WEST DES MOINES, Iowa, April 23, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- West Bancorporation, Inc. (Nasdaq: WTBA ), parent company of West Bank, is pleased to report that first quarter 2015 net income was $5.1 million, or $0.32 per diluted common share. This is the highest net income ever recorded by the Company for the first quarter of any year. This compares to first quarter 2014 net income of $4.4 million, or $0.27 per diluted common share. On April 22, 2015, the Company's Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.16 per common share. This is an increase of $0.02 per share, or 14 percent, over the quarterly dividend paid in each of the previous two quarters. The dividend is payable on May 20, 2015, to shareholders of record on May 6, 2015. In addition to our record earnings in the first quarter, our stock attained a new 52-week high of $20.18 on April 1, 2015, as quoted on The Nasdaq Stock Market.
"We had a tremendous start to 2015!" commented Dave Nelson, President and Chief Executive Officer of West Bancorporation, Inc. "We consider the results of the first quarter to be normal, core earnings and did not have any unusual or one-time items in our results."
Mr. Nelson added, "Net interest income was stronger this year due to the average balance of the loan portfolio being 17 percent higher than the first quarter of last year. Expense control was evident during the first quarter and helped drive earnings. Total noninterest expenses were seven percent lower than in the first quarter of 2014. A significant reason for the decline was the reduction of other real estate owned expenses. In addition, total compensation costs were three percent lower this year."
Brad Winterbottom, President of West Bank, said, "Loan growth during the first quarter took a breather after the significant growth experienced in the fourth quarter of last year. However, we believe that our pipeline is strong, and our calling efforts are numerous. We fully expect loan growth for the year to surpass the growth of our local economies."
Eastern Iowa Market President, Lynn Rowat, commented, "We were excited to celebrate the opening of our new eastern Iowa main office building in Coralville with a ribbon cutting on February 26, 2015. The first quarter provided our lenders the opportunity to increase our pipeline to near record levels. Our loans and deposits continue to grow, and we believe we are well positioned to take advantage of the significant construction activity in our market. Our community outreach efforts are also paying dividends, as our Community Board members and staff create lending and deposit opportunities through their involvement."
"We continue to be pleased with our strong growth in Rochester. Our loan balances were up 21 percent in the first quarter of 2015, to over $62 million," said Mike Zinser, Rochester Market President. "We've opened as many business deposit accounts in the first quarter as we did in all of 2014, resulting from a growing number of business customers joining West Bank in Rochester. In order to take advantage of the strong momentum we have created, we have added another seasoned banker with a long history of success in this market. Our Rochester team is second to none and is simply working to deliver those things that are most important to anyone running a business."
The Company also continues to plan for the construction of its new office building in Rochester, Minnesota. The Company believes that the new building will be the cornerstone for Company's continued growth in the Rochester market.
The Company filed its report on Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission this morning. Please refer to that document for a more in-depth discussion of our results. The Form 10-Q document is available on the Investor Relations section of West Bank's website at www.westbankstrong.com .
The Company will discuss its results in a conference call scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Central Time tomorrow, Friday, April 24, 2015. The telephone number for the conference call is 888-339-0814. A recording of the call will be available until May 9, 2015, by dialing 877-344-7529. The replay passcode is 10058090.
As previously reported, the Annual Meeting of Shareholders will be held this afternoon at the Company's headquarters.
About West Bancorporation, Inc. (Nasdaq: WTBA )
West Bancorporation, Inc. is headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa. Serving Iowans since 1893, West Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of West Bancorporation, Inc., is a community bank that focuses on lending, deposit services, and trust services for consumers and small- to medium-sized businesses. West Bank has eight full-service offices in the Des Moines metropolitan area, one full-service office in Iowa City, one full-service office in Coralville and an office in Rochester, Minnesota.
