Heritage Financial Announces Third Quarter 2021 Results And Declares Regular Cash Dividend

OLYMPIA, Wash., Oct. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Heritage Financial Corporation (NASDAQ GS: HFWA) (the "Company" or "Heritage"), the parent company of Heritage Bank ("Bank"), today reported that the Company had net income of $20.6 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 compared to $32.7 million for the linked-quarter ended June 30, 2021 and $16.6 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2020. Diluted earnings per share for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 were $0.58 compared to $0.90 for the linked-quarter ended June 30, 2021 and $0.46 for the quarter ended September 30, 2020.

Jeffrey J. Deuel, President and Chief Executive Officer of Heritage, commented, "Given the ongoing challenging environment resulting from COVID-19 and its related variants, we are pleased with our performance in the third quarter. Credit quality continues to improve and while loan growth was slow over the summer following the reopening of businesses in Oregon and Washington at the end of June, we are gratified to see the hard work of our team resulting in a growing pipeline with closed loan volume continuing to ramp-up as we head into the fall. We also continue to focus on expense management and deploying digital solutions to create efficiencies and enhance our customer's banking experience.

Further, we are delighted with the success of our ongoing efforts to positively impact housing in the communities we serve. Recently, we were selected by Catholic Housing Services to provide $13 million of construction financing for a new affordable housing development. The project is located in Mount Vernon, Washington and consists of 70 units of permanent supportive housing. It is the first supportive housing project to be built in Skagit County.

We are also proud to announce the formation of the Heritage Bank Community Development Entity ("HBCDE"), a subsidiary certified by the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund of the United States Department of Treasury as a Community Development Entity to provide loans, investments and services to low-income communities which has been funded with a $50 million investment from Heritage Bank."

Financial Highlights

The following table provides financial highlights at the dates and for the periods indicated:

SBA PPP Loans

The Company has supported its community and customers during the COVID-19 pandemic through its participation in the Small Business Administration's ("SBA") Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP"). The Company has identified its SBA PPP loans separately in two tranches based on the date of origination with the first tranche comprised of the SBA PPP loans originated in accordance with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act enacted on March 27, 2020 ("CARES Act"), as amended, ("PPP1"), and the second tranche comprised of SBA PPP loans originated under the SBA's PPP in accordance with the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 ("CA Act") enacted on December 27, 2020, as amended, ("PPP2"). The SBA PPP ended on May 31, 2021.

Balance Sheet

Total investment securities increased $23.1 million, or 2.2%, to $1.07 billion at September 30, 2021 from $1.05 billion at June 30, 2021 due primarily to purchases to deploy excess liquidity into higher yielding assets. Additionally, the Bank transferred investment securities classified as available for sale with a fair value of $244.8 million to investment securities classified as held to maturity during the quarter ended September 30, 2021.

Loans receivable decreased compared to June 30, 2021 due primarily to a decrease in SBA PPP loans as a result of forgiveness payments received from the SBA. Offsetting the decrease was an increase in commercial real estate ("CRE") loans which includes the transfer of completed projects from real estate construction and land development loans. The following table summarizes the Company's loans receivable, net at the dates indicated:

Total deposits increased slightly from June 30, 2021. The following table summarizes the Company's total deposits at the dates indicated:

During the quarter ended September 30, 2021, the Company repurchased $20.6 million, or 841,088 shares of its common stock, at a weighted average price per share of $24.54. This represents approximately 2.3% of common stock outstanding at June 30, 2021. As of September 30, 2021, there were 802,188 shares available for repurchase under the current repurchase plan.

The Company and Heritage Bank continue to maintain capital levels in excess of the applicable regulatory requirements for them both to be categorized as "well-capitalized". The following table summarizes capital ratios for the Company at the dates indicated:

Allowance for Credit Losses and Provision for Credit Losses

The following table provides detail on the changes in the ACL on loans and the ACL on unfunded commitments ("Unfunded") and the related (reversal of) provision for credit losses for the periods indicated:

The allowance for credit losses ("ACL") on loans decreased compared to June 30, 2021 due primarily to the reduction of the ACL on nonaccrual loans of $2.0 million following a decrease in nonaccrual loan balances of $9.4 million discussed below as well as changes in the loan mix as compared to the linked-quarter ended June 30, 2021. The reversal of provision for credit losses on unfunded commitments of $0.3 million was due primarily to the improvements in the economic forecast.

