GNTY - Guaranty Bancshares Inc. Reports First Quarter 2023 Financial Results

Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE: GNTY) (the "Company"), the parent company of Guaranty Bank & Trust, N.A. (the "Bank"), today reported financial results for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2023. The Company's net income available to common shareholders was $8.3 million, or $0.69 per basic share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, compared to $8.0 million, or $0.67 per basic share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 and $10.7 million, or $0.89 per basic share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. Return on average assets and average equity for the first quarter of 2023 were 1.01% and 11.18%, respectively, compared to 0.95% and 10.88%, respectively, for the fourth quarter of 2022 and 1.38% and 14.44%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2022. The increase in earnings during the first quarter of 2023, compared to the fourth quarter of 2022 was primarily due to a provision for credit losses of $2.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 and no provision in the first quarter of 2023. Noninterest expense was also $930,000 less in the current quarter than in the prior quarter. The decrease in net earnings compared to the first quarter of 2022 resulted from a reverse provision of $1.3 million, higher noninterest income of $1.6 million and lower noninterest expense of $888,000 in the prior year quarter. Our net core earnings ^† , excluding provisions for credit losses, income taxes and PPP1/PPP2 net income are described further in a table below.

"The first quarter of 2023 was very eventful, as we witnessed two bank failures, concerns about the health of the overall banking system, possible industry-wide deposit runoff and continued discussions of a recession. Despite these events, the strength of our business model is showing its resilience. We're well prepared to manage through the current environment, as we have in previous challenging cycles and downturns. We are also fortunate to be located in Texas, which continues to have a vibrant economy. Our balance sheet is strong because we continue to maintain a disciplined approach to credit and market risks. Our unrealized losses on all securities at the end of the month was a moderate 12.8% of total capital and our liquidity remains strong. We've designed very granular loan and deposit portfolios with strong core customer relationships, all of which creates strength and stability for our Company," commented Ty Abston, the Company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

RISK MANAGEMENT HIGHLIGHTS

In light of recent events, we are providing additional information below to highlight various risk management practices, as well as additional detail around the lower risk nature, composition and size of our loans, deposits and investment securities. These highlights help illustrate the more traditional and stable nature of our Bank model compared to others who have recently experienced liquidity and capital challenges.

• Granular and Reliable Deposit Base. As of March 31, 2023, we have 84,233 total deposit accounts with an average balance of $31,148. Excluding time deposits, 56.8% of our depositors have been customers of our Bank for more than 5 years and 89.0% have been customers for more than one year. We have a historically reliable core deposit base, with strong and trusted banking relationships, which was illustrated by an increase in total deposits of $8.3 million during March, despite general consumer uncertainty caused by the two bank failures in mid-March. Total deposits decreased $57.3 million in January, decreased by $8.8 million in February and increased by $8.3 million in March of 2023.
  
  As of March 31, 2023, our deposits accounts consisted of the following:

Our level of uninsured deposits, excluding affiliate deposits (Guaranty-owned funds), public funds (all of which are collateralized) and director/officer accounts, is 30.3%. As of March 31, 2023, uninsured deposits consisted of the following:

As an additional resource to our uninsured depositors, we implemented the IntraFi CDARS program in late March 2023, which we began offering to our customers beginning April 1, 2023. This program allows deposit customers to obtain full FDIC deposit insurance while maintaining one time deposit relationship with our Bank.

We continued to increase interest rates paid on deposits during the quarter in order to pay competitive rates, however noninterest-bearing deposits continue to represent 37.8% of total deposits. Our cost of interest-bearing deposits increased 83 basis points during the quarter from 1.08% in the prior quarter to 1.91%, representing a beta on interest-bearing deposits of approximately 96.4% for the linked quarter. Our cost of total deposits (cost of funds) for the first quarter of 2023 increased 54 basis points from 0.64% in the prior quarter to 1.18%, representing a beta on total deposits of approximately 62.7% for the linked quarter.

On a trailing 12 month basis, our cost of interest-bearing deposits increased 66 basis points, from 0.32% at March 31, 2022 to 0.98% at March 31, 2023, representing a beta on interest-bearing deposits of approximately 24.5%. Our cost of total deposits increased 39 basis points from 0.20% at March 31, 2022 to 0.59%, representing a beta on total deposits of approximately 14.5%.

