Civista Bancshares Inc (CIVB) Q4 2024 Earnings Call Highlights: Strong Quarter with 18% Net ...

GuruFocus.com
31 Jan
  • Net Income (Q4 2024): $9.9 million or $0.63 per diluted share, an 18% increase over the previous quarter.
  • Net Income (2024): $31.7 million or $2.01 per diluted share, compared to $43 million or $2.73 per diluted share in 2023.
  • Return on Assets (ROA) (Q4 2024): 0.97%.
  • Return on Assets (ROA) (2024): 0.80%.
  • Non-Interest Income (2024): Increased by $585,000 compared to 2023.
  • Loan and Lease Portfolio Growth (Q4 2024): Annualized rate of 4.9%.
  • Loan and Lease Portfolio Growth (2024): 7.7%.
  • Core Deposit Growth (Q4 2024): Increased by over $36 million.
  • Net Interest Income (Q4 2024): $31.4 million, a 7.3% increase compared to the previous quarter.
  • Net Interest Margin (Q4 2024): Expanded by 20 basis points to 3.36%.
  • Net Interest Margin (2024): 3.21%.
  • Non-Interest Expense (Q4 2024): $28.3 million, a 1.1% increase from the previous quarter.
  • Efficiency Ratio (Q4 2024): 68.3%.
  • Total Loans and Leases Growth (2024): $219.5 million, a growth rate of 7.7%.
  • Total Deposits Growth (2024): $226.8 million or 7.6%.
  • Loan to Deposit Ratio (Q4 2024): 96%.
  • Allowance for Credit Losses to Total Loans (Dec 31, 2024): 1.29%.
  • Effective Tax Rate (Q4 2024): 13.1%.
  • Effective Tax Rate (2024): 13.4%.
  • Tier One Leverage Ratio (Dec 31, 2024): 8.60%.
  • Warning! GuruFocus has detected 6 Warning Sign with CIVB.

Release Date: January 30, 2025

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Positive Points

  • Civista Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:CIVB) reported a net income increase of $1.5 million or 18% for the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the previous quarter.
  • The company successfully replaced $5.2 million of 2023 non-interest income losses with increased service charges, gains on mortgage sales, and lease and loan originations.
  • Loan and lease portfolio grew at an annualized rate of 4.9% during the fourth quarter and 7.7% for the year, indicating strong loan demand.
  • Core deposit funding grew organically by over $36 million during the quarter, reducing reliance on brokered funding.
  • Net interest income for the quarter increased by $2.1 million or 7.3%, with a margin expansion of 20 basis points to 3.36%.

Negative Points

  • Net income for the year decreased to $31.7 million from $43 million in 2023, reflecting a decline in annual earnings.
  • Non-interest income decreased by $671,000 or 6.9% from the linked quarter, primarily due to a decline in lease revenue and residual fees.
  • Allowance for credit losses to non-performing loans declined from 246% to 124%, attributed to two loans totaling $16.4 million downgraded to non-performing.
  • Non-interest expense increased by $4.9 million or 4.6% year-over-year, driven by compensation expenses and professional fees.
  • Efficiency ratio for the quarter was 68.3%, which is higher than desired, indicating room for improvement in cost management.

Q & A Highlights

Q: Can you provide insights on the fee income outlook, particularly regarding leasing fees and overall fee base for 2025? A: Dennis Shaffer, President and CEO, stated that they are optimistic about leasing fees due to good traction over the past six months. They expect continued growth in wealth management fees, with assets under management now over $800 million. The wildcard remains residential mortgage loans, which are rate-dependent, but they aim to match or exceed last year's performance.

Q: Could you break down the net gain on sale of loans for the quarter between CLF volume and traditional residential? A: An unidentified company representative explained that in Q4, the gain on sale was about $1.3 million, with 40% from CLF leasing and 60% from mortgage. Mortgage volume was approximately $40 million, while leasing was just under $12 million.

Q: What are the expected impacts on deposit costs and efforts to reduce rates outside of CD pricing dynamics? A: Dennis Shaffer noted proactive rate reductions in line with FED cuts. While overall deposit costs may trend slightly higher due to aggressive core deposit generation, total funding costs are expected to decline as they replace more expensive brokered deposits and borrowings.

Q: Are there any areas or geographies where you're seeing more credit pressure? A: Michael Mulford, Senior Vice President, stated that there are no specific areas with systemic credit issues. Any credit concerns are isolated incidents rather than geographic or concentration-related.

Q: What are your future deposit gathering initiatives, and how will you prevent new money market accounts from cannibalizing existing deposits? A: Dennis Shaffer highlighted several initiatives, including utilizing dashboards for bankers, focusing on accounts with low deposits, and investing in Mantle for online account opening. They aim to attract high-balance money market accounts without cannibalizing core deposits, using index-based pricing for large depositors.

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

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