WesBanco Announces Fourth Quarter 2019 Financial Results

WHEELING, W.Va., Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- January 27, 2020 – WesBanco, Inc. ("WesBanco") (Nasdaq: WSBC), a diversified, multi-state bank holding company, today announced net income and related earnings per share for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2019.  Net income for the three months ended December 31, 2019 was $36.4 million, with diluted earnings per share of $0.60, compared to $43.9 million and $0.80 per diluted share, respectively, for the fourth quarter of 2018.  For the twelve months ended December 31, 2019, net income was $158.9 million, or $2.83 per diluted share, compared to $143.1 million, or $2.92 per diluted share, for the 2018 period.  Net income excluding after-tax merger-related expenses for the three months ended December 31, 2019, increased 1.0% year-over-year to $45.5 million, or $0.75 per diluted share as compared to $0.82 per diluted share in the prior year quarter, a decrease of 8.5% (non-GAAP measures).  On the same basis, net income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019 increased 9.3% year-over-year to $171.8 million, or $3.06 per diluted share, down 4.7% when compared to $3.21 per diluted share in the prior year period (non-GAAP measures).

On April 5, 2018, WesBanco consummated the merger with First Sentry Bancshares, Inc. ("FTSB"), a bank holding company headquartered in Huntington, WV with $0.7 billion in assets, excluding goodwill.  On August 20, 2018, WesBanco consummated the merger with Farmers Capital Bank Corporation ("FFKT"), a bank holding company headquartered in Frankfort, KY with approximately $1.6 billion in assets, excluding goodwill.  In addition, on November 22, 2019, WesBanco consummated the merger with Old Line Bancshares, Inc. ("OLBK"), a bank holding company headquartered in Bowie, MD with approximately $3.0 billion in assets, excluding goodwill.  Financial results for FTSB, FFKT, and OLBK have been included in WesBanco's results from their respective merger consummation dates.

Financial and operational highlights during the quarter ended December 31, 2019:

• Successful completion of the merger with OLBK, a top ten financial institution in the state of Maryland
• WesBanco Bank, Inc. was awarded its seventh consecutive composite "Outstanding" rating by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for its Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) performance
• Mortgage banking income increased 91.6% and 40.7%, year-over-year, for the quarter and full year periods, respectively
• Continued expense management demonstrated by a year-to-date efficiency ratio of 56.68% (non-GAAP measure)
• Key credit quality metrics such as non-performing assets, past due loans, allowance for loan loss ratios, and net loan charge-offs, as percentages of total portfolio loans, continue to remain at low levels and comparable to peer banks, those with total assets between $10 billion and $25 billion
• The limitation on interchange fees for debit card processing that resulted from the Durbin amendment in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act took effect during the third quarter of 2019
• This limitation, which applies to banks with more than $10 billion in total assets, reduced fourth quarter after-tax earnings by $2.3 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, and year-to-date after-tax earnings by $3.8 million, or $0.07 per diluted share

Todd F. Clossin, President and Chief Executive Officer of WesBanco, commented, "2019 was another successful year for WesBanco – one that was also full of milestones.  Solid execution on our strategies allowed us to generate record annual earnings of $159 million, or $172 million, when excluding merger-related costs.  On November 22^nd, we welcomed the customers and employees of Old Line Bancshares into the WesBanco family.  In addition to maintaining a strong commitment to client service and community banking, I am excited about our opportunities in the Mid-Atlantic market as we work to enhance customer relationships through new and expanded products and services, and provide enhanced career opportunities for our newest employees."

Mr. Clossin added, "Through our merger with Old Line, we expanded our franchise into the dynamic Mid-Atlantic market with strong deposit market share in the fast growing Baltimore and Washington D.C. MSAs, as well as crossing $15 billion in total assets.  Further, due to the hard work and dedication of our employees, WesBanco Bank earned its seventh consecutive "Outstanding" Community Reinvestment Act rating.  We continue to believe we are well-positioned for long-term success, and remain positive about our opportunities for the upcoming year, as we focus internally on organic growth and ensuring a successful integration of our Mid-Atlantic franchise."

