The index utilized in a significant portion of the Company’s variable rate loans, Wall Street Journal Prime, has increased by 0.50% to 5.50% at June 30, 2019 as compared to 5.00% at June 30, 2018. As compared to the same quarter in the prior year, average loan yields increased 43 basis points from 5.06% during the three months ended June 30, 2018 to 5.49% during the three months ended June 30, 2019. Of the 43 basis point increase in yields on loans, 31 basis points was attributable to increases in market rates while 12 basis points was from increased accretion of purchased loans.
As of June 30, 2019, the Bank’s $4,152,540,000 principal balance of loans, net of charge-offs, and not including deferred loan fees and purchase discounts, was made up of loans with principal balances totaling $1,352,921,000 that have fixed interest rates, and $2,799,619,000 of loans with interest rates that are variable.
The organic growth in deposits was driven primarily by normal and expected seasonal trends as well as the impact of deposit customer’s receipt of insurance proceeds from the property and casualty losses incurred in connection with the wildfires in Northern California. This growth in deposits allowed for the repayment of overnight borrowings resulting in a reduction in interest expense of $549,000 which was partially offset by the changes in volumes and rates associated with deposit products. During the twelve months ended June 30, 2019, the Federal Funds Target Rate was increased two times in 25 basis point increments from 2.00% to 2.50%. The Company’s cost of interest-bearing deposits increased from 33 basis points during the six months ended June 30, 2018 to 40 basis points during the six months ended June 30, 2019.
Net interest income (FTE) during the six months ended June 30, 2019 increased $37,324,000 or 40.8% to $128,804,000 compared to $91,480,000 during the six months ended June 30, 2018. The increase in net interest income (FTE) was due primarily to an increase in the average balance of loans, which was partially offset by an increase in the average balance of interest-bearing liabilities and a 7 basis point increase in the average rate paid on interest-bearing liabilities.
During the six months ended June 30, 2019, the average balance of loans increased by $967,802,000 or 31.6% to $4,033,954,000. The increase in net interest income was further benefited by an increase in the
year-to-date
purchased loan discount accretion from $1,191,000 during the six months ended June 30, 2018 to $3,559,000 during the six months ended June 30, 2019. This increase in purchased loan discount accretion benefited loan yields by 8 basis points, and net interest margin by 5 basis points. The 7 basis point increase in the average rate paid on interest-bearing liabilities was primarily due to increases in market rates that increased the rates the Company pays on its time deposits. However, the growth in total average deposits during the comparable
six-month
periods allowed for the repayment of overnight borrowings which, combined with changes in related rates, contributed to a decrease in interest expense of $878,000.
Asset Quality and Loan Loss Provisioning
The Company continued to experience improvement in the overall credit quality of its loan portfolio. At June 30, 2019, total nonperforming loans decreased to $21,690,000 or 0.53% of total loans from $27,494,000 or 0.68% of total loans as of December 31, 2018.
The Company recorded provision for loan losses of $537,000 during the three months ended June 30, 2019 as compared to a benefit from the reversal of provision of $638,000 in the same quarter of the prior year. The provision was necessitated in part by loan growth of $69,356,000 during the quarter and partially offset by $267,000 in net recoveries on previously
charged-off
loans during the second quarter of 2019 as compared to net recoveries of $189,000 in the second quarter of 2018. Additionally, while the Company remains cautious about the risks associated with trends in California real estate prices, the duration of economic trends and concentrations of credit, the qualitative factors associated with these measures reduced the level of calculated required reserves by approximately $632,000 during the quarter ended June 30, 2019, therefore, changes in those risks could result in additional levels of provisioning being required in the future.