Mercantile Bank Corporation Announces Strong First Quarter 2021 Results

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., April 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mercantile Bank Corporation (NASDAQ: MBWM) ("Mercantile") reported net income of $14.2 million, or $0.87 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2021, compared with net income of $10.7 million, or $0.65 per diluted share, for the respective prior-year period.

"We are very pleased to begin 2021 with a quarter of robust financial performance," said Robert B. Kaminski, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of Mercantile.  "Our strong financial results include ongoing strength in mortgage banking income, sound asset quality, solid growth in core commercial loans, and managed overhead costs.  The extraordinary efforts of the Mercantile team have allowed us to successfully and consistently meet our customers' banking needs during this continuing period of uncertainty stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic."

First quarter highlights include:

• Robust earnings and capital position
• Strong mortgage banking income
• Sustained strength in asset quality metrics
• Annualized net core commercial loan growth of nearly 14 percent
• Continued strength in commercial loan and residential mortgage loan pipelines
• Paycheck Protection Program round two loan fundings of $203 million
• Additional local deposit growth

Operating Results

Total revenue, which consists of net interest income and noninterest income, was $43.0 million during the first quarter of 2021, up $6.1 million, or 16.6 percent, from the prior-year first quarter.  Net interest income during the first three months of 2021 was $29.5 million, down from $30.3 million during the respective 2020 period due to a lower net interest margin, which more than offset the positive impact of earning asset growth.  Noninterest income totaled $13.5 million during the first quarter of 2021, up $6.9 million from the first quarter of 2020, primarily due to increased mortgage banking income.  The net interest margin was 2.77 percent in the first quarter of 2021, compared to 3.00 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020 and 3.63 percent in the first quarter of 2020.  The decreased net interest margin resulted from the lower interest rate environment and substantial levels of excess liquidity.

The yield on average earning assets was 3.26 percent during the first quarter of 2021, down from 3.55 percent during the fourth quarter of 2020, mainly due to a decreased yield on commercial loans, which equaled 4.07 percent and 4.41 percent in the respective periods.  The decreased yield on commercial loans primarily reflected reduced Paycheck Protection Program net fee accretion stemming from a lower level of forgiveness activity. 

The cost of funds declined from 0.55 percent during the fourth quarter of 2020 to 0.49 percent during the first quarter of 2021, mainly due to lower rates paid on renewed time deposits, reflecting the declining interest rate environment, and a change in funding mix, consisting of an increase in lower-costing non-time deposits as a percentage of total funding sources. 

The yield on average earning assets declined from 4.54 percent during the first three months of 2020 to 3.26 percent during the respective 2021 period, primarily resulting from decreased yields on commercial loans, securities and interest-earning deposits, along with a change in earning asset mix.  The decreased yield on commercial loans primarily reflected reduced interest rates on variable-rate commercial loans resulting from the Federal Open Market Committee significantly lowering the targeted federal funds rate by a total of 150 basis points during March of 2020.  The lower yield on securities mainly reflected decreased accelerated discount accretion on called U.S. Government agency bonds and lower yields on newly purchased bonds, reflecting the declining interest rate environment.  Accelerated discount accretion totaled less than $0.1 million during the first three months of 2021, compared to $1.8 million during the respective 2020 period.  The reduced yield on interest-earning deposits resulted from the decreased interest rate environment. 

A significant volume of excess on-balance sheet liquidity, which initially surfaced in the second quarter of 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 environment and persisted during the remainder of 2020 and the first three months of 2021, negatively impacted the yield on average earning assets and the net interest margin by 44 basis points and 37 basis points, respectively, during the first quarter of 2021.  The excess funds, consisting primarily of low-yielding deposits with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, are mainly a product of federal government stimulus programs as well as lower business and consumer investing and spending.

The cost of funds decreased from 0.91 percent during the first quarter of 2020 to 0.49 percent during the current-year first quarter, primarily due to lower rates paid on local deposit accounts and borrowings, reflecting the declining interest rate environment.  A change in funding mix, consisting of an increase in lower-costing non-time deposits as a percentage of total funding sources, also contributed to the decrease in the cost of funds.

Mercantile recorded loan loss provision expense of $0.3 million during the first quarter of 2021, compared to $0.8 million during the prior-year first quarter.  The provision expense recorded during both periods primarily reflected net loan growth.  The recording of net loan recoveries in both periods reduced the required provision amounts.

