S&T Bancorp, Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2020 Results

INDIANA, Pa., Jan. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- S&T Bancorp, Inc. (S&T) STBA, the holding company for S&T Bank, with operations in five markets including Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Pennsylvania, Northeast Ohio, Central Ohio, and Upstate New York, announced its fourth quarter and full year 2020 earnings. Net income was $24.2 million, or $0.62 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter compared to net income of $16.7 million, or $0.43 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2020, and $22.3 million, or $0.62 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2019.

Net income was $21.0 million, or $0.53 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to net income of $98.2 million, or $2.82 per diluted share, for 2019. A loss of $58.7 million was recognized during the second quarter of 2020 related to a customer fraud resulting from a check kiting scheme. This fraud loss reduced net income by $46.3 million, or $1.19 per diluted share, for the full year 2020.

Fourth Quarter of 2020 Highlights:

Return on average assets (ROA) was 1.05%, return on average equity (ROE) was 8.35% and return on average tangible equity (ROTE) (non-GAAP) was 12.71%.

• Pre-tax pre-provision to average assets (PTPP) (non-GAAP) was 1.61%.
• Net interest margin (FTE) (non-GAAP) increased 9 basis points to 3.38% compared to 3.29% for the third quarter of  2020.
• Portfolio loans decreased $169.0 million compared to September 30, 2020.
• Deposits decreased $213.3 million compared to September 30, 2020.
• The allowance for credit losses to total portfolio loans was 1.63% at December 31, 2020 compared to 1.64% at September 30, 2020.
• S&T's Board of Directors declared a $0.28 per share dividend which is consistent with the same period last year.

Full Year 2020 Highlights:

• ROA was 0.23%, ROE was 1.80% and ROTE (non-GAAP) was 2.92%. Excluding the loss from the customer fraud ROA (non-GAAP) was 0.74%, ROE (non-GAAP) was 5.76% and ROTE (non-GAAP) was 8.80%.
• PTPP (non-GAAP) was 1.67%.
• Portfolio loans increased $88.7 million, or 1.2%, compared to December 31, 2019.
• Deposits increased $384.0 million, or 5.5%, compared to December 31, 2019.
• Mortgage banking income increased $8.4 million to $10.9 million compared to 2019 due to strong refinance activity.
• Full year 2020 dividends declared increased 2.8% to $1.12 compared to $1.09 in 2019.

"The year 2020 was challenging for our country, the banking industry and S&T. I continue to be amazed by the resilience of our team of bankers and the communities that we serve during these difficult times," said Todd Brice, chief executive officer of S&T. "As I move on to my next chapter of retirement this coming March, I'm gratified to know that the S&T team will continue to perform at a high level for the benefit of all of our stakeholders."

Fourth Quarter of 2020 Results (three months ended December 31, 2020)

Net Interest Income

Net interest income increased $0.6 million to $69.9 million compared to $69.3 million in the third quarter of 2020. The increase in net interest income was primarily due to a reduction in deposit costs and the increased contribution of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to net interest income. Total interest-bearing deposit costs decreased 12 basis points to 0.36% as higher cost Certificates of Deposits and Money Market accounts repriced. The PPP contribution increased by $1.7 million compared to the third quarter of 2020 due to the beginning of loan forgiveness, which led to an increase in loan yield of 2 basis points to 3.89%. Net interest margin on a fully taxable equivalent basis (FTE) (non-GAAP) increased 9 basis points to 3.38% compared to 3.29% in the prior quarter. Excluding PPP, net interest margin (FTE) (non-GAAP) declined 1 basis point to 3.35% compared to 3.36%.

Asset Quality

The provision for credit losses decreased $10.4 million to $7.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to $17.5 million in the third quarter of 2020. Net loan charge-offs were $11.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to $12.9 million in the third quarter of 2020. Total nonperforming loans increased $62.7 million to $146.8 million, or 2.03% of total loans, at December 31, 2020 compared to $84.1 million, or 1.13% of total loans at September 30, 2020. The increase in nonperforming loans primarily related to the addition of $56.7 million of hotel loans. The hotel loans have specific reserves of $6.7 million at December 31, 2020 which were based upon updated appraisals received during the fourth quarter of 2020. The allowance for credit losses was 1.63% of total portfolio loans at December 31, 2020 compared to 1.64% at September 30, 2020. Excluding PPP loans, the allowance for credit losses was 1.74% of total portfolio loans at December 31, 2020 compared to 1.77% at September 30, 2020.