Certain statements in this press release, other than purely historical information, including estimates, projections, statements relating to our business plans, objectives and expected operating results, and the assumptions upon which those statements are based, are "forward-looking statements" within the meanings of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements may appear throughout this press release. These forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words "believes," "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "projects," "future," "may," "should," "will," "strategy," "plan," "opportunity," "will be," "will likely result," "will continue," or similar references, or references to estimates, predictions or future events. Such forward-looking statements are based upon certain underlying assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Because of the possibility that the underlying assumptions are incorrect or do not materialize as expected in the future, actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties that may affect future results include: interest rate risk; competitive pressures; pricing pressures on loans and deposits; changes in credit and other risks posed by the Company's loan and investment portfolios, including declines in commercial or residential real estate values or changes in the allowance for loan losses dictated by new market conditions or regulatory requirements; actions of bank and non-bank competitors; changes in local and national economic conditions; changes in regulatory requirements, limitations and costs; changes in customers' acceptance of the Company's products and services; cyber-attacks; and any other risks described in the "Risk Factors" sections of reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update such forward-looking statements to reflect current or future events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
| WEST BANCORPORATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARY | ||
| Financial Information (unaudited) | ||
| (in thousands) | ||
| CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS | March 31, 2015 | March 31, 2014 |
| Assets | ||
| Cash and due from banks | $ 40,514 | $ 58,565 |
| Federal funds sold | 48,445 | 27,581 |
| Investment securities available for sale, at fair value | 264,213 | 340,494 |
| Investment securities held to maturity, at amortized cost | 51,322 | — |
| Federal Home Loan Bank stock, at cost | 12,515 | 11,916 |
| Loans | 1,184,447 | 1,019,367 |
| Allowance for loan losses | (13,878) | (13,283) |
| Loans, net | 1,170,569 | 1,006,084 |
| Premises and equipment, net | 10,798 | 8,761 |
| Bank-owned life insurance | 32,296 | 26,530 |
| Other assets | 18,255 | 25,955 |
| Total assets | $ 1,648,927 | $ 1,505,886 |
| Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity | ||
| Deposits: | ||
| Noninterest-bearing | $ 367,422 | $ 348,339 |
| Interest-bearing: | ||
| Demand | 257,696 | 272,946 |
| Savings | 597,181 | 455,321 |
| Time of $250,000 or more | 14,416 | 32,101 |
| Other time | 128,705 | 127,313 |
| Total deposits | 1,365,420 | 1,236,020 |
| Short-term borrowings | 4,100 | 5,395 |
| Long-term borrowings | 129,737 | 131,501 |
| Other liabilities | 5,949 | 5,398 |
| Stockholders' equity | 143,721 | 127,572 |
| Total liabilities and stockholders' equity | $ 1,648,927 | $ 1,505,886 |
| Financial Information (continued) (unaudited) | ||
| (in thousands) | ||
| Three Months Ended March 31, | ||
| CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME | 2015 | 2014 |
| Interest income | ||
| Loans, including fees | $ 12,622 | $ 11,330 |
| Investment securities | 1,889 | 2,006 |
| Other | 10 | 10 |
| Total interest income | 14,521 | 13,346 |
| Interest expense | ||
| Deposits | 571 | 622 |
| Short-term borrowings | 28 | 13 |
| Long-term borrowings | 959 | 903 |
| Total interest expense | 1,558 | 1,538 |
| Net interest income | 12,963 | 11,808 |
| Provision for loan losses | — | — |
| Net interest income after provision or loan losses | 12,963 | 11,808 |
| Noninterest income | ||
| Service charges on deposit accounts | 620 | 679 |
| Debit card usage fees | 435 | 410 |
| Trust services | 325 | 318 |
| Revenue from residential mortgage banking | 35 | 226 |
| Increase in cash value of bank-owned life insurance | 189 | 154 |
| Realized investment securities gains (losses), net | 11 | 506 |
| Other income | 245 | 260 |
| Total noninterest income | 1,860 | 2,553 |
| Noninterest expense | ||
| Salaries and employee benefits | 3,990 | 4,111 |
| Occupancy | 1,049 | 1,011 |
| Data processing | 574 | 522 |
| FDIC insurance expense | 202 | 181 |
| Other real estate owned expense | — | 286 |
| Other expenses | 1,631 | 1,891 |
| Total noninterest expense | 7,446 | 8,002 |
| Income before income taxes | 7,377 | 6,359 |
| Income taxes | 2,274 | 1,959 |
| Net income | $ 5,103 | $ 4,400 |
| Financial Information (continued) (unaudited) | |||||
| PER COMMON SHARE | MARKET INFORMATION (1) | ||||
| Net Income | |||||
| Basic | Diluted | Dividends | High | Low | |
| 2015 | |||||
| 1st Quarter | $0.32 | $0.32 | $0.14 | $19.94 | $16.00 |
| 2014 | |||||
| 4th Quarter | $0.36 | $0.36 | $0.14 | $17.05 | $14.00 |
| 3rd Quarter | 0.32 | 0.32 | 0.12 | 15.68 | 14.01 |
| 2nd Quarter | 0.30 | 0.30 | 0.12 | 16.45 | 13.53 |
| 1st Quarter | 0.28 | 0.27 | 0.11 | 15.98 | 13.64 |
| (1) The prices shown are the high and low sale prices for the Company's common stock, which trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, under the symbol WTBA. The market quotations, reported by Nasdaq, do not include retail markup, markdown or commissions. | |||||
| Three Months Ended March 31, | ||
| SELECTED FINANCIAL MEASURES | 2015 | 2014 |
| Return on average assets | 1.27 % | 1.23% |
| Return on average equity | 14.57 % | 14.17% |
| Net interest margin | 3.59 % | 3.64% |
| Efficiency ratio* | 48.25 % | 53.76% |
| As of March 31, | ||
| 2015 | 2014 | |
| Texas ratio* | 2.73 % | 6.99% |
| Allowance for loan losses ratio | 1.17 % | 1.30% |
| Tangible common equity ratio | 8.72 % | 8.47% |
| * A lower ratio is more desirable. | ||
Definitions of ratios:
- Return on average assets - annualized net income divided by average assets.
- Return on average equity - annualized net income divided by average stockholders' equity.
- Net interest margin - annualized tax-equivalent net interest income divided by average interest-earning assets.
- Efficiency ratio - noninterest expense (excluding other real estate owned expense) divided by noninterest income (excluding net securities gains and gains/losses on disposition of premises and equipment) plus tax-equivalent net interest income.
- Texas ratio - total nonperforming assets divided by tangible common equity plus the allowance for loan losses.
- Allowance for loan losses ratio - allowance for loan losses divided by total loans.
- Tangible common equity ratio - common equity less intangible assets divided by tangible assets.
Doug Gulling, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (515) 222-2309
