MANISTIQUE, MI — (Marketwired) — 10/30/14 — Mackinac Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: MFNC), the bank holding company for mBank (the “Bank”), today announced third quarter 2014 income of $.886 million or $.16 per share compared to net income available to common shareholders of $.846 million, or $.15 per share for the third quarter of 2013. Operating results for the first nine months of 2014 totaled $2.352 million or $.43 per share compared to $2.719 million or $.49 per share for the same period in 2013.
The consolidated operating results for 2014 were impacted by costs associated with several strategic initiatives. The Corporation incurred $.461 million of expenses related to acquisition initiatives and also recorded an after tax loss from the asset based lending subsidiary of $.379 million. The combination of these two initiatives had a negative after tax impact of $.683 million, or $.12 per share. Weighted average shares totaled 5,532,966 shares for the nine month period in 2014 and 5,540,200 shares in the 2014 third quarter compared to 5,559,108 shares for the nine month period and 5,562,835 shares in the third quarter of 2013.
The Corporation–s subsidiary, mBank, recorded net income of $3.654 million for the first nine months of this year compared to $3.820 million for the same period in 2013. The largest adverse variance from 2013 results was noninterest income due to a reduced level of fees and gains on the sale of loans from secondary market mortgage lending of $.326 million as a result of the national mortgage refinance slowdown.
Total assets of the Corporation at September 30, 2014 were $613.943 million, up 8.10% from the $567.917 million reported at September 30, 2013 and up 7.18 % from the $572.800 million of total assets at year-end 2013. The Corporation and the Bank are both “well-capitalized.”
Increased annual dividend by 50%, from $.20 to $.30 per share
Credit quality remains strong with a Texas Ratio of 6.27% compared to 9.56% one year ago, and nonperforming assets of $4.538 million, a $2.343 million reduction from a year earlier.
Healthy new loan growth, with nine-month production of $141 million and balance sheet growth of $35 million.
Continued core deposit procurement, up $28 million from year end primarily in lower cost transactional accounts to augment funding of loan growth.
Margin is steady at 4.20%, with solid growth in interest income from $15.773 million in the first nine months of 2013 to $17.138 million in the 2014 nine month period, an 8.7% increase.
The pending acquisition of Peninsula Bank, a 127-year old, $132 million asset bank headquartered in the Upper Peninsula with six banking locations in Marquette County remains on schedule for a close in early December, subject to Peninsula shareholder approval. With the expected consummation of this transaction, total assets of the Corporation will reach close to $750 million and good earnings accretion in 2015 remains projected as noted in our original press release on the transaction from July of this year.
Total loans at September 30, 2014 were $518.373 million, a 9.71% increase from the $472.495 million at September 30, 2013 and up $34.541 million from year-end 2013 total loans of $483.832 million. In addition to the aforementioned balance sheet totals, the company services $144 million of sold mortgage loans and $70 million of sold SBA and USDA loans. Total loans under management now reside at $732 million.
New loan production totaled $140.8 million with the Upper Peninsula contributing $82.4 million, the Northern Lower Peninsula $28.5 million and Southeast Michigan $29.9 million. Commercial loan production accounted for $85.9 million of the nine month total, with consumer, primarily 1-4 family mortgages of $54.9 million. Commenting on new loan production and overall lending activities, Kelly W. George, President and CEO of mBank stated, “We were very pleased with our overall continued success in new loan production, primarily balance sheet this year given the slowdown of secondary market mortgage sales as compared to previous years. Loan balance growth has accelerated in recent months with good activity in all of our markets and lending segments. Our pipeline remains good moving into the remainder of the year especially within the commercial loan area that has seen funding needs from clients for various capital outlays such as new equipment purchases, expansion and purchase of new business opportunities, and working capital to fund growth.”
Nonperforming loans totaled $2.695 million, .52% of total loans at September 30, 2014 compared to $4.313 million, or .91% of total loans at September 30, 2013 and up $.671 million from December 31, 2013. Nonperforming assets were reduced by $2.343 million from a year ago and stood at .38% of total assets and equated to $4.538 million. Total loan delinquencies greater than 30 days resided at a nominal .76% or $3.871 million. George, commenting on credit quality, stated, “Our micro credit risk metrics and overall loan portfolio payment performance remains strong. We are diligent within our loan origination structures and will not stretch our prudent lending parameters for new loans. From a macro perspective, our loan origination mix and concentrations remain well manageable and will improve with the mix and types of loans that will be acquired in the Peninsula Bank acquisition.”