Noninterest Income and Expense

Noninterest income decreased $0.9 million to $15.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to $16.5 million in the third quarter of 2020. The decrease in noninterest income was primarily due to a decline in mortgage banking income due to lower activity compared to the third quarter of 2020. Noninterest expense increased $0.3 million to $48.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to $48.2 million in the third quarter of 2020. Other noninterest expense increased $1.8 million mainly related to higher loan workout costs compared to the prior quarter. Salaries and employee benefits decreased $1.8 million due to lower incentives, pension and medical costs compared to the prior quarter.

Financial Condition

Total assets decreased $222.7 million to $9.0 billion at December 31, 2020 compared to $9.2 billion at September 30, 2020. Portfolio loans decreased $169.0 million compared to September 30, 2020 as loan originations continue to be impacted by the pandemic and $85.0 million of PPP loans were forgiven during the fourth quarter of 2020. Securities increased $55.5 million compared to September 30, 2020 due to cash being redeployed to higher yielding assets. Total deposits decreased $213.3 million mainly due to decreases in interest-bearing demand of $118.4 million, money market of $96.5 million and certificates of deposits of $58.6 million compared to September 30, 2020.

All capital ratios increased at December 31, 2020 compared to September 30, 2020 and remain above the well-capitalized thresholds of federal bank regulatory agencies.

Full Year 2020 Results (twelve months ended December 31, 2020)

Full year net income was $21.0 million, or $0.53 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to net income of $98.2 million, or $2.82 per diluted share, for 2019. A loss of $58.7 million was recognized during the second quarter of 2020 related to a customer fraud resulting from a check kiting scheme. This fraud loss reduced net income by $46.3 million or $1.19 per diluted share. Full year results were impacted by the DNB Financial Corporation (DNB) merger that occurred on November 30, 2019 with 12 months of impact in 2020 compared to only one month in 2019.

Net interest income increased $32.6 million, or 13.2%, compared to 2019 primarily due to the merger with DNB. Net interest income was impacted by the decrease in interest rates and the effects of the pandemic on loan growth throughout 2020. Net interest margin (FTE) (non-GAAP) decreased 26 basis points to 3.38% compared to 3.64% for 2019. Noninterest income increased $7.2 million compared to the prior year primarily related to higher mortgage banking income of $8.4 million offset by the impact of the pandemic mainly on service charges on deposit accounts. Noninterest expense increased $19.5 million compared to 2019. The DNB merger increased operating expenses which was offset by a reduction of $9.0 million in merger related expenses. FDIC insurance increased $4.3 million due to the DNB merger, the impact of recent financial results on certain components of the assessment calculation and Small Bank Assessment Credits received in 2019. Other expense increased $5.8 million in part due to higher loan collection costs in 2020 compared to 2019. The efficiency ratio (non-GAAP) for 2020, excluding merger related expenses, was 53.86% compared to 51.39% for 2019.

The provision for credit losses increased $116.5 million to $131.4 million for 2020 compared to $14.9 million for 2019. Excluding the customer fraud loss of $58.7 million, the provision was $72.7 million for 2020. The provision for credit losses increased significantly in 2020 due to the pandemic and the adoption of Current Expected Credit Losses (CECL) on January 1, 2020. Net loan charge-offs were $103.4 million for 2020 compared to $13.6 million for 2019. Excluding the customer fraud, charge-offs were $44.7 million for 2020. Total nonperforming loans increased $92.7 million to $146.8 million, or 2.03% of total loans, at December 31, 2020 compared to $54.1 million, or 0.76% of total loans at December 31, 2019. The increase in nonperforming loans primarily related to the addition of $56.7 million of hotel loans. The allowance for credit losses was 1.63% of total portfolio loans as of December 31, 2020 compared to 0.87% at December 31, 2019. Excluding PPP loans, the allowance for credit losses was 1.74% of total portfolio loans at December 31, 2020. The adoption of CECL increased the allowance for credit losses by $17.5 million on January 1, 2020.

Dividend

The Board of Directors of S&T declared a $0.28 per share cash dividend at its regular meeting held January 25, 2021. This is consistent with the common stock dividend declared in the same period in the prior year. The dividend is payable February 25, 2021 to shareholders of record on February 11, 2021. Dividends declared in 2020 increased $0.03, or 2.8%, to $1.12 compared to $1.09 for 2019.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This release presents certain non-GAAP financial measures. For a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP measures, see "Definitions and Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures" in the accompanying tables.

