Private Bancorp of America, Inc. Announces Record Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Financial Results With Total Assets of $1.5 Billion

Fourth Quarter Highlights

• Net income for the quarter was $7.3 million, compared to $5.1 million for Q3’21 and $4.4 million in Q4’20
• Diluted earnings per share of $1.28, compared to $0.89 for Q3’21 and $0.78 per share in Q4’20.
• Net interest margin of 4.44%, compared to 4.39% for Q3’21
• Cost of funding sources was 0.19%, compared to 0.22% for Q3’21
• Total loans held-for-investment (“HFI”), excluding PPP loans, increased $70.7 million, up 6.3% to $1.2 billion
• Non-interest-bearing demand deposits grew $36.4 million to $682.6 million, representing 50.7% of total deposits
• Allowance for Loan Losses remained strong at 1.39% of total loans HFI
• Tangible book value per share of $22.26, up $0.99 per share or 4.7% from Q3’21
• Well capitalized Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 10.63% (preliminary)
  

2021 Full Year Highlights

• Net income of $21.0 million, compared to $10.9 million for FY’20, an increase of 93.1%
• Diluted earnings per share of $3.69, compared to $1.94 for FY’20, an increase of 90.4%
• Pre-provision net revenue of $32.6 million, compared to $21.3 million for FY’20, representing a 52.6% increase
• Return on average assets of 1.48%, compared to 0.89% for FY’20and return on average equity of 17.77%, compared to 10.70% for FY’20
• Net interest margin of 4.19%, compared to 4.15% for FY’20
• Total assets increased to $1.5 billion, representing an increase of 14.0% over FY’20.
• Total loans HFI, excluding PPP loans, increased $252.1 million to $1.2 billion or 26.9% compared to FY’20
• Non-interest-bearing demand deposits increased $150.9 million or 28.4% compared to FY’20
• Tangible book value per share increased $3.31 or 17.5% compared to FY’20
  

LA JOLLA, Calif., Jan. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Private Bancorp of America, Inc. (OTCQX:PBAM), (“Company”) and CalPrivate Bank (“Bank”) announced unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter ending December 31, 2021. The Company reported net income of $7.3 million, or $1.28 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to $5.1 million, or $0.89 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2021. Net income for the twelve months ending December 31, 2021, was $21.0 million, or $3.69 per diluted share, compared to $10.9 million or $1.94 per diluted share in FY’20.

Rick Sowers, President and CEO of the Company and the Bank stated, “In the face of a challenging environment with a global pandemic that continues to strain many sectors of our economy, our fourth quarter results attest to the resilience of our CalPrivate Bank franchise. Our Distinctly Different service model allows us to focus our Team on delivering value to our Clients. The fourth quarter continued to reflect our strong organic loan production capabilities through building Customized Solutions for our Clients. We believe this approach has positioned us well to participate in the economic recovery we expect to see in 2022.”

Sowers continued, “We continue to make progress in improving our operating leverage: we grew loans, core deposits, and capital to record levels; and we are making progress on streamlining our internal processes. We remain excited about the implementation of new technologies including the nCino Bank Operating System that we expect will provide us additional insight into our Client relationships and result in enhanced productivity.”

“PBAM’s fourth quarter of 2021 demonstrated our agility and approach to serving our core markets. The Company’s strategy to grow commercial and private banking loans and expand relationships continued to be demonstrated in the fourth quarter. The dedication of our Team, and the tremendous success we have been able to achieve for our Clients and Stakeholders is impressive,” said Selwyn Isakow, Chairman of the Board of the Company and the Bank.

Isakow added, “Given the strength of our core Southern California market and our already solid foundation, we have a significant opportunity to strategically drive growth in our portfolio. Building on CalPrivate’s momentum over the past year positions us well to deliver solid shareholder returns in 2022.”

STATEMENT OF INCOME

Net Interest Income

Net interest income for the fourth quarter totaled $16.7 million, representing an increase of $972 thousand or 6.2% compared to the third quarter of 2021. The increase in net interest income for the quarter was primarily due to increases in organic non-PPP loan balances. PPP interest and fee income was $1.4 million in Q4’21, compared to $1.5 million in Q3’21. Interest expense on deposits decreased $56 thousand in Q4’21 vs Q3’21. The fourth quarter decrease in funding costs was due to the strategic reduction of deposit costs.

Net interest income for the full year totaled $58.8 million representing an increase of $8.5 million, or 17.0% compared to FY’20. The increase was due to higher average loan balances, increased SBA PPP loan income and lower cost of funds, partially offset by prepayment penalties in 2021 totaling $1.2 million as a result of proactively prepaying high priced FHLB term advances.

Net Interest Margin

The net interest margin for the fourth quarter was 4.44% (4.23% excluding PPP loans) compared to 4.39% (4.27% excluding PPP loans) for the third quarter. The 5bps increase in the net interest margin for the quarter was due to higher core loan yields and lower funding costs for the quarter. Average portfolio loan yields were 5.50%, compared to 5.38% for Q3’21. The yield on earning assets for the fourth quarter was 4.62% compared with 4.60% for the third quarter.

The net interest margin for the full year 2021 was 4.19% (4.10% excluding PPP) compared with 4.15% (4.09% excluding PPP) for the prior year 2020. The increase in the net interest margin was due to lower deposit costs offset with higher borrowing costs related to the pre-payment of FHLB advances. The costs of funds in the full year 2021 was 0.35% compared to 0.62% in FY’20. In the first half of 2021, the Bank prepaid FHLB term advances and recorded $1.2 million in prepayment expense.

