First Commonwealth Announces Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2013 Financial Results; Declares Increased Quarterly Dividend

Loan growth for the quarter ended December 31, 2013 was $43.8 million as compared to September 30, 2013 and $79.1 million over the last 12 months. Other significant changes to the balance sheet over the last 12 months included a $29.1 million increase in demand deposits, the early redemption of $32.5 million of fixed rate trust preferred debt obligations, a $270.4 million increase in short-term borrowings and the repurchase of 4,453,956 shares of common stock for $32.2 million.

Price noted, "I am pleased with our team's success in increasing loans and transactional deposit accounts during the past year. The improvement in asset quality has also reduced the need for loan portfolio derisking which had challenged our net loan growth in the past."

Credit Quality

The provision for credit losses was $1.2 million and $19.2 million for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2013, respectively, as compared to $5.7 million and $20.5 million in the prior-year periods. The full year 2013 provision for credit losses included a $13.1 million charge-off in the second quarter of 2013 for an $18.6 million legacy credit relationship to a local real estate developer which has a net remaining balance of $2.4 million at December 31, 2013.

At December 31, 2013, nonperforming loans were $59.4 million, a decrease of $48.2 million, or 45% from December 31, 2012. Nonperforming loans as a percentage of total loans were 1.39%, 1.68% and 2.56% for the periods ended December 31, 2013, September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, respectively.

During the fourth quarter of 2013, net charge-offs were $1.9 million compared to $2.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2012. For the year ended December 31, 2013, net charge-offs were $32.2 million, or 0.76% of average loans, compared to $14.6 million, or 0.35% of average loans for the year 2012. The allowance for credit losses as a percentage of total loans outstanding was 1.27%, 1.30% and 1.60% for December 31, 2013, September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, respectively.

OREO acquired through foreclosure was $11.7 million at December 31, 2013 as compared to $9.7 million at September 30, 2013 and $11.3 million at December 31, 2012.

Noninterest Income

Noninterest income, excluding net securities gains, increased $0.6 million, or 4%, in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to the same period last year. Increased revenue on deposit accounts and swap transactions were partially offset by less revenue from bank-owned life insurance. For the full year, noninterest income, excluding net securities gains and losses, decreased $3.9 million in 2013. The decrease is primarily the result of $2.5 million less gains on the sale of loans and OREO properties in 2013, a $1.9 million early termination fee received in 2012 on a joint venture, partially offset by improved performance in deposit fees, interchange income and swap revenues.

During the fourth quarter of 2013, a loss of $1.3 million was recognized on the early redemption of pooled trust preferred securities with a book value of $6.6 million.  Senior note holders elected to liquidate all assets of the trust, resulting in losses for the mezzanine notes that were owned. 

Noninterest Expense

Noninterest expense increased $1.5 million, or 3%, in the fourth quarter of 2013 from the fourth quarter of 2012, primarily from a $2.5 million technology conversion charge and $2.0 million of accelerated depreciation, included in furniture and equipment expense related to hardware and software to be replaced in the technology conversion, and a $1.1 million increase in salaries and employee benefits due to an increase in the cost of health insurance, partially offset by $3.1 million of reductions in OREO write-downs to fair market value as compared to 2012. On September 30, 2013, First Commonwealth executed a contract with Jack Henry and Associates to license the Jack Henry and Associates SilverLake System® core processing software and to outsource certain data processing services. A system conversion is expected to occur during the third quarter of 2014. First Commonwealth will incur approximately $11.0 - $12.0 million of costs related to accelerated depreciation for data processing hardware and software, early termination charges on existing contracts and staffing and employment-related charges beginning in the fourth quarter of 2013 through the anticipated conversion date. First Commonwealth expects to achieve $6.0 to $8.0 million in lower annual technology-related expenses as well as employment and other operational expense as a result of the conversion. 

Despite $4.6 million in technology conversion charges and accelerated depreciation, noninterest expense for the year ended December 31, 2013 decreased $8.4 million, or 5%, as compared to the prior year. Improvements included $1.0 million in data processing, $8.3 million of loan collection/OREO costs, $3.3 million reduction in fraud losses and $1.3 million in other operating expenses, partially offset by the aforementioned technology conversion charges of $2.6 million and the aforementioned $2.0 million of accelerated depreciation included in furniture and equipment expense, and a $1.6 million early redemption fee on $32.5 million of fixed rate trust preferred debt obligations redeemed in 2013.

Full time equivalent staff was 1,362 and 1,395 for the periods ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively. The efficiency ratio, calculated as total noninterest expense as a percentage of total revenue (total revenue consists of net interest income, on a fully taxable equivalent basis, plus total noninterest income, excluding net impairment losses and net securities gains), was 68% for the year ended December 31, 2013 as compared to 69% for 2012.

Dividends and Capital

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation declared a common stock quarterly dividend of $0.07 per share on January 28, 2014, which is payable on February 21, 2014 to shareholders of record as of February 10, 2014. This dividend represents a 3.4% projected annual yield utilizing the January 28, 2014 closing market price of $8.26.

