IBERIABANK Corporation Reports Earnings per Share Increase of 71%

LAFAYETTE, La., Oct. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IBERIABANK Corporation (NASDAQ: IBKC), holding company of the 125-year-old IBERIABANK (www.iberiabank.com), reported operating results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2012.  For the quarter, the Company reported income available to common shareholders of $21 million and fully diluted earnings per share ("EPS") of $0.73, up 71% compared to the second quarter of 2012. During the third quarter of 2012, the Company incurred costs associated with a recent acquisition and related conversion, branch closures, severance, and process improvements totaling $5 million on a pre-tax basis, or $0.10 per share on an after-tax basis.  On an operating basis, EPS in the third quarter of 2012 was $0.83 per share (non-GAAP; refer to press release supplemental table), up $0.29 per share, or 55%, compared to the second quarter of 2012.

The Company completed the acquisition of Florida Gulf Bancorp, Inc. ("Florida Gulf") on July 31, 2012.  Florida Gulf was headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida, and added 10 bank offices in the Fort Myers and Cape Coral markets.  The acquisition added $57 million in investment securities, $216 million in loans (after preliminary discounts), and $286 million in deposits ($58 million in noninterest bearing deposits and $228 million in interest bearing deposits).  Financial statements reflect the impact of the acquisition beginning on that date and are subject to future refinements to purchase accounting adjustments.  The conversions of branch and operating systems were successfully completed over the weekend of August 18-19, 2012.  Acquisition and conversion related costs totaled $3 million on a pre-tax basis in the third quarter of 2012, or $0.07 per share on an after-tax basis.

Daryl G. Byrd, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Our financial results for the third quarter demonstrate our significant progress in improving the long-term value of our franchise.  We experienced exceptional client growth in loans and deposits, a stable margin, and record results in our mortgage and title insurance businesses.  Our operating leverage improved significantly in the third quarter as revenues grew $8 million and expenses were fairly flat.  Our investments in new markets and lines of business are exhibiting great promise.  Our process improvement initiatives are proceeding on target, though by no means complete."

Byrd continued, "We welcome the clients, associates, and shareholders of Florida Gulf to our Company.  With this combination, we have an organization of enviable strength serving Lee County, Florida."

Highlights for the Third Quarter of 2012 and September 30, 2012:

• Increased net interest income and stable net interest margin.  Tax equivalent net interest income improved $4 million and the net interest margin declined one basis point on a linked quarter basis to 3.58%.  Total revenues increased approximately $8 million, or 6%, while total expenses increased less than $1 million, or 1%.
• Loan growth of $329 million, or 5%, between quarter-ends (20% annualized rate), excluding loans and other assets covered under FDIC loss share agreements ("Covered Assets") and loans acquired in the Florida Gulf transaction.  On that basis, loans increased $1.1 billion, or 19%, over the past year.
• Core deposit growth (excluding time deposits and deposits assumed in the Florida Gulf acquisition) of $273 million, or 4% (15% annualized growth) during the quarter, and $980 million, or 15%, over the past year.
• Noninterest bearing deposits climbed $200 million, or 12%, between June 30, 2012 and September 30, 2012, and $437 million, or 31%, over the past year.  Since year-end 2010, noninterest bearing deposits grew $973 million, or 111%, and increased from 11% of total deposits at December 31, 2010 to 19% at September 30, 2012.
• The loan loss provision in the third quarter of 2012 totaled $4 million compared to $9 million in the second quarter of 2012.  Net charge-offs were approximately $1 million in the second quarter of 2012 and $2 million in the third quarter of 2012, equating to 0.07% and 0.10% of average loans, respectively.
• Continued legacy asset quality strength; Nonperforming assets ("NPAs"), excluding Covered Assets and impaired loans acquired in acquisitions, equated to 0.81% of total assets at September 30, 2012, compared to 0.84% at June 30, 2012.  On that basis, loans past due 30 days or more remained stable at 1.30% of total loans at September 30, 2012. Classified assets excluding Covered Assets increased 34 basis points, to 2.28% of total assets at September 30, 2012.  The increase in classified assets was due primarily to loans acquired in the Florida Gulf transaction, which were marked to fair value at acquisition.
• Capital ratios remained strong. At September 30, 2012, the Company's tangible common equity ratio was 9.01%, tier 1 common ratio was 12.04%, and total risk based capital ratio was 14.54%.

