BSB Bancorp, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter Results - Year Over Year Earnings Growth of 61%

BELMONT, Mass., Feb. 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- BSB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLMT) (the "Company"), the holding company for Belmont Savings Bank (the "Bank"), a state-chartered savings bank headquartered in Belmont, Massachusetts, today reported net income of $2.07 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, compared to net income of $1.37 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2014, or an increase  in net income of 51.2%. For the year ended December 31, 2015, the Company reported net income of $6.91 million, or $0.78 per diluted share, compared to net income of $4.29 million, or $0.49 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2014, or an increase in net income of 61.1%.  

Robert M. Mahoney, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Through strong organic growth and expense control, we have achieved 10 consecutive quarters of earnings improvement. Credit quality remains good."

NET INTEREST AND DIVIDEND INCOME

Net interest and dividend income before provision for loan losses for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 was $10.63 million as compared to $8.53 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2014, or a 24.6% increase. The provision for loan losses for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 was $886,000 as compared to $565,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2014, or a 56.8% increase, primarily due to loan growth. This resulted in an increase of $1.78 million, or 22.3%, in net interest and dividend income after provision for loan losses for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 as compared to the quarter ended December 31, 2014. Net interest and dividend income before provision for loan losses for the year ended December 31, 2015 was $38.21 million as compared to $31.60 million for the year ended December 31, 2014, or a 20.9% increase. The provision for loan losses for the year ended December 31, 2015 was $2.32 million, as compared to $1.55 million for the year ended December 31, 2014, or a 49.3% increase, primarily due to loan growth. This resulted in an increase of $5.85 million, or 19.5%, in net interest and dividend income after provision for loan losses for the year ended December 31, 2015 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2014.

NONINTEREST INCOME

Noninterest income for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 was $768,000 as compared to $920,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2014, or a decrease of 16.5%. This decrease was primarily driven by a decrease in net gains on sales of loans due to lower sales volume of both auto loans and 1-4 family residential real estate loans. Noninterest income for the year ended December 31, 2015 was $3.17 million as compared to $3.29 million for the year ended December 31, 2014, or a decrease of 3.9%. This decrease was primarily driven by lower loan servicing fee income due to decreases in the balance of auto loans that we service for others. Partially offsetting this was an in increase in income from bank owned life insurance due to $10 million of additional policies purchased in the third quarter of 2014 and $5 million purchased in the second quarter of 2015.

NONINTEREST EXPENSE

Noninterest expense for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 was $7.17 million as compared to $6.66 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2014, or an increase of 7.8%. This increase was primarily driven by an increase in salaries and employee benefits costs. Our efficiency ratio improved to 62.9% during the quarter ended December 31, 2015 from 70.4% during the quarter ended December 31, 2014 as we continue to grow the balance sheet and manage costs. Noninterest expense for the year ended December 31, 2015 was $27.82 million as compared to $26.49 million for the year ended December 31, 2014, or an increase of 5.0%. This increase was primarily driven by an increase in salaries and employee benefits costs. Our efficiency ratio also improved to 67.3% during the year ended December 31, 2015, from 75.9% during the year ended December 31, 2014.

BALANCE SHEET

At December 31, 2015, total assets were $1.81 billion, an increase of $387.37 million or 27.2% from $1.43 billion at December 31, 2014. The Company experienced net loan growth of $355.56 million, or 30.1%, from December 31, 2014. Residential 1-4 family real estate loans, commercial real estate loans, construction loans, home equity lines of credit and commercial loans increased by $258.85 million, $54.21 million, $29.33 million, $28.41 million and $14.03 million, respectively. Partially offsetting these increases was a decrease in indirect auto loans of $28.0 million, driven by the suspension of new originations due to current market conditions. The asset growth was primarily funded by growth in deposits.

At December 31, 2015, deposits totaled $1.27 billion, an increase of $284.96 million or 28.9% from $984.56 million at December 31, 2014. Core deposits, which we consider to include all deposits other than CD's and brokered CD's, increased by $252.74 million from December 31, 2014. Hal R. Tovin, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, said, "Our deposit growth throughout 2015 was an important, cost effective funding source for our strong asset growth.  We were very pleased with the fact that it came from building customer relationships in many business segments - most notably business banking, municipal banking and commercial real estate."

Total stockholders' equity increased by $9.19 million from $137.01 million as of December 31, 2014 to $146.20 million as of December 30, 2015. This increase is primarily the result of earnings of $6.91 million and a $2.22 million increase in additional paid-in capital related to stock-based compensation.

ASSET QUALITY

The allowance for loan losses in total and as a percentage of total loans as of December 31, 2015 was $11.24 million and 0.73%, respectively, as compared to $8.88 million and 0.75%, respectively, as of December 31, 2014.  For the year ended December 31, 2015, the Company recorded net recoveries of $42,000, as compared to net charge offs of $629,000 for the year ending December 31, 2014. Total non-performing assets were $3.64 million, or 0.20% of total assets, as of December 31, 2015, as compared to $2.82 million, or 0.20% of total assets as of December 31, 2014.

Company Profile

BSB Bancorp, Inc. is headquartered in Belmont, Massachusetts and is the holding company for Belmont Savings Bank. The Bank provides financial services to individuals, families, municipalities and businesses through its six full-service branch offices located in Belmont, Watertown, Cambridge, Newton and Waltham in Southeast Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The Bank's primary lending market includes Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk and Suffolk Counties, Massachusetts. The Company's common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol "BLMT". For more information, visit the Company's website at www.belmontsavings.com.

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements herein constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements are based on the beliefs and expectations of management, as well as the assumptions made using information currently available to management. Since these statements reflect the views of management concerning future events, these statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. As a result, actual results may differ from those contemplated by these statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They often include words like "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," and "intend" or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could" or "may." Certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results include changes in the interest rate environment, changes in general economic conditions, our ability to continue to increase loans and deposit growth, legislative and regulatory changes that adversely affect the businesses in which the Company is engaged, changes in the securities market, and other factors that may be described in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether in response to new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

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SOURCE BSB Bancorp, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.belmontsavings.com