CARY, N.C., April 16, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Crescent Financial Corporation (Nasdaq:CRFN), parent company of Crescent State Bank of Cary, NC, today announced unaudited net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 of $1,000,000 or $.10 per diluted share compared with $1,466,000 or $.15 per diluted share for the prior year quarter. Earnings for the quarter were impacted by a contraction of net interest margin and the added expenses of continued franchise expansion.
Net interest income increased by 5% from $6.2 million in the first quarter of 2007 to $6.5 million in the current quarter. Average earning assets for the first quarter of 2008 increased by 21% or $137.8 million over the comparative period in 2007. The potential impact of earning asset growth was partially offset by the 300 basis point reduction in the Prime lending rate over the past year. The net interest margin, interest income less interest expense expressed as a percentage of average assets, declined by 54 basis points from 3.81% to 3.27%. The Company continues to experience strong loan demand and as a result, must rely on higher cost forms of money to fund balance sheet growth. The incremental cost of wholesale funds coupled with the competitive nature of loan pricing continues to cause downward pressure on net interest margin.
Non-interest income grew by $180,000 or 28% from $629,000 for the prior year quarter to $808,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2008. Fees earned on origination of brokered residential mortgage loans increased by $57,000 from $115,000 to $172,000. Revenues from service charges and other deposit related fees increased by $34,000 and earnings on cash value of bank owned life insurance and other miscellaneous fees increased by $15,000 and $9,000, respectively. During the quarter we benefited from the recovery of $72,000 from a deposit account previously written off in 2007.
Non-interest expenses increased by $801,000 or 19% from $4.2 million during the first quarter of 2007 to $5.0 million for the current year quarter. The Company has opened two new branch offices over the past twelve months and relocated one branch office to a larger, more favorable location, which have impacted both personnel and occupancy expense. Together, $515,000 of the total increase is attributable to these two areas with personnel increasing $400,000 and occupancy increasing $115,000. Other areas experiencing increases from the prior year quarter include FDIC insurance assessments, advertising and marketing, loan related collection fees and other professional fees.
The provision for loan losses was $806,000 for the first quarter of 2008 compared with $359,000 a year ago. As of December 31, 2007, the Company had $2.7 million of non-performing loans. During the first quarter, the majority of those non-accrual loans were foreclosed and moved to other real estate owned. Net charge-offs related to those loans were $654,000 or 0.38% of average loans on an annualized basis compared to $27,000 or 0.02% for the prior year quarter. At March 31, 2008, non-performing loans as a percentage of total loans is 0.04% and total non-performing assets as a percentage of total assets is 0.29% compared with 0.40% and 0.36%, respectively, at year end December 31, 2007. Management does not expect the volume of future charge-offs to continue at first quarter levels.
Crescent Financial Corporation reported total assets on March 31, 2008 of $881.1 million reflecting a 17% increase over total assets of $751.5 million on March 31, 2007. Total net loans increased by 21% from $578.9 million a year ago to $702.1 million at March 31, 2008. Total deposits increased 11% from $590.0 million to $653.2 million and total borrowings increased by 79% from $73.2 million to $131.2 million. Total stockholders' equity grew by 10% from $85.0 million to $93.3 million at March 31, 2008 due to earnings, the exercise of stock options and an improvement in the unrealized gain on available for sale securities.
Mike Carlton, President and CEO, stated, "First quarter earnings results did not meet our expectations due to the falling interest rate environment and cleaning up several problem loans identified as non-performing in the fourth quarter of 2007. The swift and pronounced reduction of short-term interest rates by the Federal Reserve caused a significant decline in our net interest margin. We are fortunate to be providing banking services in the faster growing communities of North Carolina and as a result, we continue to be pleased with the solid loan growth while maintaining high credit standards. Additionally, we are pleased to be able to report an increase in non-interest income, predominately through the originations of brokered residential mortgage loans. As we move into the remaining quarters of 2008, we will continue to identify and deliver financial products and services where the demand permits acceptable profit margins and where our company can exceed our customers expectations of quality and service."
Crescent State Bank is a state chartered bank operating thirteen banking offices in Cary (2), Apex, Clayton, Holly Springs, Southern Pines, Pinehurst, Sanford, Garner, Raleigh, Knightdale and Wilmington (2), North Carolina. Crescent Financial Corporation stock can be found on the NASDAQ Global Market trading under the symbol CRFN. Investors can access additional corporate information, product descriptions and online services through the Bank's website at www.crescentstatebank.com.
Information in this press release contains "forward-looking statements." These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including without limitation, the effects of future economic conditions, governmental fiscal and monetary policies, legislative and regulatory changes, the risks of changes in interest rates and the effects of competition. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are discussed in Crescent Financial Corporation's recent filings with the Securities Exchange Commission, including but not limited to its Annual Report on Form 10-K and its other periodic reports.