• Granular Loan Portfolio and Concentration Risk. Loan concentrations create risk that should be closely monitored and limited. We do not have significant concentrations to any one borrower, industry or geography, other than loans within Texas. Our credit administration committee meets at least monthly and monitors the loan portfolio against internal guidelines and limits using NAICS codes, industry classifications, geography, call report codes and other metrics. Although our legal loan limit is nearly $54.2 million, we have an internal loan limit of $30.0 million and rarely approve large loans without a significant borrower relationship and robust underwriting. As shown in the table below, our large loan concentration commitments and outstanding balances as of March 31, 2023 are reasonable:

Commercial real estate (CRE) loans, particularly office related loans, have received increased scrutiny in recent months. Our CRE loans and real estate C&D loans represent 37.9% and 15.7% of the total loan portfolio, respectively. Office related loans represent 4.0% of the total loan portfolio, have an average balance of $504,000, 46.5% are owner occupied and only 21 of the 189 loans have committed balances over $1.0 million.

The table below illustrates the diversity of our portfolio as well as the relatively large number of lower average balance loans as of March 31, 2023:

• Good Asset Quality. Nonperforming assets as a percentage of total assets were 0.40% at March 31, 2023, compared to 0.32% at December 31, 2022 and 0.08% at March 31, 2022. Net charge-offs (annualized) to average loans were 0.00% for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, compared to 0.01% for the quarter ended December 31, 2022, and 0.02% for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. Consistent with our CECL methodology, we calculated and recorded a provision for credit losses of $2.8 million during the fourth quarter of 2022, as we incorporated recession forecasts for 2023 into our CECL model at that time. Due to minimal loan growth, minimal net charge-offs and minimal downward risk rating migrations during the first quarter of 2023, no additional ACL provision was necessary.
• Conservative Investment Portfolio. Our investment policies and strategies only allow for non-complex investments with little or no credit risk. Strategically, we strive to maintain an average life in the portfolio of five years or less, with longer duration securities usually in high quality municipal bonds in areas we are familiar with. We also monitor portfolio cash flows to ensure a good source of near term liquidity, as well as defensive cash flows as duration extends. During late 2021 and early 2022, we had significant excess cash but did not believe the low yields on investments at that time warranted the interest rate risk. To slightly improve the yields meant investing in securities with much longer lives. Because of this disciplined approach, our total unrealized losses, including both AFS and HTM securities are manageable and low. The table below presents total unrealized losses as of March 31, 2023, along with estimated unrealized losses if interest rates increase or decrease by 100 basis points.

• Strong Capital and Liquidity. Our capital and liquidity ratios, as well as contingent liquidity sources, remain solid. We are taking advantage of low stock prices to repurchase shares of Company stock. During the first quarter of 2023, we repurchased 25,709 shares at an average price of $28.95 per share. Our liquidity ratio, calculated as cash, fed funds sold and non-pledged investments divided by total liabilities, was 14.7% as of quarter-end. Contingent liquidity sources and availability as of March 31 are provided below. Although we do not plan to access the Federal Reserve's Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP), we have $282.3 million of borrowing capacity based on the value of unpledged, par-value, securities available as collateral for this line. The table below shows our total lines of credit, current borrowings as of March 31, 2023 and total amounts available for future borrowings, if necessary.

The table below provides total equity information as if the unrealized loss on HTM securities was recognized as a reduction in total equity. This information illustrates the strength of our capital, even with net unrealized losses on all investment securities considered.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Participation in the PPP1 and PPP2 program, as well as economic and COVID-related provisions for credit losses, created temporary extraordinary results in the calculation of net earnings and related performance ratios in previous quarters. The following table illustrates net earnings and net core earnings results, which are pre-tax, pre-provision and pre-extraordinary PPP1/PPP2 income, as well as performance ratios for the prior five quarters:

Net interest income, before the provision for credit losses, in the first quarter of 2023 and 2022 was $25.2 million and $24.3 million, respectively, an increase of $839,000, or 3.4%. The increase in net interest income resulted from an increase in interest income of $11.3 million, or 43.5%, which was offset by an increase in interest expense of $10.4 million, or 663.2%, compared to the prior year quarter. Interest income on loans increased $9.9 million, or 44.4%, during the current quarter compared to the prior year quarter. In addition, interest income from investment securities increased $1.0 million, or 32.7%, from the same quarter in the prior year. The increase in interest expense was due primarily to a $6.4 million increase in interest expense on deposits, and a $3.7 million increase in interest expense on FHLB advances and federal funds purchased. These increases were primarily due to rising interest rates between the two periods.