Balance Sheet
Portfolio loans of $10.3 billion as of December 31, 2019 increased 34.1% when compared to the prior year period due to the OLBK acquisition.  Total organic loan growth was 1.1% year-over-year, driven by the C&I and residential real estate loan categories, which were partially offset by elevated levels of commercial real estate loans being refinanced in an aggressive secondary market.  The commercial real estate payoffs during the fourth quarter were almost triple the more normalized quarterly average experienced during the first half of 2019, which negatively impacted organic fourth quarter year-over-year loan growth by approximately two percentage points.  Total deposits increased 24.6% year-over-year to $11.0 billion due to the OLBK acquisition.  Total deposits, excluding the OLBK acquisition, decreased $246.5 million, or 2.8%, year-over-year due to a $260.7 million reduction in certificates of deposit, as higher cost CDs were allowed to runoff.

Credit Quality
Overall, we believe our credit quality ratios remained strong as we balanced disciplined loan origination in the current environment with prudent lending standards.  As of December 31, 2019, both non-performing loans and non-performing assets as percentages of the total loan portfolio and total assets, respectively, have remained relatively low and consistent throughout the last five quarters.  Criticized and classified loan balances decreased to 2.17% of total portfolio loans, as compared to 2.24% during the third quarter of 2019.  The provision for credit losses decreased to $1.8 million for the quarter, and annualized net loan charge-offs to average loans for the full year period were nine basis points.  Fourth quarter annualized net charge-offs of 20 basis points were higher than normal due primarily to the pay-off of three previously-acquired, credit-impaired loans that had been assigned credit marks and previously recognized reserves.

The current expected credit loss ("CECL") model became effective for WesBanco on January 1, 2020.  As part of our implementation process, we previously disclosed a range of up to a 30% increase in the allowance for loan losses for WesBanco, excluding the impact from OLBK.  Including our fourth quarter of 2019 acquisition of OLBK in the analysis and subject to purchase accounting adjustments, we now expect an increase of approximately 40% to 60% in the first quarter of 2020 allowance for credit losses, which represents a 20 to 25 basis point decline in the Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio, if applied on a pro-forma basis, as of December 31, 2019.  The ultimate impact of adoption will depend on the finalization of the purchase accounting for OLBK which could impact the estimated range of potential outcomes noted above.

Net Interest Margin and Income
The net interest margin of 3.55% for the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased 17 basis points year-over-year and 1 basis point from the third quarter.  Year-over-year, the net interest margin decreased primarily due to the lower interest rate environment from the three decreases in the Federal Reserve Board's target federal funds rate during the second half of 2019, as well as a flattening of the yield curve.  Accretion from acquisitions benefited the fourth quarter net interest margin by 22 basis points, as compared to 23 basis points in the prior year period and 13 basis points during the third quarter.  Year-to-date accretion was 19 basis points, as compared to 14 basis points in the prior year.

Net interest income increased $5.2 million, or 5.1%, during the fourth quarter of 2019, as compared to the same quarter of 2018, due to a 9.6% increase in average total earning assets, primarily driven by the OLBK acquisition and related accretion from purchase accounting, partially offset by the lower loan yields, reflecting the three decreases in the Federal Reserve Board's target federal funds rate during the second half of 2019.  For the twelve months ended December 31, 2019, net interest income increased $52.7 million, or 15.2%, due to higher average total earning assets from organic growth and the OLBK acquisition, and an overall higher net interest margin, reflecting a higher interest rate environment during the first half of 2019.

