Kearny Financial Corp. Reports Fiscal 2021 First Quarter Results

FAIRFIELD, N.J., Oct. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ GS: KRNY) (the “Company”), the holding company of Kearny Bank (the “Bank”), reported net income for the first quarter ended September 30, 2020 of $11.4 million, or $0.13 per diluted share. These results represent a decrease of $2.3 million from $13.7 million, or $0.17 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2020.

Reported net income for the quarters ended September 30, 2020 and June 30, 2020 was impacted by various non-recurring items which were recognized in conjunction with the Company’s July 10, 2020 acquisition of MSB Financial Corp. (“MSB”) and its subsidiary Millington Bank. Excluding the effects of these non-recurring items, net of tax, net income would have been $15.0 million, or $0.17 per diluted share for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 compared to $14.1 million or $0.17 per diluted share for the quarter ended June 30, 2020.

Craig L. Montanaro, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “I am pleased to report that core earnings remain strong and our level of active COVID-19 related loan modifications has declined to $76.9 million, or 1.5% of total loans. While challenges related to the pandemic persist, we remain completely focused on expanding our relationships with our clients and executing our strategic plan.”

With regard to the recently completed MSB acquisition, Mr. Montanaro further commented, “With nearly a full quarter of combined operations behind us, I can confidently state that this merger has been a success. The expansion into Somerset and Morris counties presents an excellent growth opportunity for our lending and deposit teams. From an operational perspective, the conversion of MSB’s technology systems simultaneous with the closing will allow us to recognize our anticipated cost savings more quickly than in our prior transactions.”

MSB Acquisition Highlights

• On July 10, 2020, the Company completed its acquisition of MSB which increased total assets by $581.9 million, net loans by $530.2 million and total deposits by $460.2 million.
• Of the $530.2 million of loans acquired, $65.3 million, or 12.3%, were classified as Purchased Credit Deteriorated (“PCD”) and had associated credit reserves of $3.9 million. Provision for credit losses attributable to non-PCD acquired loans totaled $5.1 million.
• As the fair value of the net assets acquired exceeded the purchase price, a bargain purchase gain of $3.1 million was recognized.
• Tangible book value dilution totaled 1.4%, or 1.8% inclusive of the impact of the provision for credit losses on the acquired loans.
• Integration of MSB’s technology systems and the re-branding of all Millington Bank branches was completed simultaneous with the closing of the transaction, thereby accelerating non-interest expense reductions, which are expected to exceed 45%.

Balance Sheet

• Deposits increased by $609.6 million to $5.04 billion at September 30, 2020 from $4.43 billion at June 30, 2020, largely reflecting the impact of $460.2 million of deposits acquired from MSB coupled with organic growth of $179.0 million in core non-maturity deposits.
• Loans receivable increased by $456.4 million to $4.95 billion at September 30, 2020 from $4.50 billion at June 30, 2020. The net increase in loans reflected the impact of $530.2 million of loans that were acquired in conjunction with the acquisition of MSB, partially offset by a net decline in non-acquired loan balances, driven largely by accelerated loan pre-payment activity, as compared to the prior quarter.
• Investment securities increased to $1.54 billion, or 21.1% of total assets, at September 30, 2020 from $1.42 billion at June 30, 2020, while borrowings decreased to $1.08 billion, or 14.7% of total assets, from $1.17 billion, for those same comparative periods.

Earnings

Net Interest Income, Spread and Margin

• Net interest income for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 increased by $3.7 million to $44.2 million from $40.5 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2020. This increase reflected growth in interest income of $3.5 million coupled with a reduction in interest expense of $179,000. Included in net interest income was purchase accounting accretion of $4.2 million and $3.0 million, for the quarters ended September 30, 2020 and June 30, 2020, respectively.
• Net interest margin, for the quarter ended September 30, 2020, increased by four basis points to 2.66%. This increase primarily reflected a reduction in the cost of interest-bearing liabilities, partially offset by a reduction in the yield on interest-earning assets.
• Yield on interest-earning assets, for the quarter ended September 30, 2020, decreased by five basis points to 3.67% which was largely attributable to a 68 basis point decrease in the yield on taxable investment securities partially offset by a 16 basis point increase in the yield on loans. Cost of interest-bearing liabilities decreased by nine basis points to 1.20% which was attributable to a 27 basis point decrease in the cost of interest-bearing deposits partially offset by a 63 basis point increase in the cost of borrowings.

