PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Fred G. Kowal
President and Chief Operating Officer
(973) 748-3600
American Bancorp of New Jersey, Inc.
American Bank of New Jersey
365 Broad Street
Bloomfield, NJ 07003-2798
NASDAQ National Market "ABNJ" For Immediate Release
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November 23, 2005
AMERICAN BANCORP OF NEW JERSEY, INC. ANNOUNCES
FISCAL 2005 EARNINGS
Bloomfield, New Jersey - November 23, 2005 - American Bancorp of New Jersey,
Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNJ) ("American") announced today earnings of $2.0 million for
the year ended September 30, 2005 as compared to $2.2 million for the year ended
September 30, 2004. Basic and diluted earnings per share for the year ended
September 30, 2005 were $0.38 and $0.37, respectively. By comparison, both basic
and diluted earnings per share for the prior year ended September 30, 2004 were
$0.40.
The Company's net interest spread remained constant for both years at 2.28%
while its net interest margin was also unchanged at 2.60% for both years. A 15
basis point improvement in the yield on interest-earning assets for fiscal 2005
was matched by an equivalent increase in the cost of interest-bearing
liabilities. Average interest-earning assets grew by $36.9 million to $425.9
million for fiscal 2005, while average interest-bearing liabilities grew by
$36.3 million to $372.6 million.
For the year ended September 30, 2005, loans receivable, net increased 10.4% to
$341.0 million from $309.0 million at September 30, 2004. Total gross loan
balances, excluding loans held for sale, net deferred loan costs and the
allowance for loan loss, grew $32.0 million or 10.3%. The growth was primarily
comprised of net increases in multi-family and commercial real estate loans
totaling $15.4 million coupled with net increases in one-to-four family
mortgages totaling $15.5 million. Additional components of the net change in
gross loan balances included increases in home equity loans of $2.7 million and
net increases in commercial and consumer loans totaling $304,000. This growth
was offset by a decline in the disbursed balance of construction loans totaling
$1.9 million.
Deposits increased by 5.6% to $340.9 million at September 30, 2005 from $322.7
million at September 30, 2004. Certificates of deposit increased $34.8 million
to $152.8 million while savings deposits decreased by $20.1 million to $123.3
million. Checking deposits, including demand, NOW and money market checking
accounts, increased $3.6 million to $64.8 million.
Overall growth in loans and deposits contributed significantly to a $956,000, or
9.5%, improvement in net interest income. However, improvements in net interest
income were more than offset by higher noninterest expense which increased by
$1.3 million, or 16.5%. Noninterest expense grew primarily as a result of a $1.1
million, or 22.5%, increase in salaries and benefits expense and a $346,000, or
37.5%, increase in other noninterest expense which includes legal, professional
and consulting fees.
A significant portion of the increase in salaries and benefits expense was
attributable to a charge of $444,000 resulting from restructuring the Bank's
director retirement plan. Salaries and wages including bonus and payroll taxes,
also increased $324,000 or 9.3% due, in part, to executive and lending staffing
additions coupled with overall annual increases in employee compensation.
Additionally, salaries and benefits costs increased $207,000 due to the
implementation of a restricted stock plan during the current fiscal year.
The overall increase in other non interest expense was attributable to several
factors. Legal fees increased $129,000 to $234,000 for the year ended September
30, 2005 from $105,000 for the same period in 2004. A portion of the increase in
legal fees was attributable to matters presented to shareholders at the
Company's annual meeting held January 20, 2005. Additionally, professional and
consulting fees, including auditing and accounting fees, increased $132,000 to
$274,000 for the year ended September 30, 2005 as compared to the same period in
2004. A portion of this increase was attributable to the Company's operation as
a public company including implementation costs associated with the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Other comparative increases in both legal and
professional and consulting fees were attributable to ongoing evaluation and
implementation of growth and diversification strategies relating to the
execution of the Company's business plan.
At September 30, 2005, stock subscriptions totaling $115.2 million were held in
overnight investments pending completion of American's stock offering in
connection with the second-step conversion of American Savings, MHC from the
mutual holding company form of organization to a full stock corporation. Upon
closing of the offering on October 5, 2005, $33.7 million of oversubscriptions
were refunded and the remainder, less offering expenses, became capital of
American. An additional $9.8 million of deposits were used to purchase shares in
the Company's second-step conversion.
In total, American sold 9,918,750 shares in the conversion at $10.00 per share
including the 793,500 shares sold to the Company's employee stock ownership
plan. Additionally, each share of common stock held by the public stockholders
of ASB Holding Company, the former middle-tier stock holding company, was
converted into 2.55102 shares of common stock of American, resulting in an
aggregate of 4,250,719 exchange shares issued. Together, the conversion and
exchanged shares comprise 14,169,469 ABNJ shares now outstanding. American's
common stock began trading on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol "ABNJ"
on October 6, 2005.
Upon closing the second-step conversion of American Savings, MHC on October 5,
2005, ASB Holding Company ceased to exist and was replaced by American Bancorp
of New Jersey, Inc. as the holding company of American Bank of New Jersey, a
federally chartered stock savings bank which conducts business from its main
office in Bloomfield, New Jersey and one branch office in Cedar Grove, New
Jersey. The earnings for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2005 reported by
American are those of ASB Holding Company.
The foregoing material contains forward-looking statements concerning our
financial condition, results of operations and business. We caution that such
statements are subject to a number of uncertainties and actual results could
differ materially, and, therefore, readers should not place undue reliance on
any forward-looking statements. We do not undertake, and specifically disclaim,
any obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions that may be made
to any forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or
unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements.