CB Financial Services, Inc. (“CB” or the “Company”) (NASDAQGM: CBFV), the holding company of Community Bank (the “Bank”) and Exchange Underwriters, Inc. (“EU”), a wholly-owned insurance subsidiary of the Bank, today announced its second quarter and year-to-date 2023 financial results.

2023 Second Quarter Financial Highlights

(Comparisons to three months ended June 30, 2022 unless otherwise noted)

• Net income was $2.8 million, compared to $118,000. Prior period results were negatively impacted by provision for credit losses expense of approximately $3.8 million due primarily to a single commercial loan charge-off of $2.7 million. Current period results were positively impacted by net interest margin (NIM) expansion coupled with a modest increase in noninterest income, partially offset by an increase in noninterest expense.
  • Income before income tax expense (benefit) was $3.5 million compared to $74,000.
  • Pre-provision net revenue (PPNR) (non-GAAP) was $3.95 million compared to $3.86 million.
• Earnings per diluted common share (EPS) increased to $0.54 from $0.02.
• Return on average assets (annualized) was 0.79%, compared to 0.03%.
• Return on average equity (annualized) was 9.38%, compared to 0.40%.
• NIM improved to 3.29% from 3.12%.
• Net interest and dividend income was $11.1 million, compared to $10.2 million.
• Noninterest income increased to $2.3 million, compared to $2.1 million. The most significant changes in noninterest income included an increase in insurance commissions of $142,000 and a decrease in net losses on securities of $99,000.
• Noninterest expense increased to $9.5 million, compared to $8.4 million, primarily due to increases in compensation and benefits, equipment and data processing costs.

(Amounts at June 30, 2023; comparisons to December 31, 2022, unless otherwise noted)

• Total assets increased to $1.43 billion from $1.41 billion.
• Total loans increased $51.3 million, or 4.9%, to $1.10 billion compared to $1.05 billion, and included increases of $32.2 million, or 46.0%, in commercial and industrial loans, $21.8 million, or 5.0%, in commercial real estate loans, and $7.8 million, or 2.3%, in residential mortgage loans, partially offset by a decrease of $12.1 million, or 8.3%, in consumer loans, which is primarily comprised of indirect automobile loans.
• Nonperforming loans to total loans was 0.37%, a decrease of 18 basis points (“bps”), compared to 0.55%.
• Total deposits were $1.26 billion, a decrease of $5.2 million, compared to $1.27 billion.
• Book value per share was $22.81, compared to $22.90 as of March 31, 2023 and $21.60 as of December 31, 2022.
• Tangible book value per share (Non-GAAP) was $20.39, compared to $20.40 as of March 31, 2023 and $19.00 as of December 31, 2022. The year-to-date change was due to an increase in stockholders’ equity primarily related to current period net income of $6.9 million and a $2.1 million positive adjustment due to the Company’s January 1, 2023 adoption of CECL, partially offset by current period dividends paid to stockholders of $2.6 million.

Management Commentary

President and CEO John H. Montgomery stated, “Our second quarter results demonstrated the durability of both our franchise and the community bank model in general. While macro dislocations seen in the banking industry during the first quarter have abated, we continue to face headwinds resulting from a rising interest rate environment. First and foremost, we are focused on ensuring the bank maintains adequate liquidity and a strong capital position. In doing so, we are able to navigate challenging economic times from a position of strength which also allows us to maintain relationships with trusted customers and develop new ones, as evidenced by our continued loan growth during the quarter. The markets we serve in southwestern Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia have remained resilient despite continued interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve. In recent years, our markets have exhibited more stability than others in key areas such as real estate values and employment, allowing Community Bank to experience less volatility.”

Mr. Montgomery continued, “We have noted for several quarters that our funding costs have been rising, with net interest margin decreasing from first quarter levels while improving compared with the second quarter last year. As we highlighted last quarter, our deposit base is well-diversified, with a significant majority insured or collateralized. Within our deposit base, the most significant change during the second quarter was a shift to interest-bearing from noninterest-bearing deposits as our customers responded to the overall increase in market interest rates. The other half of our NIM calculation is our interest income, which has been supported by the repricing of variable rate loans and the addition of new, higher priced loans via the continued growth of our loan book during the second quarter, with C&I loans having been the biggest contributor, followed by commercial real estate loans. Moving forward, our NIM will also benefit as we reposition our loan book by reducing transactional indirect auto loans with higher yielding C&I and CRE loans ”

Mr. Montgomery concluded, “As I noted previously, our team here at Community Bank is focused on maintaining solid capital and liquidity positions. Success on those fronts provides a range of positive outcomes for our business that ultimately lead to long-term value creation which benefits all our constituents - shareholders, employees, customers, and our communities at large. While the near-term economic picture remains somewhat muddled, we are also committed to making proper investments in our franchise to position the bank for long-term growth. During the second quarter we added revenue producing members to our team while also continuing to make targeted technology investments necessary for our competitive positioning. We also declared and paid a $0.25 cash dividend during the quarter while allowing our previous share repurchase program to expire. I am proud of our entire team for all their hard work and look forward to our continued success.”

Dividend Information

The Company’s Board of Directors declared a $0.25 quarterly cash dividend per outstanding share of common stock, payable on or about August 31, 2023, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on August 15, 2023.

Stock Repurchase Program

On April 21, 2022, CB announced a program to repurchase up to $10.0 million of the Company’s outstanding shares of common stock. The Company purchased a total of 74,656 shares of the Company’s common stock at an average price of $22.38 per share prior to the program expiration on May 1, 2023.

2023 Second Quarter Financial Review

Net Interest and Dividend Income

Net interest and dividend income increased $1.0 million, or 9.4%, to $11.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023 compared to $10.2 million for the three months ended June 30, 2022.

• Net interest margin (GAAP) increased to 3.29% for the three months ended June 30, 2023 compared to 3.12% for the three months ended June 30, 2022. Fully tax equivalent (FTE) net interest margin (Non-GAAP) increased 17 bps to 3.30% for the three months ended June 30, 2023 compared to 3.13% for the three months ended June 30, 2022.
• Interest and dividend income increased $4.2 million, or 38.7%, to $15.2 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023 compared to $11.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2022.
  • Interest income on loans increased $3.7 million, or 37.9%, to $13.4 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023 compared to $9.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2022. The average balance of loans increased $71.5 million to $1.08 billion from $1.01 billion, generating $724,000 of additional interest income on loans. The average yield increased 112 bps to 5.00% compared to 3.88% causing a $3.0 million increase in interest income on loans.
  • Interest income on interest-earning deposits at other banks increased $599,000, to $721,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2023 compared to $122,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2022 as the average yield increased 443 bps, partially offset by a $1.9 million decrease in average balances. The increase in the average yield was the result of the Federal Reserve Board’s interest rate increases.
• Interest expense increased $3.3 million, or 413.6%, to $4.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023 compared to $795,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2022.
  • Interest expense on deposits increased $3.2 million, or 536.1%, to $3.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023 compared to $604,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2022. Rising market interest rates led to the repricing of interest-bearing demand and money market deposits and a shift in deposits from non interest-bearing to interest-bearing demand and time deposits and resulted in a 137 bps, or 466.9%, increase in the average cost of interest-bearing deposits compared to the three months ended June 30, 2022. This accounted for a $3.2 million increase in interest expense. Additionally, interest-bearing deposit balances increased $104.5 million, or 12.7%, to $930.1 million as of June 30, 2023 compared to $825.6 million as of June 30, 2022, accounting for a $70,000 increase in interest expense. 

Provision for Credit Losses

Effective January 1, 2023, the Company adopted ASU 2016-13, “Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments”, which replaced the incurred loss methodology with an expected loss methodology that is referred to as the current expected credit loss (CECL) methodology. The provision for credit losses recorded for the three months ended June 30, 2023 was $432,000 and was required primarily due to loan growth coupled with a modeled slowdown in loan prepayment speeds. This compared to $3.8 million in provision for credit losses recorded for the three months ended June 30, 2022, primarily due to the charge-off of a $2.7 million commercial and industrial loan to a borrower that ceased operations.

Noninterest income

Noninterest income increased $164,000, or 7.8%, to $2.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023, compared to $2.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2022. This increase was primarily related to a $142,000 increase in commercial and personal insurance commissions and a decrease in net losses on securities of $99,000.