Noninterest income during the first quarter of 2021 was $13.5 million, up $6.9 million, or approximately 106 percent, from the prior-year first quarter.  The improved level of noninterest income mainly resulted from increased mortgage banking income stemming from a substantial upturn in refinance activity driven by a decrease in residential mortgage loan interest rates, an increase in purchase activity, and the ongoing success of strategic initiatives that were implemented to gain market share.  Fee income generated from an interest rate swap program that was introduced during the fourth quarter of 2020 and growth in credit and debit card income also contributed to the increased level of noninterest income.  The interest rate swap program provides certain commercial borrowers with a longer-term fixed-rate option and assists Mercantile in managing associated longer-term interest rate risk.

Noninterest expense totaled $25.1 million during the first quarter of 2021, compared to $22.9 million during the first quarter of 2020.  Overhead costs during the first three months of 2021 included write-downs of former branch facilities totaling $0.5 million.  Excluding these transactions, noninterest expense increased $1.6 million, or 7.1 percent, during the first quarter of 2021 compared to the respective 2020 period.  The higher level of expense primarily resulted from increased compensation costs, mainly depicting higher residential mortgage lender commissions and related incentives, annual employee merit pay increases, increased health insurance costs, and a bonus accrual.  The higher level of commissions and associated incentives primarily reflected the significant increase in residential mortgage loan originations during the first quarter of 2021, which were up nearly 85 percent compared to the respective 2020 period.

Mr. Kaminski commented, "The continuing success of strategic initiatives that were implemented to increase market penetration, combined with a strong level of residential mortgage loan production, provided for another quarter of robust mortgage banking income.  Refinance activity remained at a high level during the first quarter due to the ongoing low interest rate environment.  Although we expect refinance activity to decline in future periods as a result of a reduction in the number of borrowers eligible to refinance from an economic benefit standpoint and the recent uptick in residential mortgage loan interest rates, we believe solid mortgage banking income can be recorded in future periods based on the current pipeline and application volume, along with our recent lender hires and new office openings.  As evidenced by the introduction of a fee-producing interest rate swap program, we remain focused on expanding our noninterest income revenue streams.  We are pleased with the improvement in credit and debit card income, which surpassed pre-pandemic levels.  Controlling overhead costs remains a vital component of our growth initiatives, and we continue to review our product delivery channels, treasury management solutions, and branch network to identify opportunities to operate more efficiently." 

Balance Sheet

As of March 31, 2021, total assets were $4.71 billion, up $273 million, or 6.2 percent, from December 31, 2020.  Total loans increased $171 million during the first quarter of 2021, reflecting net growth in Paycheck Protection Program loans of $89.3 million and core commercial loans of $83.9 million.  Commercial lines of credit remained relatively steady during the last nine months after having declined $109 million during the second quarter of 2020 largely due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic environment and federal government stimulus programs.  As of March 31, 2021, unfunded commitments on commercial construction and development loans totaled approximately $135 million, which are expected to be largely funded over the next 12 to 18 months.  Interest-earning deposits increased $33.7 million during the first three months of 2021, primarily reflecting ongoing local deposit growth, which outpaced loan growth and an expanded securities portfolio.

Ray Reitsma, President of Mercantile Bank of Michigan, noted, "Although our lending team spent considerable time helping loan customers obtain funds under round two of the Paycheck Protection Program while also assisting round one loan recipients to gather and submit required information to the Small Business Administration for loan forgiveness determinations during the first quarter, we remained focused on meeting the customary needs of our existing clients and identifying and attracting new customer relationships.  We are very pleased with the level of net core commercial loan growth during the quarter, along with the continuing strength of our commercial loan and residential mortgage loan pipelines."

Excluding Paycheck Protection Program loan balances, commercial and industrial loans and owner-occupied commercial real estate loans together represented approximately 55 percent of total commercial loans as of March 31, 2021, a level that has remained relatively consistent and in line with internal expectations. 

Total deposits at March 31, 2021, were $3.64 billion, up $233 million, or 6.8 percent, from December 31, 2020.  Local deposits were up $249 million during the first three months of 2021, while brokered deposits were down $16.0 million.  The growth in local deposits, which occurred despite typical and expected seasonal business deposit withdrawals used for bonus and tax payments, mainly reflected federal government stimulus payments and reduced business and consumer investing and spending, along with Paycheck Protection Program loan proceeds being deposited into customers' accounts at the time the loans were originated and remaining on deposit as of March 31, 2021.  Wholesale funds were $425 million, or approximately 10 percent of total funds, as of March 31, 2021, compared to $441 million, or approximately 11 percent of total funds, as of December 31, 2020.

