Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis
ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS
OF
OPERATIONS
The following discussion and analysis is designed to provide a better
understanding of various factors related to the results
of operations and financial condition of the Company and the Bank.
This discussion is intended to supplement and
highlight information contained in the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated
financial statements and related
notes for the quarters ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, as well as the information
contained in our Annual Report on Form
10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.
Special Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Various
of the statements made herein under the captions “Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations”, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about
Market Risk”, “Risk Factors” “Description of
Property” and elsewhere, are “forward-looking statements” within the
meaning and protections of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
as amended (the “Exchange Act”).
Forward-looking statements include statements with respect to our beliefs, plans, objectives,
goals, expectations,
anticipations, assumptions, estimates, intentions and future performance, and
involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control, and
which may cause the actual results, performance,
achievements or financial condition of the Company to be materially different
from future results, performance,
achievements or financial condition expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements.
You
should not expect us to
update any forward-looking statements.
All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be forward-looking
statements. You
can
identify these forward-looking statements through our use of words such as
“may,” “will,” “anticipate,”
“assume,”
“should,” “indicate,” “would,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “expect,”
“estimate,” “continue,” “designed”, “plan,” “point to,”
“project,” “could,” “intend,” “target” and other similar words
and expressions of the future. These forward-looking
statements may not be realized due to a variety of factors, including, without limitation:
●
the effects of future economic, business and market conditions and
changes, foreign, domestic and locally,
including inflation, seasonality, natural
disasters or climate change, such as rising sea and water levels, hurricanes
and tornados, COVID-19 or other health crises, epidemics or pandemics including supply
chain disruptions,
inventory volatility, and changes
in consumer behaviors;
●
the effects of war or other conflicts, acts of terrorism, trade restrictions, sanctions or
other events that may affect
general economic conditions;
●
governmental monetary and fiscal policies, including the amount and costs of borrowing
by the federal
government and its agencies, the continuing effects of COVID-19
fiscal and monetary stimuli, and subsequent
changes in monetary policies in response to inflation, including increases in the Federal
Reserve’s target federal
funds rate and reductions in the Federal Reserve’s
holdings of securities through quantitative tightening; and the
duration that the Federal Reserve will keep its targeted federal funds rates at or
above current rates to meet its long
term inflation target of 2%;
●
legislative and regulatory changes, including changes in banking, securities and tax laws,
regulations and rules and
their application by our regulators, including capital and liquidity requirements, and changes
in the scope and cost
of FDIC insurance;
●
changes in accounting pronouncements and interpretations, including the required use,
beginning January 1,
2023,of Financial Accounting Standards Board’s
(“FASB”) Accounting
Standards Update (ASU) 2016-13,
“Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic
326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments,” as
well as the updates issued since June 2016 (collectively,
FASB
ASC Topic 326) on Current Expected
Credit
Losses(“CECL”), and ASU 2022-02, Troubled
Debt Restructurings and Vintage Disclosures,
which eliminates
troubled debt restructurings (“TDRs”) and related guidance;
Table of Contents
27
●
the failure of assumptions and estimates, including those used in the Company’s
CECL models to establish our
allowance for credit losses and estimate asset impairments, as well as differences
in, and changes to, economic,
market and credit conditions, including changes in borrowers’ credit risks and payment behaviors
from those used
in our CECL models and loan portfolio reviews;
●
the risks of changes in market interest rates and the shape of the yield curve on customer
behaviors; the levels,
composition and costs of deposits, loan demand and mortgage loan originations; the
values and liquidity of loan
collateral, our securities portfolio and interest-sensitive assets and liabilities;
and the risks and uncertainty of the
amounts realizable on collateral;
●
the risks of increases in market interest rates creating unrealized losses on our securities available
for sale, which
adversely affect our stockholders’ equity for financial reporting purposes and our
tangible equity;
●
changes in borrower liquidity and credit risks, and savings, deposit and payment behaviors;
●
changes in the availability and cost of credit and capital in the financial markets, and the types
of instruments that
may be included as capital for regulatory purposes;
●
changes in the prices, values and sales volumes of residential and commercial real estate;
●
the effects of competition from a wide variety of local, regional, national
and other providers of financial,
investment and insurance services, including the disruptive effects of
financial technology and other competitors
who are not subject to the same regulation, including capital, and supervision and examination,
as the Company
and the Bank and credit unions, which are not subject to federal income taxation;
●
the timing and amount of rental income from third parties following the June 2022
opening of our new
headquarters;
●
the risks of mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, including,
without limitation, the related time and costs of
implementing such transactions, integrating operations as part of these transactions and
possible failures to achieve
expected gains, revenue growth and/or expense savings from such transactions;
●
changes in technology or products that may be more difficult, costly,
or less effective than anticipated;
●
cyber-attacks and data breaches that may compromise our systems,
our vendors’ systems or customers’
information;
●
the risks that our deferred tax assets (“DTAs”)
included in “other assets” on our consolidated balance sheets, if
any, could be reduced if estimates of future
taxable income from our operations and tax planning strategies are less
than currently estimated, and sales of our capital stock could trigger a reduction in the amount of
net operating loss
carry-forwards that we may be able to utilize for income tax purposes;
●
the risks that our dividends, share repurchases and discretionary bonuses are
limited by regulation to the
maintenance of a capital conservation buffer of 2.5% and our future earnings and
“eligible retained earnings” over
rolling four calendar quarter periods;
●
other factors and risks described under “Risk Factors” herein, in our Annual Report
on Form 10-K as of and for
the year ended December 31, 2024 filed with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission (the
“Commission” or “SEC”), and in any of our subsequent reports that we make with the SEC
under the Exchange
Act.
All written or oral forward-looking statements that are we make or are
attributable to us are expressly qualified in their
entirety by this cautionary notice.
We
have no obligation and do not undertake to update, revise or correct any of the
forward-looking statements after the date of this report, or after the respective dates on which such
statements otherwise are
made.
Table of Contents
28
Summary of Results of Operations
Quarter ended March 31,
(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)
2024
2023
Net interest income (a)
$
6,677
$
7,217
Less: tax-equivalent adjustment
20
108
Net interest income (GAAP)
6,657
7,109
Noninterest income
887
792
Total revenue
7,544
7,901
Provision for credit losses
334
66
Noninterest expense
5,675
5,604
Income tax expense
164
267
Net earnings
$
1,371
$
1,964
Basic and diluted earnings per share
$
0.39
$
0.56
(a) Tax-equivalent.
See "Table 1 - Explanation of Non-GAAP
Financial Measures."
Financial Summary
The Company’s net earnings were $1.4
million for the first three months of 2024,
compared to $2.0 million for the first
three months of 2023.
Basic and
diluted earnings per share were $0.39 per share for the first three months of 2024,
compared to $0.56 per share for the first three months of 2023.
Net interest income (tax-equivalent) was $6.7 million for the first three
months of 2024, a 7% decrease compared to $7.2
million for the first three months of 2023.
This decrease was primarily due to a smaller balance sheet and a decrease in the
Company’s net interest margin.
The Company’s net interest
margin (tax-equivalent) was 3.04% for the first three months
of 2024 compared to 3.17%
for the first three months of 2023.
This decrease was primarily due to increased cost of funds
which was partially offset by a more favorable asset mix and
higher yields on interest earning assets.
