HERITAGE FINANCIAL ANNOUNCES THIRD QUARTER 2024 RESULTS AND DECLARES REGULAR CASH DIVIDEND OF $0.23 PER SHARE

Third Quarter 2024 Highlights

• Net income was $11.4 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, compared to $14.2 million, or $0.41 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2024.
• Results include a pre-tax loss on sale of securities of $6.9 million, or $0.16 per diluted share on an after-tax basis.
• Loans receivable increased $146.9 million, or 3.2% (12.9% annualized).
• Deposits increased $192.8 million, or 3.5% (13.9% annualized).
• Non-interest bearing deposits increased $82.9 million, or 5.2% (20.6% annualized).
• Net interest margin was 3.33%, compared to 3.29% for the second quarter of 2024.
• Cost of total deposits was 1.42%, compared to 1.34% for the second quarter of 2024.
• Noninterest expense to average total assets was 2.18%, compared to 2.21% for the second quarter of 2024.
• Declared a regular cash dividend of $0.23 per share on October 23, 2024.

OLYMPIA, Wash., Oct. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Heritage Financial Corporation (Nasdaq GS: HFWA) (the "Company", "we," or "us"), the parent company of Heritage Bank (the "Bank"), today reported net income of $11.4 million for the third quarter of 2024 compared to $14.2 million for the second quarter of 2024 and $18.2 million for the third quarter of 2023. Diluted earnings per share for the third quarter of 2024 were $0.33 compared to $0.41 for the second quarter of 2024 and $0.51 for the third quarter of 2023.

In the third quarter of 2024, the Company incurred a pre-tax loss of $6.9 million on the sale of investment securities due to the  strategic repositioning of its balance sheet, which decreased diluted earnings per share by $0.16 for the quarter. The Company sold $78.0 million of investment securities with an estimated weighted average book yield of 1.88%. Proceeds were used to fund higher yielding loan growth for the quarter.

Jeff Deuel, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, "We are very pleased with our operating results for the third quarter, which included strong loan and deposit growth, margin expansion, and continued benefits from expense management measures.  The increases in average earning assets and net interest margin resulted in an improvement in net interest income of $1.8 million, or 3.6%, from the prior quarter.  Although we experienced a charge-off during the quarter related to an owner-occupied commercial real estate loan previously downgraded to Substandard, we believe our overall credit quality remains very strong.  We are optimistic that the combination of core balance sheet growth and prudent risk management will continue to benefit our core profitability."

Financial Highlights

The following table provides financial highlights at the dates and for the periods indicated:

 

 

Balance Sheet

Cash and cash equivalents increased $61.8 million, or 54.3%, to $175.6 million at September 30, 2024 from $113.8 million at June 30, 2024 primarily due to an increase in deposits.

Total investment securities decreased $86.4 million, or 5.2%, to $1.57 billion at September 30, 2024 from $1.66 billion at June 30, 2024. As previously noted, the Company sold $78.0 million of investment securities at a pre-tax loss of $6.9 million as part of its strategic balance sheet repositioning. In addition, there were investment maturities and repayments of $43.3 million during the third quarter of 2024. These impacts were offset partially by a $34.7 million decrease in unrealized losses on available for sale securities, due primarily to changes in market rates.

The following table summarizes the composition of the Company's investment securities portfolio at the dates indicated:

 

Loans receivable increased $146.9 million, or 3.2%, to $4.68 billion at September 30, 2024 from $4.53 billion at June 30, 2024. New loans funded in the third quarter and second quarter of 2024 totaled $176.9 million and $166.7 million, respectively. Loan prepayments decreased slightly during the third quarter of 2024 to $44.8 million, compared to $48.5 million during the prior quarter.

Commercial and industrial loans increased $44.6 million, or 5.7%, due primarily to new loan production of $76.0 million during the quarter, offset by pay downs on outstanding balances. Owner-occupied commercial real estate ("CRE") loans increased $33.6 million, or 3.5%, due primarily to new loan production of $41.8 million during the third quarter of 2024 offset partially by pay downs on outstanding balances. Non-owner occupied CRE loans increased $76.0 million, or 4.3%, due primarily to new loan production of $44.2 million during the third quarter of 2024 and advances on outstanding commitments.

