RUSTON, La., Oct. 24, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Century Next Financial Corporation (the “Company”) (OTCQX: CTUY), the holding company of Century Next Bank, with $629.7 million in assets, today announced financial results for the 3rd quarter ended September 30, 2022.
Financial Performance
For the three months ended September 30, 2022, the Company had net income after tax of $1.48 million compared to net income of $1.67 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021, an decrease of $186,000 or 11.1%. Earnings per share (EPS) for the three months ended September 30, 2022 were $0.84 per basic and diluted share compared to $0.95 per basic and diluted share reported for the three months ended September 30, 2021.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, Century Next Financial Corporation (the “Company”) had net income after tax of $4.06 million compared to net income of $3.11 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021, an increase of $952,000 million or 30.6%. Earnings per share (EPS) for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 were $2.29 per basic and diluted share compared to $1.78 per basic and diluted share reported for the nine months ended September 30, 2021.
The increase in earnings per share for the year-to-date period in 2022 as compared to the same period in 2021 was due to a one-time addition of $1.42 million to the allowance for loan and lease losses (ALLL) reserve recorded in the 2nd quarter of 2021. The additional provision for loan losses was determined in the quarterly evaluation of the ALLL and resulted primarily from a single loan charge off of $1.68 million. The addition to the ALLL was necessary to increase the balance to the level calculated in the ALLL model representing an estimate of the appropriate reserve for known and inherent losses remaining in the existing loan portfolio.
Balance Sheet
Overall, total assets increased by $76.2 million or 13.8% to $629.7 million at September 30, 2022 compared to $553.5 million at December 31, 2021.
The largest component of assets, loans, net of deferred fees and costs and the allowance for loan losses, including loans held for sale, increased $83.5 million or 19.1% for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 compared to December 31, 2021. Total net loans at September 30, 2022 were $520.8 million compared to $437.3 million at December 31, 2021. Of total net loans outstanding for each period, Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loans were $100,000 at September 30, 2022 compared to $4.3 million at December 31, 2021. Loans secured by commercial real estate were the primarily driver of loan growth with an increase of $48.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. Land loans increased $11.9 million, loans secured by multi-family properties increased $11.6 million, commercial non-real estate loans increased $6.3 million, loans secured by residential 1-4 family increased $3.1 million, residential construction loans increased $2.5 million, consumer loans increased $63,000, agricultural non-real estate loans increased $47,000, home equity lines of credit increased 36,000, and agricultural land increased $18,000. These increases were offset by a decline in residential 1-4 family held-for-sale loans of $530,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. Total deposits at September 30, 2022 increased $73.9 million or 15.6% to $548.4 million compared to $474.5 million at December 31, 2021. Money market deposits increased by $89.9 million, noninterest-bearing checking increased by $8.4 million, and savings accounts increased by $2.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. The increases were offset by a decrease in interest-bearing checking of $11.5 million and a decrease of $15.2 million in time deposits for the nine months ended September 30, 2022.
Total long-term borrowings decreased by $6.0 million to $8.5 million at September 30, 2022 compared to $14.5 million at December 31, 2021. Total short-term borrowings increased by $6.0 million at September 30, 2022. There were no short-term borrowings for the same time period in 2021.
Income Statement
Net interest income was $5.75 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 compared to $5.70 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021. This was an increase of $48,000, or 0.8%. Net interest income was $16.51 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 compared to $16.38 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021. This was an increase of $125,000, or 0.8%. The increases in net interest income for the three- and nine-month periods were a combination of increases in interest income on loans, investment securities and interest-bearing deposits in banks supported by rising interest rates and growth in earning asset balances. The increases were offset by increases in interest expense from increased balances of interest-bearing deposits and rising interest rates. Interest expense on other borrowings also increased from rising interest rates for the three- and nine-month periods ending September 30, 2022 compared to the same periods in 2021. PPP loan fees included in interest income decreased from $1.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 compared to $135,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 for a net reduction of $1.2 million in PPP loan fees for the comparative period. The effect of reduced PPP loans fees for the year-to-date periods year over year were offset by increased interest income from loan volume.
The provision for loan losses amounted to $126,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2022, compared to $202,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2021. For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, provision for loan losses amounted to $378,000 compared to $2.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021. The decrease in provision for the nine-month period reflect the one-time addition to the ALLL in 2021 as mentioned under the Financial Performance section above.
Total non-interest income amounted to $807,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2022 compared to $936,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2021, an decrease of $129,000 or 13.8%. For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, total non-interest income amounted to $2.84 million compared to $2.83 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021, an increase of $16,000 or 0.6%. The decreases in non-interest income for the three-month period was primarily from loan servicing release fees from mortgage activity offset by gains on sales of loans and foreclosed assets. The increases in non-interest income for the nine-month period was primarily from service charges on deposits and other income increases, which included proceeds from a life insurance claim. The increases were offset by decreases in loan servicing release fees and net loss on sale of loans from mortgage activity due to the rising rate environment and its effect on mortgage activity from lower refinancings.
