Bank of the Carolinas Corporation Reports Fourth Quarter and Year-End Financial Results

MOCKSVILLE, N.C., Feb. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of the Carolinas Corporation (OTCQB: BCAR) today reported financial results for the three- and twelve-month periods ended December 31, 2012.

For the three-month period ended December 31, 2012, the Company reported a net loss available to common shareholders of $56,000 as compared to a net loss of $3.2 million for the third quarter of 2012 and a net loss of $8.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2011.  Prior to the accrual for dividends and accretion on preferred stock, the Company had a net income of $186,000 for the three-month period ended December 31, 2012. The net loss per diluted common share was $0.02 for the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with a net loss per share of $0.82 for the third quarter of 2012 and a net loss per share of $2.26 for the fourth quarter of 2011.

For the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company reported a net loss available to common shareholders of $6.1 million, or $1.58 per common share, compared to a net loss of $29.2 million, or $7.49 per common share, for the year ended December 31, 2011.

The Company's net interest margin was 2.73% in the fourth quarter of 2012, which is a decrease from 2.79% in the fourth quarter of 2011.  Noninterest expense for the year, excluding the costs related to foreclosed real estate, decreased 1.4% in 2012 versus 2011 and for the three month periods decreased 13.9% in the fourth quarter of 2012 versus 2011.  The Company made an effort to reduce its other noninterest expenses in order to offset the increased FDIC premiums, legal expenses, and costs related to the Company's compliance with the regulatory consent order put in place in the second quarter of 2011.

The Company continues with significant improvement in the levels of nonperforming assets for the seventh consecutive quarter.  As of December 31, 2012, the Company's nonperforming assets decreased to $12.7 million and amounted to 2.91% of total assets as compared to $13.5 million or 3.02% of total assets as of September 30, 2012 and compared to $27.6 million, or 5.68% of total assets as of December 31, 2011.  The allowance for loan losses was 2.55% of total loans as of December 31, 2012. Net loan recoveries amounted to $77,000 for the fourth quarter of 2012, as compared to net loan charge-offs of $1.6 million in the third quarter of 2012 and $3.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.  The fourth quarter of 2012 is the Company's first quarter of net loan recoveries in five years.

Total assets at December 31, 2012 amounted to $436.8 million, a decrease of 10.1% when compared to $486.0 million as of December 31, 2011.   Loans totaled $270.4 million at December 31, 2012, a decline of 12.2% from a year earlier, and deposits decreased 10.4% over the prior year to $373.0 million. The Company's deposit mix has improved by decreasing non-core brokered deposits by $27.6 million, or 64.7%, since December 31, 2011.

The Company's banking subsidiary had a Tier 1 leverage capital ratio and Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets ratio of 3.55% and 4.99% respectively, while its total capital to risk-weighted assets ratio was 6.25% as of December 31, 2012.

Bank of the Carolinas Corporation is the holding company for Bank of the Carolinas, a North Carolina chartered bank headquartered in Mocksville, NC with offices in Advance, Asheboro, Cleveland, Concord, Harrisburg, King, Landis, Lexington and Winston-Salem.  The common stock of the Company is quoted under the symbol "BCAR" on the OTCQB marketplace operated by OTC Markets Group Inc.

For further information contact:

Stephen R. Talbert
President and Chief Executive Officer
Bank of the Carolinas Corporation
(336) 751-5755

DISCLOSURES ABOUT FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements in this press release relating to plans, strategies, economic performance and trends, projections of results of specific activities or investments, expectations or beliefs about future events or results, and other statements that are not descriptions of historical facts, may be forward-looking statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  Forward-looking information is inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors which include, but are not limited to, factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and in other documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.  Copies of those reports are available directly through the SEC's Internet website at www.sec.gov.  Forward-looking statements may be identified by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "expects," "plans," "intends," "anticipates," "feels," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "forecasts," "potential" or "continue," or similar terms or the negative of these terms, or other statements concerning opinions or judgments of our management about future events.  Factors that could influence the accuracy of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to (a) pressures on our earnings, capital and liquidity resulting from current and future conditions in the credit and capital markets, (b) continued or unexpected increases in nonperforming loans and credit losses in our loan portfolio, (c) continued adverse conditions in the economy and in the real estate market in our banking markets (particularly those conditions that affect our loan portfolio, the abilities of our borrowers to repay their loans, and the values of collateral that secures our loans), (d) the financial success or changing strategies of our customers, (e) actions of government regulators, or change in laws, regulations or accounting standards, that adversely affect our business, (f) changes in the interest rate environment and the level of market interest rates that reduce our net interest margins and/or the values of loans we make and securities we hold,  (g) changes in competitive pressures among depository and other financial institutions or in our ability to compete effectively against other financial institutions in our banking markets, and (h) other developments or changes in our business that we do not expect.  Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements included in this press release are reasonable, they represent our management's judgments only as of the date they are made, and we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.  As a result, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.  All forward-looking statements attributable to us are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements in this paragraph.  We have no obligation, and do not intend, to update these forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Bank of the Carolinas Corporation