Investor Contact Information:
Anthony V. Cosentino
Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer
Tony.Cosentino@YourStateBank.com
SB Financial Group, Inc. Announces First-Quarter 2014 Results
Continued improvements in asset quality and expense reduction
DEFIANCE, Ohio, April 21, 2014 -- SB Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SBFG), a diversified financial services company providing full-service community banking, mortgage banking, wealth management and item processing services, today reported earnings for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014.
| · | First quarter earnings per share of 20 cents, a reflection of slowdown in mortgage originations industry-wide |
| · | Loan growth of 5.8 percent, up $26.5 million from the prior year |
| · | Nonperforming assets at 1.05 percent of total assets |
| · | Operating expenses declined 8.9 percent from the prior year |
Highlights* | | Three Months Ended | |
(in $000’s except ratios and per share data) | | Mar. 2014 | | | Mar. 2013 | |
Net interest income (FTE) | | $ | 4,923 | | | $ | 5,392 | |
Noninterest income | | | 2,559 | | | | 3,567 | |
Noninterest expense | | | 6,079 | | | | 6,670 | |
Net income | | | 980 | | | | 1,318 | |
Earnings per share | | | 0.20 | | | | 0.27 | |
Net interest margin (FTE) | | | 3.46 | % | | | 3.86 | % |
Return on assets | | | 0.61 | | | | 0.83 | |
Return on equity | | | 6.88 | | | | 9.82 | |
* Consolidated earnings for SB Financial include the results of the Company’s Banking Group, consisting primarily of The State Bank and Trust Company (“State Bank” or the “Bank”), and the Company’s data services subsidiary, Rurbanc Data Services, Inc. (dba “RDSI Banking Systems” or “RDSI”).
“Despite the hurdles facing the entire banking industry that constrained our performance in the first quarter, we were pleased to continue to make progress against our strategic plan to expand our loan portfolio, reduce our expenses and to improve our asset quality,” said Mark Klein, President and Chief Executive Officer of SB Financial Group.
Mr. Klein added, “We remain committed to becoming a top-quartile performing financial services company through the ongoing execution of our key strategies: to strengthen our revenue diversity by developing additional sources of non-interest income; to grow our market share by committing more resources to newer, lower-share, higher-growth-potential markets; to increase our product service utilization through expanded relationships with new and existing customers; to deliver gains in operational excellence through organic growth within the current infrastructure; and, to sustain asset quality by maintaining a high-quality loan portfolio.”
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Consolidated Revenue
Total revenue, consisting of net interest income on a fully tax equivalent (FTE) basis and noninterest income, was down 16.5 percent from the first quarter of 2013 and down 7.0 percent from the linked quarter.
| · | Net interest income (FTE) was down 8.7 percent for the first quarter and down 3.4 percent compared to the linked quarter |
| · | Net interest margin (FTE) was down 40 basis points for the first quarter and down 11 basis points to the linked quarter |
| · | Noninterest income was down $1.0 million, or 28.3 percent, for the first quarter, and $0.4 million, or 13.2 percent, for the linked quarter |
Mr. Klein commented, “Our first quarter results were impacted by the headwinds affecting the overall banking industry: interest rate pressure, sluggish mortgage loan originations and the inclement weather here in the Midwest, as we will discuss in the following sections.”
Mortgage Loan Business
For the first quarter of 2014, mortgage loan originations were $33.6 million, down $38.4 million, or 53.3 percent, from the year-ago first quarter, and down $6.1 million, or 15.3 percent, from the linked quarter.
Net mortgage banking income, consisting of gains on the sale of mortgage loans and net loan servicing fees, was $0.8 million for the first quarter of 2014, compared to $1.7 million for the year-ago quarter. The mortgage servicing valuation adjustment for first-quarter 2014 was a negative $0.02 million, in line with the linked quarter. The mortgage servicing portfolio at March 31, 2014, was $609.4 million, up $60.9 million, or 11.1 percent, from March 31, 2013.
Mr. Klein noted, “We remained focused on pursuing more opportunities in newer, lower-market-share regions, with more originators on the ground across our footprint, and new facilities in markets like Columbus. We have just signed an agreement to sell fixed rate construction loans to a correspondent bank that will allow us to compete in this expanding market while eliminating our interest rate risk.”