Total non-interest expense increased by $165,000 or 3.8% to $4.5 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 compared to $4.3 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021. For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, total non-interest expense increased by $543,000 or 4.2% to $13.6 million compared to $13.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021. The increases in both the three- and nine-month periods ending September 30, 2022 was primarily due to increases in salaries and benefits and other operating expense as compared to the same periods in 2021.
The Company’s efficiency ratio, a measure of expense as a percent of total income, increased to 68.61% for the three months ended September 30, 2022 compared to 65.28% for the three months ended September 30, 2021. For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, the efficiency ratio increased to 70.19% compared to 67.88% for the nine months ended September 30, 2021.
Other Financial Information
Nonperforming assets, including loans past due 90 days or more, nonaccrual loans, and other foreclosed assets, decreased from $1.15 million at December 31, 2021 to $781,000 at September 30, 2022, a decrease of $366,000. Total non-performing assets were 0.12% and 0.21% of totals assets as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively.
Allowance for loan and lease losses was $5.71 million or 1.08% of total loans at September 30, 2022 compared to $5.24 million or 1.18% of total loans at December 31, 2021. Net recoveries for the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2022 were $31,000 and $92,000, respectively, compared to net recoveries of $91,000 and net charge-offs of $1.69 million, respectively, for the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2021. The ratios of net recoveries to average loans outstanding were 0.02% at September 30, 2022 compared to net charge offs of 0.38% at September 30, 2021.
Company Information
Century Next Financial Corporation is the holding company for Century Next Bank (the “Bank”) which conducts business from its main office in Ruston, Louisiana. The Company was formed in 2010 and is subject to the regulatory oversight of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary and is an insured federally-chartered covered savings association subject to the regulatory oversight of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Bank was established in 1905 and is headquartered in Ruston, Louisiana. The Bank is a full-service bank with four locations in Louisiana including two banking offices in Ruston, one banking office in Monroe, one banking office in West Monroe, and three locations in Arkansas including two banking offices in Crossett and one banking office in Hamburg. The Bank emphasizes professional and personal banking service directed primarily to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, and individuals. The Bank provides a full range of banking services including its primary business of real estate lending to residential and commercial customers.
Statements contained in this news release which are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. 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.” We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
Century Next Financial Corporation and Subsidiary
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (unaudited)
(In thousands, except per share data)
| September 30, 2022 | December 31, 2021 | ||||
| ASSETS | |||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 53,730 | $ | 72,112 | |
| Investment securities | 21,143 | 14,414 | |||
| Loans, net | 520,804 | 437,307 | |||
| Other assets | 34,002 | 29,637 | |||
| TOTAL ASSETS | $ | 629,679 | $ | 553,470 | |
| LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | |||||
| Deposits | $ | 548,378 | $ | 474,479 | |
| Long-term borrowings | 8,454 | 14,454 | |||
| Other liabilities | 4,004 | 4,229 | |||
| Total Liabilities | 566,836 | 493,162 | |||
| Stockholders’ equity | 62,843 | 60,308 | |||
| TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | $ | 629,679 | $ | 553,470 | |
| Book Value per share | $ | 34.72 | $ | 33.36 | |
Century Next Financial Corporation and Subsidiary
Consolidated Statements of Income (unaudited)
(In thousands, except per share data)
| Three Months Ended September 30 | Nine Months Ended September 30 | ||||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | 2022 | 2021 | ||||||||
| Interest Income | $ | 7,150 | $ | 6,298 | $ | 19,237 | $ | 18,355 | |||
| Interest Expense | 1,404 | 600 | 2,729 | 1,972 | |||||||
| Net Interest Income | 5,746 | 5,698 | 16,508 | 16,383 | |||||||
| Provision for Loan Losses | 126 | 202 | 378 | 2,028 | |||||||
| Net interest income after provision for loan losses | 5,620 | 5,496 | 16,130 | 14,355 | |||||||
| Noninterest Income | 807 | 936 | 2,844 | 2,828 | |||||||
| Noninterest Expense | 4,496 | 4,331 | 13,584 | 13,041 | |||||||
| Income Before Taxes | 1,931 | 2,101 | 5,390 | 4,142 | |||||||
| Provision For Income Taxes | 447 | 431 | 1,326 | 1,030 | |||||||
| NET INCOME | $ | 1,484 | $ | 1,670 | $ | 4,064 | $ | 3,112 | |||
| EARNINGS PER SHARE | |||||||||||
| Basic | $ | 0.84 | $ | 0.95 | $ | 2.29 | $ | 1.78 | |||
| Diluted | $ | 0.84 | $ | 0.95 | $ | 2.29 | $ | 1.78 | |||
Century Next Financial Corporation Contact Information:
William D. Hogan, President & Chief Executive Officer or
Mark A. Taylor, CPA CGMA, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
(318) 255-3733
Company Website: www.cnext.bank
