Board announces 33% increase in quarterly dividend

SEATTLE, Jan. 30, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a release issued under the same headline earlier today by Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq:SFBC), please note that the dates relating to the Company's dividend in the second paragraph were listed in reverse. The Company's cash dividend will be payable on February 27, 2017 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on February 13, 2017. The corrected release follows:

Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq:SFBC), the holding company (the "Company") for Sound Community Bank (the "Bank"), today reported net income of $5.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, or $2.08 per diluted common share, compared to net income of $4.8 million, or $1.86 per diluted common share, for the year ended December 31, 2015.  Net income for the fourth quarter of 2016 was $1.6 million, or $0.60 per diluted share, compared to $1.2 million, or $0.48 per diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2015. Total assets were $588.4 million as of December 31, 2016 compared to $540.8 million as of December 31, 2015.

The Company also announced today that the Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend on Company common stock of $0.10 per share, payable on February 27, 2017 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on February 13, 2017.

“The Board of Directors and management are proud of another year of strong performance,” stated Sound Community Bank and Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. President and CEO Laurie Stewart. “Year over year earnings grew more than 12% and resulted in a return on average equity of 9.4%.  We are pleased to share this success with our loyal shareholders by announcing a 33% increase in our quarterly dividend.”

Highlights for the year ended December 31, 2016 include:

Highlights for the quarter ended December 31, 2016 include:

Both the Company and Bank continue to maintain capital levels in excess of the regulatory requirements and the Bank continued to be categorized as “well-capitalized” at December 31, 2016.

Operating Results

Net interest income increased $2.4 million to $22.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to $19.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2015. The increase was primarily a result of higher average loan balances and a higher average yield on loans. Average loan balances were $474.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2016 compared to $437.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2015.  The average yield on loans was 5.19% for the year ended December 31, 2016 compared to 5.08% for the year ended December 31, 2015.

Net interest margin was 4.24% for the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to 4.17% for the year ended December 31, 2015. The primary factors affecting net interest margin were higher average loan and investment yields combined with higher average balances in 2016. The average cost of deposits also decreased for the year ended December 31, 2016 to 0.60% compared to 0.63% for the year ended December 31, 2015.

The provision for loan losses for the year ended December 31, 2016 was $454,000, which represents an increase of $54,000 or 13.6% from $400,000 in provision for loan losses for the year ended December 31, 2015.  The increase in provision for loan losses from a year ago reflects a $137,000 increase in net charge-offs, the increase in net loans and changes in the composition of our loan portfolio.

Noninterest income decreased $81,000, or 1.5%, to $5.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to $5.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2015.  This decrease was primarily a result of a decline in the fair value of mortgage servicing rights which was partially offset by higher mortgage servicing income and an increase in the gain on sale of loans in 2016 compared to 2015.  The gain on the sale of loans was $1.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2016 compared to $1.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2015.  The increase in the gain was due to higher production of saleable mortgage loans combined with a higher average gain on sale in the 2016 period.

Noninterest expense increased $1.2 million to $18.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to $17.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2015 primarily due to increases in salary and benefits expenses.  Salary and benefits expenses increased over the prior year due to increased incentive compensation for loan originators due to higher loan production, higher health insurance premiums, and increased share-based compensation as a result of the increase in the Company’s stock price.

Our efficiency ratio for the year ended December 31, 2016 was 68.19%, compared to 68.71% for the year ended December 31, 2015.  The improvement in the efficiency ratio compared to the prior year was primarily due to higher net interest income, partially offset by higher noninterest expense and lower noninterest income.

Balance Sheet Review, Capital Management and Credit Quality

The Company's total assets as of December 31, 2016 were $588.4 million, compared to $540.8 million at December 31, 2015  This increase was primarily a result of higher net loan and cash balances which increased $40.3 million and $6.3 million, respectively, from December 31, 2015. The investment securities available-for-sale portfolio totaled $6.6 million at December 31, 2016, compared to $6.7 million at December 31, 2015.  At December 31, 2016, the securities available-for-sale portfolio was comprised of $2.9 million of agency mortgage-backed securities (all issued by U.S. Government-sponsored entities), $347,000 in private-label mortgage-backed securities and $3.4 million in municipal bonds.