Operating Results

On a linked quarter basis, the average earning asset yield declined six basis points, while the cost of interest bearing liabilities decreased seven basis points. As a result, the tax-equivalent net interest spread remained stable at 3.45% and the net interest margin declined one basis point.  On a linked quarter basis, the relatively stable net interest margin and an increase in average earning assets of $333 million, or 3%, resulted in an improvement in tax-equivalent net interest income of $4 million, or 4%.

Movement in the net interest margin was muted during the third quarter as declines in investment securities and non-covered loan yields were partially offset by (1) an improvement in the yield on loans covered under FDIC loss share protection less the FDIC indemnification asset yield, (2) an increase in average noninterest bearing deposits of $133 million, or 8%, on a linked quarter basis, and (3) a decline in interest bearing deposit costs of seven basis points.  The increase in the yield on the covered loan portfolio benefitted the net interest margin for the third quarter by approximately three basis points.  For the fourth quarter of 2012, the Company projects the prospective yield on the covered loan portfolio net of the FDIC indemnification asset to approximate the level experienced in the third quarter of 2012 and projects the average balance of the net covered loan portfolio to decline approximately $50 million, based on current FDIC loss share accounting assumptions and estimates.

The Company recorded a $4 million loan loss provision in the third quarter of 2012, down $5 million, or 54%, on a linked quarter basis. The Company reported net charge-offs of $2 million in the third quarter of 2012, equal to 0.10% of average loans.  Excluding Covered Assets and acquired impaired loans, net charge-offs were 0.11% of average loans in the third quarter of 2012.

Aggregate noninterest income increased $5 million, or 12%, on a linked quarter basis.  The primary changes in noninterest income on a linked quarter basis were:

• Increased gains on the sale of mortgage loans of $5.0 million, or 28%;
• Increased title insurance revenues of $0.3 million, or 5%; and
• Increased service charge revenues of $0.3 million, or 5%; partially offset by
• Decreased gains on the sale of investment securities of $0.9 million, or 95%; and
• Decreased FDIC reimbursement of $0.4 million.

In the third quarter of 2012, the Company originated $707 million in residential mortgage loans, up $116 million, or 20%, on a linked quarter basis.  Client loan refinancing opportunities accounted for approximately 45% of mortgage loan applications in the third quarter of 2012, compared to 34% in the second quarter of 2012 and approximately 54% between September 30, 2012, and October 15, 2012.  The Company sold $677 million in mortgage loans during the third quarter of 2012, up $138 million, or 26%, on a linked quarter basis.  Sales margins on the sale of mortgage loans improved slightly on a linked quarter basis.  The mortgage origination pipeline was approximately $297 million at September 30, 2012, compared to $300 million at June 30, 2012, and approximately $330 million at October 12, 2012.  Mortgage loan repurchases and make-whole payments were $0.2 million in the third quarter of 2012, compared to $0.3 million in the second quarter of 2012. 

Aggregate revenues in the third quarter of 2012 for the capital markets, wealth management, brokerage, and trust businesses were stable on a linked quarter basis.  Assets under wealth management were $902 million at September 30, 2012.

