Capital Bank Financial Corp. Reports 2Q EPS of $0.28 and $0.30 Core EPS

• Record new loans of $489 million, up 55% sequentially and 11% year over year;
• Loan portfolio grew sequentially at a 10% annualized rate;
• Deposits grew sequentially at a 10% annualized rate;
• EPS grew 17% sequentially and 12% year over year; and
• ROA, Core ROA and Core ROA excluding non-single-family FDIC indemnification expense, increased to 0.75%, 0.82% and 0.90%, respectively.

CORAL GABLES, Fla., July 23, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Capital Bank Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:CBF) (the "Company") today reported net income for the second quarter of 2015 of $13.0 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, and core net income of $14.0 million, or $0.30 per diluted share. Net income rose 14% sequentially and 5% year over year, while net income per diluted share rose 17% and 12%, respectively.

Core adjustments for the second quarter of 2015 mainly included $1.4 million of losses on extinguishment of legacy debt and additional costs associated with the branch closures announced in the first quarter.

Gene Taylor, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Capital Bank Financial Corp., commented, "We remain intensely focused on profitability and high-quality revenue growth, and we were pleased to see the consistent loan and deposit growth necessary to make that happen. We are seeing sustainable improvements in our major markets, which should bode well for the rest of the year."

Chris Marshall, Chief Financial Officer of Capital Bank Financial Corp., added, "Our team produced excellent results in Q2, with the significant improvements in ROA, efficiency and EPS that we were expecting. Continued strong performance by our bankers, along with the reduction in indemnification expense and the full effect of our cost saving initiatives should drive even better results over the near future."

Loan Portfolio and Composition

During the second quarter, the loan portfolio increased by $128.4 million to $5.2 billion, a 10% annualized rate.  New loans of $489.2 million were partially offset by resolutions totaling $43.1 million, including transfers to OREO of $4.0 million, and principal repayments of $317.7 million.

The relative composition of the Company's loan portfolio at the end of the second and first quarters of 2015 and fourth quarter of 2014 was as follows:

Deposits Composition and Yields

During the second quarter, total deposits increased by $128.9 million to $5.5 billion, or a 10% annualized rate. The sequential increase included an increase in core deposits of $35.2 million as a result of the Company's continued focus on growing lower cost checking accounts and money market balances. Wholesale time deposits which provided a lower cost source of funding than higher rate legacy time deposits and the legacy repurchase agreements that were extinguished during the quarter, increased $57.2 million. The cost of core deposits remained flat at 0.15%.  Core deposits include all checking, savings and money market accounts and represent 72% of total deposits. Sequentially and year over year, the cost of total deposits increased two basis points and three-basis points, respectively, to 0.36%, largely as a result of the amortization of purchase accounting. The contractual cost of total deposits, which excludes purchase accounting, increased one basis point sequentially and declined one basis point year over year to 0.39%. 

Net Interest Income and Net Interest Margin

Net interest income increased $1.0 million to $60.7 million from $59.7 million for the first quarter of 2015 and remained flat from the second quarter of 2014. The net interest margin for the second quarter of 2015 was 3.94%, a decline of two basis points sequentially and thirty-two basis points year over year. The sequential and year over year net interest margin decline was due to the lower average yield on new loans as compared to the yields of the Company's legacy acquired loans and a slight increase in the cost of total deposits. The implementation of interest rate swaps during the first half of the year resulted in $0.5 million in additional interest income during the second quarter and had a four basis point impact on the margin. New and acquired non-impaired loans represent 76% of our total loan portfolio, up from 74% and 73% at March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively. The average yield on new loans outstanding is 3.59% compared to an average yield on acquired impaired loans outstanding of 8.25%.

Non-Interest Income

Non-interest income increased $0.4 million to $10.4 million from $9.9 million for the first quarter of 2015 and declined $1.5 million from $11.9 million for the second quarter of 2014.  The sequential increase was mainly driven by higher service charges on deposits accounts and debit card income due to our continued focus on core deposit growth and related service fees, partially offset by lower miscellaneous investment income.

The year over year decline was mainly driven by a decline in OREO rental income reflecting the continued resolution of special assets, lower service charges on deposits accounts and an increase in FDIC indemnification asset amortization due to improvements in cash flow estimates on covered loans. 

Provision for Loan and Lease Losses and Credit Quality

The provision of $1.3 million recorded for the second quarter of 2015 included a $1.8 million provision for new and acquired non‑impaired loans offset by $0.5 million in reversals of impairment due to improvements in cash flow estimates for certain acquired impaired loan pools.  The improvement in cash flow estimates mainly resulted from higher than anticipated payoffs. Net charge-offs for the second quarter of 2015 were $1.5 million, up from $1.1 million in the first quarter of 2015.

At June 30, 2015, the allowance for loan and lease losses was $48.1 million, of which $26.3 million related to acquired impaired loans and $21.8 million related to new and acquired non-impaired loans. The allowance for loan and lease losses represents 0.92% of the Company's total $5.2 billion loan portfolio. 

At June 30, 2015, non-performing loans were $93.3 million, down 27% from March 31, 2015, and down 56%, from June 30, 2014, mainly as a result of resolutions and upgrades. Non-performing loans have declined 76% from a peak of $382.5 million at December 31, 2011.

Non-Interest Expense

Non-interest expense declined $3.1 million to $49.5 million from $52.6 million for the first quarter of 2015 and declined $1.8 million from $51.3 million for the second quarter of 2014.  The sequential decline was mainly due to the absence of $2.4 million in first quarter charges from consolidation of facilities and severance, which is expected to yield improvements on the Company's cost structure over time. Contributing to the sequential and year over year decline, was a reduction in salaries and employee benefits and net occupancy expense as a result of cost savings initiatives, a reduction in stock-based compensation expense, and lower CVR expense due to the early redemption of the CVR associated with Southern Community Financial Corporation. Partially offsetting the decline, were $1.4 million of net losses on extinguishment of debt assumed through the Company's legacy acquisitions; a component of the cost savings initiatives which will result in approximately $1.1 million in annual interest savings.