Non-Interest Income

• For the quarter ended September 30, 2020, a non-recurring bargain purchase gain of $3.1 million was recognized in conjunction with the acquisition of MSB, as noted above.
• Fees and service charges totaled $1.1 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2020, compared to $1.7 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2020. The decrease was largely attributable to a decline of $703,000 in loan pre-payment penalty income to $647,000.
• Loan sale gains achieved record levels, totaling $1.9 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 as compared to $1.3 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2020. The increase in loan sale gains primarily reflected growth in the volume of residential mortgage loans sold coupled with an increase in the margin at which such loans were sold.
• Gain (loss) on sale and call of securities reflected a loss of $377,000 for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 compared to a gain of $19,000 for the quarter ended June 30, 2020.

Non-Interest Expense

• Non-interest expense increased by $6.7 million to $33.6 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 compared to $26.9 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2020. The increase in non-interest expense was partly attributable to an increase of $3.9 million in merger-related expense which was recognized in conjunction with the Company’s acquisition of MSB. The remaining change in non-interest expense included increases in salaries and employee benefits, net occupancy expense of premises, equipment and systems expense, FDIC insurance premiums and miscellaneous expense. A substantial portion of these increases were attributable to the additional infrastructure and personnel acquired from MSB.
• As part of the Company’s ongoing initiative to improve operating efficiency, two additional branch locations will be consolidated during the Company’s second and third fiscal quarters. Once completed, this will bring the total number of consolidations to 12 over the past 24 months.

Income Taxes

• Income tax expense totaled $2.9 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 compared to $4.7 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2020, resulting in effective tax rates of 20.2% and 25.6%, respectively.
• The decrease in effective income tax rate for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 reflected the effects of various non-recurring items recorded in conjunction with the Company’s acquisition of MSB, as noted above.

Performance Ratios

• Return on average assets declined to 0.63% for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 from 0.81% for the quarter ended June 30, 2020. Adjusting for the impact of non-recurring items, as noted above, the return on average assets was unchanged at 0.83% for the quarters ended September 30, 2020 and June 30, 2020.
• Return on average equity declined to 4.10% for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 from 5.08% for the quarter ended June 30, 2020 while return on average tangible equity decreased to 5.08% from 6.35% for those same comparative periods, respectively. Adjusting for the impact of non-recurring items, as noted above, the return on average equity increased to 5.40% for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 from 5.24% for the quarter ended June 30, 2020 while the return on average tangible equity increased to 6.70% from 6.55% for those same comparative periods.

Asset Quality

• On July 1, 2020, the Company adopted ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326), also known as the Current Expected Credit Loss (“CECL”) standard. CECL requires the measurement of all expected credit losses over the life of financial instruments held at the reporting date based on historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts. In connection with the adoption of CECL, the Company recognized a cumulative effect adjustment that reduced stockholders’ equity by $14.2 million, net of tax. At adoption, the Company increased its allowance for credit losses (“ACL”) by $19.6 million and $536,000, respectively, for loans and unfunded commitments.
• On July 10, 2020 the Company completed its acquisition of MSB, which resulted in an increase to the ACL of $9.0 million. Of this increase, $3.9 million was attributable to PCD loans and was recorded as an adjustment to their amortized cost basis. The remaining $5.1 million increase was attributable to non-PCD loans and was recorded via a provision for credit losses.
• The outstanding balance of non-performing loans totaled $45.1 million, or 0.91% of total loans, at September 30, 2020 compared to $36.7 million, or 0.82% of total loans, at June 30, 2020. The increase was largely attributable to non-performing loans acquired from MSB that totaled $5.8 million at September 30, 2020.
• Based on Section 4013 of the CARES Act and the related guidance promulgated by federal banking regulators, qualifying short-term loan modifications are not considered to be troubled debt restructurings. As of September 30, 2020, the Company had active payment deferrals on 63 loans totaling $76.9 million, representing 1.5% of total loans. This represents a small portion of the total deferrals granted and a substantial decrease in the number and amount of active deferrals at June 30, 2020.

The following table identifies the level of active and total non-TDR loan modifications at September 30, 2020:

______________________(1)    Includes loans acquired in conjunction with the Company’s acquisition of MSB Financial Corp. on July 10, 2020.

• Net charge offs totaled $67,000 for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 compared to $38,000 for the quarter ended June 30, 2020 reflecting an annualized net charge off rate of 0.01% and 0.00% for those same comparative periods.
• Provision for credit losses totaled $4.1 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 and largely reflected $5.1 million of provision attributable to the acquired MSB loans, as noted above, partially offset by the effects of a decrease in the overall balance of the portion of the loan portfolio that was collectively evaluated for impairment. By comparison, the provision for loan losses for the quarter ended June 30, 2020, under prior accounting guidance, totaled $174,000.
• The ACL increased to $64.9 million, or 1.30% of total loans, at September 30, 2020 from $37.3 million, or 0.82% of total loans, at June 30, 2020. This increase was the result of the combined effects of the CECL adoption-date cumulative effect adjustment, reserves for PCD loans acquired from MSB and quarter-to-date provisions for credit losses, net of quarter-to-date charge-offs.

