News Details

WASHINGTON & CHARLESTON, W. Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- United Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: UBSI) (“United”), today announced earnings for the first quarter of 2017. Earnings for the first quarter of 2017 were $38.8 million or $0.48 per diluted share as compared to earnings of $34.7 million or $0.50 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2016. The decrease in earnings per share was primarily a result of 4,330,000 common shares issued in a $199.9 million public offering completed in December of 2016.

United’s first quarter of 2017 results produced an annualized return on average assets of 1.09% and an annualized return on average equity of 6.98%. United’s annualized returns on average assets and average equity were 1.13% and 8.06%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2016.

“For the first quarter of 2017, we increased before tax earnings to $59.0 million from $52.6 million for last year’s first quarter,” stated Richard M. Adams, United’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Despite a decrease in the earnings per share due to the issuance of shares in a public offering, our profitability remains strong. We outperformed our peers based upon our return on average assets of 1.1% compared to the Federal Reserve peer group’s return on average assets of 0.90%.”

On June 3, 2016, United completed its acquisition of Bank of Georgetown of Washington, D.C. The results of operations of Bank of Georgetown are included in the consolidated results of operations from the date of acquisition. As a result, the first quarter of 2017 was impacted by increased levels of average balances, income, and expense as compared to the first quarter of 2016. At consummation, Bank of Georgetown had assets of approximately $1.3 billion, loans of $999.8 million, and deposits of $971.4 million. On April 21, 2017, United consummated its acquisition of Cardinal Financial Corporation (“Cardinal”). While the first quarter of 2017 does not include the consolidated results of Cardinal, the quarter did include $1.2 million of merger expenses related to the acquisition of Cardinal.

“We were pleased to announce the completion of our acquisition of Cardinal,” stated Mr. Adams. “We believe the acquisition will be accretive to future earnings.”

Net interest income for the first quarter of 2017 was $107.6 million, which was an increase of $9.3 million or 10% from the first quarter of 2016. The $9.3 million increase in net interest income occurred because total interest income increased $12.3 million while total interest expense only increased $2.9 million from the first quarter of 2016. Tax-equivalent net interest income, which adjusts for the tax-favored status of income from certain loans and investments, for the first quarter of 2017 was $109.2 million, an increase of $9.4 million or 9% from the first quarter of 2016 due mainly to an increase in average earning assets from the Bank of Georgetown acquisition. Average earning assets for the first quarter of 2017 increased $1.9 billion or 17% from the first quarter of 2016 due mainly to a $953 million or 10% increase in average net loans. Average short-term investments increased $729.0 million or 141% while average investment securities increased $173.8 million or 15%. Partially offsetting the increases to tax-equivalent net interest income for the first quarter of 2017 was a decrease of 16 basis points in the average yield on earning assets. This decrease was due mainly to a shift in the mix of earning assets and a lower yield on the re-investment of maturing securities. The yield on average net loans held constant year-over-year at 4.34%. In addition, the average cost of funds increased 7 basis points due to higher market interest rates as compared to the first quarter of 2016. The net interest margin of 3.43% for the first quarter of 2017 was a decrease of 21 basis points from the net interest margin of 3.64% for the first quarter of 2016.

On a linked-quarter basis, net interest income for the first quarter of 2017 decreased $5.6 million or 5% from the fourth quarter of 2016. The $5.6 million decrease in net interest income occurred because total interest income decreased $4.9 million while total interest expense increased $770 thousand from the fourth quarter of 2016. United’s tax-equivalent net interest income for the first quarter of 2017 also decreased $5.6 million or 5% from the fourth quarter of 2016 due mainly to a decrease in the average yield on earning assets. The yield on average earning assets for the first quarter of 2017 decreased 15 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2016 due mainly to a lower yield on loans as a result of the loan accretion on acquired loans declining $3.9 million to $4.2 million. In addition, the average cost of funds increased 4 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2016 due to higher market interest rates. Partially offsetting the decreases to tax-equivalent net interest income for the first quarter of 2017 was an increase in average earning assets of $218.5 million or 2% as compared to the fourth quarter of 2016. Average short-term investments increased $316.5 million for the linked-quarter while average net loans and average investment securities were relatively flat. The net interest margin of 3.43% for the first quarter of 2017 was a decrease of 19 basis points from the net interest margin of 3.62% for the fourth quarter of 2016.