Noninterest expense increased $0.8 million, or 1%, on a linked quarter basis.  One-time acquisition and conversion costs associated with Florida Gulf in the third quarter of 2012 were $3.0 million, or $0.07 per share, up $2.5 million on a linked quarter basis.  The Company also incurred pre-tax costs in association with multiple internal projects to improve the long-term earnings, efficiency, risk posture, and growth prospects of the Company totaling $1.6 million, or $0.04 per share, down $3.9 million on a linked quarter basis.  The Company incurred approximately $0.9 million in operating expenses associated with the acquired Florida Gulf franchise during the final two-months of the third quarter of 2012.  Excluding acquisition and conversion costs and including operating costs associated with Florida Gulf, the primary changes in noninterest expense on a linked quarter basis were:

• Increased mortgage commissions and incentives of $0.4 million, or 7%;
• Increased other salary and benefit expense of $1.6 million, or 3% (primarily related to Florida Gulf and revenue producers in Houston); and
• Increased occupancy and equipment expense of $0.6 million, or 5% (primarily related to the addition of Florida Gulf branches, lease termination cost, and Hurricane Isaac expenses); partially offset by
• Decreased consulting and professional expenses of $1.1 million;
• Decreased branch closure costs of $2.5 million; and 
• Decreased severance expense of $0.3 million.

One-time acquisition and conversion costs are projected to be approximately $1 million in the fourth quarter of 2012.  The Company anticipates incurring an aggregate $1.3 million in additional pre-tax process improvement costs in the fourth quarter of 2012, the pre-tax financial benefits of which are projected to be approximately $5.9 million in the full year of 2013 and each year thereafter.  Excluding acquisition, conversion, and process improvement costs, the Company's tangible efficiency ratio was 71.2% in the third quarter of 2012, an improvement from 74.4% in the second quarter in 2012.

Loans

In the third quarter of 2012, total loans increased $493 million, or 6%, of which $216 million in loan growth was due to the Florida Gulf acquisition.  The loan portfolio associated with FDIC-assisted acquisitions decreased $51 million, or 4%, compared to June 30, 2012.  Excluding loans associated with Florida Gulf and FDIC-assisted transactions, total loans increased $329 million, or 5%, over that period (20% annualized rate).  Legacy commercial loans increased $251 million, or 5%, and legacy consumer loans increased $90 million, or 6%, during the quarter.  Loan growth during the third quarter of 2012 was strongest in the Houston, New Orleans, Memphis, Baton Rouge, Naples, and Birmingham markets.  Excluding Florida Gulf, loans and commitments originated during the third quarter of 2012 totaled $1 billion with an average coupon of 3.80% and an average term of 7.8 years, with 46% fixed rate and 54% floating rate.  At September 30, 2012, approximately 26% of non-covered loans by volume were floating rate loans tied to LIBOR.

Deposits

Total deposits increased $497 million, or 5%, from June 30, 2012 to September 30, 2012, of which $286 million were deposits acquired from Florida Gulf during the third quarter of 2012; therefore, legacy deposit growth was $211 million, or 2% (9% annualized growth) over that period.  Noninterest bearing deposits increased $200 million, or 12% (of which $58 million were Florida Gulf deposits), and equated to 19% of total deposits at September 30, 2012.  Florida Gulf added $47 million in time deposits during the third quarter, and the legacy franchise reduced time deposits by $61 million, for a net decline of $15 million.  Organic core deposit growth (excluding time deposits and the impact of the Florida Gulf acquisition) was $273 million, or 4%.  Core deposit growth during the third quarter of 2012 was strongest in the New Orleans, Houston, Lafayette, Little Rock, and Baton Rouge markets.

On an average balance and linked quarter basis, noninterest bearing deposits increased $133 million, or 8%, and interest-bearing deposits increased $110 million, or 1%.  The rate on average interest bearing deposits in the third quarter of 2012 was 0.58%, a decrease of seven basis points on a linked quarter basis.  Approximately $1.6 billion in CDs are scheduled to re-price over the next 12 months at a weighted average cost of 0.78%.  An additional $0.3 billion in time deposits are scheduled to re-price the following 12 months at a weighted average cost of 1.38%.  During the third quarter of 2012, new and re-priced CDs were booked at an average cost of 0.57%.

