Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2018 Financial Results

ADDISON, Texas, Jan. 22, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNTY), the holding company for Guaranty Bank & Trust, N.A., today reported financial results for the fiscal quarter and year ended December 31, 2018.  The company's net income available to common shareholders was $6.5 million, or $0.55 per basic share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2018, compared to $5.1 million, or $0.43 per basic share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2018 and $2.8 million, or $0.25 per basic share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2017.  The earnings per basic share during the fourth quarter of 2018, compared to the same period in 2017, were impacted by the issuance of 899,816 shares of common stock in connection with the completion of the Westbound Bank ("Westbound") acquisition on June 1, 2018, by our repurchase of 143,276 shares of common stock in the second half of 2018 and by a $1.7 million one-time, non-cash charge to income tax provision in the fourth quarter of 2017 due to the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on December 22, 2017 that changed the company’s federal income tax rate from 35% to 21%.  Return on average assets and average equity for the fourth quarter were 1.15% and 10.67%, respectively, compared to 0.91% and 8.39%, respectively for the third quarter of 2018 and 0.58% and 5.36%, respectively, for the same period during 2017.

The company's growth in net earnings in the fourth quarter of 2018, as compared to the fourth quarter of 2017, was primarily attributable to an increase in net interest income, before the provision for loan losses, of $3.4 million, a gain on the sale of our Atlanta, Texas bank location of $830,000 and a decrease in the income tax provision of $2.1 million.  These items were partially offset by an increase in noninterest expense of $2.3 million, of which $1.5 million related to higher employee compensation and benefits expense during the quarter and a loss on the sale of a former bank building in Longview, Texas of $229,000.  The increase in employee compensation and benefits resulted from an increase of 57 full-time equivalent employees, from 397 as of December 31, 2017 to 454 as of December 31, 2018, of which 28 new employees were related to the Westbound acquisition, 11 were from our two de novo locations in Austin and Fort Worth, Texas that were opened in the fourth quarter of 2017, and other employees that were added to support operational growth and our SBA department.

Net interest income for the fourth quarter of 2018 and 2017 was $18.9 million and $15.5 million, respectively, an increase of $3.4 million, or 21.7%.  Net interest margin for the fourth quarter of 2018 and 2017 was 3.58% and 3.39% respectively.  Net interest income and net interest margin, on a taxable equivalent basis, were $18.9 million and 3.62%, respectively, for the fourth quarter of 2018.

The provision for loan losses was $500,000 in the fourth quarter of 2018, compared to $500,000 in the third quarter of 2018 and $600,000 in the fourth quarter of 2017.  The provision for loan losses is primarily reflective of organic growth during the respective periods.  Nonperforming assets as a percentage of total loans have improved and were 0.46% at December 31, 2018, compared to 0.69% at September 30, 2018, and 0.64% at December 31, 2017.

Noninterest income increased $624,000, or 17.6%, in the fourth quarter of 2018 to $4.2 million, compared to $3.5 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2018. Merchant and debit card income increased 7.3% to $1.0 million, compared to $937,000 in the prior quarter due to continued growth in net new accounts and debit card usage.  Other noninterest income increased $765,000, or 227.7% from the prior quarter to $1.1 million, which included the net gain of $601,000 on the sales of our Atlanta, Texas bank location and former Longview, Texas bank location in the fourth quarter.  These items were partially offset by decreases in the net realized gain on sale of loans of $200,000, or 31.4%.  Noninterest income increased $394,000, or 10.4%, in the fourth quarter of 2018, compared to $3.8 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2017.  Merchant and debit card income increased $187,000, or 22.9%, compared to the same quarter last year due to continued growth in net new accounts and debit card usage. Other noninterest income increased $383,000, or 53.3% from the same quarter in 2017.  These increases were partially offset by decreases in gain on sale of mortgage loans of $54,000, or 11.0%, from $491,000 in the fourth quarter of 2017 to $437,000 for the fourth quarter of 2018.

Noninterest expense decreased 3.2% in the fourth quarter of 2018 to $14.5 million, compared to $15.0 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2018. The decrease results primarily from a $417,000, or 44.0%, decline in legal and professional fees in the third quarter, which were mainly associated with the Westbound acquisition.  These decreases were partially offset by a $243,000, or 3.0%, increase in employee compensation and benefits expense, from $8.2 million in the third quarter to $8.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2018.  Noninterest expense increased $2.3 million, or 18.6%, in the fourth quarter of 2018, compared to the fourth quarter of 2017.  The increase in noninterest expense in the fourth quarter of 2018 was primarily driven by a $1.5 million increase in employee compensation and benefit expenses when compared to the same quarter a year ago, and a $474,000 increase in occupancy expenses.  The increase in salary and occupancy expenses were significantly impacted as a result of the Westbound acquisition and by our two de novo locations in Austin and Fort Worth, Texas.  The company's efficiency ratio in the fourth quarter of 2018 was 63.16%, compared to 64.13% in the same quarter last year.

Consolidated assets for the company totaled $2.27 billion at December 31, 2018, compared to $2.24 billion at September 30, 2018, and $1.96 billion at December 31, 2017.  Gross loans increased 0.46%, or $7.7 million, to $1.66 billion at December 31, 2018, compared to loans of $1.65 billion at September 30, 2018.  Gross loans increased 22.1%, or $300.0 million, from $1.36 billion at December 31, 2017.  Excluding the $154.7 million of loans acquired from Westbound, and the $10.2 million in loans sold with the Atlanta bank location, organic loan growth from December 31, 2017 to December 31, 2018 was $155.5 million, or 11.4%.  Deposits increased by 1.86%, or $34.1 million, to $1.87 billion at December 31, 2018, compared to $1.84 billion at September 30, 2018.  Total deposits increased 11.6%, or $195.2 million, from $1.68 billion at December 31, 2017.  Excluding the $181.4 million of deposits acquired from Westbound, and the $32.4 million in deposits sold with the Atlanta bank location, organic deposit growth from December 31, 2017 to December 31, 2018 was $46.2 million, or 2.7%.  Shareholders' equity totaled $244.6 million as of December 31, 2018, compared to $242.0 million at September 30, 2018 and $207.3 million at December 31, 2017.  The increases from the previous quarter and from December 31, 2017 were primarily the result of operating earnings and the issuance of common stock related to the Westbound acquisition on June 1, 2018.

The company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ty Abston, said, "We are pleased with a solid year of earnings and asset growth as we executed well on our Company’s strategic objectives.  Our plans for the coming year are to continue this positive trend and momentum as we further build our franchise in the four regions of the state that we’ve established.  We look forward to the 2019 opportunities and growth prospects that lie ahead."

(1) See Reconciliation of non-GAAP Financial Measures table.
(2) The efficiency ratio was calculated by dividing total noninterest expense by net interest income plus noninterest income, excluding securities gains or losses.
     Taxes are not part of this calculation.

(1) Excludes outstanding balances of loans held for sale of $1.8 million, $826,000, $1.7 million, $1.5 million, and $1.9 million as of December 31, 2018, September 30, 2018, June 30, 2018, March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.
(2) Excludes deferred loan fees of $560,000, $727,000, $857,000, $1.0 million, and $1.1 million as of December 31, 2018, September 30, 2018, June 30, 2018, March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.
(3) Restructured loans-nonaccrual are included in nonaccrual loans which are a component of nonperforming loans.

(1) Includes average outstanding balances of loans held for sale of $1.2 million and $1.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.
(2) Net interest spread is the average yield on interest-earning assets minus the average rate on interest-bearing liabilities.
(3) Net interest margin is equal to net interest income divided by average interest-earning assets, annualized.

(1) Includes an average outstanding balance of loans held for sale of $1.7 million for the years ended December 2018 and 2017.
(2) Net interest spread is the average yield on interest-earning assets minus the average rate on interest-bearing liabilities.
(3) Net interest margin is equal to net interest income divided by average interest-earning assets, annualized.

(1) Excludes the dilutive effect, if any, of shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of outstanding stock options.

About Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Certain of the financial measures and ratios we present, including “tangible book value per share” are supplemental measures that are not required by, or are not presented in accordance with, U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). We refer to these financial measures and ratios as “non-GAAP financial measures.”  We consider the use of select non-GAAP financial measures and ratios to be useful for financial and operational decision making and useful in evaluating period-to-period comparisons. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance by excluding certain expenditures or assets that we believe are not indicative of our primary business operating results or by presenting certain metrics on a fully taxable equivalent basis. We believe that management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing our performance and when planning, forecasting, analyzing and comparing past, present and future periods.

These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP and you should not rely on non-GAAP financial measures alone as measures of our performance. The non-GAAP financial measures we present may differ from non-GAAP financial measures used by our peers or other companies. We compensate for these limitations by providing the equivalent GAAP measures whenever we present the non-GAAP financial measures and by including a reconciliation of the impact of the components adjusted for in the non-GAAP financial measure so that both measures and the individual components may be considered when analyzing our performance.

A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP financial measures is included at the end of the financial statement tables.

About Guaranty Bancshares, Inc.

Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. is a bank holding company that conducts commercial banking activities through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Guaranty Bank & Trust, N.A.  As one of the oldest regional community banks in Texas, Guaranty Bank & Trust provides its customers with a full array of relationship-driven commercial and consumer banking products and services, as well as mortgage, trust, and wealth management products and services. Guaranty Bank & Trust has 30 banking locations across 23 Texas communities located within the East Texas, Dallas/Fort Worth, Greater Houston and Central Texas regions of the state.  Visit www.gnty.com for more information.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, future events and our results of operations, financial condition and financial performance. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “predict,” “potential,” “believe,” “will likely result,” “expect,” “continue,” “will,” “anticipate,” “seek,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “projection,” “would” and “outlook,” or the negative version of those words or other comparable words of a future or forward-looking nature. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts, and are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry, management’s beliefs and certain assumptions made by management, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and beyond our control. Accordingly, we caution you that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, assumptions and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date made, actual results may prove to be materially different from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, without limitation, the “Risk Factors” referenced in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, other risks and uncertainties listed from time to time in our reports and documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and the following factors: business and economic conditions generally and in the financial services industry, nationally and within our current and future geographic market areas; economic, market, operational, liquidity, credit and interest rate risks associated with our business; the composition of our loan portfolio, including deteriorating asset quality and higher loan charge-offs; the laws and regulations applicable to our business; our ability to achieve organic loan and deposit growth and the composition of such growth; increased competition in the financial services industry, nationally, regionally or locally; our ability to maintain our historical earnings trends; our ability to raise additional capital to execute our business plan; acquisitions and integrations of acquired businesses; systems failures or interruptions involving our information technology and telecommunications systems or third-party servicers; the composition of our management team and our ability to attract and retain key personnel; the fiscal position of the U.S. federal government and the soundness of other financial institutions; and the amount of nonperforming and classified assets we hold. We can give no assurance that any goal or plan or expectation set forth in forward-looking statements can be achieved and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this communication, and we do not intend, and assume no obligation, to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events or circumstances, except as required by applicable law.

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Source: Guaranty Bancshares, Inc.