Royal Financial, Inc. Announces Preliminary Fiscal

CHICAGO, July 16, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Royal Financial, Inc. (the “Company”) (OTCQX:RYFL), incorporated under the laws of Delaware on December 15, 2004, for the purpose of serving as the holding company of Royal Savings Bank (the “Bank”), announces the preliminary earnings results and statement of condition for the fiscal year ended 2018.

Net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018 was $1.2 million, or $0.50 per share, compared to $747,000, or $0.30 per share, for the same period in 2017.  Net income for the year ended June 30, 2018, was $1.7 million, or $0.69 per share, compared to $2.0 million, or $0.81 per share in 2017.

The Company also reported total assets of $413.2 million and stockholders’ equity of $34.5 million as of June 30, 2018.  As of the same date, the Company’s book value per share was $13.77 and tangible book value per share was $12.69.

Comparison of Results of Operations for the Quarters Ended June 30, 2018 and June 30, 2017

Net income for the quarter ended June 30, 2018 was $1.2 million or $0.50 per share and increase in net income of $497,000 (66%) from June 30, 2017.  Net interest income increased by $777,000 (27%) from the quarter ended June 30, 2017.  The increase in net interest income resulted mainly from an increase in loan income by $1.1 million (40%) to $4.0 million, offset by an increase in deposit and borrowings cost of funds of $384,000 (107%) to $744,000. The increase in loan income was a result of a full year of the Company’s participation in $30.6 million of owner-occupied, one to four-family residential loans from June 2017 as well as organic loan growth in commercial loans of $32.0 million from the prior year.  

Total non-interest income for the quarter ended June 30, 2018 increased $324,000 (324%) to $224,000, from the same period last year.  During the quarter ended June 30, 2017, the Company incurred a loss of $257,000 for the sale of securities as the Company liquidated securities to fund loan growth, which the Company did not incur during the quarter ended June 30, 2018.  The Company recognized an increase in deposit fee income of $31,000 (24%), secondary mortgage income of $3,000 (14%), and rental income of $33,000 from the quarter ended June 30, 2017.

Total non-interest expense increased $72,000 (3%) compared to the same period last year. The increase in non-interest expense was driven by an increase in occupancy and equipment costs of $128,000 (34%), data processing expense of $22,000 (13%), and FDIC insurance expense of $23,000 (91%). These increases were due to the acquisition of Washington Federal Bank for Savings (“WaFed”) in December 2017. These increases were offset by decreases in professional services of $51,000 (33%), insurance premiums of $10,000 (29%), and a recovery in acquisition expenses of $33,000.

During the quarter ended June 30, 2018, the Company recognized $100,000 of income tax benefit as a result of reversing a portion of the State of Illinois valuation allowance on deferred tax assets. A valuation allowance of $200,000 remains.      

Comparison of Results of Operations for the Fiscal Years Ended June 30, 2018 and 2017

Net income for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018 was $1.7 million, a decrease in net income of $304,000 (15%) from June 30, 2017. The decrease in net income for the year ended June 30, 2018 was due to the $2.1 million tax expense due to the passing of the Tax and Jobs Act in December 2017. Net interest income for the year ended 2018 increased $2.0 million (19%), to $13.1 million.  The primary driver for the increase in net interest income was a $3.2 million (29%) increase in loan interest income and fees.  The increases in interest-bearing assets were partially offset by a $962,000 (101%) increase in interest expense on deposits and a $354,000 (163%) increase in interest expense on borrowings.      

The provision for loan losses in 2018 increased $485,000 (206%) over prior year.  The increase in the allowance for loan losses was to provide for the increased growth in the loan portfolio.

Non-interest income for the year ended 2018 was $873,000, an increase of $410,000 (89%) from the previous year. The increase in non-interest income was primarily a result of the increase in service charges of $63,000 (12%), secondary mortgage market income of $86,000 (233%), and rental income of $123,000 (851%).  The increase in service charges was a result of a change in fees made by the Company and the addition of WaFed. Secondary mortgage market income increased due to the hiring of additional business bankers to grow the portfolio. Rental income increased as the Company rented out unused space in the Bank’s branches. Non-interest income for the year ended 2018 also included $36,000 of net losses on the sale of securities available for sale.  The Company sold $39.8 million of securities during the year to provide funding for loan growth and deposit run-off.      

Non-interest expense increased $821,000 (9%) for fiscal year 2018.  The increase in non-interest expense is primarily due to an increase of $526,000 in acquisition expenses and an increase of $212,000 in occupancy and equipment costs. The Company acquired the insured deposits of WaFed in December 2017 and converted all accounts over to the Company’s data processor as of April 2018. Occupancy and equipment expense increased due to the additional maintenance cost from the acquisition of the two WaFed branches. Salaries and employee benefits increased $189,000 (4%) from the prior year. This increase is a result of new hires from the acquisition and additions to loan personnel due to the increase in loan growth. The increases in non-interest expense were offset by a decrease in data processing and professional services, which decreased $61,000 each during the year ended 2018.

For the fiscal year ended 2018, the provision for income taxes was $1.9 million compared to $439,000 for the same period in 2017.  The Company had a one-time downward adjustment of the DTA of $2.0 million due to the new federal income tax rate change enacted in December 2017. 

Comparison of Financial Condition at June 30, 2017 and June 30, 2016

The Company’s total assets increased $96.1 million (30%), to $413.2 million at June 30, 2018, from $317.1 million at June 30, 2017.

Securities available for sale increased $16.8 million (65%), to $42.9 million at June 30, 2018 from $26.0 million at June 30, 2017.  The increase in securities available for sale resulted from the purchase of $90.0 million in taxable Government Sponsored Entity (“GSE”) securities to use the excess liquidity acquired from WaFed, offset by the sale of $39.8 million of securities to fund loan growth.