Net interest margin, on a fully taxable equivalent basis, for the first quarter of 2023 and 2022 was 3.24% and 3.37%, respectively. Net interest margin decreased 13 basis points primarily due to interest bearing liabilities repricing faster than our interest-earning assets. The cost of interest-bearing liabilities increased 208 basis points from the prior year quarter, while interest earning asset yields increased 126 basis points. The increase in yield on interest-earning assets resulted in part from average loan yields increasing from 4.66% for the first quarter of 2022 to 5.46% for the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 80 basis points and an increase in yields of available for sale and held to maturity securities of 35 and 73 basis points, respectively, from the prior year quarter. Loans increased $363.8 million, or 18.1%, from March 31, 2022. The weighted average yield on new loans originated in the first quarter was 7.27%. Our loan growth is a result of internally generated sources and is not from loan purchases from other originators. The increase in the cost of interest-bearing liabilities was due primarily to an increase in the cost of interest-bearing deposits from 0.29% to 1.91%, a change of 162 basis points, in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, as well as increased rates on FHLB advances, which increased from 0.49% to 4.94%, an increase of 445 basis points, from the prior year quarter.

Net interest income, before the provision for credit losses, decreased $3.2 million, or 11.3%, from $28.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 to $25.2 million in the first quarter of 2023. The decrease in net interest income resulted primarily from an increase in interest expense of $4.6 million, or 62.8%, while interest income increased $1.4 million, or 4.0%. Loan interest income increased $2.0 million, or 6.5%, from the prior quarter. Average yield increased from 5.19% in the fourth quarter of 2022 to 5.46% in the first quarter of 2023. Those increases were partially offset by an increase in interest expense on interest-bearing deposits of $3.2 million, or 72.7% and FHLB advances of $1.4 million, or 56.7%, from the fourth quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2023.

Net interest margin, on a taxable equivalent basis, decreased from 3.57% for the fourth quarter of 2022 to 3.24% for the first quarter of 2023, a decrease of 33 basis points. The decrease in net interest margin was primarily due to an increase in the cost of interest-bearing deposits from 1.08% in the fourth quarter to 1.91% in the first quarter of 2023, a change of 83 basis points, while loan yield only increased from 5.19% for the fourth quarter of 2022 to 5.46% for the first quarter of 2023, a change of 27 basis points.

During the first quarter of 2023, we recorded no provision for credit losses. During the fourth quarter of 2022, we recorded a $2.8 million provision to incorporate economic forecasts for a recession into our CECL model. The factors that were adjusted in the fourth quarter of 2022 are still relevant and the economic projections remain consistent. Furthermore, there was minimal growth in the loan portfolio during the quarter, risk ratings have remained consistent and no other qualitative factors necessitated significant changes during the first quarter 2023. As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, our allowance for credit losses as a percentage of total loans was 1.34%.

Noninterest income decreased $1.6 million, or 24.3%, in the first quarter of 2023 to $4.9 million, compared to $6.5 million for the first quarter of 2022. The decrease from the same quarter in 2022 was due primarily to a decrease in other noninterest income of $1.0 million, or 61.1%, which resulted from a net gain of $685,000 in the prior year quarter from the termination of three interest rate swaps, that was not present in the current quarter, as well a $171,000 negative swing on the fair value of SBA servicing assets from the prior period to the current period. There was also a decrease in the gain on sale of loans of $591,000, or 65.3%, an $84,000, or 72.4%, decrease in warehouse lending fees, and a $63,000, or 48.1%, decrease in mortgage fee income. These decreases were partially offset by a $101,000, or 10.3%, increase in service charge fee income, a $93,000, or 100.0%, increase in the net realized gain on sale of securities and an increase in merchant and debit card fees of $63,000, or 3.9%, compared to the same quarter in the prior year.

Noninterest expense increased $888,000, or 4.7%, in the first quarter of 2023 to $20.0 million, compared to the first quarter of 2022. The increase in noninterest expense in the first quarter of 2023 was driven primarily by a $732,000, or 6.3%, increase in employee compensation and benefits due to higher salaries of $610,000, higher insurance expense of $261,000, and partially offset by lower bonus expense of $392,000. Software and technology expense increased $187,000, or 15.5%, compared to the first quarter of 2022, due to additional technology investments and an increase in the cost of our core processing software. Other noninterest expense increased $155,000, or 15.1%, due to a $69,000 increase in customer related check and wire transfer losses, a $25,000 increase in contributions, a $19,000 increase in postage and an $18,000 increase in training and education during the first quarter of 2023. The increases were partially offset by a $187,000, or 24.3%, decrease in legal and professional fees and a $140,000, or 34.4%, decrease in advertising and promotions fees during the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same quarter of 2022. Amortization expense also fell $58,000, or 26.5%, from the prior year quarter.

