FFBC First Financial Bancorp

CINCINNATI, July 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

• Net Income of $18.9 million
• Earnings per Share of $0.31
• Return on Average Assets of 1.05%
• Return on Average Tangible Common Equity of 11.60%

First Financial Bancorp (Nasdaq: FFBC) ("First Financial" or the "Company") announced today financial and operational results for the second quarter 2015.  For the three months ended June 30, 2015, the Company recorded net income of $18.9 million, or $0.31 per diluted common share, compared to net income of $17.6 million, or $0.29 per diluted common share, in the first quarter of 2015 and $16.0 million, or $0.28 per diluted common share, in the second quarter of 2014.

Additionally, the Company announced that its board of directors has authorized a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per common share for the next regularly scheduled dividend, payable on October 1, 2015 to shareholders of record as of August 28, 2015.

The Company announced its pending acquisition of Indianapolis, Indiana based Oak Street Holdings Corporation ("Oak Street") for $110 million in cash on July 23, 2015.  A specialty lender providing commission-based financing to insurance agencies, Oak Street had total loans of $238 million as of June 30, 2015.  The acquisition of Oak Street is expected to close within 30 days and is expected to deliver operating earnings accretion of $0.16 - $0.20 per diluted common share and net interest margin expansion of more than 20 basis points in its first full year of operation as a subsidiary of First Financial Bank.

Claude Davis, Chief Executive Officer, commented, "I am very pleased with our second quarter results.  Our net income was 8% higher than the first quarter and 19% higher than the second quarter last year. Although net interest margin continues to be constrained by the prolonged low interest rate environment we are excited about the growth opportunities throughout our footprint.  We are especially encouraged by the growth of our loan portfolio which increased by 7.5%, on an annualized basis, during the second quarter."

"Demand for construction lending is especially strong in our markets.  We have funded approximately $48 million of the $156 million committed for new projects so far this year and expect to continue to see opportunities to finance high quality projects."

"Likewise, we are very excited about our recently announced acquisition of Oak Street and expect it to be immediately accretive to operating earnings.  The team at Oak Street has developed a very successful, high growth specialty lending platform that will be a nice strategic complement to our commercial and nationwide franchise lending businesses."

"Our ability to successfully grow low-cost deposits continues to provide competitive advantage as we compete for new business and will be especially advantageous to us with the addition and expansion of Oak Street's high-yielding loan portfolio."

"As we look forward to the rest of 2015 and beyond, our focus remains centered on serving the financial needs of our commercial, small business, consumer and wealth management clients."

NET INTEREST INCOME AND NET INTEREST MARGIN

Net interest income for the second quarter was $58.7 million as compared to $58.6 million for the first quarter 2015 and $54.3 million for the second quarter 2014.  Compared to the linked quarter, total interest income decreased $0.2 million, or 0.3%, while total interest expense decreased $0.3 million, or 4.6%.  Net interest margin was 3.62%, on a fully tax equivalent basis, for the second quarter compared to 3.67% for the first quarter 2015 and 3.76% for the second quarter 2014.

Interest income earned on loans increased $0.1 million compared to the prior quarter, as average loan balances increased $22.1 million during the period, which included one additional day.  The effective yield earned on the loan portfolio declined by 6 bps to 4.45% as the Company continued to originate predominately floating-rate loans which have a lower initial yield than comparable fixed-rate loans.

Interest income earned on investment securities decreased by $0.3 million compared to the prior quarter while average balances increased $20.2 million.  The effective yield earned on the investment portfolio decreased 13 bps to 2.34% as the Company continued to implement strategies in preparation for a rising interest rate environment and realized elevated prepayment activity during the quarter.

The decrease in total interest expense was due primarily to a $103.8 million decrease in average borrowed funds and a $39.4 million increase in average non-interest bearing deposits, partially offset by an $84.7 million increase in average interest-bearing deposits.  The effective cost of borrowed funds increased by 2 bps to 37 bps and the cost of interest-bearing deposits decreased 3 bps to 42 bps.

NON-INTEREST INCOME

The Company's non-interest income was $21.4 million for the second quarter of 2015 compared to $17.6 million for the first quarter of 2015 and $16.3 million for the second quarter of 2014.  The increase over the linked quarter was primarily related to a $2.0 million increase in accelerated discount related to covered / formerly covered loans, a $1.1 million increase in gain on sale of investment securities, a $0.7 million increase in FDIC loss sharing income and a $0.5 million increase in gain on sale of mortgage loans.  The increase in non-interest income related to covered / formerly covered loans was partially offset by a related $1.0 million increase in provision expense.

NON-INTEREST EXPENSE

The Company's non-interest expense was $48.8 million for the second quarter of 2015 compared to $48.1 million for the first quarter of 2015 and $47.1 million for the second quarter of 2014.  The $0.7 million increase over the linked quarter was primarily related to a $0.5 million increase in salaries & benefits and a $0.8 million increase in other expenses, partially offset by a $0.6 million decrease in occupancy related expenses.  Non-interest expenses for the quarter included $0.3 million related to a legal settlement.

