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South Atlantic Bancshares Net Income up 11.8 Percent

SABK | January 28, 2016

Assets Cross $400 Million Mark

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C., Jan. 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- South Atlantic Bancshares, Inc. (OTCQX: SABK), parent of South Atlantic Bank, today reported net income of $2,240,817 or $0.63 per diluted share for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared to $2,004,218 or $0.56 per diluted share reported for the same period a year ago. These figures represent an 11.8 percent increase in net income.

Financial Highlights

Year-end 2015 represents the company's fifth consecutive profitable year.
Credit quality remains strong with net charge-offs to average total assets of 0.01 percent and zero past due loans for 2015.
Net interest margin is 3.80 percent.
Total loans grew 19.7 percent in 2015, from $262.6 million at December 31, 2014 to $314.3 million at December 31, 2015.
Total deposits grew 3.3 percent, from $326.6 million reported at December 31, 2014, to $337.4 million at December 31, 2015.
Total assets grew 10.2 percent, from $363.3 million at December 31, 2014, to $400.2 million at December 31, 2015.

"It has been a year of outstanding achievement for our company," said K. Wayne Wicker, chairman of the board and chief executive officer. "Our financial performance continues to improve, fueled by growth in the loan portfolio in all the markets we serve. Additionally, the merchant services and mortgage loan areas of the bank contributed to our results, helping noninterest income grow fifty-four percent this year.

The company also met several goals in 2015. We further developed our branch network with expansion to North Myrtle Beach and plans for a new and larger office in the Mount Pleasant market. We moved our website from the dot com domain to the dot bank domain, which provides greater safeguards for online commerce. We also continued to upgrade customer services including our goMobile banking app," Wicker said.

Additionally, the company completed a private placement offering for its common stock, raising $4.6 million to be used for general corporate purposes and to support the growth and capital position of the bank. In October, the company's stock began to trade on the OTCQX Marketplace, creating greater visibility and accessibility. Lastly, a 10 percent stock dividend – the second in the company's brief history – took place in December.

About South Atlantic Bank
South Atlantic Bank, the subsidiary bank of South Atlantic Bancshares, Inc. (OTCQX: SABK), is a $390.1 million financial institution that is locally owned, controlled, and operated. The bank is headquartered in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with additional offices in Murrells Inlet, Pawleys Island, Georgetown, North Myrtle Beach, and Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. South Atlantic Bank offers a wide variety of services for businesses and consumers, including South Atlantic Bank goMobile, its mobile banking app. The bank also offers internet banking, no-fee ATM access, checking, CD, and money market accounts, merchant services, mortgage loans, remote deposit capture, and more. South Atlantic Bank was named a "Roaring Twenties" winner as one of the best performing large companies in the state of South Carolina by SC Biz News, in 2012, 2013, and 2015. For more information, visit SouthAtlantic.bank.

Member FDIC

South Atlantic Bank
Selected Financial Highlights

	For the	For the	For the
	Twelve Months Ended	Twelve Months Ended	Twelve Months Ended
	December 31, 2015	December 31, 2014	December 31, 2013
*Year-to-Date Balances (In Thousands)*
Total assets	$ 400,218	$ 363,348	$ 318,057
Investment securities	52,784	52,607	73,727
Loans, net of unearned income (total loans)	314,255	262,646	218,174
Deposits	337,362	326,594	285,519
Shareholders' equity	35,645	32,242	24,141

*Average Balances (In Thousands)*
Total assets	$ 374,291	$ 341,288	$ 307,746
Earning assets	382,350	318,590	281,908
Investment securities	51,238	67,306	69,880
Loans, net of unearned income	313,988	239,797	199,817
Deposits	335,849	308,929	281,306
Shareholders' equity	33,961	26,925	24,904

*Earnings Breakdown (In Thousands)*
Total interest income	$ 14,137	$ 13,012	$ 11,291
Total interest expense	1,161	1,188	1,311
Net interest income	12,976	11,825	9,980
Total noninterest income	2,633	1,705	1,996
Total noninterest expense	12,272	10,618	9,154
Provision for loan losses	230	475	730
Income before taxes	3,106	2,437	2,092
Taxes	865	433	447
Net income	2,241	2,004	1,645
Diluted earnings per share	0.63	0.56	0.46

*Selected % Increases*	*Year Over Year*
Total assets	10.15%	14.24%	11.60%
Total interest earning assets	10.58%	14.04%	11.93%
Total loans	19.65%	20.38%	14.84%
Total deposits	3.30%	14.39%	10.10%
Interest income	8.64%	15.24%	12.89%
Interest expense	(2.21)%	(9.40)%	(19.09)%
Noninterest income	54.37%	(14.54)%	(26.19)%
Noninterest expense	15.58%	15.99%	13.54%
Net income	11.81%	21.90%	(35.08)%*

*Selected Ratios*	*Year Over Year*
Return on assets	0.59%	0.55%	0.53%
Return on equity	6.55%	7.44%	6.60%
Interest income to total average assets	3.78%	3.81%	3.67%
Interest expense to total average assets	0.31%	0.35%	0.43%
Net interest income to total average assets	3.47%	3.46%	3.24%
Loan loss reserve to total loans	0.90%	1.00%	1.10%
Nonperforming assets to total average assets	0.11%	0.13%	0.24%
Net charge-offs to total average assets	0.01%	0.07%	0.08%
Net interest margin	3.80%	3.79%	3.56%