NEWARK, Ohio, July 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Park National Corporation (Park) (NYSE American:PRK) today announced financial results for the second quarter and first half of 2017 (three and six months ended June 30, 2017). Park’s board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.94 per common share, payable on September 8, 2017 to common shareholders of record as of August 18, 2017.

Park reported $19.0 million in net income for the second quarter of 2017, a 4.8 percent decrease from $20.0 million for the same period in 2016. Net income per diluted common share for the second quarter of 2017 was $1.24, compared to $1.30 in the second quarter of 2016.

Net income for the first six months of 2017 was $39.3 million, a 1.6 percent increase from $38.7 million for the same period in 2016. Net income per diluted common share for the first half of 2017 was $2.55, compared to $2.51 for the first half of 2016.

Park's community-banking subsidiary, The Park National Bank, reported net income of $20.2 million for the second quarter of 2017, compared to $21.1 million for the second quarter of 2016. Park increased its provision for loan losses this quarter, preparing for potential loss related to a specific commercial loan.

Net income for the first six months of 2017 was $41.6 million, compared to $42.8 million for the same period in 2016. The bank had total assets of $7.8 billion at June 30, 2017, rising from $7.4 billion at December 31, 2016.

“Our associates have made great effort to grow deposit relationships and match new clients up with the account services that best fit them,” Park Chief Executive Officer David L. Trautman said about Park’s six percent increase in deposit balances over the last year. “Recent enhancements to our fraud protection, mobile banking, and non-profit group accounts helped generate momentum, and we believe the new personal accounts we’ll launch later this year will attract more clients to our banks throughout 2018.”

In the first half of 2017, the bank grew consumer loans by $96.8 million (17.3 percent annualized) and commercial loans by $21.6 million (1.6 percent annualized). Total loans for the bank were $5.33 billion at June 30, 2017, a $94.3 million (3.6 percent annualized) increase over $5.23 billion at December 31, 2016.

About Park National Corporation:

Headquartered in Newark, Ohio, Park National Corporation had $7.8 billion in total assets (as of June 30, 2017). The Park organization principally consists of 11 community bank divisions, a non-bank subsidiary and two specialty finance companies. Park's Ohio-based banking operations are conducted through Park subsidiary The Park National Bank and its divisions, which include Fairfield National Bank Division, Richland Bank Division, Century National Bank Division, First-Knox National Bank Division, Farmers Bank Division, United Bank, N.A. Division, Second National Bank Division, Security National Bank Division, Unity National Bank Division, and The Park National Bank of Southwest Ohio & Northern Kentucky Division; and Scope Leasing, Inc. (d.b.a. Scope Aircraft Finance). The Park organization also includes Guardian Financial Services Company (d.b.a. Guardian Finance Company) and SE Property Holdings, LLC.

Complete financial tables are listed below…

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
Park cautions that any forward-looking statements contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K or made by management of Park are provided to assist in the understanding of anticipated future financial performance. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations or forecasts of future events and are not guarantees of future performance.  The forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties.  Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements.  Risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially include, without limitation: Park's ability to execute our business plan successfully and within the expected timeframe; general economic and financial market conditions, specifically in the real estate markets and the credit markets, either nationally or in the states in which Park and our subsidiaries do business, may experience a slowing or reversal of the recent economic expansion in addition to continuing residual effects of recessionary conditions and an uneven spread of positive impacts of recovery on the economy and our counterparties, resulting in adverse impacts on the demand for loan, deposit and other financial services, delinquencies, defaults and counterparties' ability to meet credit and other obligations; changes in interest rates and prices may adversely impact the value of securities, loans, deposits and other financial instruments and the interest rate sensitivity of our consolidated balance sheet as well as reduce interest margins and impact loan demand; changes in consumer spending, borrowing and saving habits, whether due to changing business and economic conditions, legislative and regulatory initiatives, or other factors; changes in unemployment; changes in customers', suppliers', and other counterparties' performance and creditworthiness; asset/liability repricing risks and liquidity risks; our liquidity requirements could be adversely affected by changes to regulations governing bank and bank holding company capital and liquidity standards as well as by changes in our assets and liabilities; competitive factors among financial services organizations could increase significantly, including product and pricing pressures, changes to third-party relationships and our ability to attract, develop and retain qualified bank professionals; clients could pursue alternatives to bank deposits, causing us to lose a relatively inexpensive source of funding; uncertainty regarding the nature, timing and effect of changes in banking regulations or other regulatory or legislative requirements affecting the respective businesses of Park and our subsidiaries, including major reform of the regulatory oversight structure of the financial services industry and changes in laws and regulations concerning taxes, pensions, bankruptcy, consumer protection, accounting, bank products and services, fiduciary standards, securities and other aspects of the financial services industry, specifically the reforms provided for in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) and the Basel III regulatory capital reforms, as well as regulations already adopted and which may be adopted in the future by the relevant regulatory agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the OCC, the FDIC, and the Federal Reserve Board, to implement the Dodd-Frank Act's provisions, the Budget Control Act of 2011, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, the JOBS Act, the FAST Act and the Basel III regulatory capital reforms; the effect of changes in accounting policies and practices, as may be adopted by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and other regulatory agencies, and the accuracy of our assumptions and estimates used to prepare our financial statements; changes in law and policy accompanying the new presidential administration and uncertainty or speculation pending the enactment of such changes; the effect of healthcare laws in the United States and potential changes for such laws which may increase our healthcare and other costs and negatively impact our operations and financial results; significant changes in the tax laws, which may adversely affect the fair values of net deferred tax assets and obligations of state and political subdivisions held in Park's investment securities portfolio; the effect of trade, monetary, fiscal and other governmental policies of the U.S. federal government, including money supply and interest rate policies of the Federal Reserve Board; disruption in the liquidity and other functioning of U.S. financial markets; the impact on financial markets and the economy of any changes in the credit ratings of the U.S. Treasury obligations and other U.S. government-backed debt, as well as issues surrounding the levels of U.S., European and Asian government debt and concerns regarding the creditworthiness of certain sovereign governments, supranationals and financial institutions in Europe and Asia; the uncertainty surrounding the actions to be taken to implement the referendum by United Kingdom voters to exit the European Union; our litigation and regulatory compliance exposure, including any adverse developments in legal proceedings or other claims and unfavorable resolution of regulatory and other governmental examinations or other inquiries; the adequacy of our risk management program; the ability to secure confidential information and deliver products and services through the use of computer systems and telecommunications networks; a failure in or breach of our operational or security systems or infrastructure, or those of our third-party vendors and other service providers, including as a result of cyber attacks; fraud, scams and schemes of third parties; the impact of widespread natural and other disasters, pandemics, dislocations, civil unrest, terrorist activities or international conflicts on the economy and financial markets generally or on us or our counterparties specifically; demand for loans in the respective market areas served by Park and our subsidiaries; and other risk factors relating to the banking industry as detailed from time to time in Park's reports filed with the SEC including those described in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" of Part I of Park's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016. Park does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to publicly release the results of any revisions that may be made to update any forward-looking statement to reflect the events or circumstances after the date on which the forward-looking statement was made, or reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except to the extent required by law.

Media contact: Bethany Lewis, 740.349.0421, blewis@parknationalbank.com
Investor contact: Brady Burt, 740.322.6844, bburt@parknationalbank.com
Park National Corporation
50 N. Third Street, Newark, Ohio 43055
www.parknationalcorp.com