Park National Corporation reports financial results for third quarter and first nine months of 2019

NEWARK, Ohio, Oct. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Park National Corporation (Park) PRK today reported financial results for the third quarter and first nine months of 2019 (three and nine months ended September 30, 2019). Park's board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.01 per common share, payable on December 10, 2019 to common shareholders of record as of November 15, 2019.

"We continue to benefit from welcoming our newest banking teams into our family," said Park Chairman David Trautman. In the past two years, Park has added NewDominion Bank Division (Charlotte, NC) and Carolina Alliance Bank Division (Spartanburg, SC), as well as a Park National Bank division team in Louisville, KY. "Our colleagues remain unrelenting in their efforts to share resources and information, further uniting our divisions and serving customers and prospects more."  

Park's net income for the third quarter of 2019 was $31.1 million, a 25.8 percent increase from $24.8 million for the third quarter of 2018. Third quarter 2019 net income per diluted common share was $1.89, compared to $1.56 in the third quarter of 2018. Park's net income for first nine months of 2019 was $78.8 million, a 6.4 percent decrease from $84.1 million for first nine months of 2018. Net income per diluted common share was $4.84 for the first nine months of 2019, compared to $5.41 for the first nine months of 2018.

"Our financial performance and earnings per share include some effects of our recent partnerships with NewDominion Bank and Carolina Alliance Bank," said Park President Matthew Miller. "Our investments into growth markets, among other activities, include some one-time revenue and expenses. Those influence comparisons between 2019 and 2018 results, as exhibited in the financial tables."

Park's community-banking subsidiary, The Park National Bank, reported net income of $30.9 million for the third quarter of 2019, an 11.1 percent increase from $27.9 million reported for the third quarter of 2018. The bank reported net income of $87.0 million for the first nine months of 2019, compared to $83.4 million for the first nine months of 2018. In the first nine months of 2019, the bank (not including loans from the Carolina Alliance Bank Division) grew installment loans by 13.2 percent annualized, real estate loans by 2.0 percent annualized and total deposits by 5.6 percent annualized.

Headquartered in Newark, Ohio, Park National Corporation had $8.7 billion in total assets (as of September 30, 2019). Park's banking operations are conducted through Park subsidiary The Park National Bank and its divisions, which include Fairfield National Bank Division, Richland Bank Division, Century National Bank Division, First-Knox National Bank Division, United Bank, N.A. Division, Second National Bank Division, Security National Bank Division, Unity National Bank Division, The Park National Bank of Southwest Ohio & Northern Kentucky Division, NewDominion Bank Division and Carolina Alliance Bank Division. Park also includes Scope Leasing, Inc. (d.b.a. Scope Aircraft Finance), Guardian Financial Services Company (d.b.a. Guardian Finance Company) and SE Property Holdings, LLC.

Complete financial tables are listed below.

Media contact: Bethany Lewis, 740.349.0421, blewis@parknationalbank.com
Investor contact: Brady Burt, 740.322.6844, bburt@parknationalbank.com
Park National Corporation, 50 N. Third Street, Newark, Ohio 43055

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
Park cautions that any forward-looking statements contained in this News Release or made by management of Park are provided to assist in the understanding of anticipated future financial performance. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations or forecasts of future events and are not guarantees of future performance.  The forward-looking statements are based on management's expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties.  Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements.  Risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially include, without limitation: Park's ability to execute our business plan successfully and within the expected timeframe; general economic and financial market conditions, specifically in the real estate markets and the credit markets, either nationally or in the states in which Park and our subsidiaries do business, may experience a slowing or reversal of the current economic expansion in addition to continuing residual effects of recessionary conditions and an uneven spread of positive impacts of recovery on the economy and our counterparties, resulting in adverse impacts on the demand for loan, deposit and other financial services, delinquencies, defaults and counterparties' inability to meet credit and other obligations and the possible impairment of collectability of loans; changes in interest rates and prices may adversely impact prepayment penalty income, mortgage banking income, the value of securities, loans, deposits and other financial instruments and the interest rate sensitivity of our consolidated balance sheet as well as reduce interest margins and impact loan demand; changes in consumer spending, borrowing and saving habits, whether due to tax reform legislation, changes in retail distribution strategies, consumer preferences and behavior, changes in business and economic conditions, legislative and regulatory initiatives, or other factors; changes in unemployment; changes in customers', suppliers', and other counterparties' performance and creditworthiness; the adequacy of our internal controls and risk management program in the event of changes in the market, economic, operational, asset/liability repricing, legal, compliance, strategic, cybersecurity, liquidity, credit and interest rate risks associated with Park's business; disruption in the liquidity and other functioning of U.S. financial markets; our liquidity requirements could be adversely affected by changes to regulations governing bank and bank holding company capital and liquidity standards as well as by changes in our assets and liabilities; competitive factors among financial services organizations could increase significantly, including product and pricing pressures (which could in turn impact our credit spreads), customer acquisition and retention, changes to third-party relationships and revenues, changes in the manner of providing services, customer acquisition and retention pressures, and our ability to attract, develop and retain qualified banking professionals; customers could pursue alternatives to bank deposits, causing us to lose a relatively inexpensive source of funding; uncertainty regarding the nature, timing, cost and effect of changes in banking regulations or other regulatory or legislative requirements affecting the respective businesses of Park and our subsidiaries, including major reform of the regulatory oversight structure of the financial services industry and changes in laws and regulations concerning taxes, pensions, bankruptcy, consumer protection, rent regulation and housing, financial accounting and reporting, environmental protection, insurance, bank products and services, bank capital and liquidity standards, fiduciary standards, securities and other aspects of the financial services industry, specifically the reforms provided for in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the "Dodd-Frank Act") and the Basel III regulatory capital reforms, as well as regulations already adopted and which may be adopted in the future by the relevant regulatory agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Federal Reserve Board, to implement the Dodd-Frank Act's provisions, and the Basel III regulatory capital reforms; the effects of easing restrictions on participants in the financial services industry; the effect of changes in accounting policies and practices, as may be adopted by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the "FASB"), the SEC, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and other regulatory agencies, including the extent to which the new current expected credit loss rule issued by the FASB in June 2016, which will require banks to record, at the time of origination, credit losses expected throughout the life of the asset portfolio on loans and HTM securities, as opposed to the current practice of recording losses which it is probable that a loss event has occurred, may adversely affect Park's reported financial condition or results of operations; Park's assumptions and estimates used in applying critical accounting policies, which may prove unreliable, inaccurate or not predictive of actual results; changes in law and policy accompanying the current presidential administration and uncertainty or speculation pending the enactment of such changes; significant changes in the tax laws, which may adversely affect the fair values of net deferred tax assets and obligations of state and political subdivisions held in Park's investment securities portfolio; the impact of our ability to anticipate and respond to technological changes on our ability to respond to customer needs and meet competitive demands; operational issues stemming from and/or capital spending necessitated by the potential need to adapt to industry changes in information technology systems on which Park and our subsidiaries are highly dependent; the ability to secure confidential information and deliver products and services through the use of computer systems and telecommunications networks; a failure in or breach of our operational or security systems or infrastructure, or those of our third-party vendors and other service providers, resulting in failures or disruptions in customer account management, general ledger, deposit, loan, or other systems, including as a result of cyber attacks; the existence or exacerbation of general geopolitical instability and uncertainty; the effect of trade policies (including the impact of potential or imposed tariffs, a U.S. withdrawal from or significant renegotiation of trade agreements, trade wars and other changes in trade regulations and changes in the relationship of the U.S. and its global trading partners), monetary and other fiscal policies (including the impact of money supply and interest rate policies to the Federal Reserve Board) and other governmental policies of the U.S. federal government; the impact on financial markets and the economy of any changes in the credit ratings of the U.S. Treasury obligations and other U.S. government - backed debt, as well as issues surrounding the levels of U.S., European and Asian government debt and concerns regarding the creditworthiness of certain sovereign governments, supranationals and financial institutions in Europe and Asia; the uncertainty surrounding the actions to be taken to implement the referendum by United Kingdom voters to exit the European Union; our litigation and regulatory compliance exposure, including the costs and effects of any adverse developments in legal proceedings or other claims and the costs and effects of unfavorable resolution of regulatory and other governmental examinations or other inquiries; continued availability of earnings and excess capital sufficient for the lawful and prudent declaration of dividends; fraud, scams and schemes of third parties; the impact of widespread natural and other disasters, pandemics, dislocations, civil unrest, terrorist activities or international hostilities on the economy and financial markets generally and on us or our counterparties specifically; the effect of healthcare laws in the U.S. and potential changes for such laws which may increase our healthcare and other costs and negatively impact our operations and financial results; Park's ability to integrate recent acquisitions (including CAB Financial Corporation ("CAB")) as well as to identify, make or integrate any future suitable strategic acquisitions, which may be unsuccessful, or may be more difficult, time-consuming or costly than expected; risk and uncertainties associated with Park's entry into new geographic markets with its recent acquisitions, including expected revenue synergies and cost savings from the merger of Park and CAB not being fully realized or realized within the expected time frame; revenues following the merger of Park and CAB may be lower than expected; customer and employee relationships and business operations may be disrupted by the merger of Park and CAB; Park issued equity securities in the acquisitions of NewDominion Bank and CAB and may issue equity securities in connection with future acquisitions, which could cause ownership and economic dilution to Park's current shareholders; the discontinuation of LIBOR and other reference rates which may result in increased expenses and litigation, and adversely impact the effectiveness of hedging strategies; and other risk factors relating to the banking industry as detailed from time to time in Park's reports filed with the SEC including those described in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" of Part I of Park's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018. Park does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to publicly release the results of any revisions that may be made to update any forward-looking statement to reflect the events or circumstances after the date on which the forward-looking statement was made, or reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except to the extent required by law.