Wake Forest Bancshares, Inc. Announces Third Quart

WAKE FOREST, N.C., July 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wake Forest Bancshares, Inc., (OTCBB: WAKE ) parent company of Wake Forest Federal Savings and Loan Association, announced today that the Company reported earnings of $257,982 or $0.23 per share for its quarter ended June 30, 2017.  The Company reported earnings of $228,489 or $0.20 per share for the same quarter a year earlier.  Earnings for the first nine months of the Company’s fiscal year were reported at $724,203 or $0.63 per share versus $656,354 or $0.57 per share for the same nine month period a year earlier.

In announcing the earnings, Robert C. White, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated that the Company was satisfied with the current quarter’s results which continue to be positively impacted by a negligible level of nonperforming assets and costs associated with foreclosed assets.  However, the Company’s returns also continue to be negatively impacted by compressed interest rate margins and a lukewarm loan demand.  The Company invests excess liquidity in short term liquid assets and its loan portfolio primarily has shorter maturities or variable rates in order to guard against interest rate risk exposure.  The Federal Reserve has kept interest rates at historic lows beginning in December of 2008 and has only raised rates by a combined 1.00% since then although the majority or 0.75% of the increase has occurred over the past year.  Due to interest rate floors in many of the Company’s loan products, rates would need to continue to rise in the future to have a meaningful impact on the Company’s performance.

Economic conditions and residential home sales in our local markets continue to show strength.  Our residential real estate markets have benefited because sales activity and home prices have increased while excess inventories of available homes, once common during the recession, have come down as the market continues to absorb existing product.  Although our local area’s unemployment rate has held steady or continued to decline slightly, with further employment gains in higher paying industries, our markets and our performance should benefit.

The Company recovered $45,000 in loan loss provisions in the current quarter and provided $-0- in provisions for loan losses in the same quarter a year earlier.  The Company had no loan charge-offs in its most recent quarter or during the nine months of its current fiscal year.  Loan loss recoveries of $75,000 from previously charged off loans were recorded earlier in the fiscal year.  The Company had no loans charged off in the quarter ended June 30, 2016. The Company’s loan loss allowances amounted to approximately 2.70% of total loans outstanding at June 30, 2017.  Foreclosed assets and non-performing loans amounted to $-0- and $322,517 at June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Total assets of the Company amounted to $105,130,745 at June 30, 2017.  Total loans receivable and deposits outstanding at June 30, 2017 amounted to $55,996,830 and $79,918,852, respectively.  Wake Forest Bancshares Inc.’s tier 1 capital ratio was 22.73% at June 30, 2017.

Wake Forest Bancshares, Inc. has 1,138,808 shares of common stock outstanding.  Based in Wake Forest, North Carolina since 1922, the Company conducts business as Wake Forest Federal from its office in Wake Forest, (Wake County), North Carolina.

Contact:  Robert C. White, CEO (919) 556-5146