AmeriServ Financial Reports Increased Earnings For The Third Quarter And First Nine Months Of 2015 And Declares Quarterly Common Stock Dividend

JOHNSTOWN, Pa., Oct. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- AmeriServ Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASRV) continued its positive earnings momentum in the third quarter of 2015 by reporting net income available to common shareholders of $1,781,000, or $0.09 per diluted common share.  This represented a significant increase in earnings per share from the third quarter of 2014 where net income available to common shareholders totaled $312,000, or $0.02 per diluted common share.  The third quarter 2014 performance was negatively impacted by a $669,000 goodwill impairment charge.  For the nine month period ended September 30, 2015, the Company reported net income available to common shareholders of $4,466,000, or $0.24 per diluted share.  This represented a 118% increase in earnings per share from the first nine months of 2014 where net income available to common shareholders totaled $2,116,000, or $0.11 per diluted common share.  The following table highlights the Company's financial performance for both the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2015 and 2014:

Jeffrey A. Stopko, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented on the period ended September 30, 2015 financial results: "One of our primary goals for 2015 was to have a disciplined focus on successfully executing our business plans to increase profitability and improve the earnings power of AmeriServ Financial Inc.  This progress was again evident in the third quarter of 2015 as we were able to both increase revenue and reduce non-interest expense to help achieve meaningful growth in earnings per share.  Additionally, I am pleased that we have shown sustained earnings improvement in 2015 while maintaining excellent asset quality and a strong capital position." 

The Company's net interest income in the third quarter of 2015 increased by $632,000, or 7.5%, from the prior year's third quarter and for the first nine months of 2015 increased by $1,457,000, or 5.8%, when compared to the first nine months of 2014.  The Company has been able to increase its net interest income through a combination of earning asset growth and improved net interest margin performance.  The Company's net interest margin of 3.52% for the first nine months of 2015 was four basis points better than the net interest margin of 3.48% for the first nine months of 2014.  Specifically, the earning asset growth has occurred in the loan portfolio as total loans averaged $853 million in the first nine months of 2015 which is $55 million, or 7.0%, higher than the $797 million average for the first nine months of 2014.  This loan growth reflects the successful results of the Company's sales calling efforts, with an emphasis on generating commercial loans and owner occupied commercial real estate loans particularly through its loan production offices in stronger growth markets of Pittsburgh and Altoona in Pennsylvania, and Hagerstown, Maryland.  Interest income in 2015 has also benefitted from greater prepayment fees on early loan payoffs and an increased dividend from the FHLB of Pittsburgh.  Overall, total interest income has increased by $648,000, or 6.5%, in the third quarter of 2015 and by $1.5 million, or 5.0%, in the first nine months of 2015. 

Total interest expense has been well controlled in 2015 as it increased by only $16,000 in the third quarter and $45,000, or 0.9%, in the first nine months of 2015 due to tight control of our cost of funds through disciplined deposit pricing.  Total deposit interest expense decreased by $169,000, or 4.6%, in the first nine months of 2015 from the same timeframe in 2014.  Even with this reduction in deposit costs, the Company continues to have a strong loyal core deposit base and success in cross-selling new loan customers into deposit products.  Specifically, total deposits averaged $887 million for the first nine months of 2015 which is $17 million, or 2.0%, higher than the $870 million average for the same period in 2014.  The Company is pleased that a meaningful portion of this deposit growth occurred in non-interest bearing demand deposit accounts.  This decreased interest expense for deposits has been offset by a $214,000 increase in the interest cost for borrowings as the Company has utilized more FHLB term advances to extend borrowings and provide protection against rising interest rates.

The Company recorded a $300,000 provision for loan losses in the third quarter of 2015 compared to no provision for loan losses in the third quarter of 2014.  For the nine month period in 2015, the Company recorded a $750,000 provision for loan losses compared to no provision for loan losses in the first nine months of 2014.  The provision recorded in 2015 was needed to support the continuing growth of the loan portfolio and cover net loan charge-offs.  The Company experienced net loan charge-offs of $245,000, or 0.11% of total loans, in the third quarter of 2015 compared to net loan charge-offs of $568,000, or 0.28% of total loans, in the third quarter of 2014.  For the nine month periods, there were net loan charge-offs of $601,000, or 0.09% of total loans, in 2015 compared to net loan charge-offs of $522,000, or 0.09% of total loans, in 2014.  Overall, the Company continued to maintain outstanding asset quality during the first nine months of 2015.  At September 30, 2015, non-performing assets totaled $2.3 million, or only 0.27% of total loans, and is $1.6 million lower than the September 30, 2014 level.  When determining the provision for loan losses, the Company considers a number of factors, some of which include periodic credit reviews, non-performing assets, loan delinquency and charge-off trends, concentrations of credit, loan volume trends and broader local and national economic trends.  In summary, the allowance for loan losses provided a strong 461% coverage of non-performing loans, and 1.13% of total loans, at September 30, 2015, compared to 400% coverage of non-performing loans, and 1.16% of total loans, at December 31, 2014.