BALANCE SHEET & CAPITAL

Total assets were $7.4 billion, total loans were $4.9 billion and investment securities were $1.8 billion as of June 30, 2015.  Total assets increased by $137.6 million, or 7.6% annualized, from the prior quarter and by $837.6 million, or 12.8%, over the prior year.  Total loans increased by $89.2 million, or 7.5% annualized, from the prior quarter and by $824.5 million, or 20.5%, over the prior year.  Investment securities increased by $16.0 million, or 3.6% annualized, from the prior quarter and decreased by $43.7 million, or 2.4%, over the prior year.

Total deposits were $5.7 billion as of June 30, 2015, essentially unchanged from the prior quarter and $840.7 million, or 17.2%, higher than a year ago.  Borrowed funds were $757.1 million as of June 30, 2015, compared to $639.2 million as of March 31, 2015 and $874.0 million as of June 30, 2014.

As of June 30, 2015, the Company had total shareholders' equity of $802.4 million, an increase of $6.6 million, or 3.3% annualized, over the prior quarter and $96.6 million, or 13.7%, over the prior year.

The Company's regulatory capital ratios remain strong and, as of June 30, 2015, were as follows:  leverage ratio of 9.77%, total capital ratio of 13.31%, tier 1 capital ratio of 12.35% and tangible common equity ratio of 9.08%.  The Company's tangible book value per share was $10.65 as of June 30, 2015.

ASSET QUALITY

Second quarter provision expense was $3.1 million and the total allowance for loan and lease losses as of June 30, 2015 was $52.9 million.  The allowance as a percentage of period-end loans was 1.09% at the end of the second quarter.  The balance of the Company's total allowance and loan marks, net of the indemnification asset, was 1.27% of total loans and leases as of June 30, 2015 which represents a 16 bps decline from 1.43% as of March 31, 2015 as the decrease in loan marks was coupled with the recognition of a higher level of accelerated discount due to payoffs in the covered / formerly covered portfolio, as well as higher loan balances during the period.

For the second quarter, net charge-offs totaled $3.3 million, an increase of $1.4 million, or 77.5% compared to the linked quarter, and were 27 bps as a percentage of loans on an annualized basis.  The increase in net charge-offs was due primarily to a single non-owner occupied commercial real estate charge-off of $1.7 million during the period related to a debt restructuring.  Nonaccrual loans decreased $9.5 million, or 19.3%, to $39.7 million as of June 30, 2015.  Total classified assets decreased $13.9 million, or 9.0%, to $139.9 million as of June 30, 2015, primarily due to a decrease in both commercial real estate and retail classified assets.

Teleconference / Webcast Information

First Financial's executive management will host a conference call to discuss the Company's financial and operating results on Friday, July 31, 2015 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.  Members of the public who would like to listen to the conference call should dial (877) 506-6873 (U.S. toll free), (855) 669-9657 (Canada toll free) or +1 (412) 380-2003 (International) (no passcode required).  The number should be dialed five to ten minutes prior to the start of the conference call.  The conference call will also be accessible as an audio webcast via the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at www.bankatfirst.com.  A replay of the conference call will be available beginning one hour after the completion of the live call at (877) 344-7529 (U.S. toll free), (855) 669-9658 (Canada toll free) and +1 (412) 317-0088 (International); conference number 10069484.  The webcast will be archived on the Investor Relations section of the Company's website for 12 months.

Press Release and Additional Information on Website

This press release as well as supplemental information and any non-GAAP reconciliations related to this release is available to the public through the Investor Relations section of First Financial's website at www.bankatfirst.com.

About First Financial Bancorp

First Financial Bancorp is a Cincinnati, Ohio based bank holding company.  As of June 30, 2015, the Company had $7.4 billion in assets, $4.9 billion in loans, $5.7 billion in deposits and $802 million in shareholders' equity.  The Company's subsidiary, First Financial Bank, N.A., founded in 1863, provides banking and financial services products through its four lines of business: commercial, consumer, wealth management and mortgage.  The commercial, consumer and mortgage units provide traditional banking services to business and retail clients.  First Financial Wealth Management provides wealth planning, portfolio management, trust and estate, brokerage and retirement plan services and had approximately $2.4 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2015.  The Company's strategic operating markets are located in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky where it operates 106 banking centers.  Additional information about the Company, including its products, services and banking locations is available at www.bankatfirst.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

Certain statements contained in this release which are not statements of historical fact constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act.  Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, projections of revenues, income or loss, earnings or loss per share, the payment or non-payment of dividends, capital structure and other financial items, statements of plans and objectives of First Financial or its management or board of directors and statements of future economic performances and statements of assumptions underlying such statements.  Words such as ''believes,'' ''anticipates,'' "likely," "expected," ''intends,'' and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements.  Management's analysis contains forward-looking statements that are provided to assist in the understanding of anticipated future financial performance.  However, such performance involves risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially.  These factors include, but are not limited to: economic, market, liquidity, credit, interest rate, operational and technological risks associated with the Company's business; the effect of and changes in policies and laws or regulatory agencies (notably the recently enacted Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act); management's ability to effectively execute its business plan; mergers and acquisitions, including costs or difficulties related to the integration of acquired companies; the Company's ability to comply with the terms of loss sharing agreements with the FDIC; the effect of changes in accounting policies and practices; and the costs and effects of litigation and of unexpected or adverse outcomes in such litigation.  Please refer to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, as well as its other filings with the SEC, for a more detailed discussion of these risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in the forward-looking statements.  Such forward-looking statements are meaningful only on the date when such statements are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such a statement is made to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.