S&T Bancorp, Inc. Announces Record First Quarter 2021 Net Income

INDIANA, Pa., April 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- S&T Bancorp, Inc. (S&T) (NASDAQ: STBA), the holding company for S&T Bank, with operations in five markets including Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Pennsylvania, Northeast Ohio, Central Ohio and Upstate New York, announced record net income of $31.9 million, or $0.81 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2021 compared to net income of $24.2 million, or $0.62 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2020, and net income of $13.2 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2020.

First Quarter of 2021 Highlights:

• Record net income of $31.9 million.
• Return metrics were strong with return on average assets (ROA) of 1.42%, return on average equity (ROE) of 11.15%, return on average tangible equity (ROTE) (non-GAAP) of 16.78% and pre-tax pre-provision income to average assets (PTPP) (non-GAAP) of 1.89%.
• Net interest margin (FTE) (non-GAAP) increased 9 basis points to 3.47% compared to 3.38% for the fourth quarter of 2020.
• Portfolio loans decreased $42.7 million to $7.2 billion at March 31, 2021 compared to December 31, 2020.
• Deposits increased $455.5 million to $7.9 billion at March 31, 2021 compared to December 31, 2020.
• Mortgage banking revenue increased $1.2 million to $4.3 million for the first quarter of 2021 compared to the fourth quarter of 2020.
• The allowance for credit losses to total portfolio loans was 1.60% at March 31, 2021 compared to 1.63% at December 31, 2020.
• S&T's Board of Directors declared a $0.28 per share dividend which was consistent with the $0.28 per share dividend declared in the same period in the prior year.

"We are pleased to start the year with record quarterly net income and results that reflect what our company is capable of delivering," said David Antolik, president and interim chief executive officer. "We are optimistic about where S&T is headed in 2021, even with the challenging environment, and are well positioned to take advantage of the growth opportunities that will arise."

Net Interest Income

Net interest income increased $0.8 million to $70.7 million for the first quarter of 2021 compared to $69.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2020. The increase in net interest income was primarily due to a reduction in deposit costs and the increased contribution of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to net interest income. Total interest-bearing deposit costs decreased 9 basis points to 0.27% as higher cost certificates of deposits matured. The PPP contribution increased by $0.8 million to $5.8 million for the first quarter of 2021 compared to the fourth quarter of 2020 due to more loan forgiveness. This higher PPP contribution increased the loan yield by 7 basis points to 3.96%. Net interest margin on a fully taxable equivalent basis (FTE) (non-GAAP) increased 9 basis points to 3.47% compared to 3.38% in the prior quarter. Excluding PPP, net interest margin (FTE) (non-GAAP) increased 2 basis points to 3.37% compared to 3.35% in the prior quarter.

Asset Quality

Asset quality improved during the first quarter of 2021 compared to the fourth quarter of 2020. The provision for credit losses decreased to $3.1 million for the first quarter of 2021 compared to $7.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. Net loan charge-offs were $5.8 million for the first quarter of 2021 compared to $11.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. Total nonperforming loans decreased $11.6 million to $135.2 million, or 1.88% of total loans, at March 31, 2021 compared to $146.8 million, or 2.03% of total loans at December 31, 2020. The allowance for credit losses was 1.60% of total portfolio loans as of March 31, 2021 compared to 1.63% at December 31, 2020. Excluding PPP loans, the allowance for credit losses was 1.72% of total portfolio loans at March 31, 2021 compared to 1.74% at December 31, 2020.

Noninterest Income and Expense

Noninterest income increased $1.6 million to $17.2 million in the first quarter of 2021 compared to $15.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. Mortgage banking income increased $1.2 million due to higher gains on loans sold and an increase in the mortgage servicing rights valuation. Wealth management income increased $0.5 million due to higher assets under management from market appreciation and an increase in customer activity. Offsetting these increases was a decrease in commercial loan swap income of $0.7 million due to less demand for this product in the current environment.

Noninterest expense decreased $2.9 million to $45.6 million for the first quarter of 2021 compared to $48.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. Other expense decreased $1.9 million due to lower loan workout costs in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the fourth quarter of 2020. Marketing expense decreased $0.8 million due to the timing of marketing campaigns. These decreases were offset by an increase of $0.5 million in salaries and employee benefits due to higher incentives and pension costs in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the fourth quarter of 2020.

Financial Condition

Total assets increased $361.1 million to $9.3 billion at March 31, 2021 compared to $9.0 billion at December 31, 2020. Cash increased $441.8 million to $671.4 million at March 31, 2021 compared to December 31, 2020 due to a  significant increase in deposits as a result of stimulus programs, the reopening of the PPP and our customer's liquidity preferences. Portfolio loans decreased $42.7 million compared to December 31, 2020 as loan activity continues to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. PPP originations were $190.1 million and PPP forgiveness was $156.5 million during the first quarter of 2021. Deposits increased $455.5 million with a favorable mix of higher deposits across all categories except certificates of deposits. S&T continues to maintain a strong capital position with all capital ratios above the well-capitalized thresholds of federal bank regulatory agencies.

