NBT Bancorp Inc. Announces Record Net Income of $29.8 Million and Diluted Earnings Per Share of $0.68; Announces 4% Dividend Increase

NORWICH, N.Y., Oct. 22, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NBT Bancorp Inc. (“NBT” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: NBTB) reported record net income and diluted earnings per share for both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018.

Net income for the three months ended September 30, 2018 was $29.8 million, up 6.0% from $28.1 million for the second quarter of 2018 and up 30.3% from $22.9 million for the third quarter of 2017. Diluted earnings per share for the three months ended September 30, 2018 was $0.68, as compared with $0.64 for the prior quarter, an increase of 6.3%, and $0.52 for the third quarter of 2017, an increase of 31%.

Net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 was $83.9 million, up 30.1% from $64.5 million for the same period last year. Diluted earnings per share for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 was $1.91, as compared with $1.47 for the same period in 2017, an increase of 30%.

Highlights:

• Quarterly earnings per share up 6.3% from prior quarter and up 30.8% from prior year
• 4% quarterly dividend increase to $0.26 per share
• Loan growth for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 of 6.2% (annualized)
• Average demand deposits for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 up 4.7% over 2017
• FTE net interest margin of 3.57% for nine months ended September 30, 2018 up 11 bps from 2017
• Full cycle deposit beta of 5.7% through the quarter ending September 30, 2018¹

“For the third quarter and through the first nine months of the year, we have achieved record net income and earnings per share,” said NBT President and CEO John H. Watt. Jr. “These results reflect the continuing efforts of our team to drive organic growth in loans and deposits and to grow our fee-based businesses while making important and ongoing technology investments that enable NBT to continually enhance the customer experience and create long-term shareholder value. Our ability to successfully manage deposit costs in a rising rate environment and to maintain strong asset quality is fundamental to our business. We are also pleased to announce a 4% increase to the quarterly dividend to $0.26 per share. Combined with the dividend increase we announced earlier this year, this represents a 13% increase in our quarterly dividend in 2018.”

Net interest income was $77.5 million for the third quarter of 2018, up $1.8 million, or 2.4%, from the previous quarter. The fully taxable equivalent (“FTE”) net interest margin was 3.57% for the three months ended September 30, 2018, comparable to the previous quarter, as higher rates on average earning assets were offset by higher funding costs. Interest income increased $3.4 million, or 4.1%, as the yield on average earning assets increased 6 basis points (“bps”) from the prior quarter to 4.05%, combined with an increase in average interest earning assets of $109.9 million, or 1.3%, driven by the increase in average loans of $88.9 million. Interest expense was up $1.7 million, or 18.3%, as the cost of interest bearing liabilities increased 10 bps to 0.71% for the quarter ended September 30, 2018, driven by increased short-term borrowings costs, with interest-bearing deposit costs increasing 8 bps.

Net interest income was $77.5 million for the third quarter of 2018, up $5.6 million, or 7.8%, from the third quarter of 2017. The FTE net interest margin of 3.57% was up 10 bps from the third quarter of 2017. Interest income increased $9.4 million, or 11.9%, as the yield on average earning assets increased 25 bps from the same period in 2017, and average interest earning assets increased $341.9 million, or 4.1%, primarily due to the $439.3 million increase in average loans that was partially offset by a $91.9 million decrease in securities. Interest expense increased $3.8 million, or 54.4%, as the cost of interest bearing liabilities increased 24 bps, driven by the increase in short-term borrowing costs, combined with interest-bearing deposit costs increasing 18 bps.

Net interest income for the first nine months of 2018 was $226.8 million, up $16.7 million, or 8.0%, from the same period in 2017. The FTE net interest margin of 3.57% for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, was up from 3.46% for the same period in 2017 primarily due to asset yields increasing 22 bps, more than offsetting the 17 bp rise in in the cost of interest bearing liabilities. Average interest earning assets were up $314.0 million, or 3.8%, for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, as compared to the same period in 2017, driven by a $426.0 million increase in loans that was partially offset by a $105.2 million decrease in securities. Interest income increased $24.6 million, or 10.7%, due to the increase in earning assets combined with a 21 bp improvement in loan yields. Interest expense was up $7.8 million, or 41.0%, for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 as compared to the same period in 2017 and resulted primarily from a 17 bp increase in rates driven by higher borrowing costs and an 11 bp increase in the cost of deposits, combined with an increase in average interest bearing liabilities of $169.8 million. The Federal Reserve has raised its target fed funds rate eight times from December 2015 through September 2018 for a total of 200 bps. During this same cycle of increasing rates, the Company’s deposit rates have increased by 11 bps, resulting in a full cycle deposit beta of 5.7%. The favorable deposit beta was influenced by a favorable loan to deposit ratio and deposit mix.