As of June 30, 2015, covered loans and OREO subject to the non-single-family shared-loss agreements expiring during the third quarter, were $91.9 million and $8.0 million, respectively. As a result of the agreements expiration, FDIC indemnification expense is expected to decline significantly in the fourth quarter of 2015. For the quarter ended June 30, 2015, excluding the impact of the non-single-family FDIC indemnification expense, the Company's efficiency ratio and core efficiency ratio declined to 67.53% and 65.25%, respectively, and ROA and Core ROA increased to 0.84% and 0.90%, respectively.

Income Tax Expense

Income tax expense was $7.3 million for the second quarter of 2015, an effective rate of 36%, proportionate to $6.5 million and 36% for the first quarter of 2015. Income tax expense was $7.6 million and 38.0% for the second quarter of 2014. The year over year decline in effective rate was mainly due to the favorable impact from higher tax-exempt interest income and lower non-deductible CVR expense in the current year.

Financial Position

Total assets increased by $77.8 million to $7.1 billion as of June 30, 2015, from $7.0 billion as of March 31, 2015.  During the quarter, the Company's loan portfolio increased by $128.4 million to $5.2 billion, a 10% annualized rate.  Deposits increased by $128.9 million to $5.5 billion, a 10% annualized rate. FHLB borrowings remained flat and long-term borrowings decreased by $55.3 million, as a result of the extinguishment of debt assumed through the Company's legacy acquisitions.  Tangible book value per share was $19.69 as of June 30, 2015, an increase of $0.20 and $0.84 over March 31, 2015 and June 30, 2014, respectively.

The Company's national bank subsidiary, Capital Bank N.A., has preliminary Tier 1 Leverage, Tier 1 Common, Tier 1 Risk-Based and Total Risk-Based capital ratios of 11.15%, 13.18%, 13.18% and 14.10%, respectively, as of June 30, 2015, under currently applicable regulations.

The Company's board of directors has approved a quarterly common dividend program commencing in the third quarter at an amount to be determined.

Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.  The number to call for this interactive teleconference is (719) 785-1753, and the confirmation pass code is 5703197. Please dial in 10 minutes prior to the beginning of the call. A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available through August 1, 2015, by dialing (719) 457-0820 and entering pass code 5703197. The live broadcast of the conference call will be available online at the Company's web site at www.capitalbank‑us.com, by following the link to Investor Relations.  An on-line replay of the call will be available at the same site for 90 days.

Forward-Looking Statements

Information in this press release contains forward-looking statements. Any statements about our expectations, beliefs, plans, predictions, forecasts, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not historical facts and may be forward-looking. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believes," "can," "could," "may," "predicts," "potential," "should," "will," "estimate," "plans," "projects," "continuing," "ongoing," "expects," "intends" and similar words or phrases. Accordingly, these statements are only predictions and involve estimates, known and unknown risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in them. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of several factors more fully described under the caption "Risk Factors" in the annual report on Form 10-K and other periodic reports filed by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any or all of our forward-looking statements in this press release may turn out to be inaccurate. The inclusion of this forward-looking information should not be regarded as a representation by us or any other person that the future plans, estimates or expectations contemplated by us will be achieved. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward looking statements including, but not limited to: (1) changes in general economic and financial market conditions; (2) changes in the regulatory environment; (3) economic conditions generally and in the financial services industry; (4) changes in the economy affecting real estate values; (5) our ability to achieve loan and deposit growth; (6) the completion of future acquisitions or business combinations and our ability to integrate any acquired businesses into our business model; (7) projected population and income growth in our targeted market areas; (8) competitive pressures in our markets and industry; (9) our ability to attract and retain key personnel; (10) changes in accounting policies or judgments and (11) volatility and direction of market interest rates and a weakening of the economy which could materially impact credit quality trends and the ability to generate loans. All forward-looking statements are necessarily only estimates of future results, and actual results may differ materially from expectations. You are, therefore, cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements, which should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included elsewhere in this press release. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Core net income, core efficiency ratio, core return-on-assets ("core ROA"), tangible book value and tangible book value per share are each non-GAAP measures used in this report.  A reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures – net income in the case of core net income and core ROA, total non-interest income and total non-interest expense in the case of core efficiency ratio, and total shareholders' equity in the case of tangible book value and tangible book value per share – appears in tabular form at the end of this release.  The Company believes core net income, the core efficiency ratio and core ROA are useful for both investors and management to understand the effects of certain non-interest items and provide an alternative view of the Company's performance over time and in comparison to the Company's competitors.  These measures should not be viewed as a substitute for net income.  The Company believes that tangible book value and tangible book value per share are useful for both investors and management as these are measures commonly used by financial institutions, regulators and investors to measure the capital adequacy of financial institutions.  The Company believes these measures facilitate comparison of the quality and composition of the Company's capital over time and in comparison to its competitors.  These measures should not be viewed as a substitute for total shareholders' equity.

These non-GAAP measures have inherent limitations, are not required to be uniformly applied and are not audited.  They should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of results reported under GAAP.  These non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

About Capital Bank Financial Corp.

Capital Bank Financial Corp. is a national bank holding company, formed in 2009 to create a premier regional banking franchise in the southeastern United States. CBF is the parent of Capital Bank N.A., a national banking association with $7.1 billion in total assets as of June 30, 2015, and 153 full-service banking offices throughout Florida, North and South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. To learn more about Capital Bank, N.A., please visit www.capitalbank-us.com.