Century Next Financial Corporation Reports Record Earnings for 2nd Quarter 2016

RUSTON, La., July 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Century Next Financial Corporation CTUY, the holding company of Bank of Ruston with $226.9 million in assets, today announced financial results for the 2^nd quarter ended June 30, 2016.

Financial Performance

For the three months ended June 30, 2016, Century Next Financial Corporation (the "Company") had net income after tax of $615,000 compared to net income of $388,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2015, an increase of $227,000 or 58.5%.  Earnings per share (EPS) for the three months ended were $0.59 per basic and diluted share compared to $0.38 and $0.37 per basic and diluted share, respectively, reported for the three months ended June 30, 2015.    

For the six months ended June 30, 2016, net income was $1,069,000 compared to net income of $742,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2015, an increase of $327,000 or 44.1%.  Earnings per share (EPS) for the six months ended June 30, 2016 were $1.03 and $1.02 per basic share and diluted share, respectively, compared to $0.72 and $0.71 per basic and diluted share, respectively, reported for the same period in 2015.

On June 21, 2016, the Company paid a cash dividend of $0.12 per share to shareholders of record May 31, 2016. 

William D. Hogan, President & CEO stated, "We are very excited about a record quarter in earnings and continued growth in loans while paying close attention to asset quality.  Our newest location in Monroe, Louisiana, which opened initially as a loan production office in November 2015 and is now approved and operating as a branch as of June 2016, is growing beyond our expectations under the leadership of Jeremy Harrell, the Ouachita Parish Market President.  In an economy that appears to be making progress, we are proud of our employees and customers that help make our company successful."

Balance Sheet

Overall, total assets increased by $15.8 million or 7.5% to $226.9 million at June 30, 2016 compared to $211 million at December 31, 2015. 

The largest component of assets, loans, net of deferred fees and costs and the allowance for loan losses, increased $19.8 million or 11.5% for the six months ended June 30, 2016 compared to December 31, 2015.  Total net loans at June 30, 2016 were $192.3 million compared to $172.6 million at December 31, 2015.  Year to date growth occurred in multiple areas including residential 1-4 family loans, up $17.1 million, commercial real estate loans, up $8.2 million, residential construction, up $3.1 million, agricultural real estate, up $1.9 million, and held-for-sale mortgage loans, up $1.2 million.  The increases were offset by decreases in commercial, non-real estate loans of $8.8 million, land loans of $943,000, multi-family real estate loans of $829,000, home equity lines of credit of $682,000, consumer loans of $174,000, and agricultural loans of $69,000.     

Total deposits at June 30, 2016 increased $16.6 million or 10.2% to $179.4 million compared to $162.8 million at December 31, 2015.  For the year-to-date period, time deposits increased $8.9 million, interest-bearing checking increased $6.1 million, savings deposits increased $1 million, money market deposits increased $555,000, and noninterest-bearing checking increased $103,000.    

Total short-term borrowings decreased to $1 million at June 30, 2016 from $3 million at December 31, 2015, a decrease of $2 million or 66.7%.  This reduction came from funding provided by deposit growth as mentioned above.

Income Statement

Net interest income was $2.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2016 compared to $1.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2015.  This was an increase of $480,000, or 26.8%.  For the six months ended June 30, 2016, net interest income was $4.4 million compared to $3.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2015, an increase of $870,000 or 24.5%.  The increases for the three- and six-month periods were primarily from interest income earned on loans from increased volume.

The provision for loan losses amounted to $105,000 and $210,000 for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016 compared to $72,000 and $144,000 in provision for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015, respectively.  The increases in loan loss provision for the quarter and year-to-date periods as compared to the prior year quarter and year-to-date periods are not a result of increased loss activity but more appropriately a result of increased risk awareness and identification to strengthen the allowance for loan losses. 

Total non-interest income amounted to $346,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2016 compared to $251,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2015, a increase of $95,000 or 37.9%.  For the six months ended June 30, 2016 compared to the same period in 2015, non-interest income was $547,000 compared to $451,000, respectively, an increase of $96,000 or 21.3%.  The increase for the three- and six-month periods were both primarily due to gain on the sale of commercial loans of approximately $67,000 with the remainder from income generated from mortgage activity in both the refinancing and new construction markets, service charges on deposit accounts, and other income. 

Total non-interest expense increased by $186,000 or 13.2% to $1.6 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 compared to $1.4 million for the quarter ended  June 30, 2015.  For the six months ended June 30, 2016 compared to the same period in 2015, non-interest expense increased by $370,000 or 13.3% to $3.2 million up from $2.8 million.  The increases for both the three- and six-month periods, on a year over year comparative basis, were primarily due to increases in salaries and employee benefits due to staff additions at the new Monroe location and compensation increases.  The Company continues to show improvement in its efficiency ratio, a measure of expense as a percent of total income, to 60.8% and 63.5% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016 compared to 68.8% and 69.6% for the same periods, respectively, in 2015.

Other Financial Information

Nonperforming assets, including loans past due 90 days or more and nonaccrual loans, decreased from $1 million at December 31, 2015 to $700,000 at June 30, 2016.  Impairment analyses were performed on all nonaccrual and other classified loans as identified by management and no impairment amount was deemed necessary at June 30, 2016.  Net charge-offs for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016 were $1,500 and $5,600, respectively, compared to $32,600 and $33,700, respectively, during the same periods in 2015.

Additional Information

Century Next Financial Corporation is the holding company for Bank of Ruston (the "Bank") which conducts business from its main office and full-service branch office, located in Ruston, Louisiana.  The Company was formed in 2010 and is subject to the regulatory oversight of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.  The Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary and is an insured federally-chartered stock savings association subject to the regulatory oversight of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.  The Bank was established in 1905 and is headquartered in Ruston, Louisiana. The Bank is a full-service bank with two banking offices in Ruston and one in Monroe, Louisiana.  The Bank emphasizes professional and personal banking service directed primarily to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, and individuals.  The Bank provides a full range of banking services including its primary business of real estate lending to residential and commercial customers.

Statements contained in this news release which are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts.  They often include words like "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," and "intend" or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," or "may."  We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.