Average loans for the
first three months of 2024 were
$560.9 million, a 12% increase from the first three months of 2023.
Average total
securities for the first three months of 2024 were $267.6 million compared to
$402.7 million for the first three months of
2023.
The decrease was primarily the result of the Company’s
balance sheet repositioning strategy in the fourth quarter of
2024.
See “Results of Operations – Average
Balance Sheet and Interest Rates” and “Net Interest Income and Margin”
below.
At March 31, 2024, the Company’s allowance
for credit losses was $7.2 million, or 1.27% of total loans, compared to $6.9
million, or 1.23% of total loans, at December 31, 2023, and $6.8 million, or 1.35%
of total loans, at March 31, 2023.
The Company recorded a provision for credit losses during the first three months of
2024 of $0.3 million, compared to $0.1
million during the first three months of 2023.
The provision for credit losses under CECL reflects the Company’s
evaluation of its credit risk profile and its future economic outlook and forecasts.
Our CECL model is largely influenced by
economic factors including, most notably,
the anticipated unemployment rate.
The increase in the provision for credit
losses in the first quarter of 2024, as compared to the first quarter of 2023, was related to changes in the
composition of,
and increases in, loans as well as the continued uncertainty in the economic environment
which impacts the projected
macroeconomic factors used in our CECL modeling.
Noninterest income was $0.9 million in the first three months of 2024,
compared to $0.8 million in the first three months of
2023.
Noninterest expense was $5.7 million in the first three months of 2024,
compared to $5.6 million for the first three months
of 2023.
The increase in noninterest expense was primarily due to routine increases
in salaries and benefits expense.
Income tax expense was $0.2 million for the first three months of 2024 compared
to $0.3 million for the first three months
of 2023.
This decrease was due to a decline in the level of earnings before taxes and the Company’s
effective tax rate.
The
Company's effective tax rate for the first three months of 2024
was 10.68%, compared to 11.97% in the first three months
of 2023.
The Company’s effective income
tax rate is affected principally by tax-exempt earnings from the Company’s
investment in municipal securities, bank-owned life insurance (“BOLI”),
and New Markets Tax Credits
(“NMTCs”).
Table of Contents
29
The Company paid cash dividends of $0.27 per share in the first three months of 2024 and 2023
.
At March 31, 2024, the
Bank’s regulatory capital ratios
were well above the minimum amounts required to be “well capitalized” under current
regulatory standards with a total risk-based capital ratio of 15.69%,
a tier 1 leverage ratio of 10.34% and a common equity
tier 1 (“CET1”) ratio of 14.62% at March 31, 2024.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The accounting principles we follow and our methods of applying these principles
conform with U.S. GAAP and with
general practices within the banking industry.
There have been no significant changes to our Critical Accounting Estimates
as described in our Form 10-K.
RESULTS
OF OPERATIONS
Average Balance
Sheet and Interest Rates
Quarter ended March 31,
2024
2023
Average
Yield/
Average
Yield/
(Dollars in thousands)
Balance
Rate
Balance
Rate
Interest-earning assets:
Loans and loans held for sale
$
560,942
5.01%
$
502,158
4.65%
Securities - taxable
257,229
2.21%
344,884
2.19%
Securities - tax-exempt
10,377
3.64%
57,800
3.59%
Total securities
267,606
2.26%
402,684
2.38%
Federal funds sold
17,980
5.57%
7,314
4.71%
Interest bearing bank deposits
37,790
5.37%
11,607
4.47%
Total interest-earning assets
884,318
4.21%
923,763
3.66%
Interest-bearing liabilities:
Deposits:
NOW
196,648
1.31%
187,566
0.54%
Savings and money market
241,792
0.57%
300,657
0.39%
Time Deposits
199,562
3.20%
155,676
1.51%
Total interest-bearing deposits
638,002
1.62%
643,899
0.70%
Short-term borrowings
1,592
0.51%
3,046
1.11%
Total interest-bearing liabilities
639,594
1.62%
646,945
0.71%
Net interest income and margin (tax-equivalent)
$
6,677
3.04%
$
7,217
3.17%
Net Interest Income and Margin
Net interest income (tax-equivalent) was $6.7 million for the first three
months of 2024, a 7% increase compared to $7.2
million for the first three months of 2023.
This decrease was primarily due to a decline in the Company’s
net interest
margin (tax-equivalent).
The Company’s net interest
margin (tax-equivalent) was 3.04% in the first three months of 2024
compared to 3.17% in the first three months of 2023.
This decrease was primarily due to higher market interest rates,
which increased our cost of funds, generally,
and changes in our deposit mix to higher cost interest bearing deposits, which
was partially offset by a more favorable asset mix and higher
yields on interest-earning assets.
The cost of interest-bearing
liabilities increased to 162 basis points, compared to 71 basis points in the first three
months of 2024.
Since March 2022,
the Federal Reserve increased the target federal funds range from 0 –
0.25% to 5.25 – 5.50%.
The tax-equivalent yield on total interest-earning assets increased by 55 basis points
to 4.21% in the first three months of
2024 compared to 3.66% in the first three months of 2023.
This increase was primarily due to the Company’s
balance
sheet repositioning strategy in the fourth quarter of 2023, which improved our asset
mix, and higher market interest rates on
interest earning assets.
Table of Contents
30
The cost of total interest-bearing liabilities increased by 91 basis points to
1.62% in the first three months of 2024
compared to 0.71% in the first three months of 2023.
Our deposit costs may continue to increase as the Federal Reserve
maintains or increases its target federal funds rate, market interest
rates increase, and as customer behaviors change as a
result of inflation and higher market interest rates, and we compete for deposits against other
banks, money market mutual
funds, Treasury securities and other interest bearing alternative
investments.
The Company continues to deploy various asset liability management strategies
to manage its risks from interest rate
fluctuations. Deposit and loan pricing remain competitive in our
markets.
We believe this challenging
rate environment
will continue throughout 2024.
Our ability to compete and manage our deposit costs until our interest-earning assets
reprice and we generate new loans with current market interest rates will be important
to our net interest margin during
2024.
Provision for Credit Losses
On January 1, 2023, we adopted ASC 326 and its CECL methodology,
which requires us to estimate all expected credit
losses over the remaining life of our loans. Accordingly,
the provision for credit losses represents a charge to earnings
necessary to establish an allowance for credit losses that, in management's evaluation,
is adequate to provide coverage for
all expected credit losses. The Company recorded a provision for credit losses during the
first three months of 2024 of $0.3
million, compared to $0.1 million during the first three months of 2023.
Provision expense is affected by organic loan
growth in our loan portfolio, our internal assessment of the credit quality of the loan portfolio,
our expectations about future
economic conditions and net charge-offs.
Our CECL model is largely influenced by economic factors including,
most
notably, the anticipated
unemployment rate, which may be affected by
monetary policy.
The increase in the provision for
credit losses in the first quarter of 2024, as compared to the first quarter of 2023,
was related to changes in the composition
of, and increases in, loans as well as the continued uncertainty in the economic environment
which impacts the projected
macroeconomic factors used in our CECL modeling.
Our allowance for credit losses reflects an amount we believe appropriate,
based on our allowance assessment
methodology, to adequately cover
all expected credit losses as of the date the allowance is determined.
