NewBridge Bancorp (Nasdaq: NBBC) Announces Fourth Quarter 2015 Results

GREENSBORO, N.C., Jan. 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- 

Fourth Quarter and Year-to-Date 2015 Highlights

• Net income totaled $3.4 million, or $0.09 per share, for the quarter and $18.8 million, or $0.48 per share, for the year
• Core (non-GAAP) earnings totaled $5.2 million, or $0.13 per share, for the quarter and $22.2 million, or $0.57 per share, for the year
• Noninterest bearing deposits increased $23.9 million, or 6.3%, for the quarter
• Total loans held for investment increased $63.5 million for the quarter, or 12.5% annualized
• Acquisition related expenses totaled $2.1 million for the quarter and $4.6 million for the year
• Other expense was elevated for the quarter due to accruals related to legal matters and the re-issuance of customer debit and credit cards with fraud protection chips
• Nonperforming assets were 0.28% of total assets
• A shareholders' meeting is scheduled for February 23, 2016 to vote on the proposed merger with Yadkin Financial Corporation ("Yadkin")

NewBridge Bancorp (the "Company") today reported earnings for the three month period ended December 31, 2015.  Net income available to common shareholders totaled $3.4 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, compared to $4.3 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2014.  For the twelve months ended December 31, 2015, net income available to common shareholders totaled $18.8 million, or $0.48 per diluted share.  After-tax merger costs and a one-time tax expense related to the change in the State of North Carolina's tax rate combined to lower net income by $3.5 million for the year.  Per share data for 2015 are impacted by the issuance of 1.735 million shares in the Premier Commercial Bank ("Premier") acquisition.

Pressley A. Ridgill, President and CEO, commented:  "We look forward to meeting with our shareholders in February to seek their approval to merge NewBridge Bancorp with Yadkin Financial Corporation.  Our loan and core deposit growth trends from key markets in North Carolina will integrate well into the combined entity, and the combined revenues and efficiencies garnered through the merger will benefit both companies' shareholders." 

"Core operating net income totaled $5.2 million, or $0.13 per share, for the quarter and $22.2 million, or $0.57 per share, for the year.  Core earnings for the quarter would have been $0.14 per share except the Company recorded additional pre-tax expense of $395,000 to reissue debit and credit cards with imbedded fraud protection chips to all existing customers and $245,000 for legal matters."

Net Interest Income

Net interest income was $22.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2015, compared with $21.3 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 and $22.9 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.  The increase year over year was primarily due to loan growth and also reflected the effect of the Premier acquisition in the first quarter of 2015.  Total average interest-earning assets increased to $2.58 billion at December 31, 2015 from $2.30 billion at December 31, 2014.

For the fourth quarter of 2015, the net interest margin was 3.52%, compared with 3.69% for the fourth quarter of 2014 and 3.55% for the third quarter of 2015.  The decline in the net interest margin reflected the continuing pressure due to the low-interest rate environment and intense pricing competition for quality lending business.  Also, cost of wholesale funding increased in anticipation of a rise in Fed funds resulting in increased cost of liabilities without the related rate increase from variable rate assets, which moved primarily on news of the actual rate increase at the end of the quarter.  The cost of interest-bearing liabilities was 0.45% for the fourth quarter of 2015, up from 0.44% for the third quarter of 2015 and 0.40% for the fourth quarter of 2014. 

Noninterest Income

Total noninterest income for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $4.1 million, stable from the fourth quarter of 2014.  Mortgage banking revenue increased substantially to $422,000, up 94.5% from $217,000 a year earlier, and reflected strong growth in mortgage loan production.  Retail banking income decreased 6.2% to $2.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 from $2.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2014, but increased from $2.3 million in the third quarter of 2015.

Noninterest Expense

Total noninterest expense increased 13.1% to $21.0 million.  In the fourth quarter of 2015, noninterest expense included $2.1 million in acquisition related expenses primarily for the Yadkin merger; whereas in the fourth quarter of 2014 acquisition related expenses primarily for Premier were only $171,000.  Noninterest expense excluding acquisition related expenses increased 2.9% to $19.0 million from $18.4 million, which is reflective of a growing company with elevated levels in most all other noninterest expense categories, as the Company has invested in supporting a larger and more geographically diverse operation.

Balance Sheet

Total assets grew to $2.81 billion at December 31, 2015, up 1.3% from $2.77 billion at September 30, 2015, and up 11.5% from $2.52 billion at December 31, 2014.

Loans held for investment increased $63.5 million, or 12.5% annualized, to $2.09 billion compared to $2.03 billion at September 30, 2015.  Loans held for sale were stable from September 30, 2015 but increased 70.9% from December 31, 2014, reflecting the growth in mortgage banking.

Total deposits were $1.95 billion at December 31, 2015, down $52.8 million from September 30, 2015.  Core transaction, savings and money market accounts were 77.3% of the Company's deposits and totaled $1.51 billion at December 31, 2015.

During the quarter the Company relied on borrowings to fund loan growth, with total borrowings increasing $84.8 million to $576.0 million at December 31, 2015, compared to $491.3 million at September 30, 2015.  

Shareholders' equity decreased to $260.0 million at December 31, 2015, down $1.4 million from September 30, 2015.  Retained earnings rose $2.8 million during the quarter, due to net income of $3.4 million less the fourth quarter declared dividend of $586,000.  Accumulated other comprehensive loss increased $4.9 million during the fourth quarter of 2015 due primarily to lower unrealized gains in the investment portfolio and an increase in the liability of the pension plan due to a change in the mortality tables.  The Company's tangible book value per share declined to $5.92 per share at December 31, 2015 from $5.96 at September 30, 2015.

Asset Quality

Asset quality remained excellent.  Total nonperforming assets declined to $8.0 million at December 31, 2015 from $10.3 million a year earlier.  The percentage of nonperforming assets to total assets declined to 0.28% at December 31, 2015, compared to 0.41% a year earlier.  Total nonperforming loans declined to $6.6 million at December 31, 2015, compared to $7.2 million at December 31, 2014.  As a percentage of total assets, nonperforming loans declined to 0.23% compared to 0.29% a year earlier.  Net chargeoffs were $328,000 for the fourth quarter of 2015.  Net chargeoffs were $439,000 in the fourth quarter of 2014.  The Company's allowance for credit losses to total loans held for investment excluding acquired loans was 1.13%, slightly down from the third quarter of 2015 but in line with a consistent quarterly decline since March 31, 2014.  The ratio of the allowance for credit losses to nonperforming loans was 320% at December 31, 2015.

About NewBridge Bancorp

NewBridge Bancorp (NASDAQ: NBBC) is the holding company for NewBridge Bank, a $2.8 billion community focused bank headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina.   Through 42 branches, NewBridge Bank provides a comprehensive array of personal financial solutions including banking, lending, and wealth management services.  The Bank's commercial teams provide customized lending services, including SBA loans, along with sophisticated deposit and treasury management solutions to small businesses and middle market corporations.  With continuous operations dating back to 1910 in the Piedmont Triad Region of North Carolina (Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point), NewBridge Bank's served markets have expanded to also include Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, and Wilmington in North Carolina, and Greenville-Spartanburg and Charleston in South Carolina.  To make NewBridge Bank your preferred financial partner, please visit us in our offices or online at www.newbridgebank.com.

Disclosures About Forward Looking Statements

The discussions included in this document and its exhibits may contain forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933.  Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially.  For the purposes of these discussions, any statements that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward looking statements.  Such statements are often characterized by the use of qualifying words such as "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "plans," "projects," or other statements concerning opinions or judgments of NewBridge and its management about future events.  The accuracy of such forward looking statements could be affected by factors including, but not limited to:  the ability to obtain regulatory approvals and meet other closing conditions to the proposed merger, including approval by Yadkin and NewBridge shareholders, on the expected terms and schedule; delay in closing the merger; difficulties and delays in integrating the Yadkin and NewBridge businesses or fully realizing cost savings and other benefits; business disruption following the proposed merger; changes in asset quality and credit risk; the inability to sustain revenue and earnings growth; changes in interest rates and capital markets; inflation; client borrowing, repayment, investment and deposit practices; client disintermediation; the introduction, withdrawal, success and timing of business initiatives; competitive conditions; the inability to realize cost savings or revenues or to implement integration plans and other consequences associated with mergers, acquisitions and divestitures; economic conditions; the reaction to the merger of the companies' clients, employees and counterparties; and the impact, extent and timing of technological changes, capital management activities, and other actions of the Federal Reserve Board and legislative and regulatory actions and reforms.  These forward looking statements express management's current expectations, plans or forecasts of future events, results and condition, including financial and other estimates and expectations regarding recently completed or proposed acquisitions and the general business strategy of engaging in bank acquisitions.  Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by forward looking statements are discussed in NewBridge's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission  ("SEC"), including without limitation its annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K.  NewBridge undertakes no obligation to revise or update these statements following the date of this press release.

Additional Information About the Proposed Merger and Where to Find It

In connection with the proposed merger, Yadkin filed with the SEC a Registration Statement on Form S-4 as amended, which included a joint proxy statement of Yadkin and NewBridge and a prospectus of Yadkin, as well as other relevant documents concerning the proposed merger.  Investors and shareholders are also urged to carefully review and consider each of Yadkin's and NewBridge's public filings with the SEC, including but not limited to their Annual Reports on Form 10-K, their proxy statements, their Current Reports on Form 8-K and their Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.  Both NewBridge and Yadkin have mailed the joint proxy statement/prospectus to their respective shareholders.  BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING OR INVESTMENT DECISIONS, INVESTORS AND SHAREHOLDERS OF YADKIN AND NEWBRIDGE ARE URGED TO CAREFULLY READ THE ENTIRE REGISTRATION STATEMENT AND JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS REGARDING THE PROPOSED MERGER AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC, AS WELL AS ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THOSE DOCUMENTS, BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED MERGER.  Investors and shareholders may obtain a free copy of the joint proxy statement/prospectus and other filings containing information about Yadkin and NewBridge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.  The joint proxy statement/prospectus and the other filings may also be obtained free of charge at Yadkin's website at www.yadkinbank.com, or at NewBridge's website at www.newbridgebank.com.  Copies of the joint proxy statement/prospectus can also be obtained, free of charge, by directing your request to: