Exhibit 99.1
Severn Bancorp, Inc.
| |
For Immediate Release | Contact: |
| Vance Adkins |
| Chief Financial Officer |
| Email: vadkins@severnbank.com |
| Phone: 410.260.2000 |
Severn Bancorp, Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter Earnings
Annapolis, MD, February 1, 2021 (PRNewswire) – Severn Bancorp, Inc. (the Company) (NASDAQ: SVBI), the parent company of Severn Bank (the Bank), reported net income of $2.5 million for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2020 and $6.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to $1.2 million and $8.3 million for the same periods in 2019. Earnings per share on a fully diluted basis were $0.20 for the fourth quarter and $0.52 per share for the year ended 2020, down from $0.09 and $0.64 per share, respectively, from the fourth quarter and year ended 2019.
Response to COVID-19
The Company continues to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and is attempting to keep employees and customers safe through remote working, social distancing, wearing masks, appointment-only branch banking, and following other protocols that are designed to avoid COVID-19 exposure.
The Company is closely monitoring the effects of the pandemic on our loan and deposit customers. Our management team is focused on assessing the risks in our loan portfolio and working with customers to minimize losses. The Company also continued to participate in the SBA Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help disburse loans to our business customers to provide them with additional working capital.
“The Company had a successful fourth quarter, our best quarter of 2020. The continued high volume of residential mortgage originations and growth of commercial relationships and new personal accounts has contributed well to earnings. The Bank continues to be a strong resource to the local business community, while originating a record amount of residential mortgages,” said Alan J. Hyatt, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Even at a time of economic uncertainty, Severn Bank emerged strong and well poised to weather any upcoming economic challenges,” Mr. Hyatt said.
Income Statement
Net interest income was $7.6 million for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2020 and $27.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to $6.9 million and $30.5 million for the same periods in 2019. The year over year decreases in interest income was driven by lower volumes of earning assets, particularly from significantly lower interest rates earned on medical-use cannabis related deposits that were invested in fed funds or interest bearing deposits with other banks and earned higher interest income during 2019. Also, loan interest income decreased from lower average loan volumes as well as lower yielding PPP loans, which was slightly offset by a reduction in interest expense from lower deposit rates and less reliance on borrowings.
Provision expense was $50 thousand for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2020 and $900 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to no provision and a negative provision of $500 thousand for the same periods in 2019. The ratio of the allowance for loan losses to gross loans was 1.35% at December 31, 2020. Excluding PPP loans, the ratio of the allowance for loan losses to gross loans was 1.42% at December 31, 2020, higher than the 1.11% level at December 31, 2019. The primary drivers of the increased percentage of the allowance to total loans were increases in qualitative factors from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and net recoveries during the year.