SUFFOLK, Va., April 24, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hampton Roads based TowneBank (Nasdaq:TOWN) reported record earnings of $9.44 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2012, a 13.64% increase, or $1.13 million, over the $8.30 million reported for the comparative period in 2011.
Net income available to common shareholders increased 25.98% to $7.52 million after preferred dividend payments of $1.92 million. Fully diluted earnings per share increased 30.0% to $0.26 per share compared to $0.20 per share for the comparative period of 2011.
The Bank's common dividend remained at $0.08 per share for the quarter with the common dividend totaling $2.46 million.
Earnings Highlights
The growth in earnings was positively affected by a $4.01 million or 25.40% increase in noninterest income. The majority of the increase is attributable to residential mortgage brokerage income, which increased $3.57 million or 165.58% from the comparative period in 2011. The increase was due to the higher volume in purchase and refinancing transactions, which was fueled by an expansion in our mortgage operations, including the November 1, 2011, acquisition of Benchmark, a mortgage company affiliated with TowneBank Mortgage.
"We are very pleased with the performance of our mortgage business and the growth in our Richmond and North Carolina operations. We are continuing to look for expansion opportunities in mortgage brokerage," said G. Robert Aston, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Additionally, net interest income increased by 2.02% to $34.79 million, a $689,000 improvement over the first quarter of 2011. The bank's net interest margin on a fully tax equivalent basis decreased to 3.93%, down from 4.07% in the same period in 2011, and down slightly from 3.94% in the fourth quarter of 2011. The bank's loan portfolio ended the period at $2.88 billion representing an increase of 5.02%, or $137.44 million, from the prior year, while earning assets increased to $3.77 billion, a 4.33%, or $156.82 million, increase over the same period. "Our loan growth was a major highlight of our performance for the quarter and exceeded our expectations. We are seeing increased demand which is reflective of improvement in our local economy and our focus on growth. We also continue to acquire new relationships from competitors," said Aston.
Noninterest expense increased by $3.23 million, or 9.41%, compared to the comparative quarter of 2011, and increased $428,000, or 1.15%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2011. A significant portion of the increase from the comparative period in 2011 is related to the acquisitions of two insurance agencies and the expansion of our mortgage operations in 2011.
Balance Sheet
At March 31, 2012, total bank assets reached $4.14 billion, an increase of $170.86 million over 2011.
The Bank continued to experience strong deposit growth with total deposits increasing 6.40% to $3.25 billion. Growth in noninterest bearing demand deposits continued to outpace overall deposit growth, ending the quarter at $881.25 million, a 19.60% increase. Noninterest deposits represented 27.10% of total deposits at March 31, 2012.
Capital Strength
The bank's total equity at March 31, 2012 climbed to $539.74 million. Common equity increased 8.96% or $32.80 million. During the first quarter we converted our 8% subordinated notes into common stock, adding $13.60 million to Tier 1 capital and saving $1.1 million a year in interest expense. Total risk-based capital remained strong in the face of balance sheet growth during the year as total risk-based capital, Tier 1 capital, and Tier 1 leverage ratios were 13.81%, 12.62% and 10.68%, respectively. All ratios exceed the current regulatory standards for well capitalized status.
Credit Quality
The bank's loan portfolio continued to perform comparatively well during the first quarter of 2012. At March 31, 2012, nonperforming assets totaled $88.46 million, or 2.13%, of bank assets as compared to $94.64 million, or 2.38%, at March 31, 2011 and $85.62 million, or 2.10%, at December 31, 2011.
The provision for loan losses increased 7.31%, or $279,000, compared to the first quarter of 2011, while net charge-offs were $3.80 million compared to $2.46 million in the comparative period of 2011.
| Asset Quality Indicators | |||||
| (in thousands) | 3/31/2012 | 12/31/2011 | 9/30/2011 | 6/30/2011 | 3/31/2011 |
| Nonperforming loans | $56,253 | $55,801 | $62,574 | $65,265 | $70,936 |
| Foreclosed property | 32,211 | 29,819 | 26,553 | 26,255 | 23,699 |
| Total nonperforming assets | $88,464 | $85,620 | $89,127 | $91,520 | $94,635 |
| Quarterly net loans charged off | $3,803 | $2,263 | $2,246 | $5,556 | $2,457 |
| Year-to-date net loans charged off | $3,803 | $12,522 | $10,259 | $8,013 | $2,457 |
"We are pleased to report these results as we continue our effort to build and maintain a great community asset," added Aston. "I believe our ability to report another quarter of record earnings is a direct result of the commitment and dedication of our board and staff to creating an enduring franchise for our members, shareholders, and our community."
