The impact of the virus has been felt nationally and within our primary market area as unemployment rates had been elevated but have since returned to more historically normal levels. The unemployment rate is now substantially lower for the United States and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and was 5.9% and 6.4%, respectively, in June 2021 compared to 11.1% and 13.2%, respectively, in June 2020. The average unemployment rate for counties in our market area decreased to 6.2% in June 2021 compared to 12.2% in June 2021. The resulting impacts of the pandemic and subsequent government stimulus programs on consumer and business customers has caused changes in consumer and business spending, borrowing needs, and saving habits. This has also affected the demand for loans and other products and services we offer, as well as the creditworthiness of potential and current borrowers and delinquency rates. Our business and consumer customers continue to experience varying degrees of financial distress, but overall, there has been continued improvement and stability in credit quality metrics associated with our loan portfolio.
Inflationary pressures continue to increase even as Federal stimulus programs reduce economic impact payments which had provided funds to the personal and business sectors. The Personal Consumption Expenditures (“PCE”) index, excluding food and energy prices, increased 6.4% in the second quarter of 2021 compared to 2.7% in the first quarter of 2021. While stimulus payments have helped to increase demand by providing cash to consumers and businesses, supply-side limitations have reduced availability of goods and have helped increase prices on certain goods, all which will have an impact on future Federal Open Market Committee (“FOMC”) actions related to short-term interest rates. Prior year monetary policy actions by the FOMC to decrease the target Federal Funds rate to a range of 0% to 0.25% have adversely impacted the Company’s net interest margin and will continue to compress earnings on earning assets.
On June 30, 2021, Riverview entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with Mid Penn Bancorp, Inc. (“Mid Penn”) pursuant to which Riverview will merge with and into Mid Penn (the “Merger”), with Mid Penn being the surviving corporation in the Merger. Upon consummation of the Merger, Riverview Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Riverview, will be merged with and into Mid Penn Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mid Penn, with Mid Penn Bank being the surviving bank in the Bank Merger. The Merger Agreement was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of Mid Penn and Riverview. The Merger is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021. Subject to the terms and conditions of the Merger Agreement, upon consummation of the Merger, each share of common stock of Riverview will be converted into 0.4833 shares of Mid Penn common stock, subject to the payment of cash in lieu of fractional shares. For additional information related to the Merger and Merger Agreement refer to the Securities and Exchange Commission Report filed by Riverview on July 2, 2021.
Review of Financial Position:
Total assets decreased $142,813 to $1,214,741 at June 30, 2021, from $1,357,554 at December 31, 2020. Loans, net, decreased to $948,740 at June 30, 2021, compared to $1,139,239 at December 31, 2020, a decrease of $190,499. The decrease in loans was due primarily to SBA forgiveness payments on PPP loans. Approximately 75.0%, amounting to $188,866 of outstanding PPP loans at December 31, 2020, were forgiven in the first half of 2021. Business lending, including commercial and commercial real estate loans, decreased $161,817, retail lending, including residential mortgages and consumer loans, decreased $10,780, and construction lending decreased $17,902 during the six months ended June 30, 2021. Investment securities increased $44,353, or 42.8%, in the six months ended June 30, 2021. Noninterest-bearing deposits increased $10,293, while interest-bearing deposits increased $18,762 during the six months ended June 30, 2021. Total stockholders’ equity increased $6,933, to $104,365 at June 30, 2021 from $97,432 at
year-end
2020. The increase in stockholders’ equity was caused primarily by the recognition of net income offset partially by a change in accumulated other comprehensive income. For the six months ended June 30, 2021, total assets averaged $1,338,729, an increase of $149,643 from $1,189,086 for the same period in 2020.
The Company’s entire investment portfolio is held as
which allows for greater flexibility in using the investment portfolio for liquidity purposes by allowing securities to be sold when favorable market opportunities exist. Investment securities
totaled $148,048 at June 30, 2021, an increase of $44,353, or 42.8%, from $103,695 at December 31, 2020. Activity in the investment portfolio during the first half of 2021, included purchases of $74,503, sales of $19,519 and repayments of $8,056. As a result of modest loan demand in the first six months of 2021, excess funds from SBA forgiveness were utilized to increase the investment portfolio. Purchases consisted of $19,391 of U.S. Treasury securities, $8,000 of corporate bonds, and $14,553 of U. S. Government mortgage-backed securities and $32,559 of state and municipal obligations. The
tax-equivalent
yield on the bonds purchased in the first six months of 2021 was 1.73%. In an effort to reduce interest rate risk, we sold $9,622 of U.S. Treasury securities, $3,482 of corporate bonds, $4,334 of
tax-exempt
state and municipal obligations and $2,081 of U.S. Government-sponsored enterprises. The net gain on the sale amounted to $273 in the six months ended June 30, 2021 compared to a net gain of $815 recognized for the same period last year.
For the six months ended June 30, 2021, the investment portfolio averaged $141,404, an increase of $67,054 compared to $74,350 for the same period last year. The
tax-equivalent
yield on the investment portfolio decreased 85 basis points to 2.03% for the six months ended June 30, 2021, from 2.88% for the comparable period of 2020.
Securities
are carried at fair value, with unrealized gains or losses net of deferred income taxes reported in the accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) component of stockholders’ equity. We reported net unrealized losses of $61, net of deferred income tax of $13 at June 30, 2021, and net unrealized gains of $1,962, net of deferred income taxes of $412 at December 31, 2020. The change in the unrealized holding gain was the result of increases in general market rates.