News Details

DENVER, July 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- National Bank Holdings Corporation (NYSE: NBHC) reported:

In announcing these results, Chief Executive Officer Tim Laney shared, “We built strong momentum during the second quarter, delivering solid loan growth and earnings of $0.77 per diluted share. Our resumed focus on new business development drove annualized loan growth of 8.4%, net of PPP loans, during the second quarter. We maintained our proven track record of exceptional credit quality with year-to-date annualized net charge-offs of just four basis points. We realized meaningful new relationship growth during the quarter and brought our cost of deposits down another four basis points.”

Mr. Laney added, “We are pleased with the economic recovery in our markets and are committed to delivering additional growth as we look to the second half of 2021. We are inspired by our clients’ fortitude during this economic recovery period, and we are well-positioned with a strong Common Equity Tier 1 ratio of 15.31% to provide our clients the tools they need to succeed.”

Second Quarter 2021 Results
(All comparisons refer to the first quarter of 2021, except as noted)

Net income totaled $24.2 million, or $0.77 per diluted share, during the second quarter of 2021, compared to $26.8 million, or $0.86 per diluted share during the first quarter. The return on average tangible assets was 1.41%, compared to 1.65%, and the return on average tangible common equity was 13.41%, compared to 15.20% last quarter.

Net Interest Income
Fully taxable equivalent net interest income totaled $46.1 million during the second quarter of 2021, a decrease of $0.3 million compared to the first quarter. Excluding PPP loan fee income of $2.0 million, which was $0.6 million lower than last quarter, net interest income increased $0.2 million. As of June 30, 2021, the remaining unamortized PPP loan fees totaled $5.0 million. The fully taxable equivalent net interest margin narrowed 20 basis points to 2.82% driven by higher levels of excess cash liquidity and lower PPP loan forgiveness income during the second quarter. The yield on earning assets decreased 24 basis points, and our cost of deposits decreased four basis points to 0.24%.

Loans
Total loans ended the quarter at $4.3 billion consistent with the prior quarter as the second quarter’s strong loan origination activity was offset by PPP loan balance declines. Excluding PPP loans, total loans increased $85.6 million or 8.4% annualized, led by commercial loan growth of $93.3 million, or 13.6% annualized. Second quarter loan originations totaled $362.1 million, led by commercial loan originations of $247.3 million. Excluding PPP loans, the second quarter’s loan originations more than doubled the first quarter’s loan origination level increasing $189.0 million over the first quarter or 109.2%.

Asset Quality and Provision for Loan Losses
The Company released $5.9 million of provision during the quarter, including a release of $0.6 of unfunded loan commitment reserves, driven by strong asset quality and an improved outlook in the CECL model’s underlying economic forecast. Annualized net charge-offs totaled 0.07% of total loans, compared to 0.01% in the prior quarter. Non-performing loans (comprised of non-accrual loans and non-accrual TDRs) improved six basis points to 0.32% of total loans, and non-performing assets improved seven basis points to 0.44% of total loans and OREO. The allowance for credit losses as a percentage of total loans totaled 1.14% at June 30, 2021. Excluding PPP loans, non-performing loans totaled 0.33% of total loans, non-performing assets totaled 0.46% of total loans and OREO, and the allowance for credit losses as a percentage of total loans totaled 1.18% at June 30, 2021.

Deposits
Average total deposits increased $317.3 million or 22.0% annualized, to $6.1 billion for the second quarter 2021. Average transaction deposits (defined as total deposits less time deposits) increased $347.1 million or 28.9% annualized. The mix of transaction deposits to total deposits improved 79 basis points to 85.0% at June 30, 2021. The loan to deposit ratio totaled 69.8% at June 30, 2021, compared to 71.7% at March 31, 2021. The cost of deposits decreased four basis points from the prior quarter to 0.24%.

Non-Interest Income
Non-interest income totaled $25.3 million, a decrease of $8.1 million, driven by lower mortgage banking income. Service charges and bank card fees increased a combined $0.6 million during the quarter. Included in other non-interest income were $0.8 million and $1.6 million of gains on fixed assets sales from banking center consolidations during the second and first quarters, respectively.