Mortgage Banking ($000’s) | | Three Months Ended | |
| | Mar. 2014 | | | Dec. 2013 | | | Sep. 2013 | | | Jun. 2013 | | | Mar. 2013 | |
Mortgage originations | | $ | 33,602 | | | $ | 39,679 | | | $ | 55,192 | | | $ | 81,945 | | | $ | 71,967 | |
Mortgage sales | | | 27,961 | | | | 33,921 | | | | 58,101 | | | | 67,050 | | | | 68,431 | |
Mortgage servicing portfolio | | | 609,419 | | | | 605,993 | | | | 597,030 | | | | 575,091 | | | | 548,493 | |
Mortgage servicing rights | | | 5,228 | | | | 5,180 | | | | 5,076 | | | | 4,613 | | | | 4,068 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Mortgage servicing revenue: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Loan servicing fees | | | 380 | | | | 388 | | | | 367 | | | | 350 | | | | 338 | |
OMSR amortization | | | (117 | ) | | | (126 | ) | | | (164 | ) | | | (205 | ) | | | (330 | ) |
Net administrative fees | | | 263 | | | | 262 | | | | 203 | | | | 145 | | | | 8 | |
OMSR valuation adjustment | | | (18 | ) | | | (21 | ) | | | 205 | | | | 273 | | | | 171 | |
Net loan servicing fees | | | 245 | | | | 241 | | | | 408 | | | | 418 | | | | 179 | |
Gain on sale of mortgages | | | 572 | | | | 776 | | | | 1,356 | | | | 1,450 | | | | 1,484 | |
Mortgage banking revenue, net | | $ | 817 | | | $ | 1,017 | | | $ | 1,764 | | | $ | 1,868 | | | $ | 1,663 | |
Fee Income and Noninterest Expense
SB Financial’s fee income includes revenue from a diverse group of services, such as wealth management, deposit fees and income from bank-owned life insurance. Wealth management assets under management stood at $335.9 million as of the first quarter of 2014. For the quarter, fee income as a percent of total revenue was 34.7 percent, down slightly from the prior year.
For the first quarter of 2014, noninterest expense (NIE) was down $0.6 million, or 8.9 percent, compared to the first quarter of 2013, and was down 1.9 percent from the linked quarter. Costs related to credit and collection have declined from the prior year and our FDIC assessment was down 16.5 percent.
“Our fee income continues to be a competitive strength, particularly in the current interest-rate environment.” Mr. Klein noted. “In addition, strategic decisions made during the past year to reduce our expense levels are helping us make progress towards our goal of operational excellence. For example, we will be closing our one and only “in-store” office here in Defiance in the third quarter.”
Fee Income / Noninterest Expense (000’s) | |
| | Mar. 2014 | | | Dec. 2013 | | | Sep. 2013 | | | Jun. 2013 | | | Mar. 2013 | |
Fee Income | | $ | 2,559 | | | $ | 2,949 | | | $ | 3,710 | | | $ | 3,820 | | | $ | 3,567 | |
Fee Income / Total Revenue | | | 34.7 | % | | | 37.1 | % | | | 41.8 | % | | | 41.7 | % | | | 40.3 | % |
Fee Income / Average Assets | | | 1.6 | % | | | 1.8 | % | | | 2.3 | % | | | 2.4 | % | | | 2.2 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Noninterest Expense | | $ | 6,079 | | | $ | 6,199 | | | $ | 6,562 | | | $ | 7,080 | | | $ | 6,670 | |
Efficiency Ratio | | | 80.6 | % | | | 76.4 | % | | | 72.4 | % | | | 75.5 | % | | | 73.6 | % |
NIE / Average Assets | | | 3.8 | % | | | 3.8 | % | | | 4.1 | % | | | 4.4 | % | | | 4.2 | % |
Balance Sheet
Total assets as of March 31, 2014, were $646.3 million, up 1.0 percent from the year-ago quarter. Total deposits as of March 31, 2014, were $532.7 million, flat from the prior-year quarter.