Total non-interest income in the third quarter of 2015 increased by $422,000 from the prior year's third quarter and for the first nine months of 2015 increased by $656,000, or 6.1%, when compared to the first nine months of 2014.  Increased revenue from trust and investment advisory fees and bank owned life insurance were two factors contributing to both the quarterly and nine month non-interest income increase.  Specifically, trust and investment advisory fees increased by $278,000, or 15.4%, for the quarter and $489,000, or 8.4%, for the nine month period due to increased assets under management which reflects successful new business development activities as well as effective management of existing customer accounts in this volatile market environment.  Trust assets under administration totaled $1.9 billion as of September 30, 2015.  Revenue from bank owned life insurance increased by $496,000 for the quarter and $658,000 for the nine month period due to the receipt of a total of three death claims in the first nine months of 2015.  These increases were partially offset by a reduction in deposit service charges in 2015 of $66,000 for the quarter and $197,000 for the nine month period due to fewer overdraft fees.  Mortgage related fees also dropped by $103,000 in the third quarter and $156,000 for the nine month period due to less mortgage refinance activity in 2015.  Finally, there was a net unfavorable shift of $185,000 in investment security transactions as the Company recognized a modest loss on the sale of lower yielding securities in the third quarter of 2015 compared to gains realized on the sale of rapidly pre-paying mortgage backed securities in 2014.

Total non-interest expense in the third quarter of 2015 decreased by $1,024,000, or 9.1%, from the prior year's third quarter and for the first nine months of 2015 decreased by $1,733,000, or 5.3%, when compared to the first nine months of 2014.  The Company recognized a $669,000 goodwill impairment charge related to its investment advisory subsidiary in the third quarter of 2014.   There was no such charge in 2015.  Salaries and employee benefits were down by $60,000 in the third quarter and by $464,000, or 2.5%, in the first nine months of 2015, due to 23 fewer full time equivalent employees as certain employees who elected to participate in an early retirement program in late 2014 were not replaced in order to achieve efficiencies identified as part of a profitability improvement program.  Professional fees declined by $154,000 in the third quarter of 2015 and by $440,000, or 10.6%, in the first nine month period due to lower legal fees, director's fees and consulting costs in 2015.  The remainder of the key non-interest expense categories were relatively consistent or down between years reflecting the Company's continuing focus on reducing and controlling costs.  Finally, the Company recorded an income tax expense of $1,947,000, or an effective tax rate of 29.6%, in the first nine months of 2015 compared to the income tax expense of $1,200,000, or an effective tax rate of 34.5%, for the first nine months of 2014.  The higher income tax expense is due to the Company's increased earnings in the first nine months of 2015 as the Company's effective tax rate is lower than 2014 due to an increase in tax free revenue from bank owned life insurance.  The higher effective tax rate in 2014 was also due to the non-deductibility of the goodwill impairment charge for tax purposes.

The Company had total assets of $1.1 billion, shareholders' equity of $119 million, a book value of $5.21 per common share and a tangible book value of $4.58 per common share at September 30, 2015.  The Company continued to maintain strong capital ratios that exceed the regulatory defined well capitalized status and had a tangible common equity to tangible assets ratio of 7.87% at September 30, 2015. 

QUARTERLY COMMON STOCK DIVIDEND

The Company also announced that its Board of Directors declared a $0.01 per share quarterly common stock cash dividend.  The cash dividend is payable November 16, 2015 to shareholders of record on November 2, 2015.  This cash dividend represents a 1.2% annualized yield using the October 13, 2015 closing common stock price of $3.24.  For the first nine months of 2015, the Company's dividend payout ratio was 12.5%.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the risks detailed in the Company's Annual Report and Form 10-K to the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Actual results may differ materially.

SOURCE AmeriServ Financial, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.ameriservfinancial.com