Noninterest income for the three months ended September 30, 2018 was $33.4 million, down $0.8 million, or 2.3%, from the prior quarter and up $2.6 million, or 8.5%, from the third quarter of 2017. The decrease from the prior quarter was driven by lower trust income due to higher seasonal fees in the second quarter and other noninterest income due to lower swap fee income during the third quarter of 2018. The increase from the third quarter of 2017 was driven by higher retirement plan administration fees resulting from the acquisition of Retirement Plan Services, LLC (“RPS”) in the second quarter of 2018 and higher insurance and other financial services revenue due to account growth that were partially offset by lower other noninterest income due primarily to lower swap fees.

Noninterest income for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 was $98.8 million, up $9.0 million, or 10.0%, from the same period in 2017. The increase from the prior year was driven by higher retirement plan administration fees due to the acquisitions of RPS in the second quarter of 2018 and of Downeast Pension Services in the second quarter of 2017. Other noninterest income in the first nine months of 2018 increased compared to the same period of 2017 due to non-recurring gains recognized in the first nine months of 2018 and ATM and debit card fees increased due to higher number of accounts and usage.

Noninterest expense for the three months ended September 30, 2018 was $66.5 million, up $1.6 million, or 2.5%, from the prior quarter and up $5.9 million, or 9.7%, from the third quarter of 2017. The increase from the prior quarter and third quarter of 2017 was driven by an increase in salaries and employee benefits expenses primarily due to the RPS acquisition, wage increases related to tax reform initiatives and higher incentive compensation associated with business growth.

Noninterest expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 was $195.7 million, up $13.5 million, or 7.4%, from the same period in 2017. The increase from the prior year was driven by higher salaries and employee benefits due to the RPS acquisition in the second quarter of 2018, the acquisition of Downeast Pension Services in the second quarter of 2017, higher incentive compensation and wage increases related to tax reform initiatives.

Income tax expense for the three months ended September 30, 2018 was $8.6 million, up $0.5 million, or 5.7%, from the prior quarter and down $2.8 million, or 24.4%, from the third quarter of 2017. The effective tax rate of 22.3% for the third quarter of 2018 was down from 22.4% for the second quarter of 2018 and down from 33.1% for the third quarter of 2017. The increase in income tax expense from the prior quarter was due to a higher level of taxable income. The decrease in income tax expense from the third quarter of 2017 was due to the lower effective tax rate resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act partially offset by a higher level of taxable income.

Income tax expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 was $23.7 million, down $6.6 million, or 21.8%, from the same period of 2017. The effective tax rate of 22.0% for the first nine months of 2018 was down from 32.0% for the same period in the prior year. The decrease in income tax expense from the prior year was due to the lower effective tax rate resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act partially offset by a higher level of taxable income and lower tax benefit from equity-based transactions. Excluding the tax benefit from equity-based transactions, the effective tax rate was 22.5% and 33.8% for the nine months ending September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Asset Quality

Net charge-offs of $5.7 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018 were down as compared to $6.5 million for the prior quarter and $6.1 million for the third quarter of 2017. Provision expense was lower at $6.0 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018, as compared with $8.8 million for the prior quarter and $7.9 million for the third quarter of 2017. Annualized net charge-offs to average loans for the third quarter of 2018 was 0.33%, down from 0.39% for the prior quarter and from 0.38% for the third quarter of 2017.

Net charge-offs of $19.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 were down as compared to $19.7 million for the same period of 2017. Provision expense was $22.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, as compared with $22.8 million for the same period of 2017. Annualized net charge-offs to average loans for the first nine months of 2018 was 0.38% as compared with 0.42% for the first nine months of 2017.

