ATLANTA, April 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brian D. Schmitt, Chief Executive Officer of SouthCrest Financial Group, Inc. (SCSG:PK), announced today that the Company reported preliminary earnings of $1.18MM or $0.14/share for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019.  There were no meaningful unusual items during the quarter.  These results compare favorably to 1Q18 core earnings of $0.9MM or $0.11/share.

“We are extremely pleased to show over 30% earnings growth from the first quarter of 2018.  We have worked diligently to position SouthCrest as an active competitor in the Atlanta and north Georgia markets, and the significant merger disruption that has and will continue to occur in Atlanta improves our opportunity to find talent, grow our balance sheet, and most importantly, grow shareholder value.  Like many of our peers, loan growth was sluggish during the quarter, but we are confident that the disruption that we see daily will provide ample chances to improve that trend.  We have also continued to successfully reduce operating expenses, reporting the lowest non-interest expense levels in over 10 years.  Finally, deposit growth for the quarter was 1% from 1Q18, but was negatively impacted by a loss of a $10MM municipal deposit account during the quarter,” Schmitt said.

Total assets were down slightly at $542.6MM vs. $550.5MM in 4Q18, and vs. $559.7MM in 1Q18.  Seasonality accounts for some of the decline in total assets during the quarter vs. 4Q, but excluding a decline of $30MM in borrowings from 1Q18 to 1Q19, asset growth would have totaled 2%.

Excluding the $10MM lost municipal deposit, deposits would have been effectively flat with 4Q18.  The deposit mix shift during the quarter was close to neutral to the cost of funds.

The estimated Tier 1 Leverage ratio at the end of the quarter for SouthCrest Bank increased to 9.46%.  On a fully converted basis (including the conversion of all preferred equity), TBV/share ended the quarter at $6.90 per share.  This metric will continue to be influenced by OCI changes resulting from the swings in interest rates. Currently, the negative impact to TBV by OCI is -$0.16/share vs. -$0.38/share as of 3Q18.  Excluding the OCI impact, TBV/share grew $0.11 during the quarter.  The current fully converted share count at the end of the quarter was 8.42 million shares. In addition, the Company still retains a small deferred tax asset valuation allowance related to state taxes that totals approximately $0.07/fully converted share.

Asset quality ratios were flat during the quarter, with NPAs to assets remaining at 0.92% vs. 0.92% in 4Q18, excluding the $520,000 of a former bank building in OREO.  Including this building, 1Q19 NPAs/total assets were 1.02% of assets vs. 1.02% in 4Q18. Excluding the impact of the bank building in OREO, OREO balances were just $153,000.   

ABOUT SOUTHCREST

SouthCrest Financial Group, Inc. is a bank holding company with over half a billion dollars in assets, headquartered in Atlanta, GA.  The company operates a 9 branch network throughout Georgia through its subsidiary bank, SouthCrest Bank, N.A.  The bank provides a full suite of retail, private, entrepreneurial, high-net-worth and commercial banking services, and online banking services. 

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This presentation may contain certain “forward-looking statements” that are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results and shareholder values to differ materially from those projected.  Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include economic conditions, government regulation and legislation, changes in interest rates, credit quality, competition, and other risk factors. 

