Wake Forest Bancshares, Inc. Announces Second Quarter Results

WAKE FOREST, N.C., April 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Wake Forest Bancshares, Inc., (OTC Electronic Bulletin Board: WAKE) parent company of Wake Forest Federal Savings and Loan Association, announced today that the Company reported earnings of $97,506 or $0.08 per share for its quarter ended March 31, 2012, compared to earnings of $136,346 or $0.12 per share for the same quarter one year earlier.  Earnings for the first six months of the Company's fiscal year were reported at $248,553 or $0.21 per share versus $283,204 or $0.25 per share for the same six month period a year earlier. 

In announcing the earnings, Robert C. White, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated that the Company's earnings continue to be impacted by compressed interest rate margins and although the Company has shown improvement in its level of non-performing assets, the need for elevated loan loss provisions and write downs of foreclosed properties has persisted.  In order to protect the Association's portfolios from interest rate risk, a significant portion of the Company's loans and investments have either shorter maturities or variable rates.  The Federal Reserve has kept interest rates at historic lows since December of 2008 and the Company's interest rate sensitive loan and investment portfolios have adjusted downward to those rate movements to a greater extent than has the Company's deposit base.  

The lackluster economic conditions along with a weakened housing market for the past three years have continued to negatively influence the Company's operations.  Real estate lending, while showing some signs of improvement, is at a level significantly below what is considered normal for the Company's markets.  As a historically high growth area, relocation sales have typically represented a sizable portion of our local real estate market but have suffered during this period because of limited job opportunities.  The broader local real estate market has stagnated primarily because the economy has created uncertainty and buyers have either elected to forego home purchases in the interim or have been unable to qualify for financing.   Some improvement in our residential real estate markets has recently occurred primarily because excess inventories of available homes have come down as the market has started to absorb existing product and new starts have been delayed. 

Earnings for the current quarter and first six months of the year were impacted by lower loss provisions, charge-offs and expenses associated with foreclosed loans. The Company provided $150,000 and $218,500 during the quarter and six months ended March 31, 2012, respectively, in loan loss provisions and write downs to the value of its foreclosed properties.  In addition, the Company charged off loans amounting to $45,000 during the quarter and six month period ended March 31, 2012.  In comparison, the Company added $66,650 and $136,650 in loan loss provisions and write downs to foreclosed properties in the three and six months ended March 31, 2011.  The Company also reported $(1,759) and $10,854 in foreclosure related expense and net (gain) or loss during the quarter and six months ended March 31, 2012. Such costs totaled $47,450 and $88,400 during the same quarter and six month period a year earlier.  The Company's loan loss allowances amounted to approximately 1.94% of total loans outstanding at March 31, 2012.

Total assets of the Company amounted to $114,268,568 at March 31, 2012. Total loans receivable and deposits outstanding at March 31, 2012 amounted to $70,562,981 and $92,171,932, respectively.  Wake Forest Bancshares, Inc.'s capital to assets ratio was 18.48% at March 31, 2012.   

Wake Forest Bancshares, Inc. has 1,154,535 shares of common stock outstanding.  Based in Wake Forest, North Carolina since 1922, the Company conducts business as Wake Forest Federal from its office in Wake Forest, (Wake County), North Carolina.

SOURCE Wake Forest Bancshares, Inc.