For the quarters ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, the provision for loan losses was $5.9 million and $4.0 million, respectively. Net charge-offs were $5.8 million for the first quarter of 2017 as compared to net charge-offs of $4.3 million for the first quarter of 2016. Annualized net charge-offs as a percentage of average loans were 0.23% for the first quarter of 2017 as compared to 0.27% for United’s Federal Reserve peer group (bank holding companies with total assets over $10 billion) for the year of 2016. On a linked-quarter basis, the provision for loans losses increased $80 thousand while net charge-offs increased $90 thousand from the fourth quarter of 2016.

Noninterest income for the first quarter of 2017 was $20.1 million, which was an increase of $3.8 million or 23% from the first quarter of 2016. Included in the results for the first quarter of 2017 was a net gain of $3.8 million on the redemption of an investment security. Fees from deposit services decreased $267 thousand mainly due to lower income from overdraft fees. Otherwise, changes in the other major noninterest income line items were relatively insignificant.

On a linked-quarter basis, noninterest income for the first quarter of 2017 increased $3.5 million or 21% from the fourth quarter of 2016 due mainly to the previously mentioned net gain of $3.8 million on the redemption of an investment security in the first quarter of 2017. Otherwise, fees from deposit services declined $483 thousand because of a decrease in overdraft fees and fees from bankcard services declined $577 thousand due to a decrease in volume, both due to seasonality. Partially offsetting these decreases were increases of $401 thousand in income from trust and brokerage services due to increased volume and $336 thousand in income from bank-owned life insurance policies due an increase the cash surrender value.

Noninterest expense for the first quarter of 2017 was $62.8 million, which represents an increase of $4.8 million or 8% from the first quarter of 2016. Employee compensation and employee benefits increased $1.2 million and $862 thousand due mainly to an increase in employees. In addition, other real estate owned (OREO) expense increased $765 thousand due mainly to a decline in the value of OREO properties and net occupancy expense increased $531 thousand due to higher building rental expense from the branches acquired in the Bank of Georgetown merger. In addition, merger expenses related the Bank of Georgetown and Cardinal acquisitions increased $1.0 million from the first quarter of 2016.

On a linked-quarter basis, noninterest expense for the first quarter of 2017 was relatively flat from the fourth quarter of 2016, increasing $334 thousand or less than 1%. This slight increase was due primarily to increases in merger expenses of $708 thousand from the Cardinal acquisition, consulting fees of $571 thousand, OREO expense of $224 thousand due to a decline in the fair value of properties and net occupancy expense of $200 thousand due to higher building rental expense. Partially offsetting these increases were decreases of $687 thousand in employee compensation due to lower employee incentives expense, $495 thousand in equipment expense due to lower depreciation expense and $456 thousand in Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) expense due to a reduction in the assessment rate.

For the first quarter of 2017, income tax expense was $20.2 million, an increase of $2.3 million from the first quarter of 2016 mainly due to higher pretax earnings and a slightly higher effective tax rate. On a linked-quarter basis, income tax expense decreased $2.3 million due to lower pretax earnings and a lower effective tax rate. United’s effective tax rate was approximately 34.3% for the first quarter of 2017 and 34.0% and 36.5% for the first and fourth quarters of 2016, respectively. The higher effective tax rate for the fourth quarter of 2016 was due to adjustments to United’s tax reserves that were discrete to the fourth quarter.

United’s asset quality continues to be sound. At March 31, 2017, nonperforming loans were $121.3 million, or 1.17% of loans, net of unearned income as compared to nonperforming loans of $113.3 million, or 1.10% of loans, net of unearned income, at December 31, 2016. As of March 31, 2017, the allowance for loan losses was $72.9 million or 0.70% of loans, net of unearned income, as compared to $72.8 million or 0.70% of loans, net of unearned income, at December 31, 2016. United’s allowance for loan losses as a percentage of non-acquired loans, net of unearned income at March 31, 2017 was 0.88% as compared to 0.90% at December 31, 2016. Total nonperforming assets of $151.2 million, including OREO of $29.9 million at March 31, 2017, represented 1.02% of total assets.

