Summit Financial Group Reports 2010 Fourth Quarter And Full Year Results

MOOREFIELD, W.V., Jan. 31, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Summit Financial Group, Inc. ("Company" or "Summit") (Nasdaq:SMMF) today reported net income applicable to common shareholders for the 2010 fourth quarter of $836,000, or $0.11 per diluted share, compared to a 2009 fourth quarter net loss of $508,000 applicable to common shareholders, or ($0.07) per diluted share, and a net loss of $202,000 to common shareholders, or ($0.03) per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2010. The Company reported a full-year 2010 net loss applicable to common shareholders of $2.3 million, or ($0.31) per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $790,000 applicable to common shareholders, or ($0.11) per diluted share, for the 2009 full-year.

H. Charles Maddy III, President and Chief Executive Officer of Summit, commented, "Our primary focus remains to reduce our portfolio of nonperforming assets, which has been the principal factor contributing to lower earnings performance. We made good progress this year, highlighted by the 14.2% reduction in our nonperforming assets. However, disposition of foreclosed real estate remains difficult to achieve as the return of our real estate markets to normal activity levels has been slower than we anticipated."

"We will continue to manage our problem assets through a combination of asset sales, loan workouts and charge-offs. We believe we are moving in the right direction; although the costs of credit administration have escalated, we have maintained operating expenses at a stable level through staff reductions, salary freezes and the rescission of bonuses until our profitability normalizes. On the revenue side, nonaccruals have negatively affected interest income, but we have been fairly successful managing our funding costs to partially offset the impact. We saw significant net interest margin improvement during the most recent quarter, increasing 37 basis points compared to Q3 2010, following recent maturities and repricings of over $100 million of higher-cost wholesale funding. Given the improving operational trends we've established, we are hopeful that the profit we reported this quarter will serve as a baseline for profitability as we move into 2011."

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