At March 31, 2024,
the Company’s allowance for credit
losses was $7.2 million, or 1.27% of total loans, compared to $6.9 million, or 1.23% of
total loans, at December 31, 2023, and $6.8 million, or 1.35% of total loans, at March 31, 2023.
Noninterest Income
Quarter ended March 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
2024
2023
Service charges on deposit accounts
$
156
$
154
Mortgage lending income
150
93
Bank-owned life insurance
102
156
Other
479
389
Total noninterest income
$
887
$
792
The Company’s income from mortgage lending
is primarily attributable to the (1) origination and sale of mortgage loans
and (2) servicing of mortgage loans. Origination income, net, is comprised of gains or losses
from the sale of the mortgage
loans originated, origination fees, underwriting fees, and other fees associated
with the origination of loans, which are
netted against the commission expense associated with these originations. The
Company’s normal practice is to originate
mortgage loans for sale in the secondary market and to either sell or retain the associated
MSRs when the loan is sold.
MSRs are recognized based on the fair value of the servicing right on the date the corresponding
mortgage loan is sold.
Subsequent to the date of transfer, the Company
has elected to measure its MSRs under the amortization method.
Servicing
fee income is reported net of any related amortization expense.
The Company evaluates MSRs for impairment on a quarterly basis.
Impairment is determined by grouping MSRs by
common predominant characteristics, such as interest rate and loan type.
If the aggregate carrying amount of a particular
group of MSRs exceeds the group’s aggregate fair
value, a valuation allowance for that group is established.
The valuation
allowance is adjusted as the fair value changes.
An increase in mortgage interest rates typically results in an increase in the
fair value of the MSRs while a decrease in mortgage interest rates typically results in a decrease
in the fair value of MSRs.
Table of Contents
31
The following table presents a breakdown of the Company’s
mortgage lending income.
Quarter ended March 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
2024
2023
Origination income, net
$
57
$
4
Servicing fees, net
93
89
Total mortgage lending income
$
150
$
93
Income from bank-owned life insurance was $102 thousand and $156
thousand for the first three months of 2024 and 2023,
respectively.
Excluding a $52 thousand non-taxable death benefit received during the first
three months of 2023, income
from bank-owned life insurance would have been $104 thousand for the first three
months of 2023.
Other noninterest income was $479 thousand for the first three
months of 2024, compared to $389 thousand for the first
three months of 2023.
The increase in other noninterest income was primarily due to increased fee income on one-way
sell
reciprocal deposits sold through the Intrafi network.
Noninterest Expense
Quarter ended March 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
2024
2023
Salaries and benefits
$
3,071
$
2,927
Net occupancy and equipment
763
799
Professional fees
326
338
Other
1,515
1,540
Total noninterest expense
$
5,675
$
5,604
The increase in salaries and benefits was primarily due to routine annual increases in
salaries and wages.
The decrease in other noninterest expense was primarily due to the Company’s
adoption of FASB
ASU 2023-02
Investments – Equity Method and Joint Ventures
(Topic 323)
which allows the proportional amortization method for our
NMTC investments on January 1, 2024.
With the adoption of this ASU, amortization of NMTCs
are now included in
income tax expense.
During the first three months of 2023, other noninterest expense included
$105 thousand related to
our equity method investment in NMTCs.
Income Tax
Expense
Income tax expense was $0.2 million for the first three months of 2024
compared to $0.3 million for the first three months
of 2023.
This decrease was due to declines in earnings before taxes and the Company’s
effective tax rate.
The Company’s
effective income tax rate for the first three months of 2024 was 10.68
%, compared to 11.97% in the first three months of
2023.
The Company’s effective income
tax rate is principally impacted by tax-exempt earnings from the Company’s
investments in municipal securities, bank-owned life insurance, and New Mark
ets Tax Credits.
BALANCE SHEET ANALYSIS
Securities
Securities available-for-sale were $260.8
million at March 31, 2024, compared to $270.9 million at December 31, 2023.
This decrease reflects a $7.2 million decrease in the amortized cost basis of securities available
-for-sale and a decrease in
the fair value of securities available-for-sale of $2.9 million.
The average annualized tax-equivalent yields earned on total
securities were 2.26%
in the first quarter of 2024 and 2.39% in the first quarter of 2023.
Table of Contents
32
Loans
2024
2023
First
Fourth
Third
Second
First
(In thousands)
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Commercial and industrial
$
78,920
73,374
66,014
61,880
59,602
Construction and land development
58,909
68,329
70,129
63,874
66,500
Commercial real estate
300,484
287,307
281,964
275,801
267,962
Residential real estate
118,240
117,457
117,150
109,834
101,975
Consumer installment
10,967
10,827
10,353
9,022
9,002
Total loans
$
567,520
557,294
545,610
520,411
505,041
Total loans
were $567.5 million at March 31, 2024, a 2% increase compared to $557.3 million at December 31,
2023.
Four
loan categories represented the majority of the loan portfolio at March 31,
2024: commercial real estate (53%), residential
real estate (21%), commercial and industrial (14%) and construction and land development
(10%).
Approximately 21% of
the Company’s commercial real
estate loans were classified as owner-occupied at March 31,
2024.
Within the residential real estate portfolio segment, the Company
had junior lien mortgages of approximately $9.2 million,
or 2% of total loans, and $8.7 million, or 2%, of total loans at March 31, 2024 and
December 31, 2023, respectively.
For
residential real estate mortgage loans with a consumer purpose, the Company had no loans
that required interest only
payments at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023. The Company’s
residential real estate mortgage portfolio does not
include any option or hybrid ARM loans, subprime loans, or any material amount
of other consumer mortgage products
which are generally viewed as high risk.
The average yield earned on loans and loans held for sale was 5.01% in the first quarter of
2024 and 4.65% in the first
quarter of 2023.
The specific economic and credit risks associated with our loan portfolio include, but are
not limited to, the effects of
current economic conditions, including inflation and the continuing increases in
market interest rates, remaining COVID-19
pandemic effects including supply chain disruptions, reduced
commercial office occupancy levels, housing supply
shortages and inflation on our borrowers’ cash flows, real estate market sales
volumes and liquidity,
valuations used in
making loans and evaluating collateral, reduced credit availability
,
(especially for commercial real estate) generally and
higher costs of financing properties, which reduce the transaction and dollar
volumes of commercial real estate property
sales.
Other risks we face include, among other things, real estate industry concentrations,
competitive pressures from a
wide range of other lenders, deterioration in certain credits, interest rate fluctuations,
reduced collateral values or non-
existent collateral, title defects, inaccurate appraisals, financial deterioration
of borrowers, fraud, and any violation of
applicable laws and regulations. Various
projects financed earlier that were based on lower interest rate assumptions
than
currently in effect may not be as profitable or successful at the higher
interest rates currently in effect and currently
expected in the future.
The Company attempts to reduce these economic and credit risks through its loan-to-value
guidelines for collateralized
loans, investigating the creditworthiness of borrowers and monitoring borrowers’ financial
position. Also, we have
established and periodically review,
lending policies and procedures. Banking regulations limit a bank’s
credit exposure by
prohibiting unsecured loan relationships that exceed 10% of its capital; or 20%
of capital, if loans in excess of 10% of
capital are fully secured. Under these regulations, we are prohibited from having secured
loan relationships in excess of
approximately $22.3 million.
