AUBURN, Ind., Nov. 27, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Peoples Bancorp (Nasdaq:PFDC) reported net income for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2007, of $2,801,416 versus the previous year's income of $3,252,406. Fiscal 2007 earnings per diluted share were $0.89 per share compared to $0.98 per share for the year ended September 30, 2006. Maurice F Winkler, III, President of Peoples Bancorp, stated, "Our fiscal year earnings were greatly impacted by our reduced net interest margin as the yield curve for most of the period was inverted or flat. We see potential for improvement in our net interest margin for the new year as a result of the recent rate decreases by the Federal Reserve."
Mr. Winkler continued, "Our Board of Directors directed the management team to review the present structure of the Company and to look at all avenues to improve our cost controls. As a result of these efforts, on October 1, 2007, we merged First Savings Bank into Peoples Federal Savings Bank. This merger is expected to reduce regulatory expenses and other costs resulting from a separate Board of Directors and duplicate positions at First Savings Bank that were eliminated in the merger. Our efforts also resulted in a new data processing contract that is expected to reduce processing costs and enhance customer service. We anticipate the completion of this project by June of 2008.
Peoples Bancorp also announced today that its Board of Directors is investigating the possibility of terminating the registration of its shares of common stock under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Company is primarily concerned with the escalating costs and additional allocation of management's time resulting from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. This concern is further heightened because of the pending implementation of Section 404 that will begin to impact the Company beginning with the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008. A strategy to de-register the Company's shares would reduce expenses associated with SEC reporting requirements.
On September 30, 2007, stockholders equity was $62,032,964 with a capital to assets ratio of 13.22% and a book value of $19.97 per share. Peoples had 3,106,134 shares of stock outstanding as of September 30, 2007. The closing price of Peoples Bancorp stock as of November 26, 2007, was $14.14 per share as listed on the NASDAQ Global Market System under the symbol "PFDC."
Peoples Bancorp, through its subsidiary, Peoples Federal Savings Bank, operates fifteen full-service offices located in Auburn, Avilla, LaGrange, Garrett, Howe, Kendallville, Middlebury, Waterloo, Topeka, and Columbia City (two offices), in Indiana, and in Three Rivers (two offices), Schoolcraft, and Union in Michigan.
SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA OF PEOPLES BANCORP
September 30
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2007 2006 2005
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Balance Sheet Data:
Total assets $469,193,037 $501,353,713 $488,617,542
Loans receivable
including loans
held for sale, net 348,485,297 371,662,679 355,854,443
Investments and other
interest earning
assets 100,572,388 108,170,325 106,786,121
Deposits 356,180,754 375,848,729 360,243,356
Borrowed funds 54,480,511 59,672,791 60,131,225
Stockholder's equity 62,032,964 62,775,216 65,184,382
For Year Ended September 30
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2007 2006 2005
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Operating Data:
Interest income $28,659,990 $28,310,432 $26,949,339
Interest expense 14,559,298 12,927,583 10,463,071
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Net interest income $14,100,692 $15,382,849 $16,486,268
Provision
for losses on loans 76,972 56,065 67,144
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Net interest income
after provision
for losses on loans $14,023,720 $15,326,784 $16,419,124
Other income 2,104,783 2,285,030 2,033,744
Other expenses 12,099,627 12,822,056 12,134,978
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Income before income
taxes 4,028,876 4,789,758 6,317,890
Income tax expense 1,227,460 1,537,352 2,188,283
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Net income $2,801,416 $3,252,406 $4,129,607
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Basic income per
common share $0.89 $0.99 $1.23
Diluted income per
common share $0.89 $0.98 $1.22
Dividends per common
share $0.76 $0.76 $0.73
Other Data:
Average yield
on all interest-
earning assets 6.13% 5.99% 5.74%
Average cost
of all interest-
bearing liabilities 3.58% 3.09% 2.44%
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Interest rate spread 2.55% 2.90% 3.30%
Number of full
service banking
offices 15 15 15
Return on assets
(net income divided
by average total
assets) 0.57% 0.65% 0.84%
Return on equity
(net income divided
by average total
equity) 4.44% 5.06% 6.31%
Dividend payout ratio
(dividends per
common share divided
by net income per
common share) 85.39% 76.77% 59.34%
Equity to assets
ratio (average total
equity divided by
average total
assets) 12.93% 12.90% 13.25%