SLCT - Select Bancorp Reports First Quarter 2021 Earnings

DUNN, N.C., April 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Select Bancorp, Inc. ( NASDAQ: SLCT ) (the “Company”), the holding company for Select Bank & Trust Company, today reported net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 of $6.3 million with basic and diluted earnings per share of $0.36, compared to net income of $1.1 million with basic and diluted earnings per share of $0.06 for the comparative quarter ended March 31, 2020. The increase in net income in the first quarter of 2021 compared to 2020 was primarily attributable to an increase in earnings from the three additional western North Carolina branches that were acquired in April of 2020, an increase in non-interest income and a reduction in the provision for loan losses.

Total assets, deposits, and gross loans for the Company as of March 31, 2021 were $1.8 billion, $1.6 billion, and $1.3 billion, respectively, compared to total assets of $1.3 billion, total deposits of $982.7 million, and gross loans of $1.0 billion as of the same date in 2020.

Comments of the Chief Executive Officer and Other Matters

William Hedgepeth, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, stated, “We are very pleased with our first-quarter earnings. Our markets are rebounding even with the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the businesses in the communities we serve are growing and are posting stronger revenues and profits. These businesses have adapted their operations for things such as limited occupancy, having some employees working remotely, revising product and service offerings, changes in hours of operations and implementing other changes to ensure their success. We have assisted our customers in our markets with additional Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP loans, expedited loan renewals and quicker loan decisions. During the first quarter we had strong loan growth of $37.9 million, an increase in deposits of $96.8 million and we increased total assets by $102.3 million. Our mortgage and SBA departments had their strongest quarter yet increasing fee income by $192,000 over the first quarter of 2020. We are very pleased with the growth in our newer western North Carolina markets, and in Holly Springs (Raleigh area), Cornelius (Charlotte area) and Virginia Beach. We are expecting continued franchise growth related to those strategic initiatives. We have worked very hard on our net interest margin and are pleased to report it was 4.02% for the first quarter this year. It has been extremely difficult to maintain our margin at this level but I can assure you it is constantly at the forefront of our daily decisions.”

Hedgepeth continued, “Our asset quality has remained very strong and has even improved when compared to the pre-pandemic first quarter of 2020 and the fourth quarter of 2020. Past dues, nonaccruals and foreclosed real estate were lower at March 31, 2021 when compared to either March 31, 2020 or December 31, 2020. Our staff has worked diligently with our customers to understand the issues and challenges they are facing. Our PPP loan portfolio was approximately $51.2 million at the end of March 2021 and is down approximately $4.3 million since year end. In Phase 1 we originated 1,249 PPP loans for $97.0 million. As of March 31, 2021, we had 1,067 PPP loans that were forgiven totaling $81.4 million. In Phase 3 we have originated $35.6 million as of March 31, 2021. At the height of the pandemic we granted 419 loan deferrals related to COVID-19 for $219.6 million. As of March 31, 2021, we had 18 loan deferrals related to COVID-19 totaling $16.8 million. Based on our asset quality numbers our allowance for loan loss was reduced slightly from year-end, but we believe it is sufficient to absorb any losses in the near future. The country is not out of the pandemic yet so we will continue to provide additional staff resources, together with an ‘all hands-on deck’ philosophy to facilitate as many customer requests as possible. We will continue to work with our customers by assisting them with any stimulus programs in the future.”

“We stated last year that all of us are dealing with unprecedented times, and it was paramount that we remain flexible and accommodate the needs of the communities in which we operate. All of our branch lobbies are now open for business transactions while keeping the health and safety of our customers and employees as our primary objective. As we continue to proceed through the recovery process of the pandemic, we will remain mindful of the changes in the operational activities our customers adopted to address the effects of social distancing measures, occupancy limitations and other challenges that influenced how they interacted with their customers. We believe crafting financial solutions which enable and enhance our customers’ relationships with their customers further strengthens business partnerships during these times.”

Other matters of interest to shareholders are:

• The Company repurchased 286,799 shares of Company common stock during the first quarter of 2021 under the repurchase plan authorized by the Board of Directors. The Company may repurchase up to an additional 264,099 shares of its common stock under the repurchase plan.
• Loan growth was over $37.9 million in the first quarter of 2021.

