Community Bankers Trust Corporation Reports Results for First Quarter 2021

RICHMOND, Va., April 30, 2021

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

• Net income was $6.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, compared with net income of $5.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 and net income of $1.4 million in the first quarter of 2020.
• As a result of continued improvement in asset quality and risk ratings, the allowance for loan losses reflected a reserve recovery through a credit of $1.4 million to the provision for loan losses in the first quarter of 2021.
• Net interest income was $14.1 million for the first quarter of 2021, a linked quarter increase of $79,000, or 0.6%.
• Interest on deposits declined $586,000 on a linked quarter basis, and the associated cost declined from 0.77% to 0.58%.
• Diluted earnings per share were $0.30 for the first quarter of 2021 compared with $0.24 for the fourth quarter of 2020 and $0.06 for the first quarter of 2020.
• Return on average assets was 1.60% for the first quarter of 2021 compared with 1.32% for the fourth quarter of 2020 and 0.39% for the first quarter of 2020.
• Return on average equity was 15.46% for the first quarter of 2021 compared with 12.64% for the fourth quarter of 2020 and 3.58% for the first quarter of 2020.

OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS

• Loans, excluding purchased credit impaired (PCI) loans, grew $20.4 million, or 1.7%, during the first quarter of 2021 and $123.5 million, or 11.4%, since March 31, 2020.
• Loan growth would have been $2.0 million during the first quarter of 2021 and $55.8 million, or 5.2%, for the 12 month period ended March 31, 2021 when excluding loans originated during that timeframe under the Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP") of the Small Business Administration ("SBA").
• Nonperforming loans were $3.5 million at March 31, 2021, $1.6 million lower than one year earlier. The ratio of nonperforming assets to loans and other real estate was 0.65% at March 31, 2021 compared with 0.67% at December 31, 2020 and 0.89% one year earlier.
• Deposits grew $40.6 million, or 2.9%, during the first quarter of 2021, led by $35.0 million of growth in noninterest bearing demand deposits, while more costly certificate of deposit accounts declined by $46.9 million. Interest bearing checking, money market and savings accounts grew, combined, $52.5 million during the first quarter of 2021.
• Total deposits grew $218.2 million, or 17.9%, for the 12 month period ended March 31, 2021. Total checking, money market and savings accounts grew $327.5 million, or 56.7%, during the last 12 months while certificates of deposit declined $109.3 million.
• Net interest margin was 3.66% in the first quarter of 2021 compared with 3.61% in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared with 3.68% in the first quarter of 2020.
• PPP loan balances, net of fees, increased $18.4 million during the first quarter of 2021 and were $67.7 million at March 31, 2021 compared with $49.3 million at December 31, 2020.
• As a result of the deposit growth noted above, total securities and cash and equivalents grew $130.6 million year over year and substantially increased liquidity.
• On April 7, 2021, the Company sold an item included in other real estate owned at March 31, 2021 in the amount of $3.8 million. The full effects of disposition will be reported in second quarter results.

MANAGEMENT COMMENTS 

Rex L. Smith, III, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "I am pleased with the key performance metrics of the Bank as we begin to reopen and recover from the coronavirus pandemic.  Credit quality is much better than we anticipated one year ago when the pandemic began, and therefore we released a portion of our allowance for loan losses in the first quarter, which helped to increase earnings.  But even normalizing that event, the earnings for the quarter were impressive.  Net interest income continues to increase as the margin has remained stable.  Noninterest bearing deposit growth, combined with a reduction in certificates of deposits, has helped reduce our overall cost of funds."

Smith continued, "We are also participating in the second round of the PPP loan program and have originated over $45 million in new loans as we continue the forgiveness of the loans granted in the first round.  We continue to see a return to normal payments for loans that we previously granted some form of relief, but we are closely monitoring loans that are in industries still suffering from limited occupancy and travel restrictions from the pandemic.  Total loan growth was strong for the first two months of the year, but payoffs and PPP originations slowed total production for the quarter.  We still believe we will see overall loan growth in the 8% range for 2021."