Premier Reports Strong Growth Amid Economic Uncertainty
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Premier Financial Corp. reports strong growth in loans and deposits during the third quarter, with net income of $28.2 million, or 79 cents per diluted common share. This compares to $28.4 million, or 76 cents, for the third quarter of 2021.
Premier Financial, headquartered in Defiance, is the holding company for Youngstown-based Premier Bank and for First Financial Group with 10 offices in Ohio.
“We are very pleased to post another strong quarter in terms of earning and growth,” said Gary Small, president and CEO of Premier. “Year-to-date loan and deposit growth stand at 17% and 7% respectively, while total revenue growth for the quarter totaled 8.9%, outstanding results by any historical comparison.”
Small said robust commercial growth and consumer business performance continue to offset the difficult mortgage environment, he noted.
“Deposits continue to grow, credit quality figures continue to improve, and consumer spending is responsibly on the rise,” Small said. “A strong employment market is clearly helping all maneuver through these less certain times.”
The third-quarter earnings report touted loan growth of $300.9 million, up 19.9% on an annualized basis. Those loans included $151 million in commercial loans, excluding Paycheck Protection Program loans, up 15.2%, as well as $114.2 million for residential loans, up 28.3%. Consumer/home equity loans were reported at $38.5 million, up 34.5%, while PPP loans decreased by $3.4 million and were only at $1.2 million as of Sept. 30.
Customer deposits were up 9%, with a growth of $146.3 million including $40 million in non-interest bearing deposits, which were up 9%.
Interest-bearing deposits were at $106.3 million, up 9%, while brokered deposits added $69.9 million.
Net interest income was $63.5 million, up 7.1% from the $53.9 million in the second quarter of 2022 and up 10.9% from $57.3 million from the third quarter of 2021.
Asset quality also improved with non-performing loans down 4.6% and classified loans down 7.8% from the second quarter.
Service fees in the third quarter of 2022 were $6.5 million, a 2% decrease from the second quarter of 2022, but a 7.9% increase from the third-quarter of 2021. However, total non-interest income in the third quarter of 2022 was $16.7 million, which was up 16.3% from the second quarter of 2022, while down 9.1% from the third-quarter of 2021.
Total assets after the first nine-months of 2022 are $8.24 billion, compared to $8.01 billion at the halfway point of last year. That is also higher than the $7.47 billion reported as of Sept. 30, 2021.
A dividend of 30 cents per share will be payable Nov. 18 to shareholders at the close of business on Nov. 11. That dividend is up 7.1% from the prior-year comparable period.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