Non-Interest Expense
Non-interest expense totaled $46.3 million, a decrease of $3.3 million primarily due to lower mortgage banking related compensation and lower banking center consolidation-related expense. Occupancy and equipment decreased $0.4 million largely due to efficiencies gained from the completion of the previously announced banking center consolidations. Banking center consolidation-related expense totaled $0.3 million and $1.3 million during the second and first quarters, respectively. The fully taxable equivalent efficiency ratio totaled 64.5% at June 30, 2021, compared to 61.8% at March 31, 2021.

Income tax expense totaled $5.4 million during the second quarter, compared to $5.7 million. Included in income tax expense was $0.2 million of tax benefit from stock compensation activity during the second and first quarters 2021. Adjusting for stock compensation activity, the effective tax rate for the second quarter 2021 was 19.1%, compared to 18.0% during the prior quarter. The lower rate compared to the statutory rate reflects the continued success of our tax strategies and tax-exempt income.

Capital
Capital ratios continue to be strong and in excess of federal bank regulatory agency “well capitalized” thresholds. The Tier 1 leverage ratios at June 30, 2021 for the consolidated company and NBH Bank was 10.57% and 9.00%, respectively. Shareholders’ equity totaled $851.9 million at June 30, 2021 and increased $19.9 million from the prior quarter due to higher retained earnings and accumulated other comprehensive income.

Common book value per share increased $0.57 to $27.66 at June 30, 2021. The quarter’s earnings and higher accumulated other comprehensive income, net of dividends paid, increased the tangible common book value per share by $0.60 to $24.01 at June 30, 2021. Excluding accumulated other comprehensive income, the tangible book value per share increased $0.55 to $23.95 at June 30, 2021.

Recent Events
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused substantial disruption to the communities we serve and has changed the way we live and work.  We remain committed to ensuring our associates, clients and communities continue to receive the support they need. Our banking centers are fully operational, and we continue to leverage our digital banking platform with our clients. Our teams have been working diligently to support our clients who are experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 through participation in the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program, including assistance with PPP loan forgiveness applications, and loan modifications, as needed. The full extent to which COVID-19 impacts our business and financial results will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information that may emerge concerning the severity of the virus and the actions to contain its impact, the impacts of new variants of the virus, and the timing, distribution, efficacy and public acceptance of vaccines and other treatment for COVID-19.

Year-Over-Year Review
(All comparisons refer to the first six months of 2020, except as noted)

Net income totaled $51.0 million, or $1.63 per diluted share, an increase of $17.5 million, or 52.1% over the first six months of 2020. The return on average tangible assets increased 39 basis points to 1.53%, and the return on average tangible common equity increased 391 basis points to 14.29%.

Fully taxable equivalent net interest income totaled $92.6 million, decreasing $7.6 million or 7.6%, as a result of interest rate actions taken by the Federal Reserve during 2020 and lower non-PPP loan balances. Average earning assets increased $838.1 million, or 15.1%, primarily driven by increases in average interest bearing cash balances of $734.8 million and average investment securities of $353.3 million. The fully taxable equivalent net interest margin narrowed 70 basis points to 2.92% due to lower earning asset yields. The yield on earning assets decreased 100 basis points, driven by the remix of assets into lower-yielding cash balances and an 18 basis point decrease in the originated loan portfolio yields. The cost of deposits decreased 29 basis points to 0.26%.

Loans outstanding totaled $4.3 billion, decreasing $481.6 million or 10.1%, due to loan payoffs including lower PPP loan balances of $219.0 million as a result of PPP loan forgiveness. New loan originations over the trailing 12 months totaled $1.1 billion, led by commercial loan originations of $649.3 million including PPP loan originations of $121.3 million.

Average total deposits increased $990.3 million, or 20.0%, to $5.9 billion for the first six months of 2021. Average non-interest bearing demand deposits increased $980.9 million or 76.2%, and average transaction deposits increased $1.1 billion, or 28.0%. The mix of transaction deposits to total deposits increased by 441 basis points to 85.0% at June 30, 2021. The mix of non-interest bearing demand deposits to total deposits improved to 39.6% from 27.8% at June 30, 2020.

