Earnings Labs

Landmark Bancorp, Inc. (LARK)

Q3 2014 Earnings Call· Wed, Oct 29, 2014

$26.76

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Welcome to the Landmark Bancorp third quarter earnings call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Michael Scheopner, President and CEO. Please go ahead.

Michael Scheopner

Analyst

Good morning. Thank you for joining our call today to discuss Landmark's earnings and results of operations for the third quarter and year-to-date 2014. Joining the call with me today to discuss various aspects of our year-to-date and third quarter performance are Mark Herpich, CFO of the company; and Brad Chindamo, our Credit Risk Manager. Before we get started, I would like to remind our listeners that some of the information we will be providing today falls under the guidelines of forward-looking statements as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission. As part of these guidelines, I must point out that any statements made during this presentation that discuss our hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements, and our actual results could differ materially from those expressed. Additional information on these factors is included from time to time in our 10-K and 10-Q filings, which can be obtained by contacting the company or the SEC. We reported record net earnings of $2.2 million or $0.67 per share for the third quarter 2014, which represents a 69.2% increase in earnings when compared to the third quarter of 2013. Year-to-date, net earnings totaled $6 million, which is also a record for the company. The earnings increase is principally a result of our acquisition of Citizens Bank, which as we expected, has been accretive to our year-to-date financial performance. Our year-to-date 2014 earnings translate to net earnings per share $1.85 on a fully diluted basis. It's gratifying that the market for Landmark's stock in recent months has shown some recognition of the value created by delivering on the potential of this acquisition. Net interest income totaled $18.3 million for the first 3 quarters of 2014, up 36.7% from the same period in 2013. Noninterest income year-to-date 2014 totaled $11.2…

Mark Herpich

Analyst

Thanks, Michael, and good morning to everyone. As Michael has already summarized our results for the third quarter and 9 months ended September 30, I would like to make a few comments on various elements comprising those record earnings results. Starting with the third quarter financial highlights. Net interest income increased $1.7 million to $6.3 million in comparison to the prior year's third quarter. Net interest income was impacted by our net interest margin, which increased to 3.47% from 3.40% during the third quarter of 2013. In comparison to the net interest margin of 3.47% in the second quarter of 2014, our net interest margin has remained stable from a quarter-to-quarter perspective. The higher net interest income and net interest margin were primarily impacted by our acquisition of Citizens Bank, resulting in an increase in our interest-earning assets from $572.8 million in the third quarter of 2013 to $761.8 million during the third quarter of 2014. Looking at our provision, we provided $150,000 to the allowance for loan losses in the third quarter of 2014, which was a $50,000 reduction from the $200,000 we provided a year earlier. Noninterest income increased $1.1 million to $3.9 million for the third quarter of 2014 as compared to the same period of 2013. Our gains on sales of loans reflected an increase of $479,000 for the third quarter of 2014 compared to a year earlier, to which the mortgage business of Citizens Bank contributed. Other factors contributing to the increase in noninterest income were a $466,000 increase in fees and service charges and $138,000 in other noninterest income, also primarily a result of the Citizens Bank acquisition. Our third quarter noninterest expenses increased $1.4 million to $7.0 million on a linked-quarter basis, primarily resulting from increased expenses relating to operating 8 additional branch…

Bradly Chindamo

Analyst

Thanks, Mark, and good morning to everyone. Net loans outstanding as of September 30, 2014, totaled $416 million. This is a $3 million increase from the previous quarter-end net total of $413 million. We continue to focus on business development efforts to calculate [ph] new, high-quality commercial banking relationships and to expand existing high-quality relationships. Nonperforming loans, which primarily consist of loans greater than 90 days past due, totaled $6.1 million or 1.45% of gross loans as of September 30, 2014. This compares to a level of 2.35% as of year-end 2013. A significant part of nonperforming loans is principally associated with loaned credit, the commercial loan relationship consisting of $3.2 million in real estate and land loans, which was placed on nonaccrual status after the borrower filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy reorganization protection in 2012. Another indicator we monitor as part of our credit risk management efforts is our level of loans past due 30 to 89 days. The level of past-due loans between 30 to 89 days still accruing interest as of September 30, 2014, totaled $2.0 million or 0.48% of gross loans. Of the loans in the 30 to 89 days past due category, 43% or $870,000 is associated with one commercial real estate loan. We continue to monitor delinquency trends carefully in all loan categories. Our balance in other assets, real estate owned, totaled $159,000 as of September 30, down from $191,000 the prior quarter and $400,000 as of year-end 2013. The other real estate owned balances have been reduced as a result of the sale of properties. We continue to market for sale the remaining properties held in real estate owned. We recorded net loan charge-offs of $77,000 during the third quarter of 2014, and $918,000 year-to-date in 2014, compared to a net loan charge-off…

Michael Scheopner

Analyst

Thank you, Brad. I also want to thank Mark for his comments earlier in this morning's call. Before we go to questions, I just want to summarize by saying we are pleased with our operating results for the third quarter and year-to-date 2014. I'm also pleased with the progress we've made in the assimilation of the Citizens Bank acquisition and the community reaction to Landmark in our newly acquired banking markets. As we anticipated, the acquisition has been accretive to earnings in 2014, and I expect that positive earnings impact to continue as we progress for the remainder of the year. With that, I'll open up the call to questions that anyone might have.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] No questions at this time. This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Michael Scheopner for any closing remarks.

Michael Scheopner

Analyst

Thank you, and I appreciate everyone joining the call today and your continued support of our company. We look forward to our next call, which will summarize the results for the fourth quarter and year-end 2014. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.