Andy Borrmann
Chief Financial Officer
678.734.3505

Statement of Operations ($000s, Unaudited)
		Q1 2018		Q2 2018			Q3 2018		Q4 2018		Q1 2019
Interest Income
Loans
Construction and Development		$535		$479			$560		$633		$609
Commercial Real Estate		1,667		1,696			1,776		1,819		1,800
Commercial Loans		341		370			454		401		458
Multi Family		28		28			27		20		19
Residential Mortgage		1,087		1,116			1,119		1,167		1,176
Consumer Loans		57		56			51		48		41
County/Municipal Loans		23		23			23		25		25
Loss Share Loans		80		79			70		64		62
Investment Securities
Federal Funds/Overnight Funds		$98		$48			$41		$65		$82
Bank Owned CDs		6		6			7		7		7
Investment Securities		1,187		1,214			1,181		1,187		1,168
Total Interest Income		$5,109		$5,115			$5,311		$5,436		$5,447
Total Interest Expense		$460		$506			$586		$728		$746
Net Interest Income		$4,649		$4,609			$4,725		$4,708		$4,701
Provision for Loan Losses		125		0			46		0		0
Net Interest Income after Loan Losses		$4,524		$4,609			$4,679		$4,708		$4,701
Other Income
Service Charges on Deposits		$168		$165			$169		$164		$156
NSF/Overdraft Fees		350		334			350		396		309
Other Service Charges		64		63			62		65		65
ATM/Billpay/DR Card Income		262		280			273		260		255
Other Income		227		125			316		172		204
Total Other Income		$1,071		$967			$1,170		$1,057		$989
Non-Interest Expense
Salaries, Other Comp (+ FAS123R)		$1,948		$1,969			$1,889		$1,822		$1,849
Employee Benefits		473		524			435		458		419
Occupancy & FF&E Expense		653		590			621		588		621
Professional Fees		161		156			305		136		170
Data Processing		480		489			485		476		481
Other Expense		883		832			693		724		649
Total Noninterest Expenses		$4,598		$4,560			$4,428		$4,204		$4,189
Pre-Tax Income (Loss)		$997		$1,016			$1,421		$1,561		$1,501
Income Taxes		197		210			319		289		321
Net Income		$800		$806			$1,102		$1,272		$1,180
Balance Sheet ($000s, Unaudited)
Assets	Q1 2018			Q2 2018			Q3 2018		Q4 2018		Q1 2019
Current Assets
Cash & Due from Bank	$24,603			$18,408			$14,189		$20,168		$20,243
Federal Funds/Overnight Funds	0			5,446			0		6,070		1,718
Bank Owned CDs	1,319			1,319			1,322		1,322		1,322
Investment Securities	182,569			169,924			166,632		162,936		161,561
Total Current Assets	$208,491			$195,097			$182,143		$190,496		$184,844
Loans
Construction and Development	$31,475			$34,157			$43,113		$40,420		$41,777
Commercial Real Estate	138,931			134,653			148,219		144,329		144,178
Commercial Loans	28,048			29,873			29,997		29,452		28,177
Multi Family	2,150			2,230			1,518		1,466		1,438
Residential Mortgage	92,973			92,346			88,357		94,199		92,405
Consumer Loans	5,738			3,361			2,143		2,579		1,086
County/Municipal Loans	2,511			2,480			2,459		2,438		2,301
Loss Share Loans	4,536			4,480			3,466		4,030		3,975
Total Loans	$306,362			$303,581			$319,272		$318,914		$315,337
Allowance for Loss	(3,028		)	(3,037		)	(3,060	)	(3,042	)	(2,968	)
Net Loans	$303,334			$300,544			$316,212		$315,872		$312,369
OREO	2,697			879			720		821		670
FDIC Indemnification	112			112			0		0		0
BOLI	21,490			21,640			21,773		21,909		22,039
Fixed Assets, net	10,166			9,970			9,733		9,511		9,268
Intangible Assets	197			152			126		116		107
Other Assets	13,228			12,880			13,365		11,759		13,336
Total Assets	$559,715			$541,274			$544,072		$550,484		$542,633
Liabilities & Stockholders' Equity
Liabilities
Deposits
DDAs	$95,714			$97,587			$88,768		$106,821		$99,896
Interest Bearing Demand	76,198			81,262			64,684		62,829		59,270
Celebration Checking	105,247			105,358			101,474		99,694		102,617
Money Market Accts	29,673			30,402			47,286		55,836		49,584
Savings	44,030			43,862			44,139		43,574		44,152
CDs Less Than $100k	57,827			57,600			57,349		56,864		56,664
CDs Greater than $100k	37,232			30,477			34,795		38,007		39,867
Total Deposits	$445,921			$446,548			$438,495		$463,625		$452,054
Other Liabilities	1,639			1,874			2,115		1,493		2,492
Net Borrowings (Wholesale Funding)	59,666			40,000			50,641		30,000		30,000
Total Liabilities	$507,226			$488,422			$491,251		$495,118		$484,546
Total Equity	52,489			52,852			52,821		55,366		58,087
Total Liabilities & Stockholders' Equity	$559,715			$541,274			$544,072		$550,484		$542,633

Ratios
	Q1 2018		Q2 2018		Q3 2018		Q4 2018		Q1 2019
ROAA	0.58%		0.59%		0.81%		0.93%		0.86%
ROAE	6.03%		6.12%		8.35%		9.40%		8.32%
NPAs/Assets (Core)	0.99%		1.25%		1.11%		0.92%		0.92%
Est. T1 Leverage (Bank)	8.42%		8.56%		8.94%		9.16%		9.46%
Total Common Equiv. Shares	8,413,372		8,413,372		8,421,992		8,421,992		8,421,992
NIM	3.83%		3.73%		3.78%		3.79%		3.85%
Cost of Deposits	0.24%		0.25%		0.33%		0.44%		0.49%
Loan/Deposit	68.3%		68.0%		72.5%		68.8%		69.5%
Employees	116		115		110		106		105