Provision for Loan Losses

The provision for loan losses for the fourth quarter was $834 thousand, an increase of $401 thousand compared to the third quarter. The driver for the fourth quarter provision was organic growth in the loan portfolio. While the economy continued to recover in the fourth quarter, new COVID-19 variants have created uncertainty, and this is reflected in our total loan loss provision to total loans HFI of 1.39% or 1.40% excluding PPP loans.

Non-Interest Income

Non-interest income was $4.3 million for the fourth quarter, representing a $1.9 million increase, or 78.5% increase compared to the third quarter of 2021. The increase in non-interest income was primarily due to an outsized increase in SBA loans sales during the fourth quarter. This increase was the result of a change in the SBA servicing provider which caused a delay in the sale of loans during Q3’21. SBA loan sales for the fourth quarter were $36.0 million with a 12.9% trade premium compared with $15.6 million with a 14.5% trade premium in the third quarter. The Company had $24.7 million of loans held for sale at December 31, 2021, down from $35.4 million in the third quarter. Total non-interest income increased $6.2 million or 122.3% year over year.

Non-Interest Expense

Non-interest expense was $9.8 million for the fourth quarter representing a $625 thousand or 6% decline compared to the third quarter of 2021. As a result of CalPrivate’s prior quarter decision to empower employees with the choice to work remotely, the Bank consolidated one of its administrative locations, resulting in reduced occupancy expenses.

Professional services and other expenses continue to remain at elevated levels given on-going legal and related expenses associated with the ANI Development, LLC, and Gina Champion-Cain fraud recovery cases. We continue to pursue recovery opportunities that could positively impact earnings and tangible book value per share in future quarters. Additionally, as the Bank continues to grow and has encountered a challenging labor market, we have engaged with some staffing agencies to provide temporary additional high-quality resources.

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL CONDITION

Balance Sheet

At December 31, 2021, the Company reported total assets of $1.5 billion representing an increase of $41.5 million or 2.8% compared to the third quarter of 2021. The increase in assets for the quarter was due to increases in loans and investment securities supported by additional growth in core deposits. Total loans HFI increased $32.0 million during the quarter, up 2.7%; excluding PPP loans, total loans increased $70.6 million, up 6.3%. Total deposits were $1.3 billion representing an increase of $32.4 million, or 2.5%, compared to the third quarter. Total non-interest-bearing deposits represented 50.7% of total deposits at December 31, 2021. Additionally, during the quarter, the bank judiciously grew the securities portfolio to $102.1 million, an increase of $9.0 million from the prior quarter.

Asset Quality and Loan Deferrals

The Allowance for Loan Losses increased $834 thousand to $17.0 million in the quarter with a resulting coverage ratio of 1.39% of total loans outstanding, including PPP loans. The increase in the Allowance for Loan Losses was primarily due to non-PPP organic loan growth and qualitative factors related to the general economic outlook in the markets we serve.

As of December 31, 2021, there were no doubtful credits or charge offs and Classified assets totaled $13.4 million. Total classified assets consisted of 12 loans, of which 5 loans totaling $7.9 million were secured by real estate with a weighted average LTV of 47%. In addition, all loans that were previously granted payment deferrals related to COVID-19 have resumed their contractual payments.

Capital Ratios (1)

The Company and the Bank’s capital ratios were in excess of the levels established for “well capitalized” institutions and are as follows:

(1) December 31, 2021, capital ratios are preliminary

Stock Repurchase Program

Since announcing the stock repurchase program in July 2021, the Company has not repurchased any shares of its common stock. The remaining number of shares authorized to be repurchased under this program at December 31, 2021, was 75,000 shares.

About Private Bancorp of America, Inc.

Private Bancorp of America, Inc. (OTCQX: PBAM), is the holding company for CalPrivate Bank. CalPrivate Bank provides a Distinctly Different banking experience through unparalleled service and creative funding solutions to high-net-worth individuals, professionals, locally owned businesses, and real estate entrepreneurs. Customers are serviced through offices in Coronado, San Diego, La Jolla, Newport Beach, El Segundo and Beverly Hills as well as efficient electronic banking offerings. The Bank also offers various portfolio and government guaranteed lending programs, including SBA and cross-border Export-Import Bank programs. CalPrivate Bank is an SBA Preferred Lender and a Bauer Financial 5-star rated bank.

Investor Relations Contacts

Rick Sowers
President and Chief Executive Officer
Private Bancorp of America, Inc., and CalPrivate Bank
(424) 303-4894

Mag Wangsuwana
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Private Bancorp of America, Inc., and CalPrivate Bank
(424) 348-2145

Safe Harbor Paragraph

This press release includes forward-looking statements that involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Private Bancorp of America, Inc. cautions readers that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward‐looking statements. These factors include the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and related government actions on the Bank and its customers, loan losses, economic conditions and competition in the geographic and business areas in which Private Bancorp of America, Inc. operates, our ability to successfully integrate and develop business through the addition of new personnel and facilities and merged banks, whether our efforts to expand loan, product and service offerings will prove profitable, the effects of the bank mergers and acquisitions in our markets, system failures and internet security, inflation, fluctuations in interest rates, legislation and governmental regulation. You should not place undue reliance on forward‐looking statements, and we undertake no obligation to update those statements whether as a result of changes in underlying factors, new information, future events or otherwise.