Dividend

The Board of Directors of S&T declared a $0.28 per share cash dividend on April 19, 2021. This is unchanged from the same period in the prior year. The dividend is payable May 20, 2021 to shareholders of record on May 6, 2021.

Conference Call

S&T will host its first quarter 2021 earnings conference call live over the Internet at 1:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 22, 2021. To access the webcast, go to S&T's webpage at www.stbancorp.com and click on "Events & Presentations." Select "1st Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call" and follow the instructions. After the live presentation, the webcast will be archived on this website for at least 90 days. A replay of the call will also be available until April 29, 2021, by dialing 1.877.481.4010; the Conference ID is 40575.

About S&T Bancorp, Inc. and S&T Bank

S&T Bancorp, Inc. is a $9.3 billion bank holding company that is headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania and trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol STBA. Its principal subsidiary, S&T Bank was established in 1902 and operates in five markets including Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Pennsylvania, Northeast Ohio, Central Ohio, and Upstate New York. For more information visit stbancorp.com or stbank.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

This information contains or incorporates statements that we believe are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally relate to our financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, outlook for earnings, revenues, expenses, capital and liquidity levels and ratios, asset levels, asset quality, financial position, and other matters regarding or affecting S&T and its future business and operations. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as "will likely result", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "forecast", "project", "intend", "believe", "assume", "strategy", "trend", "plan", "outlook", "outcome", "continue", "remain", "potential", "opportunity", "comfortable", "current", "position", "maintain", "sustain", "seek", "achieve" and variations of such words and similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as will, would, should, could or may. Although we believe the assumptions upon which these forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, any of these assumptions could prove to be inaccurate and the forward-looking statements based on these assumptions could be incorrect. The matters discussed in these forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results and trends to differ materially from those made, projected, or implied in or by the forward-looking statements depending on a variety of uncertainties or other factors including, but not limited to: credit losses and the credit risk of our commercial and consumer loan products; changes in the level of charge-offs and changes in estimates of the adequacy of the allowance for credit losses; cyber-security concerns; rapid technological developments and changes; operational risks or risk management failures by us or critical third parties, including fraud risk; our ability to manage our reputational risks; sensitivity to the interest rate environment including a prolonged period of low interest rates, a rapid increase in interest rates or a change in the shape of the yield curve; a change in spreads on interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities; the transition from LIBOR as a reference rate; regulatory supervision and oversight, including changes in regulatory capital requirements and our ability to address those requirements; unanticipated changes in our liquidity position; changes in accounting policies, practices, or guidance, for example, our adoption of CECL; legislation affecting the financial services industry as a whole, and S&T, in particular; the outcome of pending and future litigation and governmental proceedings; increasing price and product/service competition; the ability to continue to introduce competitive new products and services on a timely, cost-effective basis; managing our internal growth and acquisitions; the possibility that the anticipated benefits from acquisitions, including DNB, cannot be fully realized in a timely manner or at all, or that integrating the acquired operations will be more difficult, disruptive or costly than anticipated; containing costs and expenses; reliance on significant customer relationships; an interruption or cessation of an important service by a third-party provider; our ability to attract and retain talented executives and employees; our ability to successfully manage our CEO transition; general economic or business conditions, including the strength of regional economic conditions in our market area; the duration and severity of the coronavirus ("COVID-19") pandemic, both in our principal area of operations and nationally, including the ultimate impact of the pandemic on the economy generally and on our operations; our participation in the Paycheck Protection Program; deterioration of the housing market and reduced demand for mortgages; deterioration in the overall macroeconomic conditions or the state of the banking industry that could warrant further analysis of the carrying value of goodwill and could result in an adjustment to its carrying value resulting in a non-cash charge to net income; the stability of our core deposit base and access to contingency funding; re-emergence of turbulence in significant portions of the global financial and real estate markets that could impact our performance, both directly, by affecting our revenues and the value of our assets and liabilities, and indirectly, by affecting the economy generally and access to capital in the amounts, at the times and on the terms required to support our future businesses.

Many of these factors, as well as other factors, are described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, including Part I, Item 1A-"Risk Factors" and any of our subsequent filings with the SEC. Forward-looking statements are based on beliefs and assumptions using information available at the time the statements are made. We caution you not to unduly rely on forward-looking statements because the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and projections about future events may, and often do, differ materially from actual results. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as to the date on which it is made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect developments occurring after the statement is made.

SOURCE S&T Bancorp, Inc.