United continues to be well-capitalized based upon regulatory guidelines. United’s estimated risk-based capital ratio is 14.9% at March 31, 2017 while its estimated Common Equity Tier 1 capital, Tier 1 capital and leverage ratios are 12.3%, 14.3% and 12.1%, respectively. The regulatory requirements for a well-capitalized financial institution are a risk-based capital ratio of 10.0%, a Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 6.5%, a Tier 1 capital ratio of 8.0% and a leverage ratio of 5.0%.

As of March 31, 2017, United had consolidated assets of approximately $14.8 billion. Currently, United has 145 full service offices in West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.United Bankshares stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the quotation symbol “UBSI.”

Cautionary Statements

The Company is required under generally accepted accounting principles to evaluate subsequent events through the filing of its March 31, 2017 consolidated financial statements on Form 10-Q. As a result, the Company will continue to evaluate the impact of any subsequent events on critical accounting assumptions and estimates made as of March 31, 2017 and will adjust amounts preliminarily reported, if necessary.

Use of non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release contains certain financial measures that are not recognized under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). Generally, United has presented these “non-GAAP” financial measures because it believes that these measures provide meaningful additional information to assist in the evaluation of United’s results of operations or financial position. Presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is consistent with how United’s management evaluates its performance internally and these non-GAAP financial measures are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in the evaluation of companies in the banking industry.

Specifically, this press release contains certain references to financial measures identified as tax-equivalent (FTE) net interest income, the allowance for loan losses as a percentage of non-acquired loans, tangible equity and tangible book value per share. Management believes these non-GAAP financial measures to be helpful in understanding United’s results of operations or financial position.

Net interest income is presented in this press release on a tax-equivalent basis. The tax-equivalent basis adjusts for the tax-favored status of income from certain loans and investments. Although this is a non-GAAP measure, United’s management believes this measure is more widely used within the financial services industry and provides better comparability of net interest income arising from taxable and tax-exempt sources. United uses this measure to monitor net interest income performance and to manage its balance sheet composition. The tax-equivalent adjustment combines amounts of interest income on federally nontaxable loans and investment securities using the statutory federal income tax rate of 35%.

In accordance with accounting rules, United is unable to carry-over an acquired banking company’s previously established allowance for loan losses because acquired loans are recorded at fair value. Therefore, due to this acquisition accounting impact on the allowance for loans losses as well as loans, net of unearned income, management believes that excluding acquired loans in the calculation of the allowance for loan losses as a percentage of loans, net of unearned income reflects the difference in the accounting rules for acquired loans and originated loans as well as provides for improved comparability to prior periods and to other financial institutions without acquired loans.

Tangible common equity is calculated as GAAP total shareholders’ equity minus total intangible assets. Tangible common equity can thus be considered the most conservative valuation of the company. Tangible common equity is also presented on a per common share basis. Management provides these amounts to facilitate the understanding of as well as to assess the quality and composition of United’s capital structure. By removing the effect of intangible assets that result from merger and acquisition activity, the “permanent” items of common equity are presented.These two measures, along with others, are used by management to analyze capital adequacy.

Where non-GAAP financial measures are used, the comparable GAAP financial measure, as well as reconciliation to that comparable GAAP financial measure can be found in the attached financial information tables to this press release. Investors should recognize that United’s presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures might not be comparable to similarly titled measures at other companies. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered a substitute for GAAP basis measures and United strongly encourages a review of its condensed consolidated financial statements in their entirety.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including certain plans, expectations, goals and projections, which are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties.Actual results could differ materially from those contained in or implied by such statements for a variety of factors including: changes in economic conditions; movements in interest rates; competitive pressures on product pricing and services; success and timing of business strategies; the nature and extent of governmental actions and reforms; and rapidly changing technology and evolving banking industry standards.

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United Bankshares, Inc.
W. Mark Tatterson, 800-445-1347, ext. 8716
Chief Financial Officer

Source: United Bankshares, Inc.