Loans, net of allowance for loan losses, increased $77.2 million (31%), to $322.8 million at June 30, 2018, from $245.7 million at June 30, 2017.  The Company participated in $43.3 million of 100% adjustable-rate mortgages in February 2018.  Additional organic loan growth came from $32.0 million of commercial loans throughout the year.

The allowance for loan losses was $2.4 million, or 0.73% of total loans, at June 30, 2018, as compared to $1.7 million, or 0.67% of total loans, at June 30, 2017.  In addition to the allowance for loan losses, net purchase discount on acquired loans was $1.0 million at June 30, 2018 compared to $1.4 million at June 30, 2017.  Individual loan discounts are being accreted into interest income over the life of the loans, however, they can offset loan losses upon loan default. Nonperforming loans totaled $899,000, or 0.28% of outstanding loans, at June 30, 2018 compared to $327,000, or 0.13%, at June 30, 2017.  

Premises and equipment increased $1.9 million (15%) to $14.8 million at June 30, 2018. The increase is primarily the result of the acquisition of the two branches from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver for WaFed. 

Other real estate owned (OREO) decreased $146,000 to $305,000 at June 30, 2018, from $452,000 at June 30, 2017.  The decrease is the result of the sale of three one-to-four family residential properties. The remaining OREO is a medical office condominium resulting from business deterioration caused by timeliness of government insurance reimbursements.  The property is recorded at fair value, less estimated costs to sell. 

The DTA decreased by $1.6 million (13%) from $12.0 million on June 30, 2017, to $10.4 million on June 30, 2018.  In December 2017, the Company reduced the DTA by $2.0 million to record the change in estimated value resulting from federal income tax rate changes enacted into law.  The Company reversed $300,000 of the valuation allowance for the State of Illinois DTA during the quarter ended March 31, 2018. The Company reversed an additional $100,000 of the valuation allowance for State of Illinois DTA during the quarter ended June 30, 2018 based on new earnings results. The remaining valuation allowance as of June 30, 2018 is $200,000.

The Core Deposit Intangibles (“CDI”) held by the Company increased $225,000 (24%) as of June 30, 2018. The increase in the CDI was due to acquisition of WaFed deposits.

Total deposits increased $74.8 million (28%), to $341.2 million at June 30, 2018 from $266.4 million at June 30, 2017. Total deposit growth was the result of the acquisition of insured deposits from WaFed. 

Federal Home Loan Bank advances increased $11.0 million (138%) to supplement funding for loan growth. Notes payable increased by $8.6 million (177%), resulting from a favorable response by the lender to the Company’s request to increase and restructure its loan to provide funds to support a capital injection to capitalize the Bank properly in support of the WaFed acquisition.  The loan is structured to amortize in full over eight years with quarterly payments of $450,000 in principal reduction and interest at the rate of 0.15% below the Wall Street Journal Prime Rate.

Total stockholders’ equity increased $815,000 (2%), to $34.5 million at June 30, 2018 from $33.7 million at June 30, 2017. The increase is primarily a result of net income of $1.7 million (16%) offset by a decrease in accumulated other comprehensive income of $982,000 (799%).

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018, the Bank paid cash dividends of $1.6 million to the Company. The upstream of funds enabled the Company to make debt and interest payments on its notes payable, as well as pay general business expenses for fiscal 2018.

To meet the minimum requirement to be well capitalized under prompt corrective action regulations, the Bank is required to maintain regulatory capital sufficient to meet Tier 1 capital leverage ratio, and risk-based ratios for Common Equity Tier 1 capital, Tier 1 capital and Total capital of at least 5.0%, 6.5%, 8.0% and 10.0%, respectively.  At June 30, 2018, the Bank exceeded each of its capital requirements with ratios of 9.11%, 14.45%, 14.45% and 15.37%, respectively.

At June 30, 2018, the book value per common share, shares outstanding of 2,507,112, was $13.77 compared to the book value per common share, shares outstanding of 2,507,112, of $13.45 at June 30, 2017. The tangible book value per share was $12.69 at June 30, 2018 compared to tangible book value per share of $13.08 at June 30, 2017.  

The audited consolidated financial statements for 2017 and 2016 are available at www.royal-bank.us. We expect the audited consolidated financial statements for 2018 to be available in September.  

About Royal Financial, Inc.

Royal Savings Bank offers a range of checking and savings products and a full line of home and commercial lending solutions.  Royal Savings Bank has been operating continuously in the south and southeast communities of Chicago since 1887, and currently has nine branches in Chicagoland and lending centers in Homewood and St. Charles, Illinois. Visit Royal Financial, Inc. and Royal Savings Bank at www.royalbankweb.com .

Safe–Harbor Forward Looking Statements: This press release may include forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies and expectations, can generally be identified by use of the words “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” or similar expressions.  Our ability to predict results or the actual effect of future plans or strategies is inherently uncertain and actual results may differ materially from those predicted in such forward-looking statements.  Factors that could have a material adverse effect on the operations and future prospects of the Company and the Bank include, but are not limited to, changes in interest rates; the economic health of the local real estate market; general economic conditions; continued credit deterioration in our loan portfolio that would cause us to further increase our allowance for loan losses; legislative/regulatory changes; monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. government, including policies of the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board; the quality or composition of the loan and securities portfolios; demand for loan products in our market areas; deposit flows; competition; demand for financial services in our market areas; and changes in accounting principles, policies, and guidelines.  These risks and uncertainties should be considered in evaluating forward-looking statements, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements .

Mr. Leonard Szwajkowski President and CEO Telephone:  (773) 382-2111 E-mail:  lszwajkowski@royal-bank.us