Exhibit 99.1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For further information contact:
Donald A. Williams, President & CEO
Michael J. Janosco Jr., CFO
413-568-1911
Westfield Financial, Inc. Reports Results for the Year and Quarter Ended
December 31, 2004
Westfield, Massachusetts, January 26, 2005: (AMEX:WFD) Westfield Financial,
Inc. (the "Company"), the holding company for Westfield Bank (the "Bank"),
reported net income for the three months ended December 31, 2004 of $1.5
million or $0.16 per diluted share, versus $1.5 million, or $0.14 per
diluted share, for the comparable prior year period. Net income for the
year ended December 31, 2004 was $6.3 million, or $0.64 per diluted share,
versus $3.7 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, for the prior year.
As previously reported, the Company's 2003 results included a charge of
$1.45 million representing the additional state tax liability, including
interest, relating to the deduction for dividends received from the Bank's
real estate investment trust subsidiary for 2002 and prior years.
Donald A. Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We
continue to execute our strategic plan of growing our commercial business
relationships. Commercial real estate loans and commercial and industrial
loans increased $22.5 million or 10.4% to $239.1 million at December 31,
2004 from $216.6 million at December 31, 2003." Mr. Williams also stated,
"The Board of Directors declared a $0.10 cash dividend on January 25, 2005
to all shareholders of record on February 10, 2005 payable on February 24,
2005."
Net interest and dividend income for the year and three months ended
December 31, 2004 was $23.5 million and $6.1 million, respectively,
compared with $21.8 million and $5.6 million for the year and three months
ended December 31, 2003. Net interest margin for the year and three months
ended December 31, 2004 was 3.13% and 3.20%, respectively, compared with
2.86% and 2.88% for the same periods in 2003.
Net gains from sales of securities for the year and three months ended
December 31, 2004 were $877,000 and $10,000 respectively. This compares
with net gains of $409,000 and $276,000 for the same periods in 2003. This
is primarily the result of the Company selling its common stock portfolio
in 2004.
The provision for loan losses for the year and three months ended December
31, 2004 was $750,000 and $275,000, compared with $750,000 and $250,000 for
the same periods in 2003.
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Noninterest income for the year and three months ended December 31,2004 was
$3.0 million and $767,000, respectively, compared to $2.7 million and
$640,000 for the year and three months ended December 31, 2003. Net
checking account processing fee income was $1.7 million and $421,000 for
the year and three months ended December 31, 2004 as compared to $1.0
million and $275,000 for the same periods in 2003. The increase is a result
of new products and services provided to Westfield Bank's checking account
customers commencing in the second quarter of 2004. Fees received from the
third party mortgage company were $100,000 and $35,000 for the year and
three months ended December 30, 2004 as compared to $340,000 and $39,000
for the same periods in 2003. Higher market interest rates resulted in
reduced mortgage origination activity and fewer referrals to the third
party mortgage company. Fee income from the third party mortgage company in
the future may be affected by borrower activity, which generally decreases
in rising interest rate environment.
Noninterest expense for the year and three months ended December 31, 2004
was $17.8 million and $4.5 million, respectively, compared to $17.6 million
and $4.2 million respectively, for the same periods in 2003.
Total assets increased $1.7 million to $796.9 million at December 31, 2004
from $795.2 million at December 31, 2003. Net loans during this period
increased by $23.6 million, or 6.8%, to $368.6 million at December 31, 2004
from $345.0 million at December 31, 2003. Securities for the year ended
December 31, 2004 decreased $28.7 million, or 7.9%, to $334.9 million at
December 31, 2004 from $363.6 million at December 31, 2003.
Total deposits decreased $19.8 million from $632.4 million at December 31,
2003 to $612.6 million at December 31, 2004. The decrease in deposits was
primarily the result of a decrease of $21.1 million in term deposits, which
were $313.1 million at December 31, 2004. The strategic plan calls for a
lesser reliance on term deposits.
