Peoples Federal Bancshares, Inc. Announces Second Quarter and Year to Date Results for Fiscal Year 2012

BRIGHTON, Mass., April 30, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Peoples Federal Bancshares, Inc. (the "Company") (Nasdaq:PEOP), the holding company for Peoples Federal Savings Bank (the "Bank"), announced second quarter and year to date earnings for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012. For the three months ended March 31, 2012, the Company reported net income of $588,000 or $0.09 per share, basic and diluted, as compared to net income of $824,000 or $0.12 per share, basic and diluted, for the same period last year. For the six months ended March 31, 2012, the Company reported net income of $1.4 million or $0.22 per share, basic and diluted, as compared to net income of $1.8 million or $0.27 per share, basic and diluted for the same period last year.

Net interest income and dividend income for the three months ended March 31, 2012 totaled $4.2 million as compared to $4.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2011. Non-interest income totaled $375,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2012 as compared to $437,000, for the three months ended March 31, 2011. Non-interest expense totaled $3.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2012 as compared to $3.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2011, reflecting higher salaries and employee benefits and other operating expenses, particularly, advertising expense, which increased $131,000, as the Company expanded advertising efforts to grow its market share and emphasize our branch network.    

Net interest and dividend income for the six months ended March 31, 2012 totaled $8.5 million as compared to $8.2 million for the six months ended March 31, 2011. Non-interest income totaled $828,000 for the six months ended March 31, 2012 as compared to $976,000 for the six months ended March 31, 2011. The decrease was due to the decrease in net gains on sales of mortgage loans of $116,000, loan servicing fees of $65,000 and other income of $71,000, offset by the increase in the cash surrender value of life insurance of $90,000 and customer service fees of $14,000. Non-interest expense totaled $6.9 million for the six months ended March 31, 2012 as compared to $6.3 million for the six months ended March 31, 2011, reflecting higher salaries and employee benefits, advertising expenses, data processing expenses and equipment expenses. 

Since September 30, 2011, the Company's balance sheet has increased by $3.7 million, or 0.7%, to $557.9 million.  Net loans increased $14.0 million, or 3.4%.  The increase in loans was due to the increase in residential real estate and commercial loans, offset by the decrease in commercial real estate loans. Cash and cash equivalents decreased by $21.5 million to $40.2 million at March 31, 2012 from $61.7 million at September 30, 2011.  This decrease was the result of continuing to deploy cash and cash equivalents into loans and investment securities. Investment securities increased $10.9 million, or 22.7%, to $59.1 million at March 31, 2012, from $48.2 million at September 30, 2011. Federal Home Loan Bank borrowings increased by $6.0 million, or 33.3%, from September 30, 2011, as the Company took advantage of low long-term interest rates.  Deposits decreased slightly to $412.5 million at March 31, 2012 from $412.6 million at September 30, 2011. At March 31, 2012, total stockholders' equity was $113.4 million, a decrease of $2.3 million from $115.7 million at September 30, 2011. The decrease in stockholders' equity during the period was due to the repurchase of $4.1 million of the Company's common stock for the stock repurchase plan, partially offset by net income of $1.4 million. On February 21, 2012, in accordance with the Company's 2011 Equity Incentive Plan, the Company granted 281,700 shares of restricted stock awards to its Board of Directors and certain employees of the Company. The decrease in stockholders' equity was also offset by equity incentive shares earned of $222,000.

Non-performing assets totaled $2.5 million, or 0.44%, of total assets at March 31, 2012, as compared to $3.3 million, or 0.59%, of total assets at September 30, 2011. Classified loans decreased to $11.7 million as of March 31, 2012 compared to $12.6 million at September 30, 2011. Also, the Company provided $250,000 to the provision for loan losses during the six months ended March 31, 2012, reflecting the overall increase in total loans along with the qualitative and quantitative changes within each loan portfolio segment.    

Maurice H. Sullivan, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, "Peoples Federal Bancshares, Inc. continues to focus on strong asset quality and credit management as net loans have increased $14.0 million during the six months ended March 31, 2012 and classified assets have decreased during the same period. In addition, during the quarter ended March 31, 2012, the Company also announced a second plan to repurchase five percent of the Company's outstanding shares. To that end, we repurchased 134,300 shares during the quarter ended March 31, 2012."

Certain statements herein constitute "forward-looking statements" and actual results may differ from those contemplated by these statements.  Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts.  They often include words like "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," and "intend" or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could" or "may."  Certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results include changes in the interest rate environment, changes in general economic conditions, legislative and regulatory changes that adversely affect the businesses in which Peoples Federal Bancshares, Inc. is engaged and changes in the securities market.  The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether in response to new information, future events or otherwise.