Noninterest Expense

Noninterest expense increased $1.1 million, or 13.0%, to $9.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023 compared to $8.4 million for the three months ended June 30, 2022. Salaries and benefits increased $692,000, or 15.2%, to $5.2 million primarily due to merit increases, revenue producing staff additions and associated $160,000 of recruiting costs, and $96,000 of severance costs related to the discontinuation of indirect automobile lending. Data processing expense increased $272,000, or 61.0%, to $718,000, due to increased ongoing costs related to the fourth quarter 2022 core conversion and equipment expense increased $101,000 or 55.5%, to $283,000, due to costs associated with the implementation of new interactive teller machines.

Statement of Financial Condition Review

Assets

Total assets increased $23.8 million, or 1.7%, to $1.43 billion at June 30, 2023, compared to $1.41 billion at December 31, 2022.

• Cash and due from banks decreased $25.6 million, or 24.7%, to $78.1 million at June 30, 2023, compared to $103.7 million at December 31, 2022, due to significant loan growth.
• Securities decreased $8.6 million, or 4.5%, to $181.4 million at June 30, 2023, compared to $190.1 million at December 31, 2022. The securities balance was primarily impacted by $8.1 million of repayments on mortgage-backed and collateralized mortgage obligation securities and a $332,000 decrease in the market value in the equity securities portfolio, which is primarily comprised of bank stocks. 

Loans and Credit Quality

• Total loans increased $51.3 million, or 4.9%, to $1.10 billion at June 30, 2023 compared to $1.05 billion at December 31, 2022. Loan growth was driven by increases in commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate loans and residential mortgage loans of $32.2 million, $21.8 million, and $7.8 million, respectively, partially offset by a decrease in consumer loans of $12.1 million. The decrease in consumer loans resulted from a reduction in indirect automobile loan production due to rising market interest rates. Further decreases in this portfolio is expected as the Bank discontinued this product offering at June 30, 2023 to allocate resources and focus production efforts on more profitable commercial products.
• The allowance for credit losses (ACL) was $10.7 million at June 30, 2023 and $12.8 million at December 31, 2022. As a result, the ACL to total loans was 0.97% at June 30, 2023 compared to 1.22% at December 31, 2022. The change in the ACL was primarily due to the Company's aforementioned adoption of CECL. At adoption, the Company decreased its ACL by $3.4 million. Contributing to the change in ACL was a prior year charge-off of $2.7 million and qualitative factors that significantly impacted the incurred loss model driven by historical activity compared to the adopted CECL methodology that is centered around current expected credit loss (CECL) activity using a forecast approach.
• Net charge-offs for the three months ended June 30, 2023 were $96,000, or 0.04% of average loans on an annualized basis. Net charge-offs for the three months ended June 30, 2022 were $2.5 million, or 1.01% of average loans on an annualized basis primarily due to the aforementioned $2.7 million charge-off of a commercial and industrial loan. Net recoveries for the six months ended June 30, 2023 were $660,000 primarily due to recoveries totaling $750,000 related to the prior year charged-off loan. Net charge-offs for the six months ended June 30, 2022 were $2.5 million.
• Nonperforming loans, which includes nonaccrual loans and accruing loans past due 90 days or more, were $4.1 million at June 30, 2023 compared to $5.8 million at December 31, 2022. The decrease of $1.7 million was due to ten loans totaling $1.7 million being moved from nonaccrual to accrual status during the current period. Current nonperforming loans to total loans ratio was 0.37% compared to 0.55% at December 31, 2022. 

Other

• Intangible assets decreased $891,000, or 25.6%, to $2.6 million at June 30, 2023 compared to $3.5 million at December 31, 2022 due to amortization expense recognized during the period.
• Accrued interest and other assets increased $5.6 million, or 26.8%, to $26.7 million at June 30, 2023, compared to $21.1 million at December 31, 2022 due to the sale of a $2.0 million syndicated loan which was sold but not yet settled at the end of the period, and increases in accounts receivable for EU, income taxes receivable and BOLI death benefit claims receivable $853,000, $761,000 and $664,000.

