First West Virginia Bancorp, Inc. Announces Year End And Fourth Quarter 2016 Earnings

WHEELING, W.Va., Feb. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- First West Virginia Bancorp, Inc. (OTCQX: FWVB) President and Chief Executive Officer, William G. Petroplus, today announced year end earnings along with fourth quarter earnings for the Wheeling, West Virginia, based holding company. First West Virginia Bancorp, Inc. is the parent company of Progressive Bank, N.A., Wheeling, West Virginia.

The Company reported net income of $1,610,471 or $0.94 per share for the year ended December 31, 2016 as compared to $2,391,738 or $1.39 per share for the year ended December 31, 2015.  The decrease in net income during 2016 over 2015 of $781,267 or 32.7% was primarily the result of the decrease in net interest income, offset in part by the decreases in income tax expense, provision for loan losses, and noninterest expense as well as the increase in noninterest income.  Net interest income decreased $994,472 or 11.0% in 2016 as compared to 2015 primarily due to the decrease in the interest earned on loans, offset in part by the increase in the interest earned on investment securities and the decrease in the interest expense paid on interest bearing liabilities.  Income tax expense decreased $136,696 in 2016 as compared to the prior year.  The Company recorded a provision for loan losses in 2015 in the amount of $30,000 while no provision was recorded in 2016.  Noninterest expenses decreased $8,119 or 0.1% in 2016 over 2015 primarily due to the decrease in other operating expenses, offset in part by increases in salary and employee benefit costs and occupancy expenses.  Noninterest income increased $38,390 or 1.8% primarily due to the increases in other operating income and service charges and fees earned on deposit accounts, offset in part by the decrease in the net gains on sales of investment securities.  The return on average assets was 0.47% and 0.71% as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.  The return on average equity was 4.58% and 6.92% at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.  The Board of Directors declared and paid cash dividends of $0.80 per share during each of the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015. 

Total assets for the year ended December 31, 2016 were $335,255,167, a decrease of 2.9% as compared to the prior year. Investment securities amounted to $197,205,542 at December 31, 2016 decreasing approximately $6.4 million or 3.1% in 2016 as compared to 2015. Total loans decreased approximately $3.0 million or 3.0% from $100,098,068 at December 31, 2015 to $97,091,811 at December 31, 2016. Total deposits declined approximately $6.6 million to $275,705,883 at December 31, 2016 as compared to $282,286,912 at December 31, 2015, a decrease of 2.3%. Stockholders' equity decreased 6.5% in 2016 due to a decrease of 7.2% in accumulated other comprehensive income attributable to the effect of the change in the net unrealized gain position on available for sale investment securities to an unrealized loss position, offset in part by an increase of 0.7% from current year earnings after quarterly dividends.

Net income for the fourth quarter of 2016 was reported at $150,268 or $0.09 per share, as compared to $770,130 or $0.45 per share reported for the same period a year earlier.  The decrease in earnings during the fourth quarter of 2016 compared to 2015 of $619,862 was primarily the result of the decrease in net interest income combined with the slight decrease in noninterest income, offset in part by the decreases in income tax expense and noninterest expense.  Net interest income decreased $862,080 primarily due to the decrease in the interest earned on loans and investment securities which was offset in part by the decline in the interest expense paid on interest bearing liabilities.  Noninterest income decreased $3,828 or 1.5% and was primarily attributable to the decrease in other operating income, offset in part by slight increases in the net gains on sales of investment securities and service charges.  Income tax expense decreased $177,261 in the fourth quarter of 2016 as compared to the same period of the prior year.  Noninterest expense decreased $68,785 or 3.2% in the fourth quarter of 2016 over 2015, and was primarily the result of the decreases in salary and employee benefit costs and other operating expenses, offset in part by the increase in occupancy expenses. 

FIRST WEST VIRGINIA BANCORP, INC. FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS                                             

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