MutualFirst Announces Increased Second Quarter 2008 EarningsWednesday, July 16, 2008Date: July 16, 2008 From: MutualFirst Financial, Inc. For Publication: Immediately Contact: Tim McArdle, Senior Vice President and Treasurer of MutualFirst Financial, Inc. (765) 747-2818 MutualFirst Announces Increased Second Quarter 2008 Earnings Muncie, Indiana -MutualFirst Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: MFSF), the holding company of Mutual Bank (the "Bank"), announced today that net income for the second quarter ended June 30, 2008 was $1.2 million, or $.30 for basic and diluted earnings per share. This compared to net income for the comparable period in 2007 of $1.1 million, or $.27 for basic and diluted earnings per share. Annualized return on assets was .49% and return on tangible equity was 6.58% for the second quarter of 2008 compared to .48% and 6.24% respectively, for the same period last year. Net income for the six months ended June 30, 2008 was $2.4 million or $.60 for basic and diluted earnings per share. This compared to net income for the comparable period in 2007 of $2.2 million or $.53 for basic and $.52 for diluted earnings per share. Annualized return on average assets was .50% and return on average tangible equity was 6.69% for the first half of 2008 compared to .46% and 6.01% respectively, for the same period last year. The comparative increase of income for the three and six month periods was primarily due to the increase in net interest margin and non-interest income. Increased expenses, including one time charges due to re-branding the bank, technological changes, and merger related expenses partially offset the increase in net interest margin. "We are pleased with the increased income in the second quarter, especially after the increased expenses due to the renaming of the bank and the pending merger with MFB Corp.," Dave Heeter, President and CEO of MutualFirst said. Assets totaled $975.5 million at June 30, 2008, an increase from December 31, 2007 of $12.9 million, or 1.3%. Loans, excluding loans held for sale, decreased $9.0 million or 1.1%. Consumer loans decreased $3.6 million, or 1.6%, while commercial loans increased $5.0 million, or 3.5%, and residential mortgage loans held in the portfolio decreased $10.4 million, furthering our strategy to reduce the percentage of fixed rate real estate mortgage loans to total loans. Mortgage loans held for sale decreased $584,000 and mortgage loans sold during the first half of 2008 totaled $28.2 million compared to $12.1 million during the same period in 2007. The decreased loan balances were due primarily to an increase in sales of fixed rate real estate mortgage loans. Investment securities available for sale increased $10.8 million, or 24.8%, offsetting the reduction in the loan portfolio. Cash and cash equivalents increased $6.4 million, or 27.0% as the bank's interest earning cash accounts increased. Allowance for loan losses increased $252,000 to $8.6 million when comparing June 30, 2008 to December 31, 2007. Net charge offs for the first half of 2008 were $1.1 million, or .27% of average loans on an annualized basis compared to $744,000, or .18% of average loans for the comparable period in 2007. On a linked quarter basis, net charge offs compared to average loans were .28% in the second quarter 2008 compared to .26% in the first quarter 2008. As of June 30, 2008 the allowance for loan losses as a percentage of loans receivable and non-performing loans was 1.07% and 78.35%, respectively, compared to 1.03% and 169.16%, respectively, at December 31, 2007. Total deposits were $677.7 million at June 30, 2008, an increase from $666.4 million at December 31, 2007. This increase was due primarily to increases in core demand, money market and savings deposits of $4.2 million and wholesale deposits of $15.8 million. The increase was partially offset by decreases in certificates of deposit of $8.7 million. Total borrowings increased $3.1 million to $199.7 million at June 30, 2008 from $196.6 million at December 31, 2007. Stockholders' equity decreased $3.6 million, or 4.1%, from $87.0 million at December 31, 2007, to $83.4 million at June 30, 2008. The decrease was due primarily to a decrease in the market value of securities available for sale compared to their book value of $3.5 million from a loss of $414,000 at December 31, 2007 to a loss of $3.9 million at June 30, 2008. This decrease was due primarily to price decreases, caused chiefly by illiquid credit markets, in certain investment grade trust preferred securities owned by the bank. CEO Heeter commented, "We believe pricing for the trust preferred securities will improve as the financial markets become more stable. We have the ability and intent to continue to hold these investments until then." Other decreases in stockholders' equity resulted from the use of $1.4 million to repurchase 109,000 shares of common stock and dividend payments of $1.3 million. These decreases were partially offset by net income of $2.4 million, and Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and RRP shares earned of $211,000. Heeter also stated that, "the bank continues to be well capitalized by all regulatory standards". Net interest income before the provision for loan losses increased $685,000 from $6.