WAKE FOREST, N.C., July 23, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wake Forest Bancshares, Inc., (OTCBB:WAKE) parent company of Wake Forest Federal Savings and Loan Association, announced today that the Company reported earnings of $250,679 or $0.22 per share for its quarter ended June 30, 2014. The current quarter's results compared favorably to the same quarter last year when the Company reported earnings of $170,125 or $0.15 per share. Earnings for the first nine months of the Company's fiscal year were reported at $641,434 or $0.56 per share versus $524,053 or $0.45 per share for the same nine month period a year earlier.
In announcing the earnings, Robert C. White, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated that the Company was pleased with the quarterly results which were positively impacted by declining levels of nonperforming assets and thus reduced loan loss provisions and costs associated with foreclosed assets. However, the Company's returns continue to be impacted by compressed interest rate margins. To guard against interest rate risk, a significant portion of the Company's loans and investments have shorter maturities or variable rates. The Federal Reserve has kept interest rates at historic lows since December of 2008 and the Company's interest rate sensitive loan and investment portfolios have adjusted downward to those rate movements to a greater extent than has the Company's deposit base. When rates rise in the future, the Company's performance should be enhanced by increased rate spreads generated by our ability to react quickly to such movements.
Although economic conditions are still challenging, residential sales in our local markets continue to show signs of recovery. Improvement in our residential real estate markets has occurred primarily because the excess inventories of available homes that were common during the recession have come down as the market continues to absorb existing product. While sales activity has increased quarter over quarter for most of the past eighteen months, it remains at levels below what was historically normal for the Company's markets in the pre-recession years. As a historically high growth area, relocation sales have typically represented a sizable portion of our local real estate market but have failed to keep pace in recent years because job growth has been inconsistent. Although our local area's unemployment rate has continued to drop over the past two years, further declines are necessary for the Company's local markets to be considered back to pre-recession levels. When the area's employment shows further improvement, our markets and our performance should also follow.
The Company provided $15,000 and $-0-, respectively, during the current quarter in loan loss provisions and write downs to the value of its foreclosed properties. Such provisions and write downs amounted to $30,000 and $-0- for the same quarter a year earlier. Loan loss provisions and foreclosed property write downs amounted to $62,500 and $-0- for the nine months ended June 30, 2014 and $135,000 and $18,500 for the nine month ended June 30, 2013. The Company did not have any loan charge-offs during the current quarter and charged off loans amounting to $10,639 for the nine months ended June 30, 2014. The Company had no charge-offs during the nine month period a year earlier. The Company's loan loss allowances amounted to approximately 2.55% of total loans outstanding at June 30, 2014. Foreclosed assets and non-performing loans amounted to $1,199,650 and $2,319,725 at June 30, 2014 and 2013, respectively.
Total assets of the Company amounted to $114,557,522 at June 30, 2014. Total loans receivable and deposits outstanding at June 30, 2014 amounted to $65,590,890 and $90,898,583, respectively. Wake Forest Bancshares Inc.'s tier 1 core capital ratio was 19.75% at June 30, 2014.
Wake Forest Bancshares, Inc. has 1,151,697 shares of common stock outstanding. Based in Wake Forest, North Carolina since 1922, the Company conducts business as Wake Forest Federal from its office in Wake Forest, (Wake County), North Carolina.