Net interest income in the first nine months of 2014 increased to $17.138 million, 4.20%, compared to $15.773 million, or 4.15%, in the first nine months of 2014. George stated, “The growth of our net interest income and stability of our net interest margin is a direct reflection of our continued pricing discipline for loans and deposits within our various markets. We will continue our efforts to maintain our strong net interest margin within this historically low interest rate cycle through the use of continued targeted funding strategies and disciplined loan pricing and terms in efforts to mitigate longer term interest rate risk. We will also utilize alternative funding sources such as internet CDs and small levels of wholesale deposits when deemed necessary to structure different liabilities to match asset durations for competitive lending situations that arise, and cover any potential short term funding gaps that could develop.”
Total deposits of $491.206 million at September 30, 2014 increased by 6.39% from deposits of $461.688 million on September 30, 2013 and were up $24.907 million from year-end deposits $466.299 million. The overall increase in deposits for the first nine months of 2014 from year-end is comprised of an increase in core deposits, mostly in transactional accounts. George, commenting on core deposits and overall liquidity needs, stated, “The Corporation maintains a strong liquidity position to fund operations and loan growth. We were pleased with the continued seasonal pick up of our deposit balances as we expand our client base through lending relationships and also the procurement of some in market municipality accounts we had been targeting for several years. We will remain committed to our core banking philosophy which emphasizes funding loan growth with core deposits to build long term franchise value and help grow the economic bases in our local communities.”
Noninterest income, at $2.109 million in the first nine months of 2014, decreased $.638 million from the first nine months 2013 level of $2.747 million. Noninterest income decreased primarily as a result of a reduced level of fees and gains on the sale of loans from secondary market mortgage activity of $.326 million from prior year period, along with slower sales on SBA loans and reduced levels of service fee income. Noninterest expense, at $15.131 million in the first nine months of 2014, increased $1.938 million, or 14.70% from the same period in 2013. The largest increase from the first nine months of 2013 was in salaries and benefits, largely reflective of the compensation packages for the staff up of our asset based lending subsidiary formed in the third quarter of 2013. Overall salary and benefit costs at the subsidiary bank remain below peer levels.
Total assets of the Corporation at September 30, 2014 were $613.943 million, up 8.10% from the $567.917 million reported at September 30, 2013 and up $41.143 million from the $572.800 million of total assets at year-end 2013. The increase in assets during the first nine months of 2014 was primarily loan growth. Total common shareholders– equity at September 30, 2014 was $67.132 million, or $12.06 per share, compared to $63.045 million, or $11.30 per share on September 30, 2013, an increase of $4.087 million, or 6.48 %.
Paul D. Tobias, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, concluded, “We are very excited about our proposed acquisition of Peninsula State Bank. This community bank has an impressive tradition. We are pleased to inherit this tradition within our largest and growing commerce hub in the Upper Peninsula. We expect this acquisition to be immediately accretive.
“In addition, our organic growth will be enhanced when our asset based lending subsidiary grows to a level that sustains profitability by January 2015. This new business is complementary to our commercial lending and to our SBA/USDA efforts. These current initiatives will produce positive returns on our investment and significantly add to shareholder value in the near future. As we look beyond 2014 during our year-end planning processes, we will continue to evaluate opportunities for both organic and external growth to enhance shareholder value. We are pleased to announce a dividend increase to 7.5 cents per quarter. This represents a 50% increase and reflects our confidence in our anticipated earnings growth.”
Mackinac Financial Corporation is a registered bank holding company formed under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 with assets in excess of $610 million and whose common stock is traded on the NASDAQ stock market as “MFNC.” The principal subsidiary of the Corporation is mBank. Headquartered in Manistique, Michigan, mBank has 11 branch locations; seven in the Upper Peninsula, three in the Northern Lower Peninsula and one in Oakland County, Michigan. The Company–s banking services include commercial lending and treasury management products and services geared toward small to mid-sized businesses, as well as a full array of personal and business deposit products and consumer loans.
Communications in this press release do not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval. In connection with the proposed Merger, Mackinac has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the ) a Registration Statement on Form S-4 that includes a Proxy Statement of Peninsula and a Prospectus of Mackinac which was been declared effective by the SEC on October 22, 2014 (as supplemented, the ), as well as other relevant documents concerning the Merger. PENINSULA SHAREHOLDERS AND MACKINAC INVESTORS ARE URGED TO READ THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT AND THE PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS REGARDING THE MERGER AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC, AS WELL AS ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THOSE DOCUMENTS, BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of the Proxy Statement/Prospectus and other documents containing important information about Mackinac and Peninsula through the website maintained by the SEC at . Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Mackinac are available free of charge on Mackinac–s website at under the tab “MFNC Investor Relations,” and then under the tab “SEC Filings.”
The directors, executive officers, and certain other members of management and employees of Mackinac may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in favor of the Merger from the shareholders of Peninsula. Information about the directors and executive officers of Mackinac is included in the proxy statement for its 2014 annual meeting of shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 30, 2014 and in the Proxy Statement/Prospectus referenced above.
Contact:
Ernie R. Krueger
(906) 341-7158
Website: