FNCB Bancorp, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2016 Net

DUNMORE, Pa., Oct. 28, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FNCB Bancorp, Inc. (OTCQX:FNCB), the parent company of Dunmore-based FNCB Bank (the “Bank”), announced net income for the three months ended September 30, 2016 of $2.0 million, or $0.12 per basic and diluted share. Net income for the comparable period of 2015 was $2.3 million, or $0.14 per basic and diluted share. The $0.3 million, or 13.7%, decrease in third quarter earnings primarily reflected increases in income tax expense and non-interest expense, partially mitigated by higher net interest income. Net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 was $4.8 million, or $0.29 per basic and diluted share, compared to net income of $6.6 million, or $0.40 per basic and diluted share, for the same period of 2015. Annualized return on average assets was 0.73% and 0.58%, respectively, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, compared to 0.91% and 0.90%, for the respective periods of 2015. Annualized return on average equity was 8.46% and 6.95%, respectively, for the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2016, compared to 16.38% and 15.96%, respectively, for the comparable periods in 2015. FNCB paid holders of its common stock dividends of $0.02 for the third quarter of 2016, totaling $0.06 per share for the year-to-date period of 2016. FNCB did not pay a dividend during the nine months ended September 30, 2015.

Effective October 17, 2016, the corporate name, formerly First National Community Bancorp, Inc., changed to FNCB Bancorp, Inc., following the completion of a charter conversion of FNCB Bank, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, from a national bank to a Pennsylvania state bank.

Performance Highlights:

• Year-over-year deposit growth of 9.3%;
• Year-over-year growth in net interest income of $3.0 million, or 15.4%;
• 7 basis point improvement in tax-equivalent net interest margin comparing the third quarters of 2016 and 2015; and
• 11.8% decrease in non-performing loans from prior quarter end; 64.1% decrease from one year ago.

“We are pleased with the strong, double-digit growth in net interest income given this very challenging rate environment,” stated Gerard A. Champi, President and Chief Executive Officer. “In addition, through the diligent efforts of our entire banking team, we posted meaningful, organic deposit growth, while maintaining funding costs, during the third quarter of 2016. The launch of our new WOW ME suite of consumer checking and savings products earlier in the year has led to increases in personal demand deposits, while initiatives in our governmental banking, retail and commercial divisions resulted in strong deposit growth in public funds and small business accounts,” concluded Champi.

Summary Results for the Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016

Net interest income before (credit) provision for loan and lease losses was $7.7 million for the third quarter, an increase of $0.5 million compared to $7.2 million for the same quarter of 2015. The 6.9% increase in net interest income reflected strong growth in volume and yields on earning assets aided by stable funding costs. For the year-to-date period, net interest income grew $3.0 million, or 15.4%, to $22.8 million in 2016 from $19.8 million in 2015. The improvement for the year-to-date period resulted primarily from significant growth in earning assets, higher earning asset yields and reduced funding costs. Average earning assets grew $42.3 million, or 4.4%, and $69.9 million, or 7.5%, comparing the quarter and year-to-date periods ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Tax-equivalent earning asset yields improved 8 basis points for the third quarter and 7 basis points for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 over the same periods of 2015. FNCB’s cost of funds increased 1 basis point comparing the third quarters of 2016 and 2015. However, comparing the nine-month periods, FNCB’s cost of funds decreased 16 basis points to 0.50% in 2016 from 0.66% in 2015. Causing the greatest impact in year-to-date funding costs was a decrease in the cost of borrowed funds, which resulted from a modification of the interest rate on FNCB’s subordinated notes from 9.00% to 4.50% in mid-2015. The tax-equivalent net interest margin for third quarter 2016 was 3.14%, which reflected no change from the second quarter of 2016, and a 7 basis point increase over the margin for the same prior year period. The year-to-date tax-equivalent net interest margin was 3.13% in 2016, an improvement of 20 basis points compared to 2.93% in 2015.

Non-interest income was $1.4 million for both three-month periods ended September 30, 2016 and 2015. Higher net gains on the sale of mortgage loans, net gains on the sale of SBA guaranteed loans and other income were offset by reductions in service charges, loan-related fees and net gains on the sale of other real estate owned. For the nine months ended September 30, 2016, non-interest income totaled $4.8 million, a decrease of $1.5 million, or 24.2%, compared to $6.3 million for the same nine months of 2015. The change resulted primarily from a $1.3 million decrease in net gains on the sale of securities, coupled with a $0.2 million reduction in other income related to legal settlements received in 2015.

For the three months ended September 30, 2016, non-interest expense totaled $6.6 million, an increase of $0.1 million, or 2.2%, from $6.4 million for the same three months of 2015. The increase for the third quarter 2016 was due primarily to advertising expense related to new deposit product offerings. On a year-to-date basis, non-interest expense increased $0.5 million, or 2.5%, to $20.4 million in 2016 from $19.9 million in 2015.  The increase in non-interest expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 as compared to the same period of 2015 was due primarily to increases in salaries and benefits expenses of $0.8 million due to higher health insurance costs, partially offset by a $0.4 million reduction in occupancy expense.

