Southwest Georgia Financial Corporation Reports Fourth Quarter And 2012 Results

Southwest Georgia Financial Corporation (the “Corporation”) (NYSE MKT: SGB), a full-service community bank holding company, today reported its results of operations for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2012.

Fourth Quarter and Year-End Income Highlights

• Net income was $643 thousand in the 2012 fourth quarter, or $0.25 per diluted share, compared with $396 thousand, or $0.15 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2011. The increase was mainly due to a $352 thousand increase in income from interest and fees on loans and a $74 thousand decrease in provision for loan losses.
• For the year ended December 31, 2012, net income was $1.9 million, or $0.76 per diluted share, a 32.7% increase, when compared with $1.5 million, or $0.57 per diluted share for the same period in the prior year.
• Net interest margin was 4.23% for the fourth quarter of 2012 and 4.22% for the year ended December 31, 2012, down 6 and up 11 basis points, compared with the respective prior-year periods. Strengthened net interest margin for the year was mainly attributed to continued growth in loans.
• Net interest income after provision for loan losses increased 14.8% to $11.4 million for the twelve months ending December 31, 2012. The improvement was due to a $927 thousand increase in net interest income and a $539 thousand decrease in loan loss provisions.

Balance Sheet Trends and Asset Quality

• Total assets at December 31, 2012 were $347.2 million, an increase of 13.6%, or $41.5 million from December 31, 2011.
• Total loans increased $22.8 million, or 12.6%, to $204.1 million, compared with the same period last year. The growth in loans was funded by increases in noninterest-bearing and money market deposits.
• Total deposits grew $42.9 million to $291.8 million at December 31, 2012, an increase of 17.2% from the end of 2011.
• Non-performing asset ratio was 0.53% at December 31, 2012, a 65 basis point improvement when compared with 1.18% at the end of 2011.

Capital Management

• The Company has a total risk based capital ratio of 15.56% and Tier 1 capital ratio of 14.31%, both measurably above the Federal “well capitalized” standard.
• Return on equity increased to 8.68% compared with 5.57% in the fourth quarter of 2011. For the full year, return on equity increased to 6.62% from 5.25% for 2011.
• Tangible book value per share at December 31, 2012, was $11.60, up from $10.99 at the end of 2011.

DeWitt Drew, President and CEO commented, “It is encouraging that our deposit growth is evenly spread among our three banking regions. Our effort to focus on core funding and investments in growing markets is beginning to show up in our earnings. And while work remains to be done, our asset quality indicators look to be at a relatively normal level.”

1 2 3 Next › Last »