ASRV AmeriServ Financial Inc

JOHNSTOWN, Pa., April 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- AmeriServ Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASRV) continued its positive earnings momentum in the first quarter of 2012 by reporting net income of $1,565,000 or $0.06 per diluted common share.  This represents an increase of $302,000, or 23.9%, from the first quarter 2011 net income of $1,263,000 or $0.05 per diluted common share.  There was a greater percentage increase in earnings per share due to the success of the Company's common stock repurchase program as the Company's increased 2012 earnings are being spread over a smaller number of shares outstanding.  The following table highlights the Company's financial performance for the quarters ended March 31, 2012 and 2011:    

Glenn L. Wilson, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented on the first quarter 2012 financial results: "I was pleased that our growth in earnings was driven by increased non-interest revenue and stable net interest margin performance.  Our non-interest revenue benefitted from good fee growth in our trust and wealth management business along with another strong quarter of residential mortgage loan production.  This improved revenue growth combined with our continued excellent asset quality,  and strong capital and loan loss reserve, positions us well to execute our growth oriented strategic plan."            

The Company's net interest income in the first quarter of 2012 increased by $92,000, or 1.2%, when compared to the first quarter of 2011.  The first quarter 2012 net interest margin of 3.70% was consistent with last year's first quarter.  The increased net interest income and overall stable net interest margin performance reflects the benefits of a lower cost of funds and moderate loan growth.  Specifically, total loans outstanding have increased for four consecutive quarters and now are $26.5 million or 4.1% higher than they were at March 31, 2011.   This loan growth reflects the successful results of the Company's more intensive sales calling efforts with a particular emphasis on generating commercial loans and owner occupied commercial real estate loans which qualify as Small Business Lending Fund loans.  Despite this growth in loans, total interest revenue dropped by $472,000 between years and reflects the lower interest rate environment and flatter yield curve.  However, careful management of funding costs allowed the Company to mitigate this drop in interest revenue during the past year.  Specifically, interest expense in the first quarter of 2012 declined by $564,000 from the same prior year quarter due to the Company's proactive efforts to reduce deposit and borrowing costs.  This reduction in deposit costs has not negatively impacted deposit balances which have increased by $3.6 million over the past 12 months.     

Sustained improvements in asset quality evidenced by lower levels of non-performing assets and criticized loans allowed the Company to reverse a portion of the allowance for loan losses into earnings in the first quarter of 2012 while still maintaining especially strong coverage ratios.  During the first quarter of 2012, total non-performing assets again declined to $4.8 million or 0.72% of total loans as a result of successful ongoing resolution efforts.  Criticized loans also dropped by $10 million or 20.4% during this same period.  As a result of this improvement, the Company again recorded a negative provision for loan losses of $625,000 in the first quarter of 2012 compared to a similar credit provision of $600,000 in the first quarter of 2011.  Actual credit losses realized through net charge-offs also declined sharply in the first quarter of 2012.  Net charge-offs in the first quarter of 2012 totaled only $220,000, or 0.13% of total loans, compared to net charge-offs of $1.1 million, or 0.70% of total loans, in the first quarter of 2011.  When determining the provision for loan losses, the Company considers a number of factors some of which include periodic credit reviews, non-performing asset, loan delinquency and charge-off trends, concentrations of credit, loan volume trends and broader local and national economic trends.  In summary, the allowance for loan losses provided 296% coverage of non-performing loans, and was 2.05% of total loans, at March 31, 2012, compared to 288% of non-performing loans, and 2.18% of total loans, at December 31, 2011.

The Company's non-interest income in the first quarter of 2012 increased by $569,000 or 18.3% from the prior year's first quarter.  In the first quarter of 2011, the Company realized a $358,000 investment security loss on a portfolio repositioning strategy where we sold $17 million of lower yielding, longer duration securities in the portfolio and replaced them with higher yielding securities with a shorter duration.  There were no investment security gains or losses in the first quarter of 2012.    Trust and investment advisory fees increased by $136,000 or 7.8% over the prior year first quarter as our wealth management businesses benefited from the implementation of new fee schedules and improved asset values in the first quarter of 2012.        

Total non-interest expense in the first quarter of 2012 increased by $195,000 or 2.0% from the prior year's first quarter.  Salaries and employee benefits increased by $486,000 or 8.8% due to higher salaries expense, incentive compensation, and pension expense in the first quarter of 2012.  The 2012 personnel expenses also reflect the staffing costs associated with new loan production offices in Altoona and Harrisburg for the full quarter and Hagerstown, Maryland for part of the quarter.  Other expenses also increased by $105,000 due to an increase in the reserve for unfunded loan commitments as result of increased commercial loan origination activity in the first quarter of 2012.  These negative items were partially offset by a $333,000 reduction in FDIC deposit insurance expense in the first quarter of 2012. This reduction resulted from a change in the calculation methodology which took effect in the second half of 2011 and the Company's improved risk profile which is evidenced by better asset quality and increased profitability.  Finally, the Company recorded an income tax expense of $678,000 or an effective tax rate of 30.2% for the first quarter of 2012 compared to an income tax expense of $489,000 or an effective tax rate of 27.9% for the first quarter of 2011.  The higher income tax expense and effective rate in 2012 reflects the Company's increased pre-tax earnings combined with a relatively consistent level of tax free earnings from bank owned life insurance.

ASRV had total assets of $967 million and shareholders' equity of $112 million or a book value of $4.46 per common share at March 31, 2012.  During the first quarter of 2012, the Company repurchased 456,000 shares of its common stock at an average price of $2.38 in conjunction with the terms of the Company's stock buyback program that was announced on November 9, 2011.  The Company continued to maintain strong capital ratios that considerably exceed the regulatory defined well capitalized status with a risk based capital ratio of 17.22%, an asset leverage ratio of 11.83% and a tangible common equity to tangible assets ratio of 8.24% at March 31, 2012. 

This news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the risks detailed in the Company's Annual Report and Form 10-K to the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Actual results may differ materially. 

SOURCE AmeriServ Financial, Inc.