Net Interest Income and Net Interest Margin

Net interest income was $15.9 million and $11.5 million for the first quarter of 2021 and 2020, respectively. On a comparative quarter basis, the Company’s total interest income was positively affected by increased loan balances due to branch acquisitions and organic growth. The increase in interest income was partially offset by a decreasing loan yield, an increase in securities balances at a lower yield, plus the reduction in other earning assets at a lower yield. Average total interest-earning assets were $1.6 billion and $1.1 billion in the first quarter of 2021 and 2020, respectively. The yield on those assets decreased 44 basis points, from 4.98% in the first quarter of 2020 to 4.54% for the same period in 2021. This was primarily due to lower rates on recently originated loans and a reduction of accretion from acquired loans on a comparative quarter basis.

The Company’s average interest-bearing liabilities increased by $325.1 million, to $1.1 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, from $788.4 million for the first quarter of 2020. Low-cost savings, NOW and money market deposits increased $397.6 million while the cost of transactional deposits increased from 0.43% to 0.52%, or 9 basis points year over year.   The cost of total deposits decreased from 1.25% in the first quarter of 2020 to 0.72% in the first quarter of 2021 due to the decrease in the cost of time deposits. During the first quarter of 2021, the Company’s net interest margin was 4.02% and net interest spread was 3.79%. In the first quarter of 2020, net interest margin was 4.03% and net interest spread was 3.59%.

Provision for Loan Losses and Asset Quality

During the first quarter of 2021, the Company recorded a recovery of provision for loan losses (of $777,000), based primarily on adjustments to qualitative allowance factors and improved economic performance metrics related to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. A discount of 0.10% that was applied to all loan pools for factors related to the economic impact of COVID-19 for the prior quarter was removed. This removal resulted from increased availability of COVID-19 vaccines, stimulus packages, and more relaxed restrictions on businesses. We granted payment extensions on approximately 18 commercial and consumer loans totaling $16.8 million related to the impact of COVID-19 for the quarter.  On a comparative quarter basis, the Company recorded a provision for loan losses of $2.3 million for the first quarter of 2020, based primarily on adjustments to qualitative loan factors related to the pandemic trends in the loan portfolio present during that quarter. In the first quarter of 2021, the Company recorded net charge-offs of $144,000 compared to net charge-offs of $11,000 in the first quarter of 2020.  These charge-offs resulted in a net charge-off rate of 0.04% of average loans for the current quarter, compared to a net charge-off rate of 0.00% in the first quarter of 2020.

Non-interest Income

Non-interest income for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 was $1.7 million, an increase of $238,000 from $1.4 million in the first quarter of 2020. Service charges on deposit accounts totaled $256,000 for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, compared to $338,000 for the first quarter in 2020, representing a $82,000 decrease on a comparative quarter basis. Other non-deposit fees and income increased $128,000 from the first quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2021. Fees of $288,000 from presold mortgages and $197,000 from SBA loans totaled $485,000 in the first quarter of 2021, which represented an increase of $192,000 from the $293,000 of fees in the first quarter of 2020. The Company did not sell any investment securities in the first quarter of 2021 or 2020.

Non-interest Expense

Non-interest expenses increased by $949,000 to $10.2 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, from $9.2 million for the same period in 2020. In general, most categories of non-interest expenses increased, primarily due to an increase in expenses related to our western North Carolina branches acquired in April 2020. The following are highlights of the significant categories of non-interest expenses during the first quarter of 2021 versus the same period in 2020:

• Personnel expenses increased $500,000 to $6.1 million, due to additional branch personnel and cost-of-living increases.
• Occupancy expenses increased $59,000, primarily due to additional branches, repairs and maintenance and increased rent expense due to normal rent escalation.
• FDIC insurance premium expense increased $392,000 due to increased assets from acquisition and growth.
• CDI expense decreased $28,000 due to amortization.
• Professional fees increased by $90,000 to $462,000.
• Other expenses increased by $112,000 due primarily to increased branches.

