Standard AVB Financial Corp. Announces First Quarter Earnings and a Quarterly Dividend Payment

MONROEVILLE, Pa., April 25, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Standard AVB Financial Corp. (the "Company") - STND, the holding company for Standard Bank PaSB, announced earnings for the quarter ended March 31, 2019 of $2.2 million, or $0.47 per basic share, compared to $2.2 million, or $0.47 per basic share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2018.  The Company's annualized return on average assets and average equity were 0.91% and 6.35%, respectively, for the quarter ended March 31, 2019 compared to 0.89% and 6.56%, respectively, for the quarter ended March 31, 2018.

The Company's board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.221 per share of the Company's common stock.  The dividend will be payable to stockholders of record as of May 6, 2019 and will be paid on May 20, 2019.   

Timothy K. Zimmerman, CEO, stated, "We were pleased to maintain a consistent level of earnings during the first quarter despite the increasingly difficult operating environment.  Asset quality continues to be a strong point again this quarter.  The flat, partially inverted, US Treasury Yield Curve is putting intense pressure on the interest rate margin.  Standard's interest rate margin reflects increasing deposit costs but essentially flat pricing for high quality loans.  We continue to reposition our loan portfolio focusing on increasing commercial real estate and business lending while enhancing the ability to sell residential loans in the secondary market."

Total assets at March 31, 2019 increased $18.0 million or 1.8% to $989.8 million, from $971.8 million at December 31, 2018.  The increase in total assets included an increase in cash and cash equivalents of $18.5 million, or 114.1%, as well as an increase in investment securities of $6.7 million, or 4.4%, both of which were the result of a deposit from a new commercial relationship established late in the quarter.  Partially offsetting those increases was a decrease in net loans receivable of $4.4 million, or 0.6%, from $729.0 million at December 31, 2018 to $724.6 million at March 31, 2019.  The decrease in loans receivable was the result of loan payoffs and amortization exceeding loan production during the period.

Total deposits at March 31, 2019 increased by $25.5 million or 3.6% to $743.4 million from $717.9 million at December 31, 2018.  Borrowed funds decreased by $9.5 million or 8.5% to $102.1 million from $111.6 million.  The increase in deposits resulted from increases in money market and interest-bearing checking accounts.  The decrease in borrowed funds was primarily due to the repayment of maturing long term advances and pay downs on both amortizing long term advances and the overnight borrowing line.

Stockholders' equity of $140.1 million at March 31, 2019 increased by $2.2 million or 1.6% from $137.9 million at December 31, 2018.  The increase is the result of net income earned during the period as well as a decrease in the accumulated other comprehensive loss partially offset by dividends paid.

Net interest income was $7.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019 compared to $7.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018.  The decrease was primarily due to an increase in the average balance and the cost of interest-bearing deposits as well as a decrease in the average balance of loans receivable.  These decreases were partially offset by an increase in the yield on interest-earning assets.  The net interest margin for the 2019 quarter was 3.21%, compared to 3.27% for the same period in the prior year. 

A provision for loan losses of $108,000 was recorded for the three months ended March 31, 2019.  No provision for loan losses was recorded for the three months ended March 31, 2018.  Non-performing loans at March 31, 2019 were $2.5 million, or 0.34% of total loans compared to $2.7 million, or 0.37% of total loans at December 31, 2018. 

Noninterest income totaled $1.1 million for the quarters ended March 31, 2019 and March 31, 2018.  The 2019 period included higher investment management fees and net loan sale gains partially offset by decreases in the net gains on the sales of equity securities as well as net equity securities fair value adjustment gains.

Noninterest expenses totaled $5.5 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2019, compared to $5.8 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2018.  The decrease is primarily due to a decrease in compensation and employee benefits.  The quarter ended March 31, 2018 included $510,000 related to severance paid during the period. 

Standard AVB Financial Corp., with total assets of $989.8 million at March 31, 2019, is the parent company of Standard Bank, PaSB, a Pennsylvania chartered savings bank that operates 17 offices serving individuals and small to mid-sized businesses in Allegheny, Westmoreland and Bedford Counties, in Pennsylvania and Allegany County in Maryland.  Standard Bank is a member of the FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender. 

This news release may contain a number of forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors.  The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date on which such statements were made.

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