The Company recorded $9.4 million of net provision release during the first six months of 2021, compared to $16.4 million of net provision expense during the same period in 2020. The provision release was driven by strong asset quality and an improved outlook in the CECL model’s underlying economic forecast. Net charge-offs totaled 0.04% of total loans during the first six months of 2021 and 2020. Non-performing loans to total loans improved 10 basis points to 0.32%, compared to 0.42% at June 30, 2020. The allowance for credit losses totaled 1.14% of total loans, compared to 1.26% at June 30, 2020.

Non-interest income totaled $58.6 million, representing a decrease of $3.7 million or 6.0%. Mortgage banking income decreased $7.9 million due to lower refinance activity during 2021. Service charges and bank card fees increased a combined $1.3 million. Other non-interest income increased $2.9 million due to $2.4 million of gains on fixed assets sales from the banking center consolidations during the first six months of 2021.

Non-interest expense totaled $96.0 million, a decrease of $6.4 million or 6.3% driven by lower mortgage-related compensation as well as the Company’s strategic efforts to improve operating efficiency. Salaries and benefits decreased $4.7 million largely due to lower mortgage banking related compensation. Occupancy and equipment decreased $1.3 million largely due to efficiencies gained from the completion of the previously announced banking center consolidations. Problem asset workout expenses decreased $0.5 million.

Income tax expense totaled $11.1 million, an increase of $3.5 million, driven by 2021’s higher pre-tax income. Included in income tax expense was $0.4 million of tax benefit and $0.1 million of tax expense from stock compensation activity during the first six months of 2021 and 2020, respectively. Adjusting for stock compensation activity, the effective tax rate for the first six months of 2021 was 18.5%, compared to 18.3% in the prior period.

Conference Call
Management will host a conference call to review the results at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, July 27, 2021. Interested parties may listen to this call by dialing (888) 394-8218 (United States) / 0800 358 6377 (United Kingdom) using the confirmation code of 8424776 and asking for the NBHC Q2 2021 Earnings Call. A telephonic replay of the call will be available beginning approximately four hours after the call’s completion through August 1, 2021, by dialing (888) 203-1112 using the confirmation code of 8424776. The earnings release and an on-line replay of the call will also be available on the Company’s website at www.nationalbankholdings.com by visiting the investor relations area.

About Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Certain of the financial measures and ratios we present, including “tangible assets,” “return on average tangible assets,” “tangible common equity,” “return on average tangible common equity,” “tangible common book value per share,” “tangible common book value, excluding accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax,” “tangible common book value per share, excluding accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax,” “tangible common equity to tangible assets,” and “fully taxable equivalent” metrics, are supplemental measures that are not required by, or are not presented in accordance with, U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). We refer to these financial measures and ratios as “non-GAAP financial measures.” We consider the use of select non-GAAP financial measures and ratios to be useful for financial and operational decision making and useful in evaluating period-to-period comparisons. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance by excluding certain expenditures or assets that we believe are not indicative of our primary business operating results or by presenting certain metrics on a fully taxable equivalent basis. We believe that management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing our performance and when planning, forecasting, analyzing and comparing past, present and future periods.

These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP and you should not rely on non-GAAP financial measures alone as measures of our performance. The non-GAAP financial measures we present may differ from non-GAAP financial measures used by our peers or other companies. We compensate for these limitations by providing the equivalent GAAP measures whenever we present the non-GAAP financial measures and by including a reconciliation of the impact of the components adjusted for in the non-GAAP financial measure so that both measures and the individual components may be considered when analyzing our performance.

A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP financial measures is included at the end of the financial statement tables.

About National Bank Holdings Corporation
National Bank Holdings Corporation is a bank holding company created to build a leading community bank franchise delivering high quality client service and committed to stakeholder results. Through its bank subsidiary, NBH Bank, National Bank Holdings Corporation operates a network of 82 banking centers, serving individual consumers, small, medium and large businesses, and government and non-profit entities. Its banking centers are located in its core footprint of Colorado, the greater Kansas City region, Texas, Utah and New Mexico. Its comprehensive residential mortgage banking group primarily serves the bank’s core footprint. NBH Bank operates under the following brand names: Community Banks of Colorado and Community Banks Mortgage, a division of NBH Bank, in Colorado, Bank Midwest and Bank Midwest Mortgage in Kansas and Missouri, and Hillcrest Bank and Hillcrest Bank Mortgage in Texas, Utah and New Mexico. Additional information about National Bank Holdings Corporation can be found at www.nationalbankholdings.com.

