Momentum Carries Carolina Trust Bank to 2Q Profit

LINCOLNTON, N.C., July 21, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Carolina Trust Bank (Nasdaq:CART) today reported net income available to common shareholders of $302,000 for the second quarter 2015 or $0.06 per diluted common share compared to a first quarter 2015 net income of $117,000 or $0.03 per diluted common share.

Before payment of dividends on preferred shares, the Bank had net income of $361,000 for the second quarter 2015. For the quarter ended June 30, 2014, net income available to common shareholders was $610,000 or $0.13 per diluted share.

Second quarter profits were driven by loan growth, higher total revenue and net interest income. Disciplined pricing contributed to a strong net interest margin of 4.18%, significantly higher than the 3.85% average for the Bank’s NC peer group.

“We continue to experience strong loan demand throughout our footprint,” said President and CEO Jerry L. Ocheltree. “Loan production has been so good that we actually met annual loan growth goals for the year this quarter. But that doesn’t mean we plan to take our foot off the accelerator.

“The bank is beginning to reap the benefits from all the hard work from the past,” he said. “We’re improving in nearly every measure of profitability and asset quality. We have tremendous momentum.”

Selected Financial Highlights

Year-Over-Year

June 30, 2015 compared to June 30, 2014

• Total loans increased $55.78 million or 25.06%
• Total deposits increased $45.34 million or 19.64%
• Net interest margin was 4.18% compared to 4.42%
• Net interest income increased $286,000 or 10.27%
• Total nonperforming assets increased $628,000 or 12.47%

Linked-Quarter

June 30, 2015 compared to March 31, 2015

Income Statement

• Total revenues, less interest expense, increased $263,000 from March 31, 2015 
  -- Net interest income increased $194,000 or 6.74%  
  -- Non-interest income increased $68,000 or 28.81% 
  -- Interest expense increased $41,000 or 7.66%
  -- Non-interest expense decreased $54,000 or 1.92%

Balance Sheet

• Total assets of $333.41 million increased $27.87 million or 9.12%
• Total deposits of $276.18 million increased $16.47 million or 6.34%
• Total loans of $278.31 million increased $20.39 million or 7.9%
• Reserve for loan loss of $3.89 million decreased $68,000 or 1.72%
• Total shareholders' equity of $30.11 million decreased $78,000 or 0.26%

Credit Quality

• Total nonperforming assets decreased $224,000 or 3.80%
• Other Real Estate Owned increased $3,000 or 0.13%
• Non-accrual loans decreased $229,000 or 6.64%
• Net loan charge-offs to average loans were 0.03%

Carolina Trust Bank continued to exceed "well-capitalized" requirements for each of the four primary capital levels monitored by state and federal regulators. As of June 30, 2015, Common equity tier 1 capital ratio was 7.73%; Tier 1 capital ratio was 8.59%; Total capital ratio was 9.84%; and Tier 1 leverage ratio was 8.24%.

Revenue

Total revenues, less interest expense, increased $263,000 from the previous quarter and $344,000 from the quarter ended June 30, 2014. Interest income was $3.65 million compared to $3.41 million from the prior quarter and $3.27 million for the same period a year ago. Net interest income increased $194,000 from the first quarter 2015 and $286,000 from a year ago.

Non-interest expense, up last quarter due to increases in salaries and overhead expenses, decreased $54,000 in the second quarter 2015. On a year-over-year basis, commercial and retail lenders booked net new loans of $55.78 million, an increase of 25.06% from June 30, 2014.

Balance Sheet

Total assets of $333.41 million at June 30, 2015, increased $27.87 million from the prior quarter and $65.80 million from June 30, 2014. Total deposits were $276.18 million at June 30, 2015, compared to $259.71 million at March 31, 2015, and $230.84 million at June 30, 2014. Total loans were $278.31 million at June 30, 2015, compared to $257.92 million at March 31, 2015, and $222.53 million at June 30, 2014. Reserve for loan loss was $3.89 million at June 30, 2015, compared to $3.95 million at March 31, 2015, and $4.14 million at June 30, 2014.

Asset Quality

Total nonperforming assets of $5.66 million at June 30, 2015 decreased $224,000 from March 31, 2015, but increased $628,000 from June 30, 2014. Non-accrual loans of $3.22 million at June 30, 2015 decreased $229,000 from March 31, 2015, but were up $454,000 from June 30, 2014. Other Real Estate Owned increased $3,000 from March 31, 2015, and $60,000 from June 30, 2014. Nonperforming assets were 1.70% of total assets at June 30, 2015, compared to 1.93% of total assets at March 31, 2015, and 1.88% at June 30, 2014. Allowance for loan losses to total loans was 1.40% at June 30, 2015, compared to 1.53% at March 31, 2015, and 1.86% at June 30, 2014.

Performance Ratios

Annualized return on average assets was 0.46% at June 30, 2015, compared to 0.24% for quarter ended March 31, 2015, and 1.00% for quarter ended June 30, 2014. Annualized return on average equity was 4.74% at June 30, 2015, compared to 2.35% for the quarter ended March 31, 2015, and 11.42% for the quarter ended June 30, 2014.

Carolina Trust Bank is a full service state chartered bank headquartered in Lincolnton, N.C., operating nine full service branches in Lincoln, Catawba, Gaston and Rutherford Counties in western North Carolina and a loan production office in Mooresville, N.C.

Forward-Looking Statement: This news release contains forward-looking statements. Words such as "anticipates," " believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "should," "will," variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's current beliefs as to the expected outcomes of future events and are not guarantees of future performance. These statements involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict with regard to timing, extent, likelihood and degree of occurrence. Therefore, actual results and outcomes may materially differ from what may be expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause a difference include, among others: changes in the national and local economies or market conditions; changes in interest rates, deposit flows, loan demand and asset quality, including real estate and other collateral values; changes in banking regulations and accounting principles, policies or guidelines; and the impact of competition from traditional or new sources. These and other factors that may emerge could cause decisions and actual results to differ materially from current expectations. Carolina Trust Bank takes no obligation to revise, update, or clarify forward-looking statements to reflect events or conditions after the date of this release.