Finward Bancorp reports Q1 EPS 51c vs. 53c last year

As of March 31, 2023, the Bank’s tier 1 capital to adjusted average assets ratio totaled 7.7%, and under all regulatory capital requirements, continues to be considered well capitalized. The Bancorp’s tangible book value per share was $26.68 at March 31, 2023, up from $25.41 as of December 31, 2022. Tangible common equity to total assets was 5.47% at March 31, 2023, up from 5.27% as of December 31, 2022. The increase is due to recoveries of accumulated other comprehensive losses from the unrealized loss position on the securities portfolio as noted above. Excluding accumulated other comprehensive losses, tangible book value per share decreased to $39.67 as of March 31, 2023, from $40.36 as of December 31, 2022. "The first quarter of 2023 was the most challenging for the industry since the end of the great financial crisis. We experienced significant upheaval in the industry and had to react in order to ensure stability during a very uncertain time. Our response focused on our customers and ensuring liquidity on our balance sheet to give certainty to all of our customers, investors, and communities we serve. As the quarter closed, we ended with additional borrowings in order to maintain excess liquidity and saw a flow of deposit dollars from transaction accounts to higher priced deposit accounts. Ultimately, we were able to preserve our customer base, and believe that the deposit picture has stabilized since the events of March. Despite more growth in interest income, this led to net interest margin compression that has been felt across the industry," said Benjamin Bochnowski, chief executive officer. "With so many external variables out of our control and impacting our business, we are focused internally on operations and expense management. Non-interest expense decreased by 9.1% from the prior quarter as a result. We also saw a decrease to our unrealized losses as bond prices improve, which benefitted tangible book value despite an impact from implementing the Current Expected Credit Loss model."