Total liabilities increased $17.4 million, or 1.3%, to $1.32 billion at June 30, 2023 compared to $1.30 billion at December 31, 2022.

Deposits

• Total deposits decreased $5.2 million to $1.26 billion as of June 30, 2023 compared to $1.27 billion at December 31, 2022. Interest-bearing demand deposits increased $62.8 million and time deposits increased $60.4 million, while non interest-bearing demand deposits decreased $74.3 million, money market deposits decreased $23.3 million and savings deposits decreased $30.8 million. The increase in interest-bearing demand deposits is primarily the result of higher interest rates attracting more customers and additional deposits from existing customers while higher time deposits resulted from the offering of a higher-rate certificate of deposit product. FDIC insured deposits totaled approximately 61.1% of total deposits while an additional 16.5% of deposits were collateralized with investment securities.

Borrowed Funds

• Long-term borrowings increased $20.0 million, or 136.6%, to $34.7 million at June 30, 2023, compared to $14.6 million at December 31, 2022. During the second quarter, the Bank entered into $20.0 million of FHLB advances for a term of 24 months at 4.92%, the proceeds of which were utilized to match fund originations within the Bank’s commercial and industrial loan portfolio.
• Short-term borrowings decreased $8.1 million, or 100.0%, as there were no short-term borrowings at June 30, 2023, compared to $8.1 million at December 31, 2022. At December 31, 2022, short-term borrowings were comprised entirely of securities sold under agreements to repurchase. These accounts were transitioned into other deposit products and account for a portion of the interest-bearing demand deposit increase.

Accrued Interest Payable and Other Liabilities

• Accrued interest payable and other liabilities increased $10.6 million, or 139.8%, to $18.2 million at June 30, 2023, compared to $7.6 million at December 31, 2022 primarily due to the purchase of $8.9 million of syndicated loans which were unfunded at the end of the period.

Stockholders’ Equity

Stockholders’ equity increased $6.4 million, or 5.8%, to $116.6 million at June 30, 2023, compared to $110.2 million at December 31, 2022. Key factors positively impacting stockholders’ equity included $6.9 million of net income for the current period and a $2.1 million positive adjustment, net of tax, due to the Company’s January 1, 2023 adoption of CECL as described above. These factors were partially offset by the payment of $2.6 million in dividends since December 31, 2022 and activity under share repurchase programs. On April 21, 2022, a $10.0 million repurchase program was authorized, with the Company repurchasing 74,656 shares at an average price of $22.38 per share since the inception of the plan. In total, the Company repurchased $274,000 of common stock since December 31, 2022. The plan expired on May 1, 2023.

Book value per share

Book value per common share was $22.81 at June 30, 2023 compared to $21.60 at December 31, 2022, an increase of $1.21.

Tangible book value per common share (Non-GAAP) was $20.39 at June 30, 2023, compared to $19.00 at December 31, 2022, an increase of $1.39.

Refer to “Explanation of Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” at the end of this Press Release.

About CB Financial Services, Inc.

CB Financial Services, Inc. is the bank holding company for Community Bank, a Pennsylvania-chartered commercial bank. Community Bank operates its branch network in southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Community Bank offers a broad array of retail and commercial lending and deposit services and provides commercial and personal insurance brokerage services through Exchange Underwriters, Inc., its wholly owned subsidiary.

For more information about CB Financial Services, Inc. and Community Bank, visit our website at www.communitybank.tv.

Statement About Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and such forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. The Company intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions contained in the Act. The Company’s ability to predict results or the actual effect of future plans or strategies is inherently uncertain. Factors which could have a material adverse effect on the operations and future prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries include, but are not limited to, general and local economic conditions, changes in market interest rates, deposit flows, demand for loans, real estate values and competition, competitive products and pricing, the ability of our customers to make scheduled loan payments, loan delinquency rates and trends, our ability to manage the risks involved in our business, our ability to control costs and expenses, inflation, market and monetary fluctuations, changes in federal and state legislation and regulation applicable to our business, actions by our competitors, and other factors that may be disclosed in the Company’s periodic reports as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks and uncertainties should be considered in evaluating forward-looking statements and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as may be required by applicable law or regulation.