Bank of South Carolina Corporation Announces Annual and Fourth Quarter Earnings

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Jan 09, 2025, 09:00 ET

CHARLESTON, S.C., Jan. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bank of South Carolina Corporation (OTCQX: BKSC) announced unaudited earnings of $6,749,736, or $1.24 and $1.23 basic and diluted earnings per share, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2024 – an increase of $1,256,120, or 22.87%, from earnings for the year ended December 31, 2023 of $5,493,616, or $0.99 and $0.98 basic and diluted earnings per share, respectively. Unaudited earnings for the three months ended December 31, 2024 increased $454,530, or 33.33%, to $1,818,279 compared to $1,363,749 for the three months ended December 31, 2023. Returns on average assets and average equity for the year ended December 31, 2024 were 1.14% and 13.55%, respectively, compared with December 31, 2023 returns on average assets and average equity of 0.86% and 12.90%, respectively.

Eugene H. Walpole, IV, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are proud of our performance for both the quarter and year, in which we generated a return on average assets of 1.27% and 1.14%, respectively, and a return on average equity of 13.69% and 13.55%, respectively. Earnings of $6,749,736 in 2024 mark our second-best year to date. Increased noninterest income, consistent management of overhead, and a net interest margin that saw 85 basis points of improvement throughout the year spurred these favorable results. Meanwhile, loans outstanding grew more than 5% annually, while an ongoing focus on asset quality held non-performing assets to a minimum. The outlook for 2025 suggests another one or two rate cuts by the Federal Reserve are likely. Regardless of monetary policy, we will continue to carry out our strategy to deploy maturing investment securities into higher-yielding loans and other assets, which should further enhance net interest margin over time. Most importantly, I would like to thank our dedicated employees for their commitment to our bank and customers this past year."

Selected Condensed Consolidated Financial Data (Unaudited)

	For the Three Months Ended
	December 31, 2024	September 30, 2024	June 30, 2024	March 31, 2024	December 31, 2023
Total Interest and Fee Income	$ 6,818,624	$ 6,848,831	$ 6,702,792	$ 6,593,463	$ 6,500,593
Total Interest Expense	1,406,681	1,566,695	1,564,362	1,861,311	1,821,435
Net Interest Income	5,411,943	5,282,136	5,138,430	4,732,152	4,679,158
Provision for Credit Losses	25,000	-	50,000	-	-
Net Interest Income After Provision for Credit Losses	5,386,943	5,282,136	5,088,430	4,732,152	4,679,158
Total Other Income	483,085	485,206	471,075	423,497	397,970
Total Other Expense	3,498,230	3,412,935	3,339,934	3,359,684	3,309,138
Income Before Income Tax Expense	2,371,798	2,354,407	2,219,571	1,795,965	1,767,988
Income Tax Expense	553,519	552,544	465,773	420,169	404,239
Net Income	$ 1,818,279	$ 1,801,863	$ 1,753,798	$ 1,375,796	$ 1,363,749


Earnings Per Share - Basic	$ 0.33	$ 0.33	$ 0.32	$ 0.25	$ 0.25
Earnings Per Share - Diluted	$ 0.33	$ 0.33	$ 0.32	$ 0.25	$ 0.24

Return on Average Assets	1.27 %	1.24 %	1.19 %	0.89 %	0.87 %
Return on Average Equity	13.69 %	14.04 %	14.71 %	11.69 %	12.74 %
Common Stock Shares Outstanding	5,432,762	5,445,519	5,457,907	5,462,794	5,469,251
Book Value Per Share	$ 9.63	$ 9.71	$ 8.93	$ 8.69	$ 8.61
Efficiency Ratio	59.34 %	59.18 %	59.54 %	65.17 %	65.18 %
Net Interest Margin	3.97 %	3.82 %	3.68 %	3.20 %	3.12 %
% Loans Past Due > 30 Days	0.25 %	0.16 %	0.19 %	0.32 %	0.53 %
Allowance for Credit Losses as a % of Total Loans	1.01 %	1.04 %	1.04 %	1.04 %	1.07 %

Quarterly Averages:
Total Assets	$ 569,812,437	$ 578,014,415	$ 590,639,502	$ 624,732,564	$ 625,093,859
Total Loans	$ 363,015,990	$ 358,623,795	$ 359,514,482	$ 353,396,331	$ 344,789,580
Total Deposits	$ 500,693,110	$ 512,024,560	$ 516,221,132	$ 519,023,338	$ 518,397,166
Total Shareholders' Equity	$ 52,837,535	$ 51,043,788	$ 47,951,482	$ 47,328,863	$ 42,464,898

About Bank of South Carolina Corporation
The Bank of South Carolina Corporation is the holding company of The Bank of South Carolina ("The Bank"). The Bank is a South Carolina state-chartered financial institution with offices in Charleston, North Charleston, Summerville, Mt. Pleasant, James Island, and the West Ashley community and has been in continuous operation since 1987. Our website is www.banksc.com. Bank of South Carolina Corporation currently trades its common stock on the OTCQX® Best Market under the symbol "BKSC".

Forward-Looking-Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements that are not historical facts and that are intended to be "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about the Company's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements contained in this release that are not historical facts and pertain to the Company's future operating results. When used in this release, the words "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates" and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in these forward-looking statements, because such statements are inherently subject to significant assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and are generally beyond the Company's control. These include but are not limited to: the possibility of adverse economic developments that may, among other things, increase default and delinquency risks in the Company's loan portfolios; shifts in interest rates; shifts in the rate of inflation; shifts in the demand for the Company's loan and other products; unforeseen increases in costs and expenses; lower-than-expected revenue or cost savings in connection with acquisitions; changes in accounting policies; changes in the monetary and fiscal policies of the federal government; and changes in laws, regulations and the competitive environment. Unless legally required, the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE BANK OF SOUTH CAROLINA