Beneficial Bancorp, Inc. Announces Quarter and Year End Results and Cash Dividend to Shareholders

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Beneficial Bancorp, Inc. (“Beneficial”) (NASDAQ:BNCL), the parent company of Beneficial Bank (the “Bank”), today announced its financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2017.  Beneficial recorded a net loss of $3.3 million and net income of $23.9 million, or ($0.05) and $0.32 per diluted share, for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2017, respectively, compared to net income of $7.6 million and $25.5 million, or $0.10 and $0.34 per diluted share, for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2016.  Net income for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2017 included a one- time $13.1 million charge, or $0.18 per diluted share, of additional income tax expense related to the enactment of H.R. 1 (originally known as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”) and its impact on the re-measurement of our net deferred tax assets due to the reduction in the corporate income tax rate to 21% from 35%.  Net income for year ended December 31, 2016 included $8.8 million of merger and restructuring charges related to the acquisition of Conestoga Bank (“Conestoga”) and the Bank’s April 2016 expense management reduction program.

On January 25, 2018, the Company declared its seventh consecutive quarterly cash dividend of $0.06 per share.  Additionally, the Company declared a special dividend of $0.25 per share given our high capital levels and expected benefit to future earnings as a result of the Tax Reform Act.  Both dividends will be payable on or after February 15, 2018, to common shareholders of record at the close of business on February 5, 2018.

Highlights for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2017, are as follows:

• Net interest income increased $5.1 million and $19.0 million, or 12.7% and 12.6%, respectively, for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2017, compared to the same periods in the prior year primarily due to the Conestoga acquisition and organic growth in our loan portfolio.
  
  
• During the year ended December 31, 2017, both our commercial loan portfolio and residential loan portfolio increased $93.4 million, or 3.8%, and $49.1 million, or 5.5%, respectively.
  
  
• During the quarter and year ended December 31, 2017, the Company recorded a $245 thousand and a $1.6 million net gain on the sale of $3.0 million and $17.8 million of the guaranteed portion of SBA loans, respectively.
   
• Charge-offs continue to remain low. Net charge-offs for the  year ended December 31, 2017 totaled $3.1 million, or 8 basis points of average loans, compared to net charge-offs of $2.7 million, or 8 basis points of average loans, in the same period in the 2016.
   
• Following the passage of H.R. 1 and the anticipated savings from lower future taxes, we announced a special $1,000 bonus paid to over 600 employees and enhanced our medical coverage to our entire employee base.  We also evaluated the compensation of our hourly employees and raised our minimum hourly rate to $14.00.
   
• Asset quality metrics continued to remain strong with a non-performing assets to total assets, excluding government guaranteed student loans, of 0.36% at December 31, 2017.  Our allowance for loan losses totaled $43.3 million, or 1.07% of total loans, as of December 31, 2017, compared to $43.3 million, or 1.08% of total loans, as of December 31, 2016.
   
• During the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company purchased 703,800 shares under its previously announced stock repurchase plan.  Our tangible capital to tangible assets increased to 15.33% at December 31, 2017, compared to 15.10% at December 31, 2016.  Tangible book value per share totaled $11.37 at December 31, 2017.
   
• During the quarter, we announced the formation of Neumann Finance Corporation (“Neumann”), a new equipment leasing firm within Beneficial Bank, named after the Bank’s pioneering founder, John Neumann.  Neumann will focus on providing financing products and services to businesses nationwide and will be headed by industry veterans Daniel Dyer and George Pelose.

Gerard Cuddy, Beneficial’s President and CEO, stated “We expect that the passage of the Tax Reform Act will reduce our effective tax rate to approximately 21% in 2018.  We intend to invest some of the tax savings in our employee base, technology, our brand community investment and the startup of Neumann which we believe will help drive improved future performance.  Our financial results in 2017 were driven by growth in our balance sheet, continued favorable asset quality and management of our expense base.  Although we are seeing some growth in our commercial lending businesses, overall growth remains slow.  Our focus remains on employee engagement, a superior customer experience, prudent capital management and organic growth to continue to improve the financial performance of our organization.”

Balance Sheet
Total assets increased $60.2 million, or 1.0%, to $5.80 billion at December 31, 2017, compared to $5.74 billion at December 31, 2016.  The increase in total assets was primarily due to an increase in cash and cash equivalents and loan growth, partially offset by a decline in investment securities.   

Cash and cash equivalents increased $270.6 million to $557.6 million at December 31, 2017, from $287.0 million at December 31, 2016.  Over the past few years, we have been focused on reducing our investments and increasing our loan portfolio.  As growth slowed in the second half of 2017, investment maturities and repayments increased our cash levels.  The excess cash that we are holding will be used to fund future loan growth.
           
Investments decreased $204.5 million, or 19.0%, to $870.8 million at December 31, 2017, compared to $1.08 billion at December 31, 2016, as we continued to focus on improving our balance sheet mix by reducing the percentage of our assets in investments and growing our loan portfolio.  We continue to focus on maintaining a high quality investment portfolio that provides a steady stream of cash flows both in the current and in rising interest rate environments.

Loans increased $23.6 million to $4.03 billion at December 31, 2017, from $4.01 billion at December 31, 2016.  The increase in loans was primarily due to organic growth in our commercial loan portfolio and residential real estate loan portfolio of $93.4 million (3.8% growth) and $49.1 million (5.5% growth), respectively, partially offset by decreases in our consumer loan portfolio due primarily to a decrease in indirect auto loans resulting from our planned run-off of this portfolio segment.  As previously disclosed, we decided to exit the indirect lending business in the first quarter of 2017.

Deposits decreased $7.7 million, or 0.2%, to $4.15 billion at December 31, 2017, from $4.16 billion at December 31, 2016.  The decrease in deposits was primarily due to decreases in interest bearing checking and money market accounts, partially offset by increases in interest retail checking and non-interest bearing business checking accounts.

Borrowings increased $50.0 million to $540.4 million at December 31, 2017, and are being used as a low cost funding source to replace higher cost brokered CDs.

Consolidated stockholders’ equity increased $21.1 million, or 2.1%, to $1.03 billion at December 31, 2017, from $1.01 billion at December 31, 2016.  The increase in stockholders’ equity was primarily due to net income of $23.9 million as well as the issuance of 1,119,663 shares from the exercise of stock options resulting in an increase in additional paid in capital, partially offset by the declaration of cash dividends and stock repurchases during 2017.

Net Interest Income
For the quarter ended December 31, 2017, net interest income was $45.0 million, an increase of $5.1 million, or 12.7%, from the quarter ended December 31, 2016. The increase in net interest income was primarily due to an increase in average interest earning assets of $142.5 million with growth occurring in our higher yielding loan portfolio as well as prepayment income of $3.1 million.  The net interest margin totaled 3.28% for the quarter ended December 31, 2017 as compared to 3.00% for the same period in 2016.  During the quarter ended December 31, 2017, the net interest margin was benefited 23 basis points by loan prepayment income.  Also during the quarter ended December 31, 2017, the net interest margin was negatively impacted 15 basis points by higher cash levels due to slower than anticipated loan growth as average cash for the quarter totaled $500.7 million, an increase of $252.8 million from $247.9 million during the quarter ended December 31, 2016. 

For the year ended December 31, 2017, Beneficial reported net interest income of $169.9 million, an increase of $19.0 million, or 12.6%, from the year ended December 31, 2016. The increase in net interest income was primarily due to the acquisition of Conestoga during the second quarter of 2016 and organic loan growth, which resulted in higher interest earning assets of $411.1 million in 2017 compared to 2016 as well as prepayment income of $4.0 million.  Our net interest margin increased to 3.12% for the year ended December 31, 2017, from 3.00% for the same period in 2016. For the year ended December 31, 2017, the net interest margin was benefited 7 basis points by loan prepayment income.

Non-interest Income
For the quarter ended December 31, 2017, non-interest income totaled $7.2 million, a decrease of $1.0 million, or 12.6%, from the quarter ended December 31, 2016.  The decrease was primarily due to a $1.2 million gain recorded on limited partnership investments during the quarter ended December 31, 2016, partially offset by a $245 thousand gain on the sale of the guaranteed portion of SBA loans recorded during the quarter ended December 31, 2017.

For the year ended December 31, 2017, non-interest income totaled $28.8 million, an increase of $960 thousand, or 3.5%, from the year ended December 31, 2016.  The increase was primarily due to a $1.6 million net gain on the sale of $17.8 million of SBA loans recorded during the year ended December 31, 2017, a $765 thousand increase in interchange fees, and a $308 thousand increase in returned check charges, partially offset by a $1.8 million investment gain recorded during the year ended December 31, 2016 from the sale of stock that we held in a financial institution that was acquired.

Non-interest Expense
For the quarter ended December 31, 2017, non-interest expense totaled $35.4 million, a decrease of $99 thousand, or 0.3%, from the quarter ended December 31, 2016.  The decrease in non-interest expense was primarily due to a $486 thousand decrease in charges associated with a branch closure, a $288 thousand decrease in operational losses, and a $283 thousand decrease in loan, classified loan and OREO related expense, partially offset by an increase in salaries and employee benefits of $1.1 million due primarily due to increased costs associated with equity awards granted under the Company’s 2016 Omnibus Incentive Plan as well as annual merit increases, and incentives related to our special one thousand dollar bonus payments.

For the year ended December 31, 2017, non-interest expense totaled $138.8 million, a decrease of $327 thousand, or 0.2%, from the year ended December 31, 2016. The decrease in non-interest expense was primarily due to $8.8 million of merger and restructuring charges related to the acquisition of Conestoga and our April 2016 expense management reduction program recorded during the year ended December 31, 2016.  This decrease to non-interest expense was partially offset by an increase in salaries and employee benefits of $6.7 million and a $2.0 million increase in board fees due primarily to increased costs associated with equity awards granted under the Company’s 2016 Omnibus Incentive Plan.

Income Taxes
For the quarter ended December 31, 2017, we recorded a provision for income taxes of $19.1 million, reflecting an effective tax rate of 121.3%, compared to a provision for income taxes of $4.5 million, reflecting an effective tax rate of 37.2% for the quarter ended December 31, 2016.  The increase in income tax expense and the effective tax rate for the quarter ended December 31, 2017 compared to the same period a year ago is primarily due to the previously discussed $13.1 million of additional income tax expense recorded during the quarter ended December 31, 2017 related to the passage of H.R. 1, enacted on December 22, 2017, which lowered the federal corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%.  Exclusive of the impact of the passage of H.R. 1, we recorded a provision for income taxes of $5.9 million, reflecting an effective tax rate of 37.7%, during the quarter ended December 31, 2017.

For the year ended December 31, 2017, we recorded a provision for income taxes of $32.8 million, reflecting an effective tax rate of 57.8%, compared to a provision for income taxes of $13.6 million, reflecting an effective tax rate of 34.9%, for the year ended December 31, 2016.  Exclusive of the impact of the H.R. 1, we recorded a provision for income taxes of $19.7 million, reflecting an effective tax rate of 34.7%, during the year ended December 31, 2017.  As a result of the passage of H. R. 1, our corporate federal income tax rate in 2018 and future years will be reduced from 35% to 21%.

Asset Quality
Non-accruing loans, excluding government guaranteed student loans, increased $8.4 million to $20.5 million at December 31, 2017, compared to $12.1 million at December 31, 2016.  Our ratio of non-performing assets to total assets, excluding government guaranteed student loans, increased to 0.36% at December 31, 2017, compared to 0.22% at December 31, 2016.  The increase in non-accruing loans can primarily be attributed to the downgrade to doubtful and change to non-accrual of a shared national credit during the first quarter of 2017 with an outstanding balance of $8.0 million as of December 31, 2017. 

As a result of loan growth and charge-offs, we recorded a $1.0 million and $3.1 million provision for loan losses during the quarter and year ended December 31, 2017, respectively.  We recorded a $485 thousand provision for loan losses during the quarter and year ended December 31, 2016.

Our allowance for loan losses totaled $43.3 million, or 1.07% of total loans, as of December 31, 2017, compared to $43.3 million, or 1.08% of total loans, as of December 31, 2016.

Capital
Beneficial’s and the Bank’s capital position remains strong relative to current regulatory requirements. Beneficial and the Bank continue to have substantial liquidity that has been retained in cash or invested in high quality government-backed securities. As of December 31, 2017, Beneficial’s tangible capital to tangible assets totaled 15.33%. In addition, at December 31, 2017, we had the ability to borrow up to $2.1 billion combined from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Beneficial’s capital ratios are considered to be well capitalized and are as follows:

The Bank’s capital ratios are considered to be well capitalized and are as follows:

Maintaining strong capital levels remains one of our top priorities.  Our capital levels are in excess of well capitalized levels under Basel III regulatory requirements.

About Beneficial Bancorp, Inc.
Beneficial is a community-based, diversified financial services company providing consumer and commercial banking services. Its principal subsidiary, Beneficial Bank, has served individuals and businesses in the Delaware Valley area since 1853. The Bank is the oldest and largest bank headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with 61 offices in the greater Philadelphia and South New Jersey regions. Insurance services are offered through Beneficial Insurance Services, LLC and wealth management services are offered through the Beneficial Advisors, LLC, both wholly owned subsidiaries of the Bank. Equipment leasing services are offered through Beneficial Equipment Leasing Corporation, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank.  For more information about the Bank and Beneficial, please visit www.thebeneficial.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements, which can be identified by the use of words such as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates” or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements and all other statements that are not historic facts are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors. These factors include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, changes in the interest rate environment, legislative or regulatory changes that may adversely affect our business, changes in accounting policies and practices, changes in competition and demand for financial services, adverse changes in the securities markets, changes in deposit flows, changes in the quality or composition of Beneficial’s loan or investment portfolios, our ability to profit from new or expanded business activities and successfully execute our business strategies. Additionally, other risks and uncertainties may be described in Beneficial’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or its other reports as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available through the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Should one or more of these risks materialize, actual results may vary from those anticipated, estimated or projected. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as may be required by applicable law or regulation, Beneficial assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.