Furthermore, we have an internal limit for aggregate credit exposure (loans outstanding
plus
unfunded commitments) to a single borrower of $20.1 million. Our loan policy requires
that the Loan Committee of the
Board of Directors approve any loan relationships that exceed this internal limit.
At March 31, 2024, the Bank had one
loan relationship exceeding our internal limit.
Table of Contents
33
We periodically analyze
our commercial and industrial and commercial real estate loan portfolios to determine if
a
concentration of credit risk exists in any one or more industries. We
use classification systems broadly accepted by the
financial services industry in order to categorize our commercial borrowers.
Loan concentrations to borrowers in the
following classes exceeded 25% of the Bank’s total risk
-based capital at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023.
March 31,
December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
2024
2023
Lessors of 1-4 family residential properties
$
58,427
$
56,912
Multi-family residential properties
45,634
45,841
Hotel/motel
38,822
39,131
Office Buildings
27,897
30,871
Allowance for Credit Losses
On January 1, 2023, we adopted ASC 326 and its CECL methodology,
which requires us to estimate all expected credit
losses over the remaining life of our loan portfolio. Accordingly,
beginning in 2023, the allowance for credit losses
represents an amount that, in management's evaluation, is adequate to provide
coverage for all expected future credit losses
on outstanding loans. As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, our allowance
for credit losses was approximately
$7.2 million and
$6.9 million, respectively,
which our management believes to be adequate at each of the respective dates.
Our allowance for credit losses as a percentage of total loans was 1.27%
at March 31, 2024, compared to 1.23% at
December 31, 2023.
Our CECL models rely largely on projections of macroeconomic
conditions to estimate future credit losses.
Macroeconomic factors used in the model include the Alabama unemployment
rate, the Alabama home price index, the
national commercial real estate price index and the Alabama gross state product.
Projections of these macroeconomic
factors, obtained from an independent third party,
are utilized to predict quarterly rates of default.
Under the CECL methodology the allowance for credit losses is measured
on a collective basis for pools of loans with
similar risk characteristics, and for loans that do not share similar risk characteristics
with the collectively evaluated pools,
evaluations are performed on an individual basis. Losses are predicted
over a period of time determined to be reasonable
and supportable, and at the end of the reasonable and supportable period
losses are reverted to long term historical averages.
At March 31, 2024, reasonable and supportable periods of 4 quarters
were utilized followed by an 8 quarter straight line
reversion period to long term averages.
A summary of the changes in the allowance for credit losses and certain asset
quality ratios for the first quarter of 2024 and
the previous four quarters is presented below.
2024
2023
First
Fourth
Third
Second
First
(Dollars in thousands)
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Balance at beginning of period
$
6,863
6,778
6,634
6,821
5,765
Impact of adopting ASC 326
—
—
—
—
1,019
Charge-offs:
Commercial and industrial
—
(164)
—
—
—
Consumer installment
(24)
(20)
(18)
(56)
(11)
Total charge
-offs
(24)
(184)
(18)
(56)
(11)
Recoveries
91
11
4
200
8
Net recoveries (charge-offs)
67
(173)
(14)
144
(3)
Provision for credit losses
285
258
158
(331)
40
Ending balance
$
7,215
6,863
6,778
6,634
6,821
as a % of loans
1.27
%
1.23
1.24
1.27
1.35
as a % of nonperforming loans
822
%
753
559
577
255
Net (recoveries) charge-offs as % of average loans (a)
(0.05)
%
0.13
0.01
(0.11)
—
(a) Net (recoveries) charge-offs are annualized.
Table of Contents
34
The allowance for credit losses by loan category for the first quarter of 2024 and the previous four quarters
is presented
below.
2024
2023
First Quarter
Fourth Quarter
Third Quarter
Second Quarter
First Quarter
(Dollars in thousands)
Amount
%*
Amount
%*
Amount
%*
Amount
%*
Amount
%*
Commercial and industrial
$
1,415
13.9
$
1,288
13.2
$
1,215
12.1
$
1,198
11.9
$
1,232
11.8
Construction and land
development
840
10.4
960
12.3
1,073
12.9
1,005
12.3
1,021
13.2
Commercial real estate
4,202
53.0
3,921
51.5
3,803
51.6
3,788
53.0
3,966
53.0
Residential real estate
613
20.8
546
21.1
551
21.5
529
21.1
497
20.2
Consumer installment
145
1.9
148
1.9
136
1.9
114
1.7
105
1.8
Total allowance for credit
losses
$
7,215
$
6,863
$
6,778
$
6,634
$
6,821
* Loan balance in each category expressed as a percentage of total loans.
Nonperforming Assets
At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company had $0.9 million in nonperforming assets.
The table below provides information concerning total nonperforming assets
and certain asset quality ratios for the first
quarter of 2024 and the previous four quarters.
2024
2023
First
Fourth
Third
Second
First
(Dollars in thousands)
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Nonperforming assets:
Nonaccrual loans
$
878
911
1,213
1,149
2,680
Total nonperforming assets
$
878
911
1,213
1,149
2,680
as a % of loans and other real estate owned
0.15
%
0.16
0.22
0.22
0.53
as a % of total assets
0.09
%
0.09
0.12
0.11
0.26
Nonperforming loans as a % of total loans
0.15
%
0.16
0.22
0.22
0.53
The table below provides information concerning the composition of nonaccrual
loans for the first quarter of 2024 and the
previous four quarters.
2024
2023
First
Fourth
Third
Second
First
(In thousands)
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Nonaccrual loans:
Commercial and industrial
$
—
—
162
178
432
Commercial real estate
765
783
801
819
2,103
Residential real estate
97
128
250
152
135
Consumer installment
16
—
—
—
10
Total nonaccrual loans
$
878
911
1,213
1,149
2,680
The Company discontinues the accrual of interest income when (1) there is a significant
deterioration in the financial
condition of the borrower and full repayment of principal and interest is not expected or
(2) the principal or interest is
90 days or more past due, unless the loan is both well-secured and in the process of collection
.
The Company had no loans 90 days or more past due and still accruing at March 31,
2024 and December 31, 2023,
respectively.
The Company had no OREO at March 31, 2024 or December 31, 2023.
Table of Contents
35
Deposits
March 31,
December 31,
(In thousands)
2024
2023
Noninterest bearing demand
$
263,484
270,723
NOW
197,044
190,724
Money market
160,980
148,040
Savings
87,562
88,541
Certificates of deposit under $250,000
101,186
100,572
Certificates of deposit and other time deposits of $250,000 or more
89,417
97,643
Total deposits
$
899,673
896,243
Total deposits
were $899.7 million at March 31, 2024,
compared to $896.2 million at December 31, 2023. At March 31,
2024, the Company had $48.9 million of reciprocal deposits sold,
compared to $59.0 million at December 31, 2023.
Noninterest-bearing deposits were $263.5 million, or 29% of total deposits, at March
31, 2024, compared to $270.7 million,
or 30% of total deposits at December 31, 2023.
The average rate paid on total interest-bearing deposits was 1.62% in the first quarter of 2024
,
compared to 0.70% in first
quarter of 2023.
At March 31, 2024, estimated uninsured deposits totaled $351.5 million, or 39%
of total deposits, compared to $356.3
million, or 40% of total deposits at December 31, 2023.