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2007 to $6.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2008. The reasons for the increase were an $8.1 million, or .9%, increase in average interest earning assets and a 28 basis point increase in the net interest margin. On a linked quarter basis, net interest margin increased to 3.13% for the three months ended June 30, 2008 compared to 2.94% for the three months ended March 31, 2008. Net interest income before the provision for loan losses increased $1.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2008 compared to the six months ended June 30, 2007. The reasons for the increase were similar to those stated above. Average interest earning assets increased $6.9 million, or 8.0% and the net interest margin increased by 22 basis points from 2.82% for the six months ended June 30, 2007 to 3.04% for the same period in 2008. The provision for loan losses for the second quarter of 2008 was $733,000, compared to $533,000 for last year’s comparable period. Non-performing loans to total loans at June 30, 2008 were 1.37% compared to .61% at June 30, 2007. Non-performing assets to total assets were 1.51% at June 30, 2008 compared to .80% at June 30, 2007. On a linked quarter basis, non-performing loans to total loans decreased from 1.44% for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 to 1.37% for the quarter ended June 30, 2008. The provision for loan losses for the six months ended June 30, 2008 was $1.3 million compared to $865,000 for last year’s comparable period. The increased provision for the six months ended 2008 compared to the same time period in 2007 was a result of increased non-performing assets, mostly in one-to four-family and commercial real estate loans and foreclosed real estate. Non-performing assets were 1.51% at June 30, 2008 compared to .80% at June 30, 2007. Non-interest income increased $155,000 to $2.1 million, or 7.9%, for the three months ended June 30, 2008 compared to the same period in 2007. The increase was due primarily to increases in service fees on transaction accounts of $119,000, or 9.6%, increases in commission income of $64,000, or 26.2%, and increases in net gain on loan sales and servicing $61,000, or 63.5%. For the six month period ended June 30, 2008 non-interest income increased $543,000, or 14.7%, to $4.2 million compared to $3.7 million for the same period in 2007. The reasons are similar to those mentioned above. Non-interest expense increased $667,000 to $6.9 million, or 10.8%, for the three months ended June 30, 2008 compared to the same period in 2007. Increases in current quarter non-interest expense compared to the same period in 2007 include increases in occupancy and equipment expense of $135,000, primarily due to a new branch office in Elkhart County, increases in salaries and employee benefits of $238,000, primarily due to salary adjustments and new employees for the Elkhart County branch, increases in marketing expense of $88,000, primarily due to re-branding of the bank's name, and increases in other expenses of $207,000, primarily due to FDIC premium increases and expenses related to the bank's name change. For the six month period ended June 30, 2008 non-interest expense increased $1.0 million, or 7.6%, to $13.4 million compared to $12.4 million for the same period in 2007. The reasons for the increase are similar to those mentioned above. Income tax expense decreased $72,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2008 compared to the same period in 2007 due primarily to less income subject to income taxes. The effective tax rate also decreased from 15.2% to 10.0% due to an increased percentage of low income housing tax credits to taxable income when comparing the second quarter of 2008 to the second quarter of 2007, respectively. For the six-month period ended June 30, 2008, income tax expense decreased $54,000 compared to the same period in 2007. The decrease was due primarily to less income subject to income taxes. The effective tax rate also decreased from 13.3% to 10.6% due to an increased percentage of low income housing tax credits to taxable income when comparing the first half of 2008 to the first half of 2007, respectively. MutualFirst Financial, Inc. and Mutual Bank are headquartered in Statements contained in this release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors, which include, but are not limited to changes in interest rates; the loss of deposits and loan demand to competitors; substantial changes in financial markets; changes in real estate values and the real estate market; or regulatory changes. |