Liquidity & Capital

• At September 30, 2020, the Company’s liquid assets included $145.8 million of short-term cash and equivalents supplemented by $1.51 billion of investment securities classified as available for sale. In addition, the Company had the capacity to borrow additional funds totaling $615.0 million via unsecured lines of credit and $1.57 billion and $296.3 million, without pledging additional collateral, from the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York and Federal Reserve Bank, respectively.
• On October 19, 2020, the Company announced the resumption of its current stock repurchase plan, which has 761,030 shares of common stock remaining to be repurchased. In addition, the Company announced the approval of a new repurchase plan totaling 4,475,523 shares, or 5% of the Company’s outstanding common stock. Through September 30, 2020, the Company had repurchased 8,457,294 shares, or 91.7% of the shares authorized for repurchase under the current repurchase plan, at a cost of $111.1 million, or an average of $13.14 per share.
• For the quarter ended September 30, 2020, the Company maintained its quarterly cash dividend of $0.08 per share.
• Tangible book value per share decreased by $0.24 to $10.15 at September 30, 2020. This decrease was largely attributable to the combined effects of the July 1, 2020 adoption of CECL and the July 10, 2020 acquisition of MSB.
• At September 30, 2020 the Company’s ratio of tangible equity to tangible assets equaled 12.81%.  The regulatory capital ratios, of both the Company and the Bank, at September 30, 2020, were in excess of the levels required by federal banking regulators to be classified as “well-capitalized” under regulatory guidelines.

Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors, which include, but are not limited to, factors discussed in documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. The Company does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic is having an adverse impact on the Company, its customers and the communities it serves. Given its ongoing and dynamic nature, it is difficult to predict the full impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on our business. The extent of such impact will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain, including when the coronavirus can be controlled and abated and when and how the economy may be reopened or remain open. As the result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related adverse local and national economic consequences, we could be subject to any of the following risks, any of which could have a material, adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, and results of operations: the demand for our products and services may decline, making it difficult to grow assets and income; if the economy is unable to substantially reopen or remain open, and high levels of unemployment continue for an extended period of time, loan delinquencies, problem assets, and foreclosures may increase, resulting in increased charges and reduced income; collateral for loans, especially real estate, may decline in value, which could cause loan losses to increase; our allowance for loan losses may increase if borrowers experience financial difficulties, which will adversely affect our net income; the net worth and liquidity of loan guarantors may decline, impairing their ability to honor commitments to us; as the result of the decline in the Federal Reserve Board’s target federal funds rate to near 0%, the yield on our assets may decline to a greater extent than the decline in our cost of interest-bearing liabilities, reducing our net interest margin and spread and reducing net income; due to a decline in our stock price or other factors, goodwill may become impaired and be required to be written down; and our cyber security risks are increased as the result of an increase in the number of employees working remotely.

Category: Earnings

______________________(1)   Tangible book value equals total stockholders' equity reduced by goodwill and core deposit intangible assets.

______________________(1)   The yield on tax-exempt investment securities has not been adjusted to reflect their tax-effective yield.(2)   Interest income divided by average interest-earning assets less interest expense divided by average interest-bearing liabilities.(3)   Net interest income divided by average interest-earning assets.(4)   Non-interest expense divided by the sum of net interest income and non-interest income.(5)   Average tangible equity equals total average stockholders’ equity reduced by average goodwill and average core deposit intangible assets.

______________________(1)   Tangible book value equals total stockholders' equity reduced by goodwill and core deposit intangible assets.

______________________(1)   The yield on tax-exempt investment securities has not been adjusted to reflect their tax-effective yield.(2)  Interest income divided by average interest-earning assets less interest expense divided by average interest-bearing liabilities.(3)   Net interest income divided by average interest-earning assets.(4)   Non-interest expense divided by the sum of net interest income and non-interest income.(5)   Average tangible equity equals total average stockholders’ equity reduced by average goodwill and average core deposit intangible assets.

This document contains certain non-GAAP financial measures in addition to results presented in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”). These non-GAAP measures provide additional information which allow readers to evaluate the ongoing performance of the Company. They are not a substitute for GAAP measures; they should be read and used in conjunction with the Company’s GAAP financial information. A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP measures is included below. In all cases, it should be understood that non-GAAP per share measures do not depict amounts that accrue directly to the benefit of shareholders.

For further information contact:Craig L. Montanaro, President and Chief Executive Officer, orKeith Suchodolski, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial OfficerKearny Financial Corp.(973) 244-4500