The decrease in deposits was offset by increases in customer repurchase
agreements and Federal Home Loan Bank borrowings. Customer repurchase
agreements increased $2.5 million from $12.1 million at December 31, 2003
to $14.6 million at December 31, 2004. Federal Home Loan Bank borrowings
increased $25.0 million to $45.0 million at December 31, 2004 to take
advantage of the current interest rate environment.
Stockholders' equity at December 31, 2004 and December 31, 2003 was $118.1
million and $124.8 million, respectively, representing 14.8% and 15.7% of
total assets. The change is comprised of net income and $6.3 million for
the year ended December 31, 2004, the net repurchase of 567,788 shares of
common stock for $12.0 million, and the declaration by the Board of
Directors of quarterly dividends aggregating $1.7 million.
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The Bank is headquartered in Westfield, Massachusetts and operates through
10 banking offices in Agawam, East Longmeadow, Holyoke, Southwick,
Springfield, West Springfield and Westfield, Massachusetts. The Bank's
deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The Company wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance on any
such forward-looking statements contained in this news release, which speak
only as of the date made. The Company wishes to advise readers that the
factors listed above could affect the Company's financial performance and
could cause the Company's actual results for future periods to differ
materially from any opinions or statements expressed with respect to future
period in any current statements. The Company and the Bank do not undertake
and specifically decline any obligation to publicly release the result of
any revisions that may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect
events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the
occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.
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WESTFIELD FINANCIAL, INC. and SUBSIDIARIES
Selected Consolidated Balance Sheet and Other Data
($ in thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
December 31 December 31
2004 2003
<s> <c> <c>
Total assets $796,903 $795,216
Securities held to maturity 246,600 261,610
Securities available for sale 88,284 101,983
Stock in Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston 4,237 4,237
Loans 373,828 349,622
Allowance for loan losses 5,227 4,642
-------- --------
Net loans 368,601 344,980
Total deposits 612,621 632,431
Federal home loan bank advances 45,000 20,000
Stockholders' equity 118,051 124,804
Book value per share 12.43 12.50
Other Data:
Nonperforming loans $ 2,171 $ 1,768
Nonperforming loans as a percentage of total assets 0.27% 0.22%
Nonperforming loans as a percentage of total loans 0.58% 0.51%
Allowance for loan losses as a percent of nonperforming Loans 241% 263%
Allowance for loan losses as a percentage of total loans 1.40% 1.33%
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WESTFIELD FINANCIAL, INC. and SUBSIDIARIES
Selected Consolidated Statement of Operations and Other Data
($ in thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended Year Ended
December 31, December 31,
2004 2003 2004 2003
---- ---- ---- ----
<s> <c> <c> <c> <c>
Interest and dividend income $ 8,858 $ 8,577 $ 34,428 $ 35,635
Interest expense 2,790 3,006 10,913 13,858
--------- ---------- --------- ----------
Net interest and dividend income 6,068 5,571 23,515 21,777
Provision for loan losses 275 250 750 750
--------- ---------- --------- ----------
Net interest and dividend income after
provision for loan losses 5,793 5,321 22,765 21,027
Net gains on sales or writedowns
on securities available for sale 10 276 877 409
Noninterest income 767 640 3,019 2,665
Noninterest expense 4,527 4,206 17,776 17,630
--------- ---------- --------- ----------
Income before income taxes 2,043 2,031 8,885 6,471
Income taxes 514 558 2,562 2,820
--------- ---------- --------- ----------
Net income $ 1,529 $ 1,473 $ 6,323 $ 3,651
========= ========== ========= ==========
Basic earnings per share $ 0.16 $ 0.15 $ 0.65 $ 0.36
Average shares outstanding 9,493,478 9,995,794 9,705,856 10,036,653
Diluted earnings per share $ 0.16 $ 0.14 $ 0.64 $ 0.36
Diluted average shares outstanding 9,718,667 10,223,263 9,929,516 10,212,975
Other Data:
Return on Average Assets (1) 0.76% 0.72% 0.79% 0.45%
Return on Average Equity (1) 5.19% 4.71% 5.24% 2.94%
Net Interest Margin 3.20% 2.88% 3.13% 2.86%
<FN>
<F1> Three month results have been annualized.
</FN>
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