Credit Quality

Nonperforming assets decreased to 0.36% of total assets at September 30, 2021 compared to 0.50% of total assets at June 30, 2021 due primarily to the return to accrual status of an owner-occupied CRE relationship of $7.0 million, which had related ACL on loans of $1.4 million at June 30, 2021. Nonperforming assets at both September 30, 2021 and June 30, 2021 consisted only of nonaccrual loans. Changes in nonaccrual loans during the periods indicated were as follows:

Net Interest Income and Net Interest Margin

Net interest income decreased $2.9 million, or 5.3%, for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 compared to the linked-quarter ended June 30, 2021 due primarily to a decrease in deferred SBA PPP loan fees recognized due to a decrease in the volume of forgiven SBA PPP loans. Additionally, interest income was higher during the quarter ended June 30, 2021 due to the recognition of $1.5 million of interest and fees on loans related to the full payoff of a nonaccrual loan relationship.

Net interest income increased $1.7 million, or 3.4%, compared to the quarter ended September 30, 2020 due primarily to the Bank decreasing deposit rates following decreases in short-term market interest rates.

Net interest margin decreased to 3.15% for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 as compared to 3.44% for the linked-quarter ended June 30, 2021 due primarily to the change in the mix of total interest earning assets, including an increase in the balance of lower yielding average interest earning deposits.

Net interest margin decreased from 3.38% for the same period in 2020 due primarily to the decrease in the yield on interest earning assets, offset partially by a decrease in the cost of total interest bearing liabilities.

The following table presents the loan yield and the impact of SBA PPP loans and the incremental accretion on purchased loans on this financial measure for the periods presented below:

The impact to loan yield from recoveries of interest and fees on loans classified as nonaccrual was two and 18 basis points during the quarter ended September 30, 2021 and June 30, 2021, respectively.

Noninterest Income

The following table presents the key components of noninterest income and the change for the periods indicated:

Noninterest income remained relatively stable during the quarter ended September 30, 2021 compared to the linked-quarter ended June 30, 2021. Noninterest income increased from the same period in 2020 due primarily to an increase in other income as a result of gain on sale of branches held for sale and an increase in service charges and other fees due mostly to higher interchange income and increased deposit fee income, offset partially by a decrease in gain on sale of loans due primarily to lower sales volume of secondary market mortgage loans. Included in other income were gains on sale of $0.9 million and $0.7 million during the quarters ended September 30, 2021 and June 30 ,2021, respectively, from branches classified as held for sale as part of the Branch Consolidation Plan.

Noninterest Expense

The following table presents the key components of noninterest expense and the change for the periods indicated:

Noninterest expense increased slightly from the linked-quarter ended June 30, 2021 due primarily to an increase in occupancy and equipment expense related to the Branch Consolidation Plan discussed below as well as an increase in repairs and maintenance expense. Additionally, other expense increased primarily due to $0.2 million of lease impairment expense also related to the Branch Consolidation Plan.

Noninterest expense increased compared to the quarter ended September 30, 2020 due primarily to an increase in compensation and employee benefits from upward market pressure on salaries and wages and an increase in other expenses related to the Branch Consolidation Plan discussed below.

Income Tax Expense

The following table presents the income tax expense and related metrics and the change for the periods indicated:

Income tax expense decreased for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 compared to the linked-quarter ended June 30, 2021 and increased compared to the same period in 2020 reflecting the change in income before income taxes earned between the periods. The effective income tax rate increased between the same periods due primarily to an increase in the estimated annual pre-tax income for the year ended December 31, 2021, which decreased the impact of favorable permanent tax items such as tax-exempt investments, investments in bank owned life insurance and low-income housing tax credits.

Branch Consolidation Plan

Heritage previously announced the plan to close and consolidate four branches. The branches will close on October 29, 2021, bringing the total branch count to 49, a reduction of 21% from 62 branches at September 30, 2020, including the consolidation of eight branches completed during the quarter ended March 31, 2021. The Company will integrate these locations into other branches within its network. These actions are a result of the Company's increased focus on balancing physical locations and digital banking channels, driven by increased customer usage of online and mobile banking and a commitment to improve digital banking technology. All significant expenses related to the Branch Consolidation Plan for branches that will close on October 29, 2021 have been included in results of operations for the quarter ended September 30, 2021.