For more information visit: cobnks.com, bankmw.com, hillcrestbank.com or nbhbank.com. Or, follow us on any of our social media sites:
Community Banks of Colorado: facebook.com/cobnks, twitter.com/cobnks, instagram.com/cobnks;
Bank Midwest: facebook.com/bankmw, twitter.com/bank_mw, instagram.com/bankmw;
Hillcrest Bank: facebook.com/hillcrestbank, twitter.com/hillcrest_bank;
NBH Bank: twitter.com/nbhbank;
or connect with any of our brands on LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements contain words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “can,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “may,” “predict,” “seek,” “potential,” “will,” “estimate,” “target,” “plan,” “project,” “continuing,” “ongoing,” “expect,” “intend” or similar expressions that relate to the Company’s strategy, plans or intentions. Forward-looking statements involve certain important risks, uncertainties and other factors, any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such statements. Such factors include, without limitation, the “Risk Factors” referenced in our most recent Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), other risks and uncertainties listed from time to time in our reports and documents filed with the SEC, and the following factors: ability to execute our business strategy; business and economic conditions; effects of any potential government shutdowns; economic, market, operational, liquidity, credit and interest rate risks associated with the Company’s business; effects of any changes in trade, monetary and fiscal policies and laws; changes imposed by regulatory agencies to increase capital standards; effects of inflation, as well as, interest rate, securities market and monetary supply fluctuations; changes in the economy or supply-demand imbalances affecting local real estate values; changes in consumer spending, borrowings and savings habits; with respect to our mortgage business, the inability to negotiate fees with investors for the purchase or our loans or our obligation to indemnify purchasers or repurchase related loans; the Company’s ability to identify potential candidates for, consummate, integrate and realize operating efficiencies from, acquisitions, consolidations and other expansion opportunities; the Company's ability to realize anticipated benefits from enhancements or updates to its core operating systems from time to time without significant change in client service or risk to the Company's control environment; the Company's dependence on information technology and telecommunications systems of third party service providers and the risk of systems failures, interruptions or breaches of security; the Company’s ability to achieve organic loan and deposit growth and the composition of such growth; changes in sources and uses of funds; increased competition in the financial services industry; the effect of changes in accounting policies and practices; the share price of the Company’s stock; the Company's ability to realize deferred tax assets or the need for a valuation allowance; continued consolidation in the financial services industry; ability to maintain or increase market share and control expenses; costs and effects of changes in laws and regulations and of other legal and regulatory developments; technological changes; the timely development and acceptance of new products and services; the Company’s continued ability to attract, hire and maintain qualified personnel; ability to implement and/or improve operational management and other internal risk controls and processes and reporting system and procedures; regulatory limitations on dividends from the Company's bank subsidiary; changes in estimates of future credit reserve requirements based upon the periodic review thereof under relevant regulatory and accounting requirements; widespread natural and other disasters, pandemics, dislocations, political instability, acts of war or terrorist activities, cyberattacks or international hostilities; adverse effects due to the novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the Company and its clients, counterparties, employees, and third-party service providers, and the adverse impacts on our business, financial position, results of operations, and prospects; impact of reputational risk; and success at managing the risks involved in the foregoing items. The Company can give no assurance that any goal or plan or expectation set forth in forward-looking statements can be achieved and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not intend, and assumes no obligation, to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events or circumstances, except as required by applicable law.

Contact:
Analysts/Institutional Investors: Aldis Birkans, Chief Financial Officer, (720) 554-6640, ir@nationalbankholdings.com
Media: Jody Soper, Chief Marketing Officer, (303) 784-5925, Jody.Soper@nbhbank.com

NATIONAL BANK HOLDINGS CORPORATION
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
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