Total loans held for investment (HFI) were $481.9 million at March 31, 2014, up $26.5 million, or 5.8 percent, from the year-ago quarter. Commercial real estate loans accounted for the majority of growth, up $12.9 million, or 6.5 percent. Commercial and residential real estate loans rose $5.3 million and $8.2 million, respectively. Consumer loans included the growth in our branded credit card portfolio, with $0.9 million in balances and $5.6 million in available credit lines.
The investment portfolio of $97.1 million represented 15.0 percent of assets at March 31, 2014, which was down slightly from the prior year. Deposit balances of $532.7 million at March 31, 2014 have increased by $14.5 million since December 31, 2013. Growth for the quarter included $9.7 million in checking and $4.8 million in time deposit balances.
Mr. Klein stated, “Our growth in total loans of nearly 6 percent was certainly a bright spot. Additionally, we are focused on the sales of other government guaranteed credits, like the SBA and USDA. We were just granted preferred lending status from the Small Business Administration allowing us to increase our production from that lending product.”
Loan Portfolio ($000’s) | | Mar. 2014 | | | Dec. 2013 | | | Sep. 2013 | | | Jun. 2013 | | | Mar. 2013 | | | Variance YOY | |
Commercial | | $ | 85,701 | | | $ | 85,368 | | | $ | 81,571 | | | $ | 84,766 | | | $ | 80,431 | | | $ | 5,270 | |
% of Total | | | 17.8 | % | | | 17.9 | % | | | 17.2 | % | | | 18.3 | % | | | 17.7 | % | | | 6.6 | % |
Commercial RE | | | 212,502 | | | | 205,301 | | | | 209,739 | | | | 199,795 | | | | 199,615 | | | | 12,887 | |
% of Total | | | 44.1 | % | | | 43.0 | % | | | 44.1 | % | | | 43.1 | % | | | 43.8 | % | | | 6.5 | % |
Agriculture | | | 39,028 | | | | 39,210 | | | | 39,636 | | | | 38,552 | | | | 37,950 | | | | 1,078 | |
% of Total | | | 8.1 | % | | | 8.2 | % | | | 8.3 | % | | | 8.3 | % | | | 8.3 | % | | | 2.8 | % |
Residential RE | | | 97,857 | | | | 99,620 | | | | 96,477 | | | | 93,292 | | | | 89,669 | | | | 8,188 | |
% of Total | | | 20.3 | % | | | 20.9 | % | | | 20.3 | % | | | 20.1 | % | | | 19.7 | % | | | 9.1 | % |
Consumer & Other | | | 46,836 | | | | 47,804 | | | | 47,810 | | | | 47,630 | | | | 47,778 | | | | (942 | ) |
% of Total | | | 9.7 | % | | | 10.0 | % | | | 10.1 | % | | | 10.3 | % | | | 10.5 | % | | | (2.0 | %) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Total Loans | | $ | 481,924 | | | $ | 477,303 | | | $ | 475,233 | | | $ | 464,035 | | | $ | 455,443 | | | $ | 26,481 | |
Total Growth Percentage | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 5.8% | |
Asset Quality
SB Financial continues to improve its asset quality, reporting nonperforming assets of $6.8 million as of March 31, 2014, declining by $1.5 million, or 18.4 percent, from the year-ago quarter. Our 1.05 percent level of nonperforming to total assets was the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2008. Delinquency levels have declined, with the 30-89 day category totaling $0.1 million at the end of the first quarter of 2014, compared to $0.7 million at prior-year first quarter. Coverage of problem loans by the loan loss allowance was 109 percent at March 31, 2014.
