ATLANTA, Jan. 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brian D. Schmitt, Chief Executive Officer of SouthCrest Financial Group, Inc. (SCSG:PK), announced today that the Company reported preliminary earnings of $1.13 million or $0.14/share for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2020. Excluding non-core items, primarily deal related costs and severance, core earnings were $1.50 million, or $0.19/share.

In addition, the Company is announcing an increase in the quarterly dividend to $0.06/share. The dividend will be payable on February 18, 2021, to all shareholders of record on February 4, 2021.

“We would like to welcome the customers and team members from our branch purchase to the SouthCrest Bank family,” Schmitt said. “We are excited to partner with you and support your financial needs going forward. I’d also like to personally highlight the efforts of all of our personnel who worked tirelessly to successfully integrate the acquisition. The collaboration and creativity you have all shown during this transaction will benefit the Bank for years to come.”

“Financially, the acquisition and other efforts in 2020 has the Bank’s ongoing strength and growth potential in the best position it has been in decades. The interest rate environment will be a challenge for the profitability of all banks for the foreseeable future, but we will continue to strive to maximize our opportunities and results against these headwinds for as long as they last.”   

Total assets increased to $715.1 million vs. $634.2 million in 3Q20 and $556.0MM in the year ago quarter. Loan balances remained flat during the quarter, finishing at $326.7 million vs. $326.4 million at the end of 3Q20 and $334.6 million 4Q19. The ALLL also remained flat at $3.7MM (1.14% of loans) vs. $3.7MM (1.13% of loans, rounding difference) in the quarter.   

Interest income declined 1.1% from 4Q20 due to lower average loan balances during the quarter and the resulting higher cash levels. Interest expense declined 3.3% during the quarter as well which led to an overall net interest income decrease of 0.8% or $38,000 versus the third quarter. During the fourth quarter, the cost of deposits declined by 5bps for the second quarter in a row to 0.36%. Provision expense remained at zero for the quarter.

Non-interest income increased from the prior quarter (excluding the $1.23MM of securities gains in 3Q20), with NSF and overdraft fees increasing by 8% as the primary driver, although these fees remain down 34% over the prior year. Non-interest expense increased due to some one time deal related expenses, severance and additional compensation related taxes. Excluding one-time items in both quarters, non-interest expense increased 1.0% vs 3Q20.

The estimated Tier 1 Leverage ratio at the end of the quarter for SouthCrest Bank declined to 9.08% from 9.41% as a result of the significant balance sheet growth during the quarter. On a fully converted basis (including the conversion of all preferred equity), TBV/share ended the quarter at $8.17 per share, up from $6.83 at the end of 2019 and $8.02 at the end of 3Q20. This metric will continue to be influenced by OCI changes resulting from the swings in interest rates. Currently, the positive impact to TBV by OCI is $0.96/share vs. $0.09/share at the end of 4Q19 and $0.79/share as of 3Q20. The current fully converted share count at the end of the quarter was 7.816 million shares, comprised of 5.761 million common shares and 2.055 million preferred shares.

Asset quality ratios continued a multi-quarter trend of improvement even with the COVID economic environment. Loan deferrals remained flat with 3Q20 and NPAs to assets declined to 0.55% vs. 0.59% in 3Q20. As of December 31, 2020 the Company’s OREO balances remained $447,000, from one residential property.

ABOUT SOUTHCREST

SouthCrest Financial Group, Inc. is a bank holding company with over $700 million in assets, headquartered in Atlanta, GA. The company operates a 9 branch network throughout Georgia through its subsidiary bank, SouthCrest Bank, N.A. The bank provides a full suite of retail, private, entrepreneurial, high-net-worth and commercial banking services, and online banking services.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This presentation may contain certain “forward-looking statements” that are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results and shareholder values to differ materially from those projected. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include economic conditions, government regulation and legislation, changes in interest rates, credit quality, competition, and other risk factors. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements, as they are inherently unlikely to occur, and we do not assume any liability to update or correct any forward-looking statements that we make.