Conference Call

S&T will host its fourth quarter 2020 earnings conference call live over the internet at 1:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, January 28, 2021. To access the webcast, go to S&T's webpage at www.stbancorp.com and click on "Events & Presentations." Select "4th Quarter 2020 Conference Call" and follow the instructions. After the live presentation, the webcast will be archived on this website for at least 90 days. A replay of the call will also be available until February 4, 2021, by dialing 1.877.481.4010; the Conference ID is 39369.

About S&T Bancorp, Inc.

S&T Bancorp, Inc. is a $9.0 billion bank holding company that is headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania and trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol STBA. Its principal subsidiary, S&T Bank, was recently ranked #1 in customer satisfaction with retail banking in the Mid-Atlantic including best in communication and advice by J.D. Power. Established in 1902, S&T Bank operates in five markets including Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Pennsylvania, Northeast Ohio, Central Ohio, and Upstate New York. For more information visit stbancorp.com or stbank.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

This information contains or incorporates statements that we believe are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally relate to our financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, outlook for earnings, revenues, expenses, capital and liquidity levels and ratios, asset levels, asset quality, financial position, and other matters regarding or affecting S&T and its future business and operations. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as "will likely result", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "forecast", "project", "intend", "believe", "assume", "strategy", "trend", "plan", "outlook", "outcome", "continue", "remain", "potential", "opportunity", "believe", "comfortable", "current", "position", "maintain", "sustain", "seek", "achieve" and variations of such words and similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as will, would, should, could or may. Although we believe the assumptions upon which these forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, any of these assumptions could prove to be inaccurate and the forward-looking statements based on these assumptions could be incorrect. The matters discussed in these forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results and trends to differ materially from those made, projected, or implied in or by the forward-looking statements depending on a variety of uncertainties or other factors including, but not limited to: credit losses and the credit risk of our commercial and consumer loan products; changes in the level of charge-offs and changes in estimates of the adequacy of the allowance for credit losses; cyber-security concerns; rapid technological developments and changes; operational risks or risk management failures by us or critical third parties, including fraud risk; our ability to manage our reputational risks; sensitivity to the interest rate environment including a prolonged period of low interest rates, a rapid increase in interest rates or a change in the shape of the yield curve; a change in spreads on interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities; regulatory supervision and oversight, including changes in regulatory capital requirements and our ability to address those requirements; unanticipated changes in our liquidity position; changes in accounting policies, practices, or guidance, for example, our adoption of CECL; legislation affecting the financial services industry as a whole, and S&T, in particular; the outcome of pending and future litigation and governmental proceedings; increasing price and product/service competition; the ability to continue to introduce competitive new products and services on a timely, cost-effective basis; managing our internal growth and acquisitions; the possibility that the anticipated benefits from acquisitions, including DNB, cannot be fully realized in a timely manner or at all, or that integrating the acquired operations will be more difficult, disruptive or costly than anticipated; containing costs and expenses; reliance on significant customer relationships; an interruption or cessation of an important service by a third-party provider; our ability to attract and retain talented executives and employees; general economic or business conditions, including the strength of regional economic conditions in our market area; the duration and severity of the coronavirus ("COVID-19") pandemic, both in our principal area of operations and nationally, including the ultimate impact of the pandemic on the economy generally and on our operations; deterioration of the housing market and reduced demand for mortgages; deterioration in the overall macroeconomic conditions or the state of the banking industry that could warrant further analysis of the carrying value of goodwill and could result in an adjustment to its carrying value resulting in a non-cash charge to net income; the stability of our core deposit base and access to contingency funding; re-emergence of turbulence in significant portions of the global financial and real estate markets that could impact our performance, both directly, by affecting our revenues and the value of our assets and liabilities, and indirectly, by affecting the economy generally and access to capital in the amounts, at the times and on the terms required to support our future businesses.

Many of these factors, as well as other factors, are described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, including Part I, Item 1A-"Risk Factors" and any of our subsequent filings with the SEC. Forward-looking statements are based on beliefs and assumptions using information available at the time the statements are made. We caution you not to unduly rely on forward-looking statements because the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and projections about future events may, and often do, differ materially from actual results. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as to the date on which it is made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect developments occurring after the statement is made.