Crescent Financial Corporation Consolidated Balance Sheet (Amounts in thousands except share and per share data) (Unaudited) March 31, Dec. 31, Sept. 30, June 30, March 31, 2008 2007(a) 2007 2007 2007 --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ASSETS Cash and due from banks $ 14,088 $ 12,048 $ 13,127 $ 14,350 $ 12,731 Interest earning deposits with banks 387 212 365 1,021 209 Federal funds sold 467 97 4,054 16,664 13,158 Investment securities available for sale at fair value 94,855 90,758 89,799 88,240 86,360 Loans 710,545 675,916 651,652 608,318 586,148 Allowance for loan losses (8,425) (8,273) (8,190) (7,536) (7,277) --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- Net Loans 702,120 667,643 643,462 600,782 578,871 Accrued interest receivable 3,268 3,762 3,721 3,422 3,263 Federal Home Loan Bank stock 7,039 6,791 6,566 4,271 4,181 Bank premises and equipment 9,966 8,094 6,921 6,923 6,710 Investment in life insurance 9,210 9,123 9,035 8,947 8,858 Goodwill 30,233 30,233 30,233 30,233 30,225 Other assets 9,460 6,779 6,968 7,369 6,911 --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- Total Assets $ 881,093 $ 835,540 $ 814,251 $ 782,222 $ 751,477 ========= ========= ========= ========= ========= LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY LIABILITIES Deposits Demand $ 65,890 $ 69,368 $ 72,653 $ 81,181 $ 74,127 Savings 88,982 110,516 122,359 101,429 95,744 Money market and NOW 106,109 80,316 88,295 97,146 101,088 Time 392,240 345,231 312,320 338,057 319,050 --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- Total Deposits 653,221 605,431 595,627 617,813 590,009 Short-term borrowings 10,000 13,755 10,000 -- 18,000 Long-term debt 121,248 121,248 116,248 75,248 55,248 Accrued expenses and other liabilities 3,286 3,447 3,273 3,118 3,179 --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- Total Liabilities 787,755 743,881 725,148 696,179 666,436 STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY Common stock 9,496 9,405 9,336 9,187 8,302 Additional paid-in capital 73,699 73,596 73,394 72,554 62,832 Retained earnings 9,478 8,620 6,847 5,285 14,076 Accumulated other compre- hensive loss 665 38 (474) (983) (169) --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- Total Stock- holders' Equity 93,338 91,659 89,103 86,043 85,041 Total Liabil- ities and Stockholders' Equity $ 881,093 $ 835,540 $ 814,251 $ 782,222 $ 751,477 ========= ========= ========= ========= ========= Ending shares outstanding 9,496,555 9,404,579 9,335,755 9,187,468 9,132,055 Book value per share $ 9.83 $ 9.75 $ 9.54 $ 9.37 $ 9.31 Tangible book value per share $ 6.53 $ 6.42 $ 6.19 $ 5.95 $ 5.87 Crescent Financial Corporation Consolidated Income Statements (Amounts in thousands except share and per share data) (Unaudited) For the three-month period ended ----------------------------------------------------- March 31, Dec. 31, Sept. 30, June 30, March 31, 2008 2007 2007 2007 2007 --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- INTEREST INCOME Loans $ 12,472 $ 13,249 $ 12,867 $ 12,331 $ 11,575 Investment securities avail- able for sale 1,206 1,155 1,142 1,096 1,061 Fed funds sold and other interest 44 14 86 175 121 --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- Total Interest Income 13,722 14,418 14,095 13,602 12,757 --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- INTEREST EXPENSE Deposits 5,709 5,782 6,121 5,965 5,561 Short-term borrowings 117 182 149 209 290 Long-term debt 1,372 1,421 1,016 859 662 --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- Total Interest Expense 7,198 7,385 7,286 7,033 6,513 --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- Net Interest Income 6,524 7,033 6,809 6,569 6,244 Provision for loan losses 806 337 666 322 359 --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- Net interest income after provision for loan losses 5,718 6,696 6,143 6,247 5,885 --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- Non-interest income Mortgage loan origination income 172 116 146 135 115 Service charges and fees on deposit accounts 381 355 336 322 348 Gain/loss on sale of securities 0 -- -- -- -- Gain/(loss) on disposal of assets (9) (65) -- -- (1) Other 264 249 208 190 167 --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- Total non- interest income 808 655 690 647 629 Non-interest expense Salaries and employee benefits 2,804 2,460 2,476 2,535 2,404 Occupancy and equipment 663 602 582 564 548 Data processing 271 261 278 257 261 Other 1,283 1,254 1,066 1,267 1,007 --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- Total non- interest expense 5,021 4,577 4,402 4,623 4,220 --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- Income before income taxes 1,505 2,774 2,431 2,271 2,294 Income taxes 505 1,002 868 823 828 --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- Net income $ 1,000 $ 1,772 $ 1,563 $ 1,448 $ 1,466 ========= ========= ========= ========= ========= NET INCOME PER COMMON SHARE Basic $ 0.11 $ 0.19 $ 0.17 $ 0.16 $ 0.16 ========= ========= ========= ========= ========= Diluted $ 0.10 $ 0.18 $ 0.16 $ 0.15 $ 0.15 ========= ========= ========= ========= ========= WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON SHARES OUTSTANDING Basic 9,417,694 9,363,700 9,246,318 9,140,356 9,093,392 ========= ========= ========= ========= ========= Diluted 9,678,862 9,678,862 9,642,429 9,626,134 9,611,833 ========= ========= ========= ========= ========= Return on average assets 0.47% 0.85% 0.79% 0.76% 0.82% Return on average equity 4.32% 7.73% 7.04% 6.73% 7.06% Net interest margin 3.27% 3.64% 3.72% 3.73% 3.81% Allowance for loan losses to avg loans 1.19% 1.22% 1.26% 1.24% 1.24% Nonperforming loans to total loans 0.04% 0.40% 0.22% 0.10% 0.10% Nonperforming assets to total assets 0.29% 0.36% 0.21% 0.09% 0.10% (a) Derived from audited consolidated financial statements.