Contact: William M. Gilfillan
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Phone: (718) 855-3555
ATLANTIC LIBERTY FINANCIAL CORP.
REPORTS EARNINGS FOR QUARTER AND YEAR ENDED MARCH 31, 2003
BROOKLYN, NY Atlantic Liberty Financial Corp, (Nasdaq: ALFC), the holding
company of Atlantic Liberty Savings, F.A. announced earnings of $287,000 or
$0.18 per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2003 as compared to $240,000 for
the quarter ended March 31, 2002, an increase of 19.6%. Earnings for the year
ended March 31, 2003 increased 38.3% to $1,187,000 from $858,000 for the same
period in 2002. On October 22, 2002, the Company sold 1,710,984 shares of common
stock at $10 per share and received net proceeds of $14.8 million exclusive of
conversion expenses of $900,000 and $1.4 million that was used to fund the
purchase of shares for our Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). Earnings per
share is calculated beginning with the date of conversion and, therefore, no
earnings per share is reported for periods prior to the conversion.
The increase in earnings for the quarter ended March 31, 2003 was primarily due
to increases of $263,000 in net interest income and $89,000 in non-interest
income and a decrease of $78,000 in the provision for loan losses, partially
offset by increases of $339,000 in non-interest expense and $45,000 in income
tax expense. The increase in net interest income of $263,000 for the quarter
ended March 31, 2003 compared to the prior year was attributable to an 18 basis
point increase in our net spread to 4.35% from 4.17% while our net interest
margin increased 32 basis points to 4.65% from 4.33%. Non-interest income
increased $89,000 due to increases of $15,000 in assignment fees and $28,000 of
income on the Banks investment in Bank Owned Life Insurance for which there was
no comparable income in the prior year. Additionally, the quarter ended March
31, 2002 included a write off of $15,000 for stolen client checks and a
reclassification of $14,000. The increase in non-interest expense for the
quarter ended March 31, 2003 of $339,000 includes increases of $208,000 in
salary and benefits, $50,000 of ESOP expense for which there was no similar
charge in the prior year, $45,000 in legal fees and $33,000 in occupancy
expense. There was no provision for loan losses in the quarter ended March 31,
2003 versus a provision of $78,000 for the quarter ended March 31, 2002. The
allowance for loan losses was $484,000 or .48% of loans outstanding at March 31,
2003 as compared with $435,000 or .47% of loans outstanding at March 31, 2002.
The allowance for loan losses at March 31, 2003 was 381.1% of non-performing
loans and 60.0% of non-performing loans at March 31, 2002. Non-performing loans
represented .13% of total loans at March 31, 2003 and .78% of total loans at
March 31, 2002.
The increase in earnings for the year ended March 31, 2003 was primarily due to
an increase of $1.5 million in net interest income, $134,000 increase in
non-interest income and a reduction of $30,000 in the provision for loan losses
partially offset by increases of $1.1 million in non-interest expense and
$274,000 in income tax expense. The increase in net interest income of $1.5
million for the year ended
March 31, 2003 as compared to the prior period resulted from an increase in our
interest spread of 74 basis points to 4.16% from 3.42% while our net interest
margin increased 70 basis points to 4.37% from 3.67%. Non-interest income for
the year ended March 31, 2003 increased $134,000 as compared to the year ended
March 31, 2002 primarily due to an increase in loan prepayment and assignment
penalty fees of $48,000, a $14,000 increase in late charges on mortgages, a
$16,000 increase in checking account fees and $28,000 in income from the Bank's
investment in Bank Owned Life Insurance (BOLI) for which there was no comparable
income in the prior year. The increase in non-interest expense was primarily
caused by a $473,000 increase in salaries and other benefits, $249,000 in
expenses related to the conversion to a new data service provider and $234,000
in ESOP expense related to the release of shares to eligible employees.
The Company's assets increased $13.2 million or 10.6% to $137.2 million at March
31, 2003 from $124.0 million at March 31, 2002. The increase in assets was
primarily funded by the investment of the net proceeds provided by our stock
offering in October 2002, and a decrease in cash and cash equivalents. During
the year ended March 31, 2003, net loans receivable increased 8.4% to $100.7
million from $92.9 million. The increase resulted principally from increased
origination of one-to-four family mortgages loans as well as $2.8 million of
mortgages purchased from other financial institutions, $2.4 million of which
were commercial loans.
During the year ended March 31, 2003 mortgage-backed securities increased $6.9
million or 43.7% to $22.7 million from $15.8 million at March 31, 2002,
reflecting new purchases of $16.0 million partially offset by pre-payments and
amortization of $9.1 million. Other assets include a $2.0 million investment in
Bank Owned Life Insurance at March 31, 2003. There was no similar investment at
March 31, 2002.
Total deposits of $107.5 million at March 31, 2003 decreased $3.5 million or
3.2% from $111.0 million at March 31, 2002. Equity increased $16.3 million or
185.2% to $25.1 million at March 31, 2003 from $8.8 million at March 31, 2002.
The increase is primarily the result of the impact of the conversion and receipt
of $14.8 million in net proceeds. Equity at March 31, 2003 also includes net
income for the year ended March 31, 2003 of $1.2 million.
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ATLANTIC LIBERTY FINANCIAL CORP.
SELECTED FINANCIAL CONDITION DATA: At March 31,
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2003 2002
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(In Thousands)
Total Assets $137,239 $124,044
Loans Receivable net (1) 100,655 92,856
Securities Available for Sale 1,703 -
Securities Held to Maturity 22,026 16,790
Deposits 107,515 110,900
Total Borrowings 1,600 2,000
Stockholders Equity 25,091 8,789
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Three Months Ended March 31, Year Ended March 31,
2003 2002 2003 2002
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(In thousands, except for per share data)
SELECTED OPERATING DATA:
Interest Income $2,030 $2,019 $8,182 $8,013
Interest Expense 506 758 2,481 3,819
Net Interest Income 1,524 1,261 5,701 4,194
Provision for Loan Losses - 78 40 70
Non-interest income 116 27 356 222
Non-interest expense 1,139 800 3,936 2,867
Income before income taxes 501 410 2,082 1,479
Income taxes 214 170 895 621
Net income 287 240 1,187 858
Net Income per share $0.18 N/A N/A N/A
(1) The allowance for loan losses was $483,882 and
$435,104 at March 31, 2003 and 2002, respectively.
SELECTED FINANCIAL RATIOS AND OTHER DATA:
At March 31,
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PERFORMANCE RATIOS: 2003 2002
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Return on Average Assets 0.87% 0.71%
Return of Average Equity 8.31% 10.36%
Interest Rate Spread 4.16% 3.42%
Non-performing assets to total assets 0.15% 0.65%
Allowance for loan losses to non performing loans 381.10% 60.00%
Allowance for loan losses to total loan receivable 0.48% 0.47%
CAPITAL RATIO:
Equity to total assets 18.28% 7.09%