Standard Financial Corp. Announces Quarterly Dividend Payment And Second Quarter Earnings

MONROEVILLE, Pa., April 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Standard Financial Corp. (the "Company") -  (OTCQX: STND), the holding company for Standard Bank PaSB, today announced earnings for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 of $809,000 or $0.32 per share compared to $707,000 or $0.27 per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2014.  The Company's annualized return on average assets and average equity were 0.71% and 4.34%, respectively, for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 compared to 0.65% and 3.89%, respectively, for the quarter ended March 31, 2014.

For the six months ended March 31, 2015, net income was $1.7 million or $0.67 per share compared to $1.5 million or $0.55 per share for the six months ended March 31, 2014.  The Company's annualized return on average assets and average equity were 0.76% and 4.59%, respectively, for the six months ended March 31, 2015 compared to 0.68% and 4.02%, respectively, for the six months ended March 31, 2014.

The Company's board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $.06 per share of the Company's common stock.  The dividend will be payable to stockholders of record as of May 7, 2015 and will be paid on May 21, 2015.   

Timothy K. Zimmerman, President & CEO, stated "I am pleased to report another quarter of improved earnings.  Our continued emphasis on loan production has resulted in significant loan growth this year.  The slow economic recovery and low interest rates continue to present a difficult operating environment.  Our focus remains on generating other sources of revenue, controlling expenses and maintaining good asset quality." 

Net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 increased $102,000 or 14.4% to $809,000 compared to the same quarter in the prior year.  Primary increases included higher net interest income of $233,000 or 8.1%, higher non-interest income of $52,000 or 7.8% which was partly offset by higher income tax expense of $151,000 or 71.6% due in part to increased net income.

Net income for the six months ended March 31, 2015 increased $228,000 or 15.5% to $1.7 million compared to the same period in the prior year. Net interest income increased $442,000 or 7.6% and higher noninterest income of $69,000 or 5.1% which was partly offset by higher noninterest expenses of $96,000 or 1.9% and higher income tax expense of $187,000 or 36.8%.

Net interest income increased to $3.1 million and $6.3 million for the three and six months ended March 31, 2015 from $2.9 million and $5.8 million for the three and six months ended March 31, 2014.   The increase in net interest income resulted primarily from a lower cost of funds slightly offset by a decrease in the yield on assets.  The average balance of loans increased $35.8 million or 12.2% for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 and $32.5 million or 11.0% for the six months ended March 31, 2015 compared to the same periods in the prior year.  Most of the loan growth was in small business commercial real estate loans.  

No provisions for loan losses were recorded for both quarters and six month periods ending March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014.  Non-performing loans at March 31, 2015 were $1.8 million or 0.55% of total loans compared to $1.2 million or 0.37% of total loans at September 30, 2014 and $1.5 million or 0.52% of total loans at March 31, 2014. 

Noninterest income totaled $716,000 for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 compared to $664,000 for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 and $1.4 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014.  The increase in the quarterly noninterest income was due mainly to a special dividend on Federal Home Loan Bank stock.                    

Noninterest expenses totaled $2.7 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 representing an increase of $32,000 or 1.2% compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2014. For the six months ended March 31, 2015, noninterest expenses totaled $5.3 million representing an increase of $96,000 or 1.9% compared to the six months ended March 31, 2014.  These increases were due primarily to higher general cost increases and increased charitable contribution expense in the current year.                                  

Standard Financial Corp., with total assets of $453.1 million at March 31, 2015, is the parent company of Standard Bank, a Pennsylvania chartered savings bank which operates nine offices serving individuals and small to mid-sized businesses in Allegheny, Westmoreland and Bedford Counties, in Pennsylvania and Allegany County in Maryland.  Standard Bank is a member of the FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender. 

This news release may contain a number of forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors.  The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date on which such statements were made. 

Additional financial information is available at www.standardbankpa.com.  

SOURCE Standard Financial Corp.