NATCHEZ, Miss., March 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Britton &
Koontz Capital Corporation (Nasdaq: BKBK) (the "Company")
re-evaluated its potential exposure with respect to two impaired
commercial loans in its Mississippi market and has increased the
allowance for loan loss by $1
million. The Company determined that the provision
expense necessary to increase the allowance should be charged to
the Company's fourth quarter earnings. As a result, the
Company's earnings for the twelve months ended December 31, 2009, were $1.6 million, while the Company experienced a
loss of $58 thousand for the three
months ended December 31, 2009.
These amounts reflect a downward revision from earnings of
$569 thousand and $2.3 million for the three and twelve months
ended December 31, 2009, that the
Company reported on January 25,
2010.
As noted above, the additional provision expense is associated
with two commercial loans which are secured by commercial real
estate. Both of these loans were identified as impaired at
December 31, 2009; however, based
upon additional information available, the Company increased the
level of impairment on each loan from a partial to total
impairment. For one of the loans, Britton & Koontz Bank, N.A. (the "Bank") foreclosed on the
commercial real estate securing the loan in January, 2010.
Upon gaining access to the property, the Bank discovered that
substantial damage and theft had occurred sometime during the weeks
of the foreclosure proceedings. The Company believes such
damage and theft is covered by insurance, and an insurance claim
has been filed in connection with the loss (as well as a police
report). At this time, though, the Company cannot be sure
whether it will fully recover the previously estimated fair value
of the collateral. With respect to the other loan, the loan
was classified as partially impaired at December 31, 2009, on the basis of alleged
borrower fraud relating to the borrower's title to the commercial
real estate securing the loan. The Company demanded payment
under the loan's title insurance policy and brought suit against
the title insurer in December, 2009. Since the end of 2009,
the increasing likelihood of delays in resolving the Company's
lawsuit has prompted the Company to increase its partial reserve
allocation to a full reserve.
The additional reserves required with respect to these two
commercial loans have increased by a total of $1 million to the Company's provision expense for
the fourth quarter of 2009. In the absence of negotiated
settlements of the Company's claims with the insurance companies,
charge-off of some or all of the identified credit exposures on the
two credits, equal to approximately $1.5
million, may be necessary at the end of the first quarter of
2010. The Company's revised allowance for loan loss will be
$3.9 million, or 1.73% of loans at
December 31, 2009, compared to
$2.9 million, or 1.29% of loans
reported in the Company's January 25,
2010 earnings release.
Britton & Koontz Capital Corporation, headquartered in
Natchez, Mississippi, is the
parent company of Britton & Koontz
Bank, N.A. which operates three full service offices in
Natchez, two in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and three in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As
of December 31, 2009, the Company
reported assets of $393 million and
equity of $39.8 million. The
Company's stock is traded on NASDAQ under the symbol BKBK and the
transfer agent is American Stock Transfer & Trust Company.
Total shares outstanding at March 1,
2010, were 2,135,466.
This news release contains statements regarding the projected
performance of Britton & Koontz Capital Corporation and its
subsidiaries. These statements constitute forward-looking
information within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act. Actual results may differ materially from the
projections provided in this release since such projections involve
significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties.
Factors that might cause such differences include, but are
not limited to: competitive pressures among financial institutions
increasing significantly; economic conditions, either nationally or
locally, in areas in which the Company conducts operations being
less favorable than expected; and legislation or regulatory changes
which adversely affect the ability of the combined Company to
conduct business combinations or new operations. The Company
disclaims any obligation to update such factors or to publicly
announce the results of any revisions to any of the forward-looking
statements included herein to reflect future events or
developments.
Britton and Koontz Capital Corporation
Financial Highlights
(Unaudited)
For the Three Months For the Twelve Months
ended ended
December 31, December 31,
2009 2008 2009 2008
---- ---- ---- ----
Income Statement Data
---------------------
Interest income $5,079,559 $5,596,258 $20,979,459 $22,562,537
Interest expense 1,518,491 1,884,992 6,459,931 8,753,557
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Net interest income 3,561,068 3,711,266 14,519,528 13,808,980
Provision for loan
losses 1,550,000 370,000 3,420,000 730,000
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Net interest income
after provision
for loan losses 2,011,068 3,341,266 11,099,528 13,078,980
Non-interest income 744,698 674,860 2,820,368 3,014,368
Non-interest
expense 3,254,875 2,820,647 12,365,940 11,280,591
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Income before
income taxes (499,109) 1,195,479 1,553,956 4,812,757
Income taxes (440,738) 330,126 (69,673) 1,309,994
------- -------- --------- ---------
Net income $(58,371) $865,353 $1,623,629 $3,502,763
======== ======== ========== ==========
Return on Average
Assets -0.06% 0.87% 0.40% 0.91%
===== ==== ==== ====
Return on Average
Equity -0.57% 9.23% 4.01% 9.57%
===== ==== ==== ====
Diluted:
Net income per share $(0.03) $0.41 $0.76 $1.65
====== ===== ===== =====
Weighted average
shares
outstanding 2,127,126 2,117,966 2,125,799 2,117,966
========= ========= ========= =========
December 31, September 30, December 31,
Balance Sheet Data 2009 2009 2008
------------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Total assets $393,110,149 $395,830,265 $413,076,825
Cash and due from
banks 10,303,641 7,552,892 6,951,543
Federal funds sold 58,799 314,942 -
Investment securities 146,590,266 152,599,328 170,720,427
Loans, net of UI &
loans held for sale 223,817,377 223,510,893 225,511,297
Loans held for sale 784,063 764,500 -
Allowance for loan
losses 3,878,738 2,444,714 2,397,802
Deposits-interest
bearing 201,094,816 208,819,093 206,094,593
Deposits-non interest
bearing 49,847,304 43,381,549 51,119,827
---------- ---------- ----------
Total deposits 250,942,120 252,200,642 257,214,420
Short-term debt 50,389,079 52,087,432 71,717,942
Long-term debt 49,000,000 47,000,000 40,010,824
Stockholders' equity 39,840,889 40,964,944 39,541,069
Book value (per share) $18.74 $19.26 $18.67
Total shares
outstanding 2,126,466 2,126,466 2,117,966
Asset Quality Data
------------------
Non-accrual loans $8,709,058 $6,148,680 $3,567,907
Loans 90+ days
past due 1,003,944 1,009,513 517,779
--------- --------- -------
Total non-performing
loans 9,713,002 7,158,193 4,085,686
Other real estate owned 815,207 1,177,100 919,204
------- --------- -------
Total non-performing
assets $10,528,209 $8,335,293 $5,004,890
Total non-performing
assets
to average assets 2.62% 2.07% 1.31%
Net chargeoffs - ytd $1,939,064 $1,823,088 $763,135
YTD net chargeoffs
as a percent
of average net loans 0.87% 0.82% 0.34%
SOURCE Britton & Koontz Capital Corporation