Andy Borrmann
Chief Financial Officer
678.734.3505


Statement of Operations ($000s, Unaudited)
 Q4 2019Q1 2020Q2 2020Q3 2020Q4 2020
Interest Income      
Loans     
Construction and Development$669$744$758$781$761
Commercial Real Estate2,0301,8561,9741,8461,824
Commercial Loans645553567542547
Multi Family2821212565
Residential Mortgage1,029904750743636
Consumer Loans3436292829
County/Municipal Loans2434415021
Loss Share Loans5846373329
Investment Securities     
Federal Funds/Overnight Funds$77$129$6$8$15
Bank Owned CDs20000
Investment Securities9961,0231,3931,4251,494
Total Interest Income $5,592$5,346$5,576$5,481$5,420
      
Total Interest Expense $699$769$741$702$678
Net Interest Income $4,893$4,577$4,835$4,779$4,742
Provision for Loan Losses015045000
Net Interest Income after Loan Losses $4,893 $4,427 $4,385 $4,779 $4,742
Other Income     
Service Charges on Deposits$144$138$132$130$128
NSF/Overdraft Fees348305158213231
Other Service Charges9564717873
ATM/Billpay/DR Card Income271247277298306
Other Income2682386641,441207
Total Other Income $1,186$992$1,303$2,160$946
Non-Interest Expense      
Salaries, Other Comp (+ FAS123R)$2,140$1,940$1,711$1,985$2,140
Employee Benefits379412341276523
Occupancy & FF&E Expense529503506475474
Professional Fees149141143197235
Data Processing502488385353362
Other Expense667632661672665
Total Noninterest Expenses $4,366$4,116$3,747$3,958$4,400
Pre-Tax Income (Loss) $1,713$1,303$1,941$2,981$1,288
Income Taxes389265316580160
Net Income$1,323$1,038$1,625$2,401$1,127

Balance Sheet ($000s, Unaudited)		     
AssetsQ4 2019Q1 2020Q2 2020Q3 2020Q4 2020
Current Assets     
Cash & Due from Bank$38,555$19,845$22,520$39,600$81,969
Federal Funds/Overnight Funds5,21507,87310,1014,192
Bank Owned CDs770000
Investment Securities139,880184,377218,680222,913265,602
Total Current Assets$183,727$204,222$249,072$272,614$352,484


Loans		     
Construction and Development$47,593$56,430$64,320$65,675$54,631
Commercial Real Estate146,287142,610139,407134,986140,558
Commercial Loans53,83353,38356,86055,32747,556
Multi Family1,6111,6011,5901,7146,346
Residential Mortgage77,77273,77866,81062,67259,856
Consumer Loans8302,1442,4721,86813,908
County/Municipal Loans3,1093,7324,8511,9901,982
Loss Share Loans3,6012,4512,3152,1521,848
Total Loans$334,635$336,129$338,625$326,383$326,684
Allowance for Loss(3,039)(3,184)(3,984)(3,705)(3,705)
Net Loans$331,596$332,946$334,641$322,678$322,979
OREO497529447447447
FDIC Indemnification00000
BOLI22,45622,58322,73722,87223,009
Fixed Assets, net8,8628,7058,6978,5408,581
Intangible Assets848068641,089
Other Assets8,7408,6046,7317,0306,501
Total Assets$555,960$577,669$622,383$634,245$715,090

Liabilities & Stockholders' Equity     
Liabilities     
Deposits     
DDAs$103,154$96,517$114,554$118,082$130,268
Interest Bearing Demand87,68585,74696,14195,732128,477
Celebration Checking98,558103,718111,421114,657132,372
Money Market Accts33,88837,69338,65043,74644,427
Savings44,37044,51647,67448,92851,953
CDs Less Than $100k54,22853,61652,70951,73558,452
CDs Greater than $100k43,40447,25947,04943,61249,715
Total Deposits$465,288$469,064$508,198$516,491$595,664


Other Liabilities2,1432,4152,1842,7722,285
Net Borrowings (Wholesale Funding)34,69750,22850,54652,25852,263
Total Liabilities$502,127$521,708$560,918$571,522$650,212
Total Equity53,83355,96161,46562,72364,878
Total Liabilities & Stockholders' Equity$555,960$577,669$622,393$634,245$715,090


 Ratios   
 Q4 2019Q1 2020Q2 2020Q3 2020Q4 2020
ROAA0.98%0.75%1.05%1.53%0.69%
ROAE9.52%7.30%10.87%16.88%6.79%
NPAs/Assets0.77%0.80%0.71%0.59%0.55%
Est. T1 Leverage (Bank)9.63%9.62%8.99%9.41%9.08%
Total Common Shares5,832,7935,832,7935,786,2885,761,4395,761,439
Total Preferred Shares2,054,7592,054,7592,054,7592,054,7592,054,759
Total Common Equiv. Shares7,887,5527,887,5527,841,0477,816,1987,816,198
NIM (Bank)4.03%3.65%3.37%3.22%3.17%
Cost of Deposits (Bank)0.53%0.54%0.46%0.41%0.36%
Loan/Deposit71.9%71.6%66.6%63.1%54.8%
Employees1051041029894
Loans in Atlanta MSA77.5%78.2%79.1%80.5%77.8%

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Source: SouthCrest Financial Group, Inc.

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