from total assets of $798.0 million at December 31, 2012. The largest components of our total assets are net loans and investment securities which were $677.9 million and $75.6 million, respectively, at June 30, 2013. Comparatively, our net loans and investment securities totaled $636.9 million and $86.0 million, respectively, at December 31, 2012. Our liabilities and shareholders' equity at June 30, 2013 totaled $775.4 million and $63.6 million, respectively, compared to liabilities of $733.9 million and shareholders' equity of $64.1 million at December 31, 2012. The principal component of our liabilities is deposits which were $632.1 million and $576.3 million at June 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, respectively.
Like most community banks, we derive the majority of our income from interest received on our loans and investments. Our primary source of funds for making these loans and investments is our deposits, on which we pay interest. Consequently, one of the key measures of our success is our amount of net interest income, or the difference between the income on our interest-earning assets, such as loans and investments, and the expense on our interest-bearing liabilities, such as deposits and borrowings. Another key measure is the spread between the yield we earn on these interest-earning assets and the rate we pay on our interest-bearing liabilities, which is called our net interest spread. In addition to earning interest on our loans and investments, we earn income through fees and other charges to our clients.
Our net income was $1.3 million and $815,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively, an increase of $485,000, or 59.5%. After our dividend payment to our preferred shareholders, net income to common shareholders was $1.1 million, or diluted earnings per share ("EPS") of $0.25, for the second quarter of 2013 as compared to net income to common shareholders of $589,000, or diluted EPS of $0.13 for the same period in 2012. The increase in net income resulted primarily from increases in net interest income and noninterest income as well as a decrease in the provision for loan losses.
Our net income was $2.3 million and $1.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively, an increase of $759,000, or 50.5%. After our dividend payment to our preferred shareholders, net income to common shareholders was $1.9 million, or diluted EPS of $0.43, for the six months ended June 30, 2013 as compared to net income to common shareholders of $988,000, or diluted EPS of $0.23, for the same period in 2012. The increase in net income resulted primarily from increases in net interest income and noninterest income as well as a decrease in the provision for loan losses.
Economic conditions, competition, and the monetary and fiscal policies of the Federal government significantly affect most financial institutions, including the Bank. Lending and deposit activities and fee income generation are influenced by levels of business spending and investment, consumer income, consumer spending and savings, capital market activities, and competition among financial institutions, as well as customer preferences, interest rate conditions and prevailing market rates on competing products in our market areas.
Effect of Economic Trends
The twelve months ended December 31, 2012 and the first six months of 2013 continue to reflect the tumultuous economic conditions which have negatively impacted the liquidity and credit quality of financial institutions in the United States. Concerns regarding increased credit losses from the weakening economy have negatively affected capital and earnings of most financial institutions. Financial institutions have experienced significant declines in the value of collateral for real estate loans, heightened credit losses, which have resulted in record levels of non-performing assets, charge-offs and foreclosures. In addition, during the past four years, hundreds of financial