Gross loans, excluding loans held-for-sale, totaled $500.0 million at December 31, 2016, compared to $459.5 million at December 31, 2015.  We experienced growth in every loan category at December 31, 2016 compared to December 31, 2015, except for home equity loans.  At December 31, 2016, commercial and multifamily real estate loans accounted for 36.0% of the portfolio, one- to four- family residential loans accounted for 30.4% of the portfolio and consumer loans, consisting of home equity, manufactured, floating homes and other consumer loans accounted for 14.2% of the portfolio.  Construction and land loans accounted for 14.1% of the portfolio and commercial and industrial loans accounted for the remaining 5.3% of the portfolio at December 31, 2016.

Nonperforming assets ("NPAs"), which includes nonperforming loans, comprised of non-accrual loans, accruing loans 90 days and more delinquent, and nonperforming troubled debt restructurings (“TDRs”); and other real estate owned (“OREO”) and other repossessed assets increased $1.6 million, or 55.9%, to $4.5 million or 0.77% of total assets as of December 31, 2016, compared to $2.9 million or 0.54% of total assets as of December 31, 2015.  

The following table summarizes our NPAs:

The following table summarizes the allowance for loan losses:

The increase in the allowance for loan losses at December 31, 2016, compared to the prior year was due to increased loan balances and a higher level of nonperforming loans.  Net charge-offs totaled $268,000 for the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to net charge-offs of $151,000 for the year ended December 31, 2015.

Deposits increased 6.3% to $467.7 million at December 31, 2016, compared to $440.0 million at December 31, 2015, with increases incurring in all categories other than time deposits.  Noninterest bearing demand deposits increased $12.9 million or 25.3% to $63.8 million at December 31, 2016, compared to $50.9 million at December 31, 2015.  Interest bearing demand deposits and savings and money market accounts increased $24.0 million or 10.8% to $244.2 million at December 31, 2016, compared to $220.3 million at December 31, 2015.  Time deposits decreased $9.1 million or 5.4% to $159.7 million at December 31, 2016, compared to $168.9 million at December 31, 2015.   Borrowings from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines (“FHLB”) were $54.8 million at December 31, 2016, compared to $40.4 million at December 31, 2015.  The increases in borrowings and deposits were used to fund loan demand and to support the Company’s on-balance sheet liquidity during the 2016 period.

The total cost of deposits decreased to 0.60% during the year ended December 31, 2016, from 0.63% for the year ended December 31, 2015. The decrease was primarily the result of a reduction in the weighted average cost and averages balances of certificates of deposit and an increase in non-interest bearing demand deposit accounts. The total cost of borrowings was 0.58% during the year ended December 31, 2016 and 0.43% for the year ended December 31, 2015. The increase was the result of an increase in the overnight borrowing rate with the FHLB.

Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc., a bank holding company, is the parent company of Sound Community Bank, and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington with full-service branches in Seattle, Tacoma, Mountlake Terrace, Sequim, Port Angeles and Port Ludlow. Sound Community Bank is a Fannie Mae Approved Lender and Seller/Servicer with an additional Loan Production Office in the Madison Park neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. For more information, please visit www.soundcb.com.

Forward Looking Statement Disclaimer

When used in filings by Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. (the "Company”) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), in the Company's press releases or other public or stockholder communications, and in oral statements made with the approval of an authorized executive officer, the words or phrases “will likely result,” “are expected to,” “will continue,” “is anticipated,” “estimate,” “project,” “intends” or similar expressions are intended to identify “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements, which are based on various underlying assumptions and expectations and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other unknown factors, may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business.  These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events, and may turn out to be wrong because of inaccurate assumptions we might make, because of the factors illustrated below or because of other important factors that we cannot foresee that could cause our actual results to be materially different from the historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, include, but are not limited to: expected cost savings, synergies and other financial benefits from our the pending acquisition of the University Place branch from Sunwest Bank might not be realized within the expected time frames or at all, and costs or difficulties relating to integration matters might be greater than expected; changes in economic conditions; legislative changes; changes in policies by regulatory agencies; fluctuations in interest rates; the risks of lending and investing activities, including changes in the level and direction of loan delinquencies and write-offs and changes in estimates of the adequacy of the allowance for loan losses; the Company's ability to access cost-effective funding; fluctuations in real estate values and both residential and commercial real estate market conditions; demand for loans and deposits in the Company's market area; secondary market conditions for loans; results of examinations of the Company or its wholly owned bank subsidiary by their regulators; competition; changes in management’s business strategies and other factors described in the Company’s latest annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission – which are available at www.soundcb.com and on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

The Company does not undertake - and specifically declines any obligation - to publicly release the result of any revisions which may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.

Media:
Laurie Stewart
President/CEO
(206) 448-0884 x306

Financial:
Matt Deines
EVP/CFO
(206) 448-0884 x305