Other Assets And Funding

The investment portfolio equated to 16% of total assets at September 30, 2012, down compared to 17% at each of the prior two quarter-ends.  The investment portfolio had a modified duration of 2.7 years at September 30, 2012, unchanged compared to June 30, 2012.  The unrealized gain in the portfolio increased from $45 million at June 30, 2012, to $51 million at September 30, 2012.  The average yield on investment securities declined 18 basis points on a linked quarter basis, to 2.22% in the third quarter of 2012.  The Company holds in its investment portfolio primarily government agency and municipal securities.  Municipal securities comprised only 11% of total investments at September 30, 2012.  The Company holds no sovereign debt or derivative exposure to foreign counterparties.

Short-term borrowings decreased $115 million at September 30, 2012 compared to June 30, 2012.  Long-term debt (including trust preferred securities) increased $11 million, or 4%, between quarter-ends.  On a linked quarter basis, average long-term debt increased $14 million, or 3%, and the cost of debt increased three basis points to 3.10%.  The cost of average interest bearing liabilities was 0.69% in the third quarter of 2012, a decrease of seven basis points on a linked quarter basis. For the month of September 2012, the average cost of interest bearing liabilities was 0.67%.

Asset Quality

Excluding $613 million in NPAs which were Covered Assets or acquired impaired loans marked to fair value, NPAs at September 30, 2012 were $89 million, up $2 million, or 2%, compared to June 30, 2012.  On that basis, NPAs were 0.81% of total assets at September 30, 2012, compared to 0.84% of assets at June 30, 2012.  Similarly, loans past due 30 days or more (including nonaccruing loans) increased $6 million, or 8%, and represented 1.30% of total loans at September 30, 2012, unchanged compared to June 30, 2012.

Excluding Covered Assets and acquired impaired loans, troubled debt restructurings at September 30, 2012, totaled $22 million, or 0.31% of total loans (compared to 0.35% of loans at June 30, 2012).  Substantially all of the troubled debt restructurings were included in NPAs at September 30, 2012.

Capital Position

The Company maintains favorable capital strength.  At September 30, 2012, the Company reported a tangible common equity ratio of 9.01%, down 36 basis points compared to June 30, 2012.  At that date, the Company's preliminary Tier 1 leverage ratio was 10.01%, down 41 basis points compared to June 30, 2012.  The Company's preliminary total risk-based capital ratio at September 30, 2012 was 14.54%, down 100 basis points compared to June 30, 2012.  The decline in these capital ratios was the result of leveraging the balance sheet through the addition of acquired assets and organic loan growth, and the repurchase of common stock totaling approximately $38 million during the third quarter of 2012.

On October 26, 2011, the Company announced a share repurchase program totaling 900,000 shares of common stock to be completed over a one-year period. During the third quarter of 2012, the Company purchased 805,120 shares of IBERIABANK Corporation common stock at a weighted average cost of $47.35 per share.  A total of 46,692 shares remain under the currently authorized share repurchase program.

At September 30, 2012, book value per share was $51.44, up $0.76 per share compared to June 30, 2012. Tangible book value per share was $37.07, down $0.21 per share compared to June 30, 2012.  Based on the closing stock price of the Company's common stock of $45.16 per share on October 23, 2012, this price equated to 0.88 times September 30, 2012 book value and 1.22 times September 30, 2012 tangible book value per share.

On September 18, 2012, the Company declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.34 per share. This dividend level equated to an annualized dividend rate of $1.36 per share and an indicated dividend yield of 3.01%.

IBERIABANK Corporation

IBERIABANK Corporation is a financial holding company with 277 combined offices, including 184 bank branch offices in Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, and Florida, 22 title insurance offices in Arkansas and Louisiana, mortgage representatives in 62 locations in 12 states, eight locations with representatives of IBERIA Wealth Advisors in four states, and one IBERIA Capital Partners, LLC office in New Orleans.  Since June 30, 2012, the Company opened two bank branch offices in the Little Rock and Baton Rouge markets. 

The Company's common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "IBKC."  The Company's market capitalization was approximately $1.3 billion, based on the NASDAQ closing stock price on October 23, 2012.

The following 11 investment firms currently provide equity research coverage on IBERIABANK Corporation:

• FIG Partners, LLC
• Jefferies & Co., Inc.
• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods
• Oppenheimer & Co., Inc.
• Raymond James & Associates, Inc.
• Robert W. Baird & Company
• Stephens, Inc.
• Sterne, Agee & Leach
• Stifel Nicolaus & Company
• SunTrust Robinson-Humphrey
• Wunderlich Securities

Conference Call

In association with this earnings release, the Company will host a live conference call to discuss the financial results for the quarter just completed. The telephone conference call will be held on Wednesday, October 24, 2012, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Central Time by dialing 1-800-762-4758. The confirmation code for the call is 260099.  A replay of the call will be available until midnight Central Time on November 1, 2012 by dialing 1-800-475-6701. The confirmation code for the replay is 260099.  The Company has prepared a PowerPoint presentation that supplements information contained in this press release.  The PowerPoint presentation may be accessed on the Company's web site, www.iberiabank.com, under "Investor Relations" and then "Presentations."

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release contains financial information determined by methods other than in accordance with GAAP. The Company's management uses these non-GAAP financial measures in their analysis of the Company's performance. These measures typically adjust GAAP performance measures to exclude the effects of the amortization of intangibles and include the tax benefit associated with revenue items that are tax-exempt, as well as adjust income available to common shareholders for certain significant activities or transactions that are infrequent in nature. Since the presentation of these GAAP performance measures and their impact differ between companies, management believes presentations of these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful supplemental information that is essential to a proper understanding of the operating results of the Company's core businesses. These non-GAAP disclosures should not be viewed as a substitute for operating results determined in accordance with GAAP, nor are they necessarily comparable to non-GAAP performance measures that may be presented by other companies.  Reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP disclosures are included as tables at the end of this release.  Refer to press release supplemental table for this reconciliation.

Forward Looking Statements

To the extent that statements in this press release and the accompanying PowerPoint presentation relate to future plans, objectives, financial results or performance of IBERIABANK Corporation, these statements are deemed to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements, which are based on management's current information, estimates and assumptions and the current economic environment, are generally identified by the use of the words "plan", "believe", "expect", "intend", "anticipate", "estimate", "project" or similar expressions. IBERIABANK Corporation's actual strategies and results in future periods may differ materially from those currently expected due to various risks and uncertainties.

Actual results could differ materially because of factors such as the current level of market volatility and our ability to execute our growth strategy, including the availability of future FDIC-assisted failed bank opportunities, unanticipated losses related to the integration of, and refinements to purchase accounting adjustments for, acquired businesses and assets and assumed liabilities in these transactions, adjustments of fair values of acquired assets and assumed liabilities and of deferred taxes in acquisitions, credit risk of our customers, effects of the on-going correction in residential real estate prices and reduced levels of home sales, sufficiency of our allowance for loan losses, changes in interest rates, access to funding sources, reliance on the services of executive management, competition for loans, deposits and investment dollars, reputational risk and social factors, changes in government regulations and legislation, increases in FDIC insurance assessments, geographic concentration of our markets and economic conditions in these markets, rapid changes in the financial services industry, dependence on our operational, technological, and organizational systems or infrastructure, hurricanes and other adverse weather events, the volatility and low trading volume of our common stock, and valuation of intangible assets.  These and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), available at the SEC's website, http://www.sec.gov, and the Company's website, http://www.iberiabank.com, under the heading "Investor Information."  All information in this release and the accompanying PowerPoint presentation is as of the date of this release.  The Company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Company's expectations. Certain tabular presentations may not reconcile because of rounding.

SOURCE IBERIABANK Corporation