Income Taxes

The Company’s effective tax rate was 22.6% and 20.2% for the quarters ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Balance Sheet

Total assets at March 31, 2021 were $1.8 billion, an increase of $568.8 million from a year earlier. Gross loans at March 31, 2021 were $1.3 billion, up $302.8 million or 29.1% from a year earlier, and total deposits were $1.6 billion, an increase of $600.0 million or 61.1% from a year earlier.

Retail deposits (excluding brokered deposits and internet time deposits) grew at a rate of 102.7% or $614.3 million as of March 31, 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. Wholesale deposits decreased from $19.5 million at March 31, 2020 to $3.2 million at March 31, 2021 as we continue emphasizing core deposit growth to replace wholesale deposits.

About Select Bank & Trust Company

Select Bank & Trust has 22 full-service offices in these North Carolina communities: Dunn, Burlington, Charlotte, Clinton, Cornelius (Charlotte area), Elizabeth City, Fayetteville, Franklin, Goldsboro, Greenville, Highlands, Holly Springs (Raleigh area), Leland, Lillington, Lumberton, Morehead City, Raleigh, Sylva and Wilmington, North Carolina; in the following South Carolina communities: Blacksburg and Rock Hill; and in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The Bank also has loan production offices in Wilson, Durham and Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

About Select Bancorp, Inc.

Select Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Dunn, North Carolina. The Company primarily conducts operations through its wholly owned subsidiary, Select Bank & Trust Company, a North Carolina-chartered commercial bank that provides a full suite of banking services through its offices in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The Company’s common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “SLCT”.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Certain financial measures we use to evaluate our performance and discuss in this release and the accompanying tables are identified as being “non-GAAP financial measures.” In accordance with the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, we classify a financial measure as being a non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) financial measure if that financial measure excludes or includes amounts, or is subject to adjustments that have the effect of excluding or including amounts, that are included or excluded, as the case may be, in the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP as in effect from time to time in the United States in our statements of operations, balance sheet or statements of cash flows. Non-GAAP financial measures do not include operating and other statistical measures or ratios or statistical measures calculated using exclusively either financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP, operating measures or other measures that are not non-GAAP financial measures or both.

The non-GAAP financial measures that we discuss in this release should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the most directly comparable or other financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. Moreover, the manner in which we calculate the non-GAAP financial measures that we discuss in this release may differ from that of other companies reporting measures with similar names. You should understand how such other banking organizations calculate their financial measures similar, or with names similar, to the non-GAAP financial measures we have discussed in this release when comparing such non-GAAP financial measures.

Tangible book value per share is a non-GAAP measure generally used by financial analysts and investment bankers to evaluate financial institutions. We calculate: (a) tangible common equity as shareholders’ equity less goodwill and core deposit intangibles; and (b) tangible book value per share as tangible common equity (as described in clause (a)) divided by shares of common stock outstanding. For tangible book value per share, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP is our book value per share. A reconciliation of tangible book value per share to book value per share is included in the tables that accompany this release.

We believe that this measure is important to many investors in the marketplace who are interested in changes from period to period in book value per share exclusive of changes in intangible assets. Goodwill and other intangible assets have the effect of increasing total book value while not increasing our tangible book value.

Important Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, (i) statements regarding certain of our goals and expectations with respect to earnings, revenue, and expenses and the growth rate in such items, as well as other measures of economic performance, including statements relating to anticipated market share growth, and (ii) statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words “may,” “could,” “should,” “would,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “projects,” “outlook” or similar expressions. The actual results might differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements for various reasons, including, but not limited to: the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and measures intended to prevent its spread, which include wide disruptions to business activity that may impact the financial strength of our borrowers; our ability to manage growth or achieve it at all; substantial changes in financial markets; our ability to obtain the synergies and expense efficiencies anticipated from our acquisition activity and branch divestures and consolidations; regulatory changes; impacts from the recent presidential election, change in congressional leadership, and change in executive branch leadership, including regulatory agendas that may impact the business climate in which we operate; changes in interest rates; loss of deposits and loan demand to other savings and financial institutions; adverse economic conditions that impact our borrowers’ ability to pay their debts when due; and changes in real estate values and the real estate market. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from those in the forward-looking statements is contained in the Company’s SEC filings, including its periodic reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, copies of which are available upon request from the Company. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements publicly or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.