Noninterest income in the first quarter of 2023 decreased by $217,000, or 4.2%, from $5.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. The decrease is due primarily due to a $79,000, or 45.9%, decrease in the net realized gain on the sale of securities quarter-over-quarter. Other noninterest income also decreased $53,000, or 7.4%, primarily due to a $41,000 downward adjustment of the SBA servicing asset, while merchant and debit card fee income decreased $37,000, or 2.2%.

Noninterest expense decreased $930,000, or 4.5%, in the first quarter of 2023, from $20.9 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2022. The decrease is primarily due to a $221,000, or 45.3%, decrease in advertising and promotion expense, a $196,000, or 25.2%, decrease in legal and professional fees, a $141,000, or 19.1%, decrease in ATM and debit card expense, a $129,000, or 8.5%, decrease in software and technology expense and a $135,000, or 10.2%, decrease in other noninterest expense during the first quarter of 2023 compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.

The Company’s efficiency ratio in the first quarter of 2023 was 66.41%, compared to 61.94% in the prior year quarter and 62.42% in the fourth quarter of 2022.

FINANCIAL CONDITION

Consolidated assets for the Company totaled $3.36 billion at March 31, 2023, compared to $3.35 billion at December 31, 2022 and $3.19 billion at March 31, 2022.

Gross loans decreased $363,000, or 0.02%, to $2.38 billion at March 31, 2023, compared to loans of $2.38 billion at December 31, 2022. Loan growth has remained relatively flat as we have tightened credit underwriting standards and borrowers have responded to the increases in interest rates with fewer requests.

Gross loans increased $363.8 million, or 18.1%, from $2.01 billion at March 31, 2022. The increase in gross loans during the first quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter of 2022 resulted from organic loan growth and was partially offset by a $18.8 million reduction in PPP loan balances during the period. Excluding PPP and warehouse lending loans, gross loans increased $398.4 million, or 20.2%, from March 31, 2022.

Total deposits decreased by $57.8 million, or 2.2%, to $2.62 billion at March 31, 2023, compared to $2.68 billion at December 31, 2022, and decreased $174.0 million, or 6.2%, from $2.80 billion at March 31, 2022. The decrease in deposits during the quarter resulted from a decrease in noninterest-bearing deposits of $59.6 million, offset by an increase in interest-bearing deposits of $1.8 million. Total deposits decreased $57.3 million and $8.8 million in January and February of 2023, but increased by $8.3 million in March 2023, despite the concerns regarding the mid-March bank failures. The decrease in deposits during the current quarter compared to the prior year quarter resulted primarily from a decrease in noninterest-bearing deposits of $73.3 million and a decrease in interest-bearing deposits of $100.8 million.

Nonperforming assets as a percentage of total loans were 0.57% at March 31, 2023, compared to 0.46% at December 31, 2022 and 0.13% at March 31, 2022. The Bank's nonperforming assets consist primarily of nonaccrual loans. Four loans were added to nonaccrual status in the second quarter of 2022 and are Small Business Administration (SBA) 7(a), partially guaranteed (75%) loans, acquired in the June 2018 acquisition of Westbound Bank, with combined book balances of $6.7 million as of March 31, 2023. These loans, collateralized by two hotels, were identified as problem assets prior to COVID-19 but obtained government stimulus and other relief which allowed the two related borrowers to remain current through early 2022. Management continues to work toward a satisfactory resolution for these four loans, however, in the event of foreclosure, a significant loss is not expected due to estimated current collateral values and the SBA guarantees. Another previously classified loan was downgraded to non-accrual status during the fourth quarter of 2022 with a principal balance of $1.4 million. The loan is considered well-secured and has a low loan-to-value ratio with guarantor support. Management expects this loan will be paid in full in the near future. No losses are anticipated.

Total equity was $300.3 million as of March 31, 2023, compared to $295.6 million at December 31, 2022 and $291.9 million at March 31, 2022. The increase from the previous quarter resulted primarily from net income of $8.3 million, offset by a decrease in accumulated other comprehensive loss of $450,000 due to fluctuations in the fair value of available for sale securities during the period, by the payment of dividends of $2.7 million and repurchase of Company stock of $744,000 during the first quarter of 2023.

Nonperforming assets as a percentage of total assets were 0.40% at March 31, 2023, compared to 0.32% at December 31, 2022, and 0.08% at March 31, 2022.