Asset Quality

FNCB continues to realize an improvement in asset quality as total non-performing loans decreased $0.3 million, or 11.8%, to $2.4 million at September 30, 2016 from $2.7 million at June 30, 2016, and $1.4 million, or 36.2%, from December 31, 2015. The ratio of non-performing loans to total loans was 0.33% at September 30, 2016 compared to 0.37% at June 30, 2016 and 0.52% at December 31, 2015. (At June 30, 2016, the most recent data available, the FDIC average for commercial banks with assets between $1.0 billion and $3.0 billion was 0.79%). The allowance for loan and lease losses as a percentage of gross loans was 1.17% at September 30, 2016, which was unchanged compared to the prior quarter end, and 1.21% at the end of 2015. (The above described FDIC peer group average was 1.22% at June 30, 2016.)

Financial Condition

Total assets increased $31.0 million, or 2.8%, to $1.122 billion at September 30, 2016 from $1.091 billion at December 31, 2015. The change in total assets primarily resulted from an increase of $36.3 million in cash and cash equivalents. Total deposits increased $109.4 million, or 13.3%, to $931.0 million at September 30, 2016 from $821.5 million at year-end 2015. The deposit growth resulted primarily from a cyclical influx of public funds from seasonal tax payments during the third quarter. In addition, deposit gathering initiatives in FNCB’s commercial and governmental banking units, coupled with the new WOW ME product offering also favorably impacted deposit growth.  The inflow of cash from deposit growth was used to repay borrowings from the FHLB of Pittsburgh, which declined $77.0 million, or 56.7%, when comparing September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015. In addition, accrued interest payable decreased $10.9 million, or 97.4%, as FNCB repaid in entirety all accrued interest that had previously been deferred on the subordinated debentures in the first quarter of 2016. Payoffs of several large commercial loan relationships outpaced demand, which resulted in a $4.1 million, or 0.6%, decline in loans, net of net deferred costs and unearned income. Investment securities available for sale increased $9.7 million, or 3.8%.

Total shareholders’ equity increased $10.4 million, or 12.1%, to $96.6 million at September 30, 2016 from $86.2 million at December 31, 2015. The capital improvement resulted primarily from a $6.2 million increase in accumulated other comprehensive income, which resulted from appreciation in the fair value of available-for-sale securities net of the tax impact of the appreciation, coupled with net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 of $4.8 million.

At September 30, 2016, FNCB’s total risk-based capital and Tier I leverage ratios were 12.37% and 7.52%, respectively. The respective ratios for the Bank at September 30, 2016 were 13.40% and 9.05%. The ratios well exceeded the 10.00% and 5.00% required to be well capitalized under the prompt corrective action provisions of the Basel III capital framework for U.S. banking organizations. Book value per share increased $0.59 per share, or 11.3%, to $5.81 at September 30, 2016 from $5.22 at December 31, 2015.

Availability of Filings

Copies of FNCB’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on form 10-Q will be provided upon request from: Shareholder Relations, FNCB Bancorp, Inc., 102 East Drinker Street, Dunmore, PA 18512 or by calling (570) 348-6419. All of FNCB’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission are also available on the Investor Relations page of FNCB’s website, www.fncb.com/investorrelations .

About FNCB Bank: FNCB Bancorp, Inc. is the bank holding company of FNCB Bank, which provides personal, small business and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses throughout Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wayne Counties in Northeastern Pennsylvania.  The institution was established as a National Banking Association in 1910 as The First National Bank of Dunmore, and had been operating under the name First National Community Bank from 1988 through June 2016. Effective June 30, 2016, the institution changed its name to FNCB Bank upon its conversion from a national charter to a Pennsylvania state charter. For more information about FNCB, visit www.fncb.com .                                             

FNCB may from time to time make written or oral “forward-looking statements,” including statements contained in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), in its reports to shareholders, and in other communications, which are made in good faith by us pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

These forward-looking statements include statements with respect to FNCB’s beliefs, plans, objectives, goals, expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions, that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and are subject to change based on various factors (some of which are beyond our control).  The words “may,” “could,” “should,” “would,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.  The following factors, among others, could cause FNCB’s financial performance to differ materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements: the strength of the United States economy in general and the strength of the local economies in our markets; the effects of, and changes in trade, monetary and fiscal policies and laws, including interest rate policies of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; inflation, interest rate, market and monetary fluctuations; the timely development of and acceptance of new products and services; the ability of FNCB to compete with other institutions for business; the composition and concentrations of FNCB’s lending risk and the adequacy of FNCB’s reserves to manage those risks; the valuation of FNCB’s investment securities; the ability of FNCB to pay dividends or repurchase common shares; the ability of FNCB to retain key personnel; the impact of any pending or threatened litigation against FNCB; the marketability of shares of FNCB and fluctuations in the value of FNCB’s share price; the effectiveness of FNCB’s system of internal controls; the ability of FNCB to attract additional capital investment; the impact of changes in financial services’ laws and regulations (including laws concerning capital adequacy, taxes, banking, securities and insurance); the impact of technological changes and security risks upon our information technology systems; changes in consumer spending and saving habits; the nature, extent, and timing of governmental actions and reforms, and the success of FNCB at managing the risks involved in the foregoing and other risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in FNCB’s filings with the SEC.

FNCB cautions that the foregoing list of important factors is not all inclusive.  Readers are also cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which reflect management’s analysis only as of the date of this report, even if subsequently made available by FNCB on its website or otherwise.  FNCB does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of FNCB to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this report.

Readers should carefully review the risk factors described in the Annual Report and other documents that FNCB periodically files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015.

[The Company provides tabular information as follows]

INVESTOR CONTACT:                                                 James M. Bone, Jr., CPA Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer FNCB Bank (570) 348-6419 james.bone@fncb.com