Home BancShares, Inc. Announces 22.2% Increase in 2015 Earnings

CONWAY, Ark., Jan. 21, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Home BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOMB), parent company of Centennial Bank, today announced net income for the year ended December 31, 2015 of $138.2 million compared to $113.1 million for the year ended 2014 for a 22.2% increase.  Diluted earnings per share for the year ended 2015 was $2.02 per share compared to $1.70 per share for 2014. Excluding the $4.8 million of 2015 merger expenses associated with the 2015 acquisitions, diluted earnings per share for the year ended 2015 was $2.06 per share. 

For the fourth quarter of 2015, the Company recorded a 25.1% increase in quarterly profit to $37.4 million, for the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to $29.9 million, for the same quarter in 2014.  Excluding the $2.9 million of merger expenses associated with the acquisition of Florida Business BancGroup, Inc. (“FBBI”), diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $0.56 per share.  The Company also announced $232.3 million in quarterly organic loan growth during the fourth quarter of 2015 and a core efficiency ratio of 37.86%.

“I am pleased to report the Company’s outstanding quarterly and annual earnings and financial metrics,” said John Allison, Chairman. “This past year, our team was diligent and motivated to reach and, in some cases, exceed our financial goals.  We improved the efficiency ratio to less than 39.99%, executed three acquisition opportunities, and grew organic loans by $881.6 million.  We intend to keep up this momentum in 2016 by continuing to improve the Company's earnings and financial metrics.”

“We are pleased to report the fourth quarter of 2015 as the nineteenth consecutive quarter reporting the most profitable quarter in the Company's history,” said Randy Sims, Home BancShares, Inc. Chief Executive Officer. “For the quarter, the Company reported outstanding results for diluted earnings per share excluding merger expenses of $0.56 per share and a core efficiency ratio of 37.86%.”

“During the fourth quarter, we closed the acquisition and completed the systems conversion of FBBI and are now in a position to accelerate the process of improving the Company’s results to maximize shareholder return,” added Tracy French, Centennial Bank President and Chief Executive Officer.  “As a result of our strong capital position, we are well-positioned during the coming year to continue seeking opportunities to enter new markets or expand our reach in our existing footprints while supporting additional loan growth in our legacy organization.”

Operating Highlights

Each quarter we perform credit impairment tests on the loans acquired in our FDIC loss sharing and non-loss sharing acquisitions.  During our fourth quarter 2015 impairment testing, no pools were determined to have a material projected credit improvement.  However, during the fourth quarter of 2015 one of our borrowers from the Liberty transaction paid off a $26.1 million credit relationship, which resulted in approximately $650,000 of accretion income to be recognized in the fourth quarter.   As a result, there was a $116,000 increase in recognized accretion yield to $13.2 million during the fourth quarter of 2015 when compared to $13.1 million during the third quarter of 2015.

Net interest income for the fourth quarter of 2015 increased 20.1% to $100.1 million from $83.4 million during the fourth quarter of 2014.  For the fourth quarter of 2015, the effective yield on non-covered loans and covered loans was 5.63% and 29.75%, respectively.  Net interest margin, on a fully taxable equivalent basis, was 4.95% for the quarter just ended.

During the fourth quarter of 2015, the Company recorded a provision for loan loss of $8.9 million compared to $5.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2014.  This expected increase of $3.5 million is primarily a reflection of the organic loan growth generated during 2015.

The Company reported $17.3 million of non-interest income for the fourth quarter of 2015, compared to $10.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2014.  The most important components of the fourth quarter non-interest income were $6.8 million from other service charges and fees, $6.5 million from service charges on deposits accounts, $2.4 million from mortgage lending income, $1.1 million from other income, and $513,000 from insurance commissions offset by the $1.2 million of net amortization on the FDIC indemnification asset.

As a result of the recognized credit improvements in prior years, the Company has been decreasing the base of the indemnification asset to be recognized as FDIC amortization over the weighted average life of the loss-share agreements.  The recognition of this amortization has begun to slow down as the five-year loss-share has expired and only the ten-year loss-share remains.  Consequently, there was a $6.2 million decline of FDIC indemnification amortization from the fourth quarter of 2014 to the fourth quarter of 2015.

Non-interest expense excluding merger expenses for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $46.1 million compared to $39.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2014.  This increase is primarily associated with the establishment of the Centennial Commercial Finance Group (“Centennial CFG”) in New York City during the second quarter of 2015 plus the acquisition of FBBI during the fourth quarter of 2015.  For the fourth quarter of 2015, our core efficiency ratio was 37.86% which is improved from the 40.15% reported for fourth quarter of 2014.

Financial Condition

Total non-covered loans were $6.58 billion at December 31, 2015 compared to $4.82 billion at December 31, 2014.  Total covered loans were $62.2 million at December 31, 2015 compared to $240.2 million at December 31, 2014.  Total deposits were $6.44 billion at December 31, 2015 compared to $5.42 billion at December 31, 2014.  Total assets were $9.29 billion at December 31, 2015 compared to $7.40 billion at December 31, 2014.