The following table summarizes the Company's loans receivable, net at the dates indicated:

 

 

Total deposits increased $192.8 million, or 3.5%, to $5.71 billion at September 30, 2024 from $5.52 billion at June 30, 2024. Noninterest bearing demand deposits increased by $82.9 million, or 5.2%, due to new accounts of $30.0 million and an increase in existing deposit balances primarily to business customers. Money market accounts increased $49.9 million primarily due to new accounts of $47.3 million opened during the quarter. Certificates of deposit increased $62.3 million, or 7.1%, to $945.6 million at September 30, 2024 from $883.2 million at June 30, 2024, primarily due to new accounts opened during the quarter. Brokered deposits declined by $10 million.

The following table summarizes the Company's total deposits at the dates indicated:

 

 

Total borrowings decreased $118.0 million to  $382.0 million at September 30, 2024 from $500.0 million at June 30, 2024 due to pay downs during the quarter. All outstanding borrowings mature within one year.

Total stockholders' equity increased $24.0 million, or 2.8%, to $874.5 million at September 30, 2024 compared to $850.5 million at June 30, 2024 due primarily to a $27.0 million decrease in other comprehensive loss as a result of changes in market rates and $11.4 million of net income recognized for the quarter, partially offset by $8.0 million in dividends paid to common shareholders and $7.5 million in common stock repurchases.

The Company and Bank continued to maintain capital levels in excess of the applicable regulatory requirements for them both to be categorized as "well-capitalized" at September 30, 2024.

The following table summarizes the capital ratios for the Company at the dates indicated:

 

 

Allowance for Credit Losses and Provision for Credit Losses

The allowance for credit losses ("ACL") on loans as a percentage of loans receivable was 1.10% at September 30, 2024 compared to 1.13% at June 30, 2024. During the third quarter of 2024, the Company recorded a $2.7 million provision for credit losses on loans, compared to a $1.5 million provision for credit losses on loans during the second quarter of 2024. The company recorded net charge-offs of $2.5 million during the quarter primarily from one owner-occupied CRE loan that was added to nonaccrual loans during the quarter. This loan was rated Substandard at the time of the charge-off and has been managed by our Special Assets Departments since December 2022.

During the third quarter of 2024, the Company recorded a $266,000 reversal of provision for credit losses on unfunded commitments compared to a $202,000 reversal of provision for credit losses on unfunded commitments during the second quarter of 2024. The reversal of provision for credit losses on unfunded commitments during the third quarter of 2024 was due primarily to a decrease in the unfunded exposure on construction loans.

The following table provides detail on the changes in the ACL on loans and the ACL on unfunded commitments, and the related provision for (reversal of) credit losses for the periods indicated:

 

 

Credit Quality

The percentage of classified loans to loans receivable decreased to 1.5% at September 30, 2024, compared to 1.8% at June 30, 2024. Classified loans include loans rated substandard or worse. The decrease was due primarily to payoffs and principal payments on substandard loans. Total loans designated as special mention increased by $5.4 million to $99.1 million at September 30, 2024, compared to $93.7 million at June 30, 2024.

The following table illustrates total loans by risk rating and their respective percentage of total loans at the dates indicated:

 

 

Nonaccrual loans to loans receivable were 0.09% and 0.08% at September 30, 2024 and June 30, 2024, respectively. The increase in nonaccrual loans was primarily due to the addition of one owner-occupied CRE loan moving to nonaccrual, a portion of which was charged-off during the quarter.  This increase was partially offset by the payoff of two commercial and industrial loans. Changes in nonaccrual loans during the periods indicated were as follows:

 

 

Liquidity

Total liquidity sources available at September 30, 2024 were $2.52 billion. This includes on- and off-balance sheet liquidity. The Company has access to Federal Home Loan Bank ("FHLB") advances and the Federal Reserve Bank ("FRB") Discount Window. The Company's available liquidity sources at September 30, 2024 represented a coverage ratio of 44.2% of total deposits and 112.6% of estimated uninsured deposits.

The following table summarizes the Company's available liquidity:

 

 

Net Interest Income and Net Interest Margin

Net interest income increased $1.8 million, or 3.6%, during the third quarter of 2024 compared to the second quarter of 2024, due primarily to a $3.2 million increase in interest income offset partially by a $1.4 million increase in interest expense. Net interest margin increased four basis points to 3.33% during the third quarter of 2024 from 3.29% during the second quarter of 2024.

The yield on interest earning assets increased 9 basis points to 5.02% for the third quarter of 2024, compared to 4.93% for the second quarter of 2024. The yield on loans receivable, net, increased 8 basis points to 5.60% during the third quarter of 2024 compared to 5.52% during the second quarter of 2024 due primarily to higher rates on new and renewed loans.

