Standard Financial Corp. Announces Quarterly Dividend Payment And First Quarter Earnings

MONROEVILLE, Pa., Jan. 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Standard Financial Corp. (the "Company") -  (OTCQX: STND), the holding company for Standard Bank PaSB, today announced earnings for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 of $895,000 or $0.35 per share compared to $769,000 or $0.28 per share for the quarter ended December 31, 2013.  The Company's annualized return on average assets and average equity were 0.80% and 4.86%, respectively, for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 compared to 0.71% and 4.17%, respectively, for the quarter ended December 31, 2013.

The Company's board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $.06 per share of the Company's common stock.  The dividend will be payable to stockholders of record as of February 5, 2015 and will be paid on February 19, 2015.   

Timothy K. Zimmerman, President & CEO, stated, "I believe our fiscal year is off to a solid start.  We have focused on the fundamentals and are seeing good results.  Key indicators including asset quality, the interest rate margin, loan growth and noninterest expense ratios are all showing improvement.  Interest rates and slow economic growth still pose daily challenges."

Net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 increased $126,000 or 16.4% compared to the same quarter in the prior year.  The increase was primarily the result of higher net interest income of $210,000 or 7.2% partly offset by higher non-interest expenses of $64,000 or 2.5%.

Net interest income increased to $3.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2014 from $2.9 million for the three months ended December 31, 2013. The increase in net interest income resulted primarily from a lower cost of funds slightly offset by a lower yield on assets.

No provisions for loan losses were recorded for both quarters ending December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013.  Non-performing loans at December 31, 2014 were $1.1 million or 0.34% of total loans compared to $1.2 million or 0.37% of total loans at September 30, 2014 and $1.3 million or 0.45% of total loans at December 31, 2013.  The allowance for loan losses to non-performing loans was 340.2% at December 31, 2014 compared to 331.0% at September 30, 2014.

Noninterest income totaled $712,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 compared to $695,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2013.  The increase in noninterest income was due mainly to higher annuity and mutual fund fees and dividend income on Federal Home Loan Bank stock.                    

Noninterest expenses totaled $2.6 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 representing a slight increase of $64,000 or 2.5% compared to the quarter ended December 31, 2013. The increase in noninterest expenses was due mainly to higher salary costs and increased charitable contribution expense in the quarter ending December 31, 2014.                            

Standard Financial Corp., with total assets of $446.7 million at December 31, 2014, is the parent company of Standard Bank, a Pennsylvania chartered savings bank which operates nine offices serving individuals and small to mid-sized businesses in Allegheny, Westmoreland and Bedford Counties, in Pennsylvania and Allegany County in Maryland.  Standard Bank is a member of the FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender. 

This news release may contain a number of forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors.  The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date on which such statements were made. 

SOURCE Standard Financial Corp.

Related Links

http://www.standardbankpa.com