Summary of Nonperforming Assets ($000’s) | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Nonperforming Loan Category | | Mar. 2014 | | | Dec. 2013 | | | Sep. 2013 | | | Jun. 2013 | | | Mar. 2013 | |
Commercial | | $ | 1,818 | | | $ | 2,316 | | | $ | 2,738 | | | $ | 982 | | | $ | 1,135 | |
% of Total Commercial loans | | | 2.1 | % | | | 2.7 | % | | | 3.4 | % | | | 1.2 | % | | | 1.4 | % |
Commercial RE loans | | | 753 | | | | 532 | | | | 642 | | | | 519 | | | | 457 | |
% of Total CRE loans | | | 0.4 | % | | | 0.3 | % | | | 0.3 | % | | | 0.3 | % | | | 0.2 | % |
Residential RE | | | 1,555 | | | | 1,651 | | | | 1,837 | | | | 2,285 | | | | 2,614 | |
% of Total Res. RE loans | | | 1.6 | % | | | 1.7 | % | | | 1.9 | % | | | 2.5 | % | | | 2.9 | % |
Consumer & Other | | | 280 | | | | 345 | | | | 363 | | | | 600 | | | | 605 | |
% of Consumer & Other loans | | | 0.6 | % | | | 0.7 | % | | | 0.8 | % | | | 1.3 | % | | | 1.3 | % |
Total Nonaccruing Loans | | | 4,406 | | | | 4,844 | | | | 5,580 | | | | 4,386 | | | | 4,811 | |
% of Total Loans | | | 0.9 | % | | | 1.0 | % | | | 1.2 | % | | | 1.0 | % | | | 1.0 | % |
Accruing Restructured Loans | | | 1,793 | | | | 1,739 | | | | 1,756 | | | | 1,262 | | | | 1,273 | |
Total Nonaccruing & Restructured | | $ | 6,199 | | | $ | 6,583 | | | $ | 7,336 | | | $ | 5,648 | | | $ | 6,084 | |
% of Total Loans | | | 1.3 | % | | | 1.4 | % | | | 1.5 | % | | | 1.2 | % | | | 1.3 | % |
OREO & Repossessed Vehicles | | | 615 | | | | 651 | | | | 1,430 | | | | 1,955 | | | | 2,270 | |
Total Nonperforming Assets | | $ | 6,814 | | | $ | 7,233 | | | $ | 8,766 | | | $ | 7,603 | | | $ | 8,354 | |
% of Total Assets | | | 1.1 | % | | | 1.1 | % | | | 1.4 | % | | | 1.2 | % | | | 1.3 | % |
Capitalization
Improving capital ratios remains an important focus of management. The tangible equity ratio improved by 52 basis points over the past year and stood at 6.4 percent as of March 31, 2014. All bank regulatory ratios remain in excess of "well-capitalized" levels. At March 31, 2014, State Bank's Total Risk-Based Capital was estimated to be $61.1 million, $22.3 million above the “well-capitalized” level. The Total Risk-Based Capital Ratio is estimated at 12.6 percent.
About SB Financial Group
Headquartered in Defiance, Ohio, SB Financial Group, Inc. is a diversified financial services holding company with two wholly-owned operating subsidiaries: State Bank and RDSI Banking Systems (RDSI). State Bank provides a full range of financial services for consumers and small businesses, including wealth management, mortgage banking and commercial and agricultural lending, operating through 17 banking centers in seven northwestern Ohio counties and one center in Fort Wayne, Indiana, as well as three loan production offices located in Columbus, Ohio, and Angola, Indiana. RDSI provides item processing services to community banks located primarily in the Midwest. SB Financial Group, Inc.’s common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol SBFG.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements within this document, which are not statements of historical fact, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from those predicted by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties inherent in the national and regional banking, insurance and mortgage industries, competitive factors specific to markets in which SB Financial Group and its subsidiaries operate, future interest rate levels, legislative and regulatory actions, capital market conditions, general economic conditions, geopolitical events, the loss of key personnel and other factors. Additional factors that could cause results to differ from those described above can be found in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and documents subsequently filed by SB Financial Group with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and SB Financial Group undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made, except as required by law. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to SB Financial Group or any person acting on its behalf are qualified by these cautionary statements.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In addition to results presented in accordance with GAAP, this release contains certain non-GAAP financial measures. Management believes that providing certain non-GAAP financial measures provides investors with information useful in understanding the Company’s financial performance, its performance trends and financial position. Specifically, SB Financial Group provides measures based on “core operating earnings,” which excludes merger, integration and restructuring expenses that are not reflective of on-going operations or not expected to recur. These non-GAAP measures should not be considered a substitute for GAAP basis measures and results.