Asset Quality

Nonperforming assets at March 31, 2021, were $3.2 million, or 0.1 percent of total assets, compared to $4.1 million, or 0.1 percent of total assets, at December 31, 2020, and $3.7 million, or 0.1 percent of total assets, at March 31, 2020.  The level of past due loans remains nominal, and loan relationships on the internal watch list have remained relatively consistent in number and dollar volume during the first three months of 2021.  During the first quarter of 2021, loan charge-offs totaled $0.1 million, while recoveries of prior period loan charge-offs equaled $0.5 million, providing for net loan recoveries of $0.4 million, or an annualized 0.05 percent of average total loans.

Mr. Reitsma commented, "As evidenced by continuing low levels of past due loans and nonperforming assets, our asset quality has remained strong during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The ongoing strength in our asset quality metrics depicts our commitment to sound underwriting and the effectiveness of our commercial borrowers' management teams in meeting the challenges presented by the pandemic.  Virtually all commercial and retail loan customers that were granted loan payment deferrals are now making full contractual loan payments."

Capital Position

The Bank's capital position remains "well-capitalized" with a total risk-based capital ratio of 13.3 percent as of March 31, 2021, compared to 13.5 percent at December 31, 2020.  At March 31, 2021, the Bank had approximately $115 million in excess of the 10.0 percent minimum regulatory threshold required to be considered a "well-capitalized" institution.  Mercantile reported 16,219,138 total shares outstanding at March 31, 2021.

As part of a $20 million common stock repurchase program announced in May 2019, Mercantile repurchased approximately 118,000 shares for $3.5 million, or a weighted average all-in cost per share of $29.91, during the first quarter of 2021.

Mr. Kaminski concluded, "We have continued to closely monitor new pandemic-related developments and have revised our COVID-19 pandemic response plan as necessary to provide customers with needed banking services while protecting them and our employees from the spread of the coronavirus to the best of our abilities.  Our ongoing financial strength has allowed us to build shareholder value through a continuation of the cash dividend program despite the challenges stemming from the pandemic, and we are focused on positioning our company to remain a consistent high performer.  We are excited about Mercantile's future and believe that our strong first quarter financial performance has positioned us to deliver solid operating results during the remainder of 2021."

Investor Presentation

Mercantile has prepared presentation materials (the "Conference Call & Webcast Presentation") that management intends to use during its previously announced first quarter 2021 conference call on Tuesday, April 20, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and from time to time thereafter in presentations about the Company's operations and performance.  The Investor Presentation also contains more detailed information relating to Mercantile's COVID-19 pandemic response plan.  These materials have been furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission concurrently with this press release, and are also available on Mercantile's website at www.mercbank.com.

About Mercantile Bank Corporation

Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Mercantile Bank Corporation is the bank holding company for Mercantile Bank of Michigan.  Mercantile provides banking services to businesses, individuals and governmental units, and differentiates itself on the basis of service quality and the expertise of its banking staff. Mercantile has assets of approximately $4.7 billion and operates 44 banking offices.  Mercantile Bank Corporation's common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "MBWM."

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements or information that may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "goal," "seek," "believe," "project," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "future," "likely," "may," "should," "will," and similar references to future periods.  Any such statements are based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results expressed in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include changes in interest rates and interest rate relationships; demand for products and services; the degree of competition by traditional and nontraditional competitors; changes in banking regulation or actions by bank regulators; our participation in the Paycheck Protection Program administered by the Small Business Administration; changes in tax laws; changes in prices, levies, and assessments; the impact of technological advances; potential cyber-attacks, information security breaches and other criminal activities; litigation liabilities; governmental and regulatory policy changes; the outcomes of contingencies; trends in customer behavior as well as their ability to repay loans; changes in local real estate values; changes in the national and local economies, including the significant disruption to financial market and other economic activity caused by the outbreak and continuance of the COVID-19 pandemic; and other factors, including risk factors, disclosed from time to time in filings made by Mercantile with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mercantile undertakes no obligation to update or clarify forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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MBWM-ER

SOURCE Mercantile Bank Corporation