On January 29, 2013, First Commonwealth's Board of Directors authorized a $25.0 million common stock repurchase program in addition to the $50.0 million common stock repurchase program announced on June 19, 2012. Under these programs, management is authorized to repurchase shares through Rule 10b5-1 plans, open market purchases, privately negotiated transactions, block purchases or otherwise in accordance with applicable federal securities laws, including Rule 10b-18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Depending on market conditions and other factors, repurchases may be made at any time without prior notice. First Commonwealth may suspend or discontinue the programs at any time. As of December 31, 2013, First Commonwealth has purchased 10,116,039 shares at an average price of $6.88 per share under these programs.

Conference Call

First Commonwealth will host a quarterly conference call to discuss its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2013 on Wednesday, January 29, 2014 at 2:00 PM (ET). The call can be accessed by dialing (toll free) 1-877-353-0037 or through the company's Investor web page at http://ir.fcbanking.com. A replay of the call will be available approximately two hours following the conclusion of the conference. A link to the call replay will be accessible at this web page for 30 days.

About First Commonwealth Financial Corporation

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation is a $6.2 billion financial holding company headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania.  It operates 110 retail branch offices in 15 counties in western and central Pennsylvania through First Commonwealth Bank, a Pennsylvania chartered bank and trust company.  Financial services and insurance products are also provided through First Commonwealth Insurance Agency and First Commonwealth Financial Advisors, Inc.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements about First Commonwealth's future plans, strategies and financial performance.  These statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and often include words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate" or words of similar meaning, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could" or "may."  Such statements are based on assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control and may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, performance or achievements contemplated by the forward-looking statements.  Global and domestic economies could fail to recover from the recent economic downturn or could experience another severe contraction, which could adversely affect our revenues, increase credit-related costs and reduce the values of our assets and liabilities. Global financial markets could experience a recurrence of significant turbulence, which could reduce the availability of funding to certain financial institutions and lead to a tightening of credit, a reduction of business activity, and increased market volatility. Continued stress in the commercial real estate markets, as well as a delay or failure of recovery in the residential real estate markets, could cause additional credit losses and deterioration in asset values. In addition, our business and financial performance is likely to be negatively impacted by effects of recently enacted and future legislation and regulation.  Our results could also be adversely affected by continued deterioration in general business and economic conditions; changes in interest rates; deterioration in the credit quality of our loan portfolios or in the value of the collateral securing those loans; deterioration in the value of securities held in our investment securities portfolio; legal and regulatory developments; increased competition from both banks and non-banks; changes in customer behavior and preferences; effects of mergers and acquisitions and related integration; effects of critical accounting policies and judgments; and management's ability to effectively manage credit risk, market risk, operational risk, compliance and legal risk, interest rate risk, and liquidity risk. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made. First Commonwealth undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made.

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FIRST COMMONWEALTH FINANCIAL CORPORATION
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA
Unaudited
(dollars in thousands, except per share data)
	For the Three Months Ended																				For the Years Ended
	December 31,					September 30,							December 31,									December 31,				December 31,
	2013					2013							2012									2013				2012
SUMMARY RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Net interest income (FTE)(1)	$	47,303				$		48,255					$		48,223							$	188,732			$	193,321
Provision for credit losses	1,216					2,714							5,706									19,227				20,544
Noninterest income	13,264					17,083							14,103									60,163				65,434
Noninterest expense	45,327					40,045							43,842									168,824				177,207
Net income	9,259					15,854							8,735									41,482				41,954
Earnings per common share (diluted)	$	0.10				$		0.16					$		0.09							$	0.43			$	0.40
KEY FINANCIAL RATIOS
Return on average assets	0.60 Werbung Mehr Nachrichten zur First Commonwealth Financial Aktie kostenlos abonnieren E-Mail-Adresse Bitte überprüfe deine die E-Mail-Adresse. Benachrichtigungen von ARIVA.DE (Mit der Bestellung akzeptierst du die Datenschutzhinweise) -1 Vielen Dank, dass du dich für unseren Newsletter angemeldet hast. Du erhältst in Kürze eine E-Mail mit einem Aktivierungslink. Hinweis: ARIVA.DE veröffentlicht in dieser Rubrik Analysen, Kolumnen und Nachrichten aus verschiedenen Quellen. Die ARIVA.DE AG ist nicht verantwortlich für Inhalte, die erkennbar von Dritten in den „News“-Bereich dieser Webseite eingestellt worden sind, und macht sich diese nicht zu Eigen. Diese Inhalte sind insbesondere durch eine entsprechende „von“-Kennzeichnung unterhalb der Artikelüberschrift und/oder durch den Link „Um den vollständigen Artikel zu lesen, klicken Sie bitte hier.“ erkennbar; verantwortlich für diese Inhalte ist allein der genannte Dritte. Andere Nutzer interessierten sich auch für folgende News 26.04.24 - dpa-AFX Aktien New York Schluss: Alphabet und Microsoft sorgen für Nasdaq-Rally 26.04.24 - ARIVA.DE Redaktion Aktienmarkt: Dow Jones mit leichten Zugewinnen (38.288 Pkt.) 26.04.24 - ARIVA.DE Redaktion Große Kursgewinne für den Anteilsschein von Amazon (167,5872 €) Biotech-Einhorn!    FDA Zulassung für das CBD-Wunder?! weiterlesen» Anzeige wo-site-teaser-box-16773_site-teaser-box_2024-04-27_09%253A00%253A00_2024-04-28_09%253A00%253A59