During 2023, the Bank began participating in the Certificates of
Deposit Account Registry Service (the “CDARS”) and the Insured Cash Sweep
product (“ICS”), which provide for
reciprocal (“two-way”) transactions among banks facilitated by IntraFi for the purpose
of improving the FDIC insurance
coverage for our depositors.
The total of reciprocal deposits at March 31, 2024 was $10.6 million, compared
to none at
December 31, 2023.
Uninsured amounts are estimated based on the portion of account balances in excess of FDIC
insurance limits.
The Bank’s uninsured deposits at
March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 include approximately $215.0
million and $206.2 million, respectively,
of deposits of state, county and local governments that are collateralized by
securities having an equal fair value to such deposits.
The estimated uninsured time deposits by maturity as of March 31, 2024
is presented below.
(Dollars in thousands)
March 31, 2024
Maturity of:
3 months or less
$
15,297
Over 3 months through 6 months
25,558
Over 6 months through 12 months
20,461
Over 12 months
2,598
Total estimated uninsured
time deposits
$
63,914
The FDIC issued a special assessment of 3.36 basis points for a projected eight quarters on large
banks with more than $5
billion of uninsured deposits as a result of the systemic risk determination to insure all depositors
in connection with the
March 2023 failures of Silicon Valley
Bank and Signature Bank.
These special assessments do not apply to the Bank.
Other Borrowings and Available
Credit
The Company had no long-term debt at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023.
The Bank utilizes short and long-term
non-deposit borrowings from time to time. Short-term borrowings
generally consist of federal funds purchased and
securities sold under agreements to repurchase with an original maturity of one year or
less.
The Bank had available federal
funds lines totaling $61.0 million with no federal funds borrowings outstanding
at March 31, 2024, and December 31,
2023, respectively. Securities
sold under agreements to repurchase, which were entered into on behalf of certain customers
totaled $1.5 million at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively
.
At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023,
the Bank had no borrowings from the Federal Reserve discount window and
never had any borrowings under the Federal
Reserve’s Bank Term
Facility Program (“BTFP”).
The BTFP ceased making new loans on March 11,
2024.
Table of Contents
36
The Bank is a member of the FHLB of Atlanta and has borrowed, and may in the
future borrow from time to time under the
FHLB of Atlanta’s advance program to
obtain funding for its growth.
FHLB advances include both fixed and variable
terms and are taken out with varying maturities, and are generally secured by eligible assets.
The Bank had no borrowings
under FHLB of Atlanta’s advance prog
ram at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.
At those dates, the
Bank had $293.2 million and $309.1 million, respectively,
of available lines of credit at the FHLB of Atlanta.
Advances
include both fixed and variable interest rates and varying maturities may be
used.
The average rate paid on the Bank’s
short-term borrowings was 0.51% in the first quarter of 2024
compared to 1.11% in the
first quarter of 2023.
CAPITAL ADEQUACY
The Company’s consolidated
stockholders’ equity was $74.5 million and $76.5 million as of March 31,
2024 and
December 31, 2023, respectively.
The decrease from December 31, 2023 was primarily driven by an other comprehensive
loss due to the change in unrealized gains/losses on securities available-for-sale,
net of tax of $2.2 million, cash dividends
of $0.9 million, and the cumulative effect of adopting NMTC accounting
standard of $0.3
million, partially offset by net
earnings of $1.4 million.
Total unrealized losses,
net of tax, on available-for-sale securities increased from $29.0
million
on December 31, 2023 to $31.2 million March 31, 2024.
These unrealized losses do not affect the Bank’s
capital for
regulatory capital purposes.
The Company paid cash dividends of $0.27 per share for both the first quarter of 2024
and first quarter of 2023.
On January 1, 2015, the Company and Bank became subject to the rules of the Basel III regulatory
capital framework and
related Dodd-Frank Wall
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act changes.
The rules included the implementation of a
capital conservation buffer that is added to the minimum requirements
for capital adequacy purposes.
The capital
conservation buffer was subject to a three-year phase-in period that began on January 1,
2016 and was fully phased-in on
January 1, 2019 at 2.5%.
A banking organization with a conservation buffer of less than the
required amount will be
subject to limitations on capital distributions, including dividend payments and certain discretionary
bonus payments to
executive officers.
At March 31, 2024, the Bank’s ratio
was sufficient to meet the fully phased-in conservation buffer,
and
did not limit capital distributions or discretionary bonuses.
On August 26, 2020, the Federal Reserve and the other federal banking regulators adopted
a final rule that amended the
capital conservation buffer.
The new rule revises the definition of “eligible retained income”
for purposes of the maximum
payout ratio to allow banking organizations to more freely use their capital buffers
to promote lending and other financial
intermediation activities, by making the limitations on capital distributions
more gradual.
The eligible retained income is
now the greater of (i) net income for the four preceding quarters, net of distributions and associated
tax effects not reflected
in net income; and (ii) the average of all net income over the preceding four quarters.
This rule only affects the capital
buffers, and banking organizations were encouraged
to make prudent capital distribution decisions.
The Federal Reserve has treated us as a “small bank holding company’ under the Federal
Reserve’s Small Bank Holding
Company Policy.
Accordingly, our capital adequacy is evaluated
at the Bank level, and not for the Company and its
consolidated subsidiaries.
The Bank’s tier 1 leverage ratio
was 10.34%, CET1 risk-based capital ratio was 14.62%, tier 1
risk-based capital ratio was 14.62%, and total risk-based capital ratio was 15.69%
at March 31, 2024. These ratios exceed
the minimum regulatory capital percentages of 5.0% for tier 1 leverage ratio, 6.5%
for CET1 risk-based capital ratio, 8.0%
for tier 1 risk-based capital ratio, and 10.0% for total risk-based capital ratio
to be considered “well capitalized.”
The
Bank’s capital conservation buffer
was 7.69%
at March 31, 2024.
On July 27, 2023, the Federal Reserve, the Comptroller of the Currency and the FDIC issued
a joint notice of proposed
rulemaking to implement the Basel III endgame components.
The proposal which is subject to public comment and change
only applies to banks and holding companies with $100 billion or more of assets.
The proposal includes provisions dealing
with:
●
Credit risk, which arises from the risk that an obligor fails to perform on an obligation;
●
Credit risk, which arises from the risk than an obligor fails to perform on an obligation;
●
Market risk, which results from changes in the value of trading positions;
●
Operational risk, which is the risk of losses resulting from inadequate or
failed internal process, people, and
systems, or from external events; and
●
Credit valuation adjustment risk, which results from the risk of losses on certain derivative
contracts.
The Basel III endgame regulatory proposals are not applicable to the Company or the Bank
.
Table of Contents
37
MARKET AND LIQUIDITY RISK MANAGEMENT
Management’s objective is to manage assets and
liabilities to provide a satisfactory,
consistent level of profitability within
the framework of established liquidity,
loan, investment, borrowing, and capital policies. The Bank’s
Asset Liability
Management Committee (“ALCO”) is charged with the responsibility
of monitoring these policies, which are designed to
ensure an acceptable asset/liability composition. Two
critical areas of focus for ALCO are interest rate risk and liquidity
risk management.
Interest Rate Risk Management
In the normal course of business, the Company is exposed to market risk arising from fluctuations
in interest rates. ALCO
measures and evaluates interest rate risk so that the Bank can meet customer demands for
various types of loans and
deposits. Measurements used to help manage interest rate sensitivity include an earnings simulation
model and an economic
value of equity (“EVE”) model.
Earnings simulation
. Management believes that interest rate risk is best estimated by our earnings simulation
modeling.
Forecasted levels of earning assets, interest-bearing liabilities, and off
-balance sheet financial instruments are combined
with ALCO forecasts of market interest rates for the next 12 months and other
factors in order to produce various earnings
simulations and estimates. To
help limit interest rate risk, we have guidelines for earnings at risk which seek to limit the
variance of net interest income from gradual changes in interest rates.
For changes up or down in rates from management’s
flat interest rate forecast over the next 12 months, policy limits for net interest income variances
are as follows:
●
+/- 20% for a gradual change of 400 basis points
●
+/- 15% for a gradual change of 300 basis points
●
+/- 10% for a gradual change of 200 basis points
●
+/- 5% for a gradual change of 100 basis points
While a gradual change in interest rates was used in the above analysis to provide an estimate
of exposure under these
scenarios, our modeling under both a gradual and instantaneous change in interest rates indicates
our balance sheet is
liability sensitive over the forecast period of 12 months.
At March 31, 2024, our earnings simulation model indicated that we were in compliance
with the policy guidelines noted
above.
Economic Value
of Equity
. EVE measures the extent that the estimated economic values of our assets, liabilities, and off-
balance sheet items will change as a result of interest rate changes. Economic values are
estimated by discounting expected
cash flows from assets, liabilities, and off-balance sheet items,
which establishes a base case EVE. In contrast with our
earnings simulation model, which evaluates interest rate risk over a 12-month timeframe,
EVE uses a terminal horizon
which allows for the re-pricing of all assets, liabilities, and off-balance sheet items.
Further, EVE is measured using values
as of a point in time and does not reflect any actions that ALCO might take in responding
to or anticipating changes in
interest rates, or market and competitive conditions.
To help limit interest rate risk,
we have stated policy guidelines for an
instantaneous basis point change in interest rates, such that our EVE should not decrease from our
base case by more than
the following:
●
35% for an instantaneous change of +/- 400 basis points
●
30% for an instantaneous change of +/- 300 basis points
●
25% for an instantaneous change of +/- 200 basis points
●
15% for an instantaneous change of +/- 100 basis points
At March 31, 2024, our EVE model indicated that we were in compliance
with our policy guidelines.
Table of Contents
38
Each of the above analyses may not, on its own, be an accurate indicator of how our net interest income
will be affected by
changes in interest rates. Income associated with interest-earning assets and costs associated
with interest-bearing liabilities
may not be affected uniformly by changes in interest rates. In addition,
the magnitude and duration of changes in interest
rates may have a significant impact on net interest income. For example, although certain
assets and liabilities may have
similar maturities or periods of repricing, they may react in different
degrees to changes in market interest rates, and other
economic and market factors, including market perceptions.
Interest rates on certain types of assets and liabilities fluctuate
in advance of changes in general market rates, while interest rates on other types of assets
and liabilities may lag behind
changes in general market rates. In addition, certain assets, such as adjustable rate
mortgage loans, have features (generally
referred to as “interest rate caps and floors”) which limit changes in interest rates.
Prepayments
and early withdrawal levels
also could deviate significantly from those assumed in calculating the maturity of certain instruments.
The ability of many
borrowers to service their debts also may decrease during periods of rising interest rates or
economic stress, which may
differ across industries and economic sectors. ALCO reviews each of the
above interest rate sensitivity analyses along with
several different interest rate scenarios in seeking satisfactory,
consistent levels of profitability within the framework of the
Company’s established liquidity,
loan, investment, borrowing, and capital policies.
The Company may also use derivative financial instruments to improve the balance between interest-sensitive
assets and
interest-sensitive liabilities, and as a tool to manage interest rate sensitivity
while continuing to meet the credit and deposit
needs of our customers. From time to time, the Company also may enter into back-to-back
interest rate swaps to facilitate
customer transactions and meet their financing needs. These interest rate swaps qualify
as derivatives, but are not
designated as hedging instruments. At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023,
the Company had no derivative contracts
designated as part of a hedging relationship to assist in managing its interest rate sensitivity.
Liquidity Risk Management
Liquidity is the Company’s ability to convert
assets into cash equivalents in order to meet daily cash flow requirements,
primarily for deposit withdrawals, loan demand and maturing obligations.
The Company seeks to manage its liquidity to
manage or reduce its costs of funds by maintaining liquidity believed adequate
to meet its anticipated funding needs, while
balancing against excessive liquidity that likely would reduce earnings due to the
cost of foregoing alternative higher-
yielding assets.
Liquidity is managed at two levels. The first is the liquidity of the Company.
The second is the liquidity of the Bank. The
management of liquidity at both levels is essential, because the Company and the Bank are
separate and distinct legal
entities with different funding needs and sources, and each are
subject to regulatory guidelines and requirements.
The
Company depends upon dividends from the Bank for liquidity to pay its operating expenses,
debt obligations and
dividends.
The Bank’s payment of dividends depends
on its earnings, liquidity,
capital and the absence of regulatory
restrictions on such dividends.
The primary source of funding and liquidity for the Company has been dividends received
from the Bank.
If needed, the
Company could also borrow money,
or issue common stock or other securities.
Primary uses of funds by the Company
include payment of Company expenses, dividends paid to stockholders
and Company stock repurchases.
Primary sources of funding for the Bank include customer deposits, other borrowings,
interest payments on earning assets,
repayment and maturity of securities and loans, sales of securities, and the
sale of loans, particularly residential mortgage
loans. The Bank has access to federal funds lines from various banks and borrowings
from the Federal Reserve discount
window. In addition to these sources,
the Bank is eligible to participate in the FHLB of Atlanta’s
advance program to obtain
funding for growth and liquidity.
Advances include both fixed and variable terms and may be taken out with varying
maturities. At March 31, 2024, the Bank had no FHLB of Atlanta advances outstanding
and available credit from the FHLB
of $293.2 million. At March 31, 2024, the Bank also had $61.0 million of available federal
funds lines with no borrowings
outstanding. Primary uses of funds include repayment of maturing obligations and
growing the loan portfolio.
Management believes that the Company and the Bank have adequate sources of liquidity to
meet all their respective known
contractual obligations and unfunded commitments, including loan commitments
and reasonably
expected borrower,
depositor, and creditor requirements over the next twelve
months.
Table of Contents
39
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements, Commitments, Contingencies and Contractual
Obligations
At March 31, 2024, the Bank had outstanding standby letters of credit of $0.6 million and
unfunded loan commitments
outstanding of $69.1 million.
Because these commitments generally have fixed expiration dates and
many will expire
without being drawn upon, the total commitment level does not necessarily represent future
cash requirements. If needed, to
fund these outstanding commitments, the Bank could liquidate federal funds
sold or a portion of our securities available-
for-sale, or draw on its available credit facilities or raise deposits.
Mortgage lending activities
We generally sell residential
mortgage loans in the secondary market to Fannie Mae while retaining the servicing of these
loans. The sale agreements for these residential mortgage loans with Fannie Mae and other
investors include various
representations and warranties regarding the origination and characteristics of the
residential mortgage loans.
Although the
representations and warranties vary among investors, they typically cover ownership
of the loan, validity of the lien
securing the loan, the absence of delinquent taxes or liens against the property securing the
loan, compliance with loan
criteria set forth in the applicable agreement, compliance with applicable federal,
state, and local laws, among other
matters.
As of March 31, 2024,
the aggregate unpaid principal balance of residential mortgage loans,
which we have originated and
sold, but retained the servicing rights, was $214.0 million.
Although these loans are generally sold on a non-recourse basis,
we may be obligated to repurchase residential mortgage loans or reimburse investors
for losses incurred (make whole
requests) if a loan review reveals a potential breach of seller representations and
warranties.
Upon receipt of a repurchase
or make whole request, we work with investors to arrive at a mutually agreeable
resolution. Repurchase and make whole
requests are typically reviewed on an individual loan by loan basis to validate the claims
made by the investor and to
determine if a contractually required repurchase or make whole event has occurred.
We seek to reduce
and manage the risks
of potential repurchases, make whole requests, or other claims by mortgage loan investors
through our underwriting and
quality assurance practices and by servicing mortgage loans to meet investor and secondary
market standards.
The Company was not required to repurchase any loans during the first quarter of 2024
as a result of representation and
warranty provisions contained in the Company’s
sale agreements with Fannie Mae, and had no pending repurchase or
make-whole requests at March 31, 2024.
We service all residential
mortgage loans originated and sold by us to Fannie Mae.
As servicer, our primary duties are to:
(1) collect payments due from borrowers;
(2) advance certain delinquent payments of principal and interest;
(3) maintain
and administer any hazard, title, or primary mortgage insurance policies relating to
the mortgage loans;
(4) maintain any
required escrow accounts for payment of taxes and insurance and administer escrow payments;
and (5) foreclose on
defaulted mortgage loans or take other actions to mitigate the potential losses to investors
consistent with the agreements
governing our rights and duties as servicer.
The agreements under which we act as servicer generally specifies standard
s
of responsibility for actions taken by us in
such capacity and provides protection against expenses and liabilities incurred by us
when acting in compliance with the
respective servicing agreements.
However, if we commit a material breach of our obligations
as servicer, we may be
subject to termination if the breach is not cured within a specified period following notice.
The standards governing
servicing and the possible remedies for violations of such standards are determined
by our agreements with Fannie Mae and
Fannie Mae’s mortgage servicing
guides.
Remedies could include repurchase of an affected loan.
Although repurchase and make whole requests related to representation and
warranty provisions and servicing activities
have been limited to date, it is possible that requests to repurchase mortgage loans or reimburse
investors for losses incurred
(make whole requests) may increase in frequency if investors more aggressively
pursue all means of recovering losses on
their purchased loans.
As of March 31, 2024, we do not believe that this exposure is material due to the historical level
of
repurchase requests and loss trends, in addition to the fact that 99% of our residential
mortgage loans serviced for Fannie
Mae were current as of such date.
We maintain ongoing communications
with our investors and will continue to evaluate
this exposure by monitoring the level and number of repurchase requests as well as the delinquency
rates in our investor
portfolios.
The Bank sells mortgage loans to Fannie Mae and services these on an actual/actual basis.
As a result, the Bank is not
obligated to make any advances to Fannie Mae on principal and interest on such mortgage
loans where the borrower is
entitled to forbearance.
Table of Contents
40
Effects of Inflation and Changing Prices
The consolidated financial statements and related consolidated financial data
presented herein have been prepared in
accordance with GAAP and practices within the banking industry
which require the measurement of financial position and
operating results in terms of historical dollars without considering the changes in
the relative purchasing power of money
over time due to inflation. Unlike most industrial companies, virtually all the assets and liabilities
of a financial institution
are monetary in nature. As a result, interest rates have a more significant impact on a
financial institution’s performance
than the effects of general levels of inflation.
Inflation can affect our noninterest expenses. It also can affect
our customers’ behaviors, and can affect the interest rates we
have to pay on our deposits and other borrowings, and the interest rates we earn on our earning
assets.
The difference
between our interest expense and interest income is also affected by the shape
of the yield curve and the speeds at which
our assets and liabilities,
respectively, reprice
in response to interest rate changes.
The yield curve continued to be inverted
on March 31, 2024, which means shorter term interest rates are higher than longer interest
rates.
This results in a lower
spread between our costs of funds and our interest income.
In addition, net interest income could be affected by
asymmetrical changes in the different interest rate indexes, given that
not all of our assets or liabilities are priced with the
same index. Higher market interest rates and reductions in the securities held by the Federal
Reserve to reduce inflation
generally reduce economic activity and may reduce loan demand and growth.
Inflation and related changes in market
interest rates, as the Federal Reserve acts to meet its long term inflation goal of 2%, also can adversely
affect the values and
liquidity of our loans and securities,
the value of collateral for our loans, and the success of our borrowers and such
borrowers’ available cash to pay interest on and principal of our loans to them.
Inflation has been running at levels unseen in decades and, while it has declined
towards the end of 2023, it has been
persistent through March 31, 2024 and remains above the Federal Reserve’s
long term inflation goal of 2.0% annually.
Beginning in March 2022, the Federal Reserve has been raising target federal
funds interest rates and reducing its securities
holdings in an effort to reduce inflation.
During 2022, the Federal Reserve increased the target federal funds
range from 0 –
0.25% to 4.25 – 4.50%.
The target federal funds rate was increased another 25 basis points on each of January 31,
March 7,
May 3 and July 26, 2023 to 5.25-5.50%, and further increases in the target
federal funds rate may be made if inflation
remains elevated.
The Federal Reserve has indicated it will maintain higher target rates and
restrictive monetary policy to
meet its goals of (i) 2% target inflation rate over the longer term and (ii)
maximum employment goals.
Following its May
1, 2024 meeting, the Federal Reserve’s Open Market
Committee (“FOMC”) reaffirmed its commitment to the 2% inflation
objective and announced that it “does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce
the target range until it has gained greater
confidence that inflation is moving substantially toward 2%.”
Further, the FOMC reduced its monthly reduction of
Treasury securities from $60 billion to $25 billion,
and was maintaining the monthly reduction on agency debt and agency
mortgage-backed securities at $35 billion.
Our deposit costs may increase as the Federal Reserve increases its target
federal funds rate, market interest rates increase,
and as customer savings behaviors change as a result of inflation and customers seek higher
market interest rates on
deposits and other alternative investments.
Monetary efforts to control inflation may also affect
unemployment which is an
important component in our CECL model used to estimate our allowance for credit
losses.
CURRENT ACCOUNTING DEVELOPMENTS
The following ASU has been issued by the FASB
but is not yet effective.
●
ASU 2023-09,
Income Taxes
(Topic
740): Improvements to Income Tax
disclosures
Information about this pronouncement is described in more detail below.
ASU 2023-09,
Income Taxes
(Topic 740):
Improvements to Income Tax
Disclosures,
The amendments in this Update
enhance the transparency and decision usefulness of income tax disclosures.
For public business entities, the new standard
is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024.
The Company does not expect the new standard to have
a material impact on the Company’s consolidated
financial statements.
Table of Contents
41
Table 1
– Explanation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In addition to results presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles
(GAAP), this quarterly
report on Form 10-Q includes certain designated net interest income amounts
presented on a tax-equivalent basis, a non-
GAAP financial measure, including the presentation and calculation of the efficiency
ratio.
The Company believes the presentation of net interest income on a tax-equivalent
basis provides comparability of net
interest income from both taxable and tax-exempt sources and facilitates comparability
within the industry. Although the
Company believes these non-GAAP financial measures enhance investors’
understanding of its business and performance,
these non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered an alternative to
GAAP.
The reconciliations
of these non-
GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial
measures are presented below.
2024
2023
First
Fourth
Third
Second
First
(in thousands)
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Net interest income (GAAP)
$
6,657
6,059
6,272
6,888
7,109
Tax-equivalent adjustment
20
95
108
106
108
Net interest income (Tax
-equivalent)
$
6,677
6,154
6,380
6,994
7,217
Table of Contents
42
Table 2
- Selected Quarterly Financial Data
2024
2023
First
Fourth
Third
Second
First
(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Results of Operations
Net interest income (a)
$
6,677
6,154
6,380
6,994
7,217
Less: tax-equivalent adjustment
20
95
108
106
108
Net interest income (GAAP)
6,657
6,059
6,272
6,888
7,109
Noninterest income
887
(5,429)
865
791
792
Total revenue
7,544
630
7,137
7,679
7,901
Provision for credit losses
334
326
105
(362)
66
Noninterest expense
5,675
5,803
5,362
5,825
5,604
Income tax expense
164
(1,514)
182
288
267
Net earnings
$
1,371
(3,985)
1,488
1,928
1,964
Per share data:
Basic and diluted net earnings
$
0.39
(1.14)
0.43
0.55
0.56
Cash dividends declared
0.27
0.27
0.27
0.27
0.27
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic and diluted
3,493,663
3,493,614
3,496,411
3,500,064
3,502,143
Shares outstanding, at period end
3,493,699
3,493,614
3,493,614
3,499,412
3,500,879
Book value
$
21.32
21.90
17.59
20.28
21.03
Common stock price
High
$
21.55
21.99
22.80
24.32
24.50
Low
18.82
19.72
20.85
18.80
22.55
Period end:
19.27
21.28
21.50
21.26
22.66
To earnings ratio
83.78
53.20
7.65
7.21
7.79
To book value
90
%
97
122
105
108
Performance ratios:
Return on average equity
7.13
%
(26.40)
8.59
10.37
11.44
Return on average assets
0.56
%
(1.56)
0.58
0.75
0.77
Dividend payout ratio
69.23
%
(23.68)
62.79
49.09
48.21
Asset Quality:
Allowance for credit losses as a % of:
Loans
1.27
%
1.23
1.24
1.27
1.35
Nonperforming loans
822
%
753
559
577
255
Nonperforming assets as a % of:
Loans and other real estate owned
0.15
%
0.16
0.22
0.22
0.53
Total assets
0.09
%
0.09
0.12
0.11
0.26
Nonperforming loans as a % of total loans
0.15
%
0.16
0.22
0.22
0.53
Annualized net (recoveries) charge-offs as % of average loans
(0.05)
%
0.13
0.01
(0.11)
-
Capital Adequacy: (c)
CET 1 risk-based capital ratio
14.62
%
14.52
15.01
15.33
15.45
Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio
14.62
%
14.52
15.01
15.33
15.45
Total risk-based capital ratio
15.69
%
15.52
15.98
16.31
16.48
Tier 1 leverage ratio
10.34
%
9.72
10.26
10.23
10.07
Other financial data:
Net interest margin (a)
3.04
%
2.65
2.73
3.03
3.17
Effective income tax rate
10.68
%
(27.53)
10.90
13.00
11.97
Efficiency ratio (b)
75.03
%
800.41
74.01
74.82
69.97
Selected average balances:
Securities available-for-sale
$
267,606
354,065
390,772
402,929
402,684
Loans
560,757
550,938
529,382
512,066
502,158
Total assets
976,930
1,020,476
1,020,980
1,022,874
1,022,938
Total deposits
897,051
953,674
942,533
942,552
948,393
Total stockholders’ equity
76,948
60,372
69,269
74,404
68,655
Selected period end balances:
Securities available-for-sale
$
260,770
270,910
373,286
394,079
405,692
Loans
567,520
557,294
545,610
520,411
505,041
Allowance for credit losses
7,215
6,863
6,778
6,634
6,821
Total assets
979,039
975,255
1,030,724
1,026,130
1,017,746
Total deposits
899,673
896,243
964,602
950,742
939,190
Total stockholders’ equity
74,489
76,507
61,451
70,976
73,640
(a) Tax-equivalent. See "Table 1 - Explanation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures."
(b) Efficiency ratio is the result of noninterest expense divided
by the sum of noninterest income and tax-equivalent net interest
income.
See Table 1 - Explanation of Non-GAAP Measures.
(c) Regulatory capital ratios presented are for the Company's
wholly-owned subsidiary, AuburnBank.
Table of Contents
43
Table 3
- Average Balances
and Net Interest Income Analysis
Quarter ended March 31,
2024
2023
Interest
Interest
Average
Income/
Yield/
Average
Income/
Yield/
(Dollars in thousands)
Balance
Expense
Rate
Balance
Expense
Rate
Interest-earning assets:
Loans and loans held for sale (1)
$
560,942
$
6,990
5.01%
$
502,158
$
5,754
4.65%
Securities - taxable (2)
257,229
1,411
2.21%
344,884
1,865
2.19%
Securities - tax-exempt (2)(3)
10,377
94
3.64%
57,800
511
3.59%
Total securities
267,606
1,505
2.26%
402,684
2,366
2.38%
Federal funds sold
17,980
249
5.57%
7,314
85
4.71%
Interest bearing bank deposits
37,790
505
5.37%
11,607
128
4.47%
Total interest-earning assets
884,318
$
9,249
4.21%
923,763
$
8,343
3.66%
Cash and due from banks
17,772
15,527
Other assets
74,840
83,648
Total assets
$
976,930
$
1,022,938
Interest-bearing liabilities:
Deposits:
NOW
$
196,648
$
640
1.31%
$
187,566
$
248
0.54%
Savings and money market
241,792
340
0.57%
300,657
290
0.39%
Time deposits
199,562
1,590
3.20%
155,676
580
1.51%
Total interest-bearing deposits
638,002
2,570
1.62%
643,899
1,118
0.70%
Short-term borrowings
1,592
2
0.51%
3,046
8
1.11%
Total interest-bearing liabilities
639,594
$
2,572
1.62%
646,945
$
1,126
0.71%
Noninterest-bearing deposits
259,050
304,494
Other liabilities
1,338
2,844
Stockholders' equity
76,948
68,655
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity
$
976,930
$
1,022,938
Net interest income and margin (tax-equivalent)
$
6,677
3.04%
$
7,217
3.17%
(1) Loans on nonaccrual status have been included in the computation of average balances.
(2) Includes average net unrealized gains (losses) on
investment securities available for sale
(3) Yields on tax-exempt securities have been computed on a tax-equivalent basis using a federal income
tax rate of 21%.
Table of Contents
44
ITEM 3.
QUANTITATIVE
AND QUALITATIVE
DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
The information called for by ITEM 3 is set forth in ITEM 2 under the caption
“MARKET AND LIQUIDITY RISK
MANAGEMENT” and is incorporated herein by reference.
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.