The cost of interest bearing deposits increased 13 basis points to 2.02% for the third quarter of 2024 from 1.89% for the second quarter of 2024. This increase was primarily due to an increase in deposit rates during the quarter and an increase in certificate of deposit average balances of $68.5 million which carry higher rates than other interest bearing deposits.

Net interest income decreased $2.7 million, or 4.8%, during the third quarter of 2024 compared to the third quarter of 2023 and the net interest margin decreased 14 basis points to 3.33% from 3.47% during this same period. The decrease was due primarily to an increase in interest expense resulting from increased deposit rates and borrowing expense, partially offset by an increase in yields earned on interest earning assets following increases in market interest rates.

The following table provides relevant net interest income information for the periods indicated:

 

 

Noninterest Income

Noninterest income decreased $3.4 million to $1.8 million during the third quarter of 2024 from $5.2 million during the second quarter of 2024. The decrease was due primarily to the increase in loss resulting from the above-referenced sale of investment securities recognized in the third quarter of 2024 as part of the strategic repositioning of the balance sheet, compared to the prior quarter.  The decrease was partially offset by an increase in gain on sale of other assets, net which was due to the $1.5 million gain on sale of an administrative building recognized during the third quarter of 2024.

Noninterest income decreased $4.4 million from the same period in 2023 due primarily to a $6.9 million pre-tax loss on the sale of investment securities during the third quarter of 2024, offset partially by the gain on sale of other assets, net as discussed previously.

The following table presents the key components of noninterest income and the change for the periods indicated:

 

 

Noninterest Expense

Noninterest expense increased $0.2 million, or 0.5%, during the third quarter of 2024 from the second quarter of 2024. Data processing expense increased during the quarter due primarily to timing of expenses and annual rate increases; however, data processing expense continued to be lower than the same period in 2023. Professional services expense decreased compared to the prior quarter, primarily due to timing of services performed.

Noninterest expense decreased $1.7 million, or 4.1%, during the third quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Compensation and employee benefits expense decreased due to a reduction in full-time equivalent employees to 749 at September 30, 2024 from 821 at September 30, 2023. Data processing expense decreased primarily due to a decline in ongoing costs resulting from prior technology-related contract renewals and terminations. Marketing expense decreased due to expense management efforts to reduce spending. Other expense decreased due to a decrease in customer account loss expense and a reduction in employee related expense.

The following table presents the key components of noninterest expense and the change for the periods indicated:

 

 

Income Tax Expense

Income tax expense decreased $193,000 during the third quarter of 2024 to $1.6 million compared to $1.8 million for the second quarter of 2024. The decrease in income tax expense during the current quarter compared to the prior quarter was primarily due to a decrease in pre-tax income during the third quarter of 2024.

Income tax expense decreased during the third quarter of 2024 compared to same period in 2023 due to lower pre-tax income during the third quarter of 2024. The effective tax rate declined due to lower pre-tax income which increased the impact of favorable permanent tax items such as tax-exempt investments, investments in bank owned life insurance and tax credits.

The following table presents the income tax expense and related metrics and the change for the periods indicated:

 

 

Dividends

On October 23, 2024, the Company's Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.23 per share. The dividend is payable on November 20, 2024 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 6, 2024.

Earnings Conference Call

The Company will hold a telephone conference call to discuss this earnings release on Thursday, October 24, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time. To access the call, please dial (833) 470-1428 -- access code 493684 a few minutes prior to 10:00 a.m. Pacific time. The call will be available for replay through October 31, 2024 by dialing (866) 813-9403 -- access code 423520.

About Heritage Financial Corporation

Heritage Financial Corporation is an Olympia, Washington-based bank holding company with Heritage Bank, a full-service commercial bank, as its sole wholly-owned banking subsidiary. Heritage Bank has a branch network of 50 banking offices in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Heritage Bank does business under the Whidbey Island Bank name on Whidbey Island, Washington. The Company's stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "HFWA." More information about Heritage Financial Corporation can be found on its website at www.hf-wa.com and more information about Heritage Bank can be found on its website at www.heritagebanknw.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements often include words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "forecasts," "intends," "plans," "targets," "potentially," "probably," "projects," "outlook" or similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as "may," "will," "should," "would," and "could," as well as the negative of such words. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts but instead represent management's current expectations and forecasts regarding future events, many of which are inherently uncertain and outside of our control. Actual results may differ, possibly materially, from those currently expected or projected in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following: potential adverse impacts to economic conditions nationally or in our local market areas, other markets where we have lending relationships, or other aspects of our business operations or financial markets including, without limitation, as a result of credit quality deterioration, pronounced and sustained reductions in real estate market values, employment levels, labor shortages and the effects of inflation, a potential recession or slowed economic growth; changes in the interest rate environment which could adversely affect our revenues and expenses, the value of assets and obligations, and the availability and cost of capital and liquidity; the level and impact of inflation and the current and future monetary policies of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in response thereto; the impact of bank failures or adverse developments at other banks and related negative publicity about the banking industry in general on investor and depositor sentiment regarding the stability and liquidity of banks; legislative or regulatory changes that adversely affect our business, including changes in banking, securities, and tax law, regulatory policies and principles, or the interpretation of regulatory capital or other rules, including as a result of the upcoming 2024 presidential election; credit and interest rate risks associated with our business, customers, borrowings, repayment, investment, and deposit practices; fluctuations in deposits and deposit concentrations; liquidity issues, including our ability to borrow funds or raise additional capital, if necessary; fluctuations in the value of our investment securities; credit risks and risks from concentrations (by type of geographic area and industry) within our loan portfolio; disruptions, security breaches, or other adverse events, failures or interruptions in, or attacks on, our information technology systems or on the third-party vendors who perform several of our critical processing functions for our business, including as a result of sophisticated attacks using artificial intelligence and similar tools; rapid technological change in the financial services industry; increased competition in the financial services industry from non-banks such as credit unions and Fintech companies, including digital asset service providers; our ability to adapt successfully to technological changes to compete effectively in the marketplace, including as a result of competition from other commercial banks, mortgage banking firms, credit unions, securities brokerage firms, insurance companies, and financial technology companies; effects of critical accounting policies and judgments, including the use of estimates in determining fair value of certain of our assets, which estimates may prove to be incorrect and result in significant declines in valuation; the commencement and outcome of litigation and other legal proceedings and regulatory actions against us or to which we may become subject; the effects of climate change, severe weather events, natural disasters, pandemics, epidemics and other public health crises, acts of war or terrorism, and other external events on our business and the businesses of our clients; our success at managing the risks involved in the foregoing items; and other factors described in our latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") which are available on our website at www.heritagebanknw.com and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Moreover, any of the forward-looking statements that we make in this press release or the documents we file with or furnish to the SEC are based only on information then actually known to us and upon management's beliefs and assumptions at the time they are made which may turn out to be wrong because of inaccurate assumptions we might make, because of the factors described above or because of other factors that we cannot foresee. We do not undertake and specifically disclaim any obligation to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HERITAGE FINANCIAL CORPORATION

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES (Unaudited)

(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

This earnings release contains certain financial measures not presented in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP") in addition to financial measures presented in accordance with GAAP. The Company has presented these non-GAAP financial measures in this earnings release because it believes that they provide useful and comparative information to assess trends in the Company's capital, performance and asset quality reflected in the current quarter and comparable period results and to facilitate comparison of its performance with the performance of its peers. These non-GAAP financial measures have inherent limitations, are not required to be uniformly applied and are not audited. They should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial measures presented in accordance with GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures used in this earnings release to the comparable GAAP financial measures are presented below.

The Company considers the tangible common equity to tangible assets ratio and tangible book value per share to be useful measurements of the adequacy of the Company's capital levels.

 

 

HERITAGE FINANCIAL CORPORATION

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES (Unaudited)

(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

The Company considers the return on average tangible common equity ratio to be a useful measurement of the Company's ability to generate returns for its common shareholders. By removing the impact of intangible assets and their related amortization and tax effects, the performance of the Company's ongoing business operations can be evaluated. The Company believes that presenting an adjusted return on tangible common equity ratio, which excludes certain non-recurring items is useful in measuring performance of the Company's ongoing business operations by removing the volatility of these non-recurring items.

 

 

The Company believes that presenting pre-tax pre-provision income, which reflects its profitability before income taxes and provision for credit losses, and the pre-tax, pre-provision return on average assets are useful measurements in assessing its operating income and expenses by removing the volatility that may be associated with credit loss provisions.

 

 

The Company believes that presenting an adjusted efficiency ratio, which excludes certain non-recurring items is useful in measuring operating income and expenses by removing the volatility of these non-recurring items.

 

 

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SOURCE Heritage Financial Corporation