Dividend

On October 20, 2021, the Company's Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.21 per share. The dividend is payable on November 17, 2021 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 3, 2021.

Earnings Conference Call

The Company will hold a telephone conference call to discuss this earnings release on October 21, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time. To access the call, please dial (844) 200-6205 -- access code 212793 a few minutes prior to 11:00 a.m. Pacific time. The call will be available for replay through October 28, 2021 by dialing (866) 813-9403 -- access code 056393.

About Heritage Financial

Heritage Financial Corporation is an Olympia-based bank holding company with Heritage Bank, a full-service commercial bank, as its sole wholly-owned banking subsidiary. Heritage Bank has a branch network of 53 banking offices in Washington and Oregon. Heritage Bank does business under the Whidbey Island Bank name on Whidbey Island. Heritage's stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "HFWA". More information about Heritage Financial Corporation can be found on its website at www.hf-wa.com and more information about Heritage Bank can be found on its website at www.heritagebanknw.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements often include words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," and "intend" or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," or "may." Forward-looking statements are not historical facts but instead represent management's current expectations and forecasts regarding future events, many of which are inherently uncertain and outside of our control. Actual results may differ, possibly materially, from those currently expected or projected in these forward-looking statements. The COVID-19 pandemic is adversely affecting us, our customers, counterparties, employees, and third-party service providers, and the ultimate extent of the impacts on our business, financial position, results of operations, liquidity, and prospects is uncertain. Continued deterioration in general business and economic conditions, including increases in unemployment rates, or turbulence in domestic or global financial markets could adversely affect our revenues and the values of our assets and liabilities, reduce the availability of funding, lead to a tightening of credit, and further increase stock price volatility. In addition, changes to statutes, regulations, or regulatory policies or practices as a result of, or in response to COVID-19, could affect us in substantial and unpredictable ways. Other factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: changes in the interest rate environment; changes in general economic conditions and conditions within the securities markets; legislative and regulatory changes; and other factors described in Heritage's latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission-which are available on our website at www.heritagebanknw.com and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Moreover, any of the forward-looking statements that we make in this press release or the documents we file with or furnish to the SEC are based only on information then actually known to the Company and upon management's beliefs and assumptions at the time they are made which may turn out to be wrong because of inaccurate assumptions we might make, because of the factors described above or because of other factors that we cannot foresee. The Company does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements. These risks could cause our actual results for 2021 and beyond to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements by, or on behalf of, us, and could negatively affect the Company's operating and stock price performance.

The Company considers presenting the ratio of ACL on loans to loans receivable, excluding SBA PPP loans, to be a useful measurement in evaluating the adequacy of the Company's ACL on loans as the balance of SBA PPP loans is significant to the loan portfolio; however, since SBA PPP loans are guaranteed by the SBA, the Company has not provided an ACL on loans for these loans.

The Company considers the return on average tangible common equity ratio to be a useful measurement of the Company's ability to generate returns for its common shareholders. By removing the impact of intangible assets and their related amortization and tax effects, the performance of the Company's ongoing business operations can be evaluated.

The Company believes that presenting pre-tax pre-provision income, which reflects its profitability before income taxes and provision for credit losses, and the pre-tax, pre-provision return on average assets, are useful measurements in assessing its operating income and expenses by removing the volatility that may be associated with credit loss provisions. The Company also believes that during a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, this information is useful as the impact of the pandemic on credit loss provisions of various institutions has varied based on the geography of the communities served by a particular institution and the decision to adopt or defer the current expected credit losses ("CECL") methodology required by ASU 2016-13.

The Company believes presenting loan yield excluding the effect of discount accretion on purchased loans is useful in assessing the impact of acquisition accounting on loan yield as the effect of loan discount accretion is expected to decrease as the acquired loans mature or roll off its balance sheet. Similarly, presenting loan yield excluding the effect of SBA PPP loans is useful in assessing the impact of these special program loans that are anticipated to substantially decrease upon forgiveness by the SBA within a short time frame.

SOURCE Heritage Financial Corporation