Since the third quarter of 2015, non-covered loans increased $679.2 million.  During the fourth quarter of 2015, the five-year loss-share agreements on the commercial real estate and commercial and industrial loans acquired through the FDIC-assisted acquisitions of Wakulla and Gulf State concluded, which concludes all five-year loss-share agreements. As a result, $38.6 million of these loans including their associated discounts previously classified as covered loans have migrated to non-covered loans status.  Including the effect of purchase accounting adjustments, we acquired approximately $408.3 million in loans through the acquisition of FBBI.  As a result, the Company produced approximately $232.3 million of organic non-covered loan growth since September 30, 2015, of which $43.2 million is associated with loan originations in the legacy footprint with the remaining $189.1 million being associated with Centennial CFG.

Non-performing non-covered loans were $60.2 million as of December 31, 2015, of which $28.3 million, $31.8 million and $132,000 were located in Arkansas, Florida and Alabama, respectively.  Non-performing non-covered loans as a percent of total non-covered loans were 0.92% as of December 31, 2015 compared to 0.82% as of December 31, 2014. Non-performing non-covered assets were $78.8 million as of December 31, 2015, of which $40.3 million, $37.5 million and $892,000 were located in Arkansas, Florida and Alabama, respectively.  Non-performing non-covered assets as a percent of total non-covered assets were 0.85% as of December 31, 2015 compared to 0.79% as of December 31, 2014.

The Company’s allowance for loan losses for non-covered loans was $66.6 million at December 31, 2015, or 1.01% of total non-covered loans, compared to $52.5 million, or 1.09% of total non-covered loans, at December 31, 2014.  As of December 31, 2015 and 2014, the allowance for loan losses for non-covered loans plus discount for credit losses on non-covered loans acquired to total non-covered loans plus discount for credit losses on non-covered loans acquired was 3.07% and 3.88%, respectively.  This decrease is primarily the result of the increase in non-covered loans during 2015 plus projected credit improvement from previous periods on the acquired impaired loans.  As of December 31, 2015 and 2014, the Company’s allowance for loan losses for non-covered loans was 111% and 133% of its total non-performing non-covered loans, respectively.

Stockholders’ equity was $1.20 billion at December 31, 2015 compared to $1.02 billion at December 31, 2014, an increase of $184.5 million.  Book value per common share was $17.11 at December 31, 2015 compared to $15.03 at December 31, 2014.  Tangible book value per common share was $11.41 at December 31, 2015 compared to $9.90 at December 31, 2014 for an annualized increase of 15.3%.

Branches

During the fourth quarter of 2015, the Company acquired six branches through the acquisition of FBBI and has plans to open a deposit-only branch location in New York City during the first quarter of 2016.  In an effort to achieve efficiencies primarily from the acquisitions, the Company closed one Arkansas location and three Florida locations during the fourth quarter of 2015 and has plans to close two Arkansas locations and two Florida locations during the first quarter of 2016.  The Company currently has 79 branches in Arkansas, 61 branches in Florida, 6 branches in Alabama and a loan production office in New York City.

Conference Call

Management will conduct a conference call to review this information at 1:00 p.m. CT (2:00 ET) on Thursday, January 21, 2016.  We encourage all participants to pre-register for the conference call using the following link:  http://dpregister.com/10077754.  Callers who pre-register will be given dial-in instructions and a unique PIN to gain immediate access to the live call.  Participants may pre-register at any time prior to the call and will immediately receive simple instructions via email.  The Home BancShares conference call will also be automatically scheduled as an event in your Outlook calendar.

Those without internet access or unable to pre-register may dial in and listen to the live call by calling 1-877-508-9586 and asking for the Home BancShares conference call.  A replay of the call will be available by calling 1-877-344-7529, Passcode: 10077754, which will be available until January 28, 2016 at 10:59 p.m. CT (11:59 ET). Internet access to the call will be available live or in recorded version on the Company's website at www.homebancshares.com under “Investor Relations” for 12 months.

General

This release contains forward-looking statements regarding the Company's plans, expectations, goals and outlook for the future. Statements in this press release that are not historical facts should be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements of this type speak only as of the date of this news release. By nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risk and uncertainties. Various factors, including, but not limited to, economic conditions, credit quality, interest rates, loan demand, the ability to successfully integrate new acquisitions and changes in the assumptions used in making the forward-looking statements, could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Additional information on factors that might affect Home BancShares, Inc.'s financial results is included in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 27, 2015, and in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 filed with the SEC on November 5, 2015.

Home BancShares, Inc. is a bank holding company, headquartered in Conway, Arkansas. Our wholly-owned subsidiary, Centennial Bank, provides a broad range of commercial and retail banking plus related financial services to businesses, real estate developers, investors, individuals and municipalities. Centennial Bank has branch locations in Arkansas, Florida, South Alabama and a loan production office in New York City. The Company's common stock is traded through the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “HOMB.”