Non-Interest Income
For the fourth quarter of 2019, non-interest income of $30.8 million increased $4.3 million, or 16.1%, from the fourth quarter of 2018, driven by organic growth and the OLBK acquisition, which accounted for approximately a third of the increase.  Other income increased $2.7 million, or 84.1%, due to higher commercial customer loan swap-related income.  Net securities gains increased $1.8 million, or 139.9%, due to a negative $1.1 million market adjustment in the prior year period on the deferred compensation plan, which had an offsetting reduction in employee benefits expense.   Mortgage banking fees increased $1.4 million, or 91.6%, compared to the prior year period, due to growth in residential mortgage origination dollar volume and the associated sale of approximately one-half of those originations into the secondary market.  Electronic banking fees decreased $2.3 million as compared to the prior year period reflecting an approximate $2.8 million impact from the limitation on interchange fees for debit card processing that resulted from the Durbin amendment in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ("Dodd-Frank Act"), partially offset by higher point-of-sale and ATM transactions by both legacy WesBanco and our new OLBK customers.

For the twelve months ended December 31, 2019, non-interest income increased $16.4 million, or 16.4%, year-over-year to $116.7 million.  In addition to the items discussed above, the primary drivers of this increase were the larger customer deposit base and higher transaction volumes associated with the FTSB and FFKT acquisitions, which positively benefited service charges on deposits and electronic banking fees, while the addition of the trust business from FFKT benefited trust fees.  Despite the higher transaction volumes, electronic banking fees decreased $0.7 million, or 2.9%, year-over-year due to the limitation on interchange fees, as mentioned above, which reduced fees during the second half of 2019 by approximately $4.7 million.

Non-Interest Expense
We believe that total operating expenses continued to be well-controlled during both the three- and twelve-month periods ending December 31, 2019, as demonstrated by an efficiency ratio of 58.29% and 56.68%, respectively.  Excluding merger-related expenses, non-interest expense for the three months ended December 31, 2019 increased $11.4 million, or 16.4%, to $81.0 million compared to the prior year period, primarily reflecting the OLBK acquisition, which accounted for approximately 42% of the increase.  As previously disclosed, anticipated cost savings associated with the OLBK acquisition will begin to be realized during the second quarter of 2020.  This year-over-year increase is primarily due to higher salaries and wages, employee benefits, net occupancy, equipment, and other operating costs associated with additional staffing and financial center locations from the OLBK acquisition.  In addition, salaries and wages reflect the annual mid-year merit increases, and higher incentive and stock compensation.  Employee benefits in the prior year period, as mentioned above, were positively impacted by the $1.1 million reduction in the deferred compensation plan obligations due to market declines, while during 2019, healthcare expenses increased $3.7 million, or 21.5%, partially reflective of the two acquisitions during 2018.

For the twelve months ended December 31, 2019, non-interest expense, net of merger-related expenses, increased $48.4 million, or 19.6%, to $295.8 million compared to the prior year period, reflecting the three acquisitions and similar factors noted above for the quarterly period.

Capital
WesBanco continues to maintain what we believe are strong regulatory capital ratios as both consolidated and bank-level regulatory capital ratios are well above the applicable "well-capitalized" standards promulgated by bank regulators and the BASEL III capital standards.  At December 31, 2019, Tier I leverage was 11.30%, Tier I risk-based capital was 12.89%, total risk-based capital was 15.12%, and the common equity Tier 1 capital ratio ("CET 1") was 12.89%.  Tier 1 leverage and Tier 1 risk-based capital ratios were adversely impacted by the movement of $136.5 million of trust preferred securities (TruPS) from Tier 1 to Tier 2 risk-based capital, as required by the Dodd-Frank Act for financial institutions with total assets greater than $15 billion.  Tangible common equity increased to 10.02% at period-end from 9.28% as of December 31, 2018, as an increase in other comprehensive income from the mark-to-market of the available-for-sale portion of the investment portfolio benefitted this ratio, as well as increased retained earnings.

On December 19, 2019, WesBanco's Board of Directors authorized the adoption of a new stock repurchase plan for the purchase of up to an additional 1.7 million shares of WesBanco common stock, representing approximately 2.5% of outstanding shares, from time to time on the open market, which is in addition to the existing plan approved by the Board of Directors on October 22, 2015.  During the fourth quarter of 2019, WesBanco repurchased 254,688 shares of its outstanding common stock on the open market at a total cost of $9.5 million, or $37.30 per share.  As of December 31, 2019, approximately 2.5 million shares remained for repurchase.

Conference Call and Webcast
WesBanco will host a conference call to discuss the Company's financial results for the fourth quarter of 2019 at 10:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, January 28, 2020.  Interested parties can access the live webcast of the conference call through the Investor Relations section of the Company's website, www.wesbanco.com.  Participants can also listen to the conference call by dialing 888-347-6607, 855-669-9657 for Canadian callers, or 412-902-4290 for international callers, and asking to be joined into the WesBanco call.  Please log in or dial in at least 10 minutes prior to the start time to ensure a connection.

A replay of the conference call will be available by dialing 877-344-7529, 855-669-9658 for Canadian callers, or 412-317-0088 for international callers, and providing the access code of 10136708.  The replay will begin at approximately 12:00 p.m. ET on January 28, and end at 12 a.m. ET on February 11.  An archive of the webcast will be available for one year on the Investor Relations section of the Company's website (www.wesbanco.com).

Forward-Looking Statements
Forward-looking statements in this report relating to WesBanco's plans, strategies, objectives, expectations, intentions and adequacy of resources, are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  The information contained in this report should be read in conjunction with WesBanco's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and documents subsequently filed by WesBanco with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including WesBanco's Form 10-Q's for the quarters ended March 31, June 30, and September 30, 2019, which are available at the SEC's website, www.sec.gov or at WesBanco's website, www.wesbanco.com.  Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements, which are not historical fact, involve risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in WesBanco's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC under "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A.  Such statements are subject to important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such statements, including, without limitation, that the businesses of WesBanco and Old Line may not be integrated successfully or such integration may take longer to accomplish than expected; the expected cost savings and any revenue synergies from the merger of WesBanco and Old Line may not be fully realized within the expected timeframes; disruption from the merger of WesBanco and Old Line may make it more difficult to maintain relationships with clients, associates, or suppliers; the effects of changing regional and national economic conditions; changes in interest rates, spreads on earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities, and associated interest rate sensitivity; sources of liquidity available to WesBanco and its related subsidiary operations; potential future credit losses and the credit risk of commercial, real estate, and consumer loan customers and their borrowing activities; actions of the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the SEC, the Financial Institution Regulatory Authority, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, the Securities Investors Protection Corporation, and other regulatory bodies; potential legislative and federal and state regulatory actions and reform, including, without limitation, the impact of the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act; changes in accounting standards, rules and interpretations such as the new CECL standard, and the impact on WesBanco's financial statements; adverse decisions of federal and state courts; fraud, scams and schemes of third parties; cyber-security breaches; competitive conditions in the financial services industry; rapidly changing technology affecting financial services; marketability of debt instruments and corresponding impact on fair value adjustments; and/or other external developments materially impacting WesBanco's operational and financial performance.  WesBanco does not assume any duty to update forward-looking statements.

About WesBanco, Inc.
Founded in 1870, WesBanco, Inc. (www.wesbanco.com) is a diversified and balanced financial services company that delivers large bank capabilities with a community bank feel.  Our distinct long-term growth strategies are built upon unique sustainable advantages permitting us to span six states with meaningful market share.  Built upon our 'Better Banking Pledge', our customer-centric service culture is focused on growing long-term relationships by pledging to serve all personal and business customer needs efficiently and effectively.  In addition to a full range of online and mobile banking options and a full-suite of commercial products and services, WesBanco provides trust, wealth management, securities brokerage, and private banking services through our century-old Trust and Investment Services department, with approximately $4.7 billion of assets under management (as of December 31, 2019).  WesBanco's banking subsidiary, WesBanco Bank, Inc., operates 236 financial centers in the states of Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.  Additionally, WesBanco operates an insurance agency, WesBanco Insurance Services, Inc., and a full service broker/dealer, WesBanco Securities, Inc.