As one of the top community banks in Virginia and North Carolina, TowneBank operates 26 banking offices serving Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, James City County and York County in Virginia along with Moyock, Grandy, Camden, Southern Shores, Corolla and Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina. Towne also offers a full range of financial services through its controlled divisions and subsidiaries that include Towne Investment Group, Towne Insurance Agency, TFA Benefits, TowneBank Mortgage, TowneBank Commercial Mortgage, Prudential Towne Realty, Towne 1031 Exchange, LLC, and Corolla Classic Vacations. Through its strategic partnership with William E. Wood and Associates, the bank also offers mortgage services in all of their offices in Hampton Roads and Northeastern North Carolina. Local decision-making is a hallmark of its hometown banking strategy that is delivered through the leadership of each group's President and Board of Directors. With total assets of $4.14 billion as of March 31, 2012, TowneBank is one of the largest banks headquartered in Virginia.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This release contains forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may address issues that involve significant risks, uncertainties, estimates and assumptions made by management. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements include competitive pressures in the banking industry that may increase significantly; changes in the interest rate environment may reduce margins and/or the volumes and values of loans made or held as well as the value of other financial assets held; general economic conditions, either nationally or regionally, may be less favorable than expected, resulting in, among other things, a deterioration in credit quality and/or a reduced demand for credit or other services; changes in the legislative or regulatory environment, including changes in accounting standards, may adversely affect our business; costs or difficulties related to the integration of the business and the businesses we have acquired may be greater than expected; expected cost savings associated with pending or recently completed acquisitions may not be fully realized or realized within the expected time frame; our competitors may have greater financial resources and develop products that enable them to compete more successfully; changes in business conditions, changes in the securities market and changes in our local economy with regards to our market area and its heavy concentration of U.S. military bases and related personnel. We assume no obligation to update information contained in this release.
| Selected Financial Highlights (unaudited) | ||||
| TOWNEBANK | ||||
| March 31, 2012 | ||||
| (dollars in thousands) | ||||
| Increase/ | % Increase/ | |||
| Three Months Ended March 31, | 2012 | 2011 | (Decrease) | (Decrease) |
| Results of Operations: | ||||
| Net interest income | $ 34,785 | $ 34,096 | $ 689 | 2.02% |
| Noninterest income (1) | 19,771 | 15,766 | 4,005 | 25.40% |
| Gain on investment securities | 778 | 53 | 725 | N/M |
| Noninterest expenses | 37,532 | 34,305 | 3,227 | 9.41% |
| Provision for loan losses | 4,097 | 3,818 | 279 | 7.31% |
| Income before income tax and noncontrolling interest | 13,705 | 11,792 | 1,913 | 16.22% |
| Provision for income tax expense | 4,054 | 3,398 | 656 | 19.31% |
| Net income | 9,651 | 8,394 | 1,257 | 14.97% |
| Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest | 214 | 90 | 124 | 137.78% |
| Net income attributable to TowneBank | 9,437 | 8,304 | 1,133 | 13.64% |
| Preferred stock dividends and accretion | 1,916 | 2,334 | (418) | (17.91%) |
| Net income available to common shareholders | 7,521 | 5,970 | 1,551 | 25.98% |
| Net income per common share - basic | 0.26 | 0.21 | 0.05 | 23.81% |
| Net income per common share - diluted | 0.26 | 0.20 | 0.06 | 30.00% |
| Period End Data: | ||||
| Total assets | $ 4,144,218 | $ 3,973,354 | $ 170,864 | 4.30% |
| Total assets - tangible | 4,029,907 | 3,859,221 | 170,686 | 4.42% |
| Earning assets (2) | 3,774,404 | 3,617,589 | 156,815 | 4.33% |
| Loans (net of unearned income) | 2,875,711 | 2,738,268 | 137,443 | 5.02% |
| Allowance for loan losses | 40,034 | 40,021 | 13 | 0.03% |
| Goodwill and other intangibles | 114,311 | 114,133 | 178 | 0.16% |
| Nonperforming assets | 88,464 | 94,635 | (6,171) | (6.52%) |
| Noninterest bearing deposits | 881,252 | 736,851 | 144,401 | 19.60% |
| Interest bearing deposits | 2,370,593 | 2,319,290 | 51,303 | 2.21% |
| Total deposits | 3,251,845 | 3,056,141 | 195,704 | 6.40% |
| Total equity | 539,737 | 505,726 | 34,011 | 6.73% |
| Total equity - tangible | 425,426 | 391,593 | 33,833 | 8.64% |
| Common equity | 398,945 | 366,141 | 32,804 | 8.96% |
| Common equity - tangible | 284,634 | 252,008 | 32,626 | 12.95% |
| Book value per common share | 13.17 | 12.59 | 0.58 | 4.61% |
| Book value per common share - tangible | 9.40 | 8.67 | 0.73 | 8.42% |
| Daily Average Balances: | ||||
| Total assets | $ 4,073,157 | $ 3,910,365 | $ 162,792 | 4.16% |
| Total assets - tangible | 3,958,456 | 3,798,314 | 160,142 | 4.22% |
| Earning assets (2) | 3,682,952 | 3,531,380 | 151,572 | 4.29% |
| Loans (net of unearned income), excluding nonaccrual loans | 2,780,762 | 2,676,028 | 104,734 | 3.91% |
| Allowance for loan losses | 39,861 | 38,328 | 1,533 | 4.00% |
| Goodwill and other intangibles | 114,701 | 112,051 | 2,650 | 2.36% |
| Noninterest bearing deposits | 830,625 | 721,139 | 109,486 | 15.18% |
| Interest bearing deposits | 2,352,315 | 2,275,531 | 76,784 | 3.37% |
| Total deposits | 3,182,941 | 2,996,671 | 186,270 | 6.22% |
| Total equity | 526,681 | 503,905 | 22,776 | 4.52% |
| Total equity - tangible | 411,980 | 391,854 | 20,126 | 5.14% |
| Common equity | 385,914 | 364,372 | 21,542 | 5.91% |
| Common equity - tangible | 271,213 | 252,320 | 18,893 | 7.49% |
| Key Ratios: | ||||
| Return on average assets | 0.93% | 0.86% | 0.07% | 8.14% |
| Return on average assets - tangible | 0.96% | 0.89% | 0.07% | 7.87% |
| Return on average equity | 7.21% | 6.68% | 0.53% | 7.93% |
| Return on average equity - tangible | 9.21% | 8.59% | 0.62% | 7.22% |
| Return on average common equity | 7.84% | 6.64% | 1.20% | 18.07% |
| Return on average common equity - tangible | 11.15% | 9.60% | 1.55% | 16.15% |
| Net interest margin-fully tax equivalent (2)(3) | 3.93% | 4.07% | (0.14%) | (3.44%) |
| Net interest margin (2) | 3.85% | 3.98% | (0.13%) | (3.27%) |
| Average earning assets/total average assets | 90.42% | 90.31% | 0.11% | 0.12% |
| Average loans/average deposits | 87.36% | 89.30% | (1.94%) | (2.17%) |
| Average noninterest deposits/total average deposits | 26.10% | 24.06% | 2.04% | 8.48% |
| Allowance for loan losses/period end loans | 1.39% | 1.46% | (0.07%) | (4.79%) |
| Nonperforming assets to period end assets | 2.13% | 2.38% | (0.25%) | (10.50%) |
| Period end equity/period end total assets | 13.02% | 12.73% | 0.29% | 2.28% |
| Efficiency ratio (1) | 68.80% | 68.80% | -- | -- |
| (1) Excludes gain on investment securities | ||||
| (2) Includes bank-owned life insurance | ||||
| (3) Presented on a tax-equivalent basis | ||||
| Selected Financial Highlights (unaudited) | ||||
| TOWNEBANK | ||||
| March 31, 2012 | ||||
| (dollars in thousands) | ||||
| March 31, | December 31, | Increase/ | % Increase/ | |
| Three Months Ended | 2012 | 2011 | (Decrease) | (Decrease) |
| Results of Operations: | ||||
| Net interest income | $ 34,785 | $ 34,277 | $ 508 | 1.48% |
| Noninterest income (1) | 19,771 | 15,970 | 3,801 | 23.80% |
| Gain on investment securities | 778 | 3 | 775 | N/M |
| Noninterest expenses | 37,532 | 37,104 | 428 | 1.15% |
| Provision for loan losses | 4,097 | 1,062 | 3,035 | 285.78% |
| Income before income tax and noncontrolling interest | 13,705 | 12,083 | 1,622 | 13.42% |
| Provision for income tax expense | 4,054 | 3,105 | 949 | 30.56% |
| Net income | 9,651 | 8,978 | 673 | 7.50% |
| Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest | 214 | 8 | 206 | N/M |
| Net income attributable to TowneBank | 9,437 | 8,986 | 451 | 5.02% |
| Preferred stock dividends and accretion | 1,916 | 2,140 | (224) | (10.47%) |
| Net income available to common shareholders | 7,521 | 6,846 | 675 | 9.86% |
| Net income per common share - basic | 0.26 | 0.24 | 0.02 | 8.33% |
| Net income per common share - diluted | 0.26 | 0.23 | 0.03 | 13.04% |
| Period End Data: | ||||
| Total assets | $ 4,144,218 | $ 4,081,770 | $ 62,448 | 1.53% |
| Total assets - tangible | 4,029,907 | 3,966,832 | 63,075 | 1.59% |
| Earning assets (2) | 3,774,404 | 3,712,187 | 62,217 | 1.68% |
| Loans (net of unearned income) | 2,875,711 | 2,793,193 | 82,518 | 2.95% |
| Allowance for loan losses | 40,034 | 39,740 | 294 | 0.74% |
| Goodwill and other intangibles | 114,311 | 114,938 | (627) | (0.55%) |
| Nonperforming assets | 88,464 | 85,620 | 2,844 | 3.32% |
| Noninterest bearing deposits | 881,252 | 839,211 | 42,041 | 5.01% |
| Interest bearing deposits | 2,370,593 | 2,351,576 | 19,017 | 0.81% |
| Total deposits | 3,251,845 | 3,190,787 | 61,058 | 1.91% |
| Total equity | 539,737 | 520,489 | 19,248 | 3.70% |
| Total equity - tangible | 425,426 | 405,551 | 19,875 | 4.90% |
| Common equity | 398,945 | 379,686 | 19,259 | 5.07% |
| Common equity - tangible | 284,634 | 264,749 | 19,885 | 7.51% |
| Book value per common share | 13.17 | 13.03 | 0.14 | 1.07% |
| Book value per common share - tangible | 9.40 | 9.08 | 0.32 | 3.52% |
| Daily Average Balances: | ||||
| Total assets | $ 4,073,157 | $ 4,049,883 | $ 23,274 | 0.57% |
| Total assets - tangible | 3,958,456 | 3,934,515 | 23,941 | 0.61% |
| Earning assets (2) | 3,682,952 | 3,660,185 | 22,767 | 0.62% |
| Loans (net of unearned income), excluding nonaccrual loans | 2,780,762 | 2,692,055 | 88,707 | 3.30% |
| Allowance for loan losses | 39,861 | 40,958 | (1,097) | (2.68%) |
| Goodwill and other intangibles | 114,701 | 115,368 | (667) | (0.58%) |
| Noninterest bearing deposits | 830,625 | 845,665 | (15,040) | (1.78%) |
| Interest bearing deposits | 2,352,315 | 2,318,090 | 34,225 | 1.48% |
| Total deposits | 3,182,941 | 3,163,755 | 19,186 | 0.61% |
| Total equity | 526,681 | 519,288 | 7,393 | 1.42% |
| Total equity - tangible | 411,980 | 403,920 | 8,060 | 2.00% |
| Common equity | 385,914 | 378,422 | 7,492 | 1.98% |
| Common equity - tangible | 271,213 | 263,054 | 8,159 | 3.10% |
| Key Ratios: | ||||
| Return on average assets | 0.93% | 0.88% | 0.05% | 5.68% |
| Return on average assets - tangible | 0.96% | 0.91% | 0.05% | 5.49% |
| Return on average equity | 7.21% | 6.87% | 0.34% | 4.95% |
| Return on average equity - tangible | 9.21% | 8.83% | 0.38% | 4.30% |
| Return on average common equity | 7.84% | 7.18% | 0.66% | 9.19% |
| Return on average common equity - tangible | 11.15% | 10.33% | 0.82% | 7.94% |
| Net interest margin-fully tax equivalent (2)(3) | 3.93% | 3.94% | (0.01%) | (0.25%) |
| Net interest margin (2) | 3.85% | 3.83% | 0.02% | 0.52% |
| Average earning assets/total average assets | 90.42% | 90.38% | 0.04% | 0.04% |
| Average loans/average deposits | 87.36% | 85.09% | 2.27% | 2.67% |
| Average noninterest deposits/total average deposits | 26.10% | 26.73% | (0.63%) | (2.36%) |
| Allowance for loan losses/period end loans | 1.39% | 1.42% | (0.03%) | (2.11%) |
| Nonperforming assets to period end assets | 2.13% | 2.10% | 0.03% | 1.43% |
| Period end equity/period end total assets | 13.02% | 12.75% | 0.27% | 2.12% |
| Efficiency ratio (1) | 68.80% | 73.84% | (5.04%) | (6.83%) |
| (1) Excludes gain on investment securities | ||||
| (2) Includes bank-owned life insurance | ||||
| (3) Presented on a tax-equivalent basis | ||||