Nonperforming loans to total loans was 0.41% at September 30, 2018, up 3 bps from 0.38% for the prior quarter and down 1 bp from 0.42% at September 30, 2017. Past due loans as a percentage of total loans were 0.53% at September 30, 2018, up from 0.50% at June 30, 2018 and down from 0.63% at September 30, 2017.

The allowance for loan losses totaled $72.8 million at September 30, 2018, compared to $72.5 million at June 30, 2018 and $68.4 million at September 30, 2017. The allowance for loan losses as a percentage of loans was 1.06% (1.11% excluding acquired loans) at September 30, 2018 and June 30, 2018 compared to 1.06% (1.13% excluding acquired loans) at September 30, 2017.

Balance Sheet

Total assets were $9.5 billion at September 30, 2018, up $410.5 million, or 4.5%, from December 31, 2017. Loans were $6.9 billion at September 30, 2018, up $303.6 million, or 4.6%, from December 31, 2017. Total deposits were $7.4 billion at September 30, 2018, up $270.7 million, or 3.8%, from December 31, 2017, reflecting growth in core and municipal deposits. Stockholders’ equity was $994.2 million, representing a total equity-to-total assets ratio of 10.41% at September 30, 2018, compared with $958.2 million or a total equity-to-total assets ratio of 10.49% at December 31, 2017.

Dividend

The Board of Directors approved a fourth-quarter 2018 cash dividend of $0.26 per share at a meeting held today. The dividend, which represents a $0.01, or 4%, increase, will be paid on December 14, 2018 to shareholders of record as of November 30, 2018. Combined with the increase in the second quarter, the quarterly dividend payable to our shareholders has increased 13% in 2018.

Corporate Overview

NBT Bancorp Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered in Norwich, N.Y., with total assets of $9.5 billion at September 30, 2018. The Company primarily operates through NBT Bank, N.A., a full-service community bank and through two financial services companies. NBT Bank, N.A. has 152 banking locations in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. EPIC Retirement Plan Services, based in Rochester, N.Y., is a full-service 401(k) plan recordkeeping firm. NBT Insurance Agency, LLC, based in Norwich, N.Y., is a full-service insurance agency. More information about NBT and its divisions is available online at: www.nbtbancorp.com, www.nbtbank.com, www.epic1st.com and www.nbtinsurance.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are based on the beliefs and assumptions of the management of NBT and its subsidiaries and on the information available to management at the time that these statements were made. There are a number of factors, many of which are beyond NBT’s control, which could cause actual conditions, events or results to differ significantly from those described in the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements include, among others: (1) competitive pressures among depository and other financial institutions may increase significantly, including as a result of competitors having greater financial resources than NBT; (2) revenues may be lower than expected; (3) changes in the interest rate environment may reduce interest margins; (4) general economic conditions, either nationally or regionally, may be less favorable than expected, resulting in, among other things, a deterioration in credit quality and/or a reduced demand for credit; (5) legislative or regulatory changes, including changes in accounting standards and tax laws, may adversely affect business and results; (6) NBT’s ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses and employees; and (7) adverse changes may occur in the securities markets or with respect to inflation. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Except as required by law, NBT does not update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent circumstances or events.

Non-GAAP Measures

This press release contains financial information determined by methods other than in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). These measures adjust GAAP measures to exclude the effects of acquisition related intangible amortization expense on earnings and equity as well as providing a FTE yield on securities and loans. Where non-GAAP disclosures are used in this press release, a reconciliation to the comparable GAAP measure, is provided in the accompanying tables. Management believes that these non-GAAP measures provide useful information that is important to an understanding of the results of NBT’s core business as well as provide information standard in the financial institution industry. Non-GAAP measures should not be considered a substitute for financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP and investors should consider NBT’s performance and financial condition as reported under GAAP and all other relevant information when assessing the performance or financial condition of NBT.

¹ The change in the Company’s quarterly deposit costs from December 31, 2015 to September 30, 2018 of 0.11% divided by the change in Federal Reserve’s target fed funds rate from December 2015 to September 2018 of 2.00%

Contact:
John H. Watt, Jr., President and CEO
Michael J. Chewens, CFO
NBT Bancorp Inc.
52 South Broad Street
Norwich, NY 13815
607-337-6119

Source: NBT Bancorp Inc.