NBT Bancorp Inc. Announces Second Quarter 2024 Results and Approves a 6.3% Cash Dividend Increase

NORWICH, N.Y., July 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NBT Bancorp Inc. (“NBT” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: NBTB) reported net income and diluted earnings per share for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024.

Net income for the three months ended June 30, 2024 was $32.7 million, or $0.69 per diluted common share, compared to $30.1 million, or $0.70 per diluted common share, for the three months ended June 30, 2023, and $33.8 million, or $0.71 per diluted common share, for the first quarter of 2024. Operating diluted earnings per share¹, a non-GAAP measure, which excludes acquisition expenses and securities gains (losses), net of tax, was $0.69 for the second quarter of 2024, compared to $0.80 for the second quarter of 2023 and $0.68 for the first quarter of 2024.

CEO Comments

“Our operating performance for the second quarter and first half of 2024 continues to reflect the strength of our balance sheet, our diversified business model, and the collaboration of our team,” said NBT President and CEO Scott A. Kingsley. “During the second quarter, we grew loans $166 million across our footprint and improved our net interest margin incrementally. Noninterest income continued to be a core strength, making up 31% of total revenues for the second quarter. We are also pleased to announce the Board of Directors approved a third quarter cash dividend of $0.34, an increase in the quarterly cash dividend of 6.3%. This is our twelfth consecutive year of annual dividend increases, demonstrating our commitment to providing consistent and favorable long-term returns to our shareholders.”

Second Quarter 2024 Financial Highlights

Loans

• Period end total loans were $9.85 billion at June 30, 2024, $9.69 billion at March 31, 2024 and $9.65 billion at December 31, 2023.
• Period end total loans increased $203.6 million from December 31, 2023. Total commercial loans increased $201.0 million to $5.18 billion; and total consumer loans increased $2.6 million to $4.67 billion. Excluding the other consumer and residential solar portfolios that are in a planned run-off status, period end loans increased $294.9 million, or 6.9% annualized.
• Commercial line of credit utilization rate was 23% at June 30, 2024, compared to 21% at March 31, 2024 and 23% at June 30, 2023.

Deposits

• Total deposits at June 30, 2024 increased $302.5 million to $11.27 billion, compared to $10.97 billion at December 31, 2023. The increase in deposits was primarily due to higher consumer deposit balances and accounts and the inflow of seasonal municipal deposits. The Company continued to experience some incremental migration from noninterest bearing and low interest checking and savings accounts into higher cost money market and time deposit instruments.
• The loan to deposit ratio was 87.4% at June 30, 2024, compared to 88.0% at December 31, 2023.

Net Interest Income and Net Interest Margin

• Net interest income for the second quarter of 2024 was $97.2 million, which was up $2.0 million, or 2.1%, from the first quarter of 2024 and up $8.1 million, or 9.1%, from the second quarter of 2023. The increase in net interest income from the first quarter of 2024 resulted primarily from the increase in average loans and the interest earned on those balances, partially offset by the increase in the cost of deposits.
• The NIM on an FTE basis for the second quarter of 2024 was 3.18%, an increase of 4 bps from the first quarter of 2024, driven by an increase in average earning asset yields and lower average balances of short-term borrowings partly offset by an increase in the cost of interest-bearing deposits and a decrease in the average balance of noninterest-bearing demand deposit accounts. The NIM on an FTE basis decreased 9 bps from the second quarter of 2023 due to the increase in the cost of interest-bearing deposits, partially offset by lower average balances of short-term borrowings, higher earning asset yields and the impact of acquisition-related net accretion.
• Earning asset yields for the three months ended June 30, 2024 increased 8 bps from the prior quarter to 4.92% and increased 50 bps from the same quarter in the prior year. Loan yields for the three months ended June 30, 2024 increased 9 bps from the prior quarter to 5.63% and increased 46 bps from the same quarter in the prior year. Average earning assets increased $94.3 million, or 0.8%, from the first quarter of 2024 due to organic loan growth. Average earning assets grew $1.38 billion, or 12.6%, from the second quarter of 2023 due to organic loan growth and the Salisbury Bancorp, Inc. (“Salisbury”) acquisition, which was completed in August 2023.
• Total cost of deposits, including noninterest bearing deposits, was 1.68% for the second quarter of 2024, an increase of 7 bps from the prior quarter and an increase of 83 bps from the same period in the prior year. For the month of June, the total cost of deposits was 1.70%.
• Total cost of funds for the three months ended June 30, 2024 was 1.85%, up 6 bps from the prior quarter and up 63 bps from the second quarter of 2023. For the month of June, the total cost of funds was 1.85%.
  
  

Asset Quality and Allowance for Loan Losses

• Net charge-offs to total average loans for the second quarter of 2024 was 15 bps compared to 19 bps in the prior quarter. Net charge-offs for the portfolios in a planned run-off status represented the majority of total net charge-offs for the quarter.
• Nonperforming assets to total assets were 0.28% for each of the last three quarter-ends.
• Provision expense for the three months ended June 30, 2024 was $8.9 million, compared to $5.6 million for the first quarter of 2024. The increase in provision expense from the prior quarter was primarily due to providing for the second quarter’s loan growth, changes in model assumptions, including the extension of the expected duration of the portfolio, and a specific reserve related to a commercial relationship placed on nonaccrual in the fourth quarter of 2023.
• The allowance for loan losses was $120.5 million, or 1.22% of total loans, at June 30, 2024, compared to $115.3 million, or 1.19% of total loans, at March 31, 2024 and $114.4 million, or 1.19% of total loans, at December 31, 2023.
• The reserve for unfunded loan commitments was $4.3 million at June 30, 2024, compared to $4.7 million at March 31, 2024 and $5.1 million at December 31, 2023.
  
  

Noninterest Income        

• Total noninterest income, excluding securities gains (losses), was $43.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024, up $0.1 million, or 0.3%, from the first quarter of 2024, and up $6.6 million, or 18.1%, from the second quarter of 2023.
• Retirement plan administration fees were up $0.5 million from the prior quarter and were up $3.1 million from the second quarter of 2023. The increase from the prior quarter was due to organic growth, positive market performance and higher activity based fees. The increase from the second quarter of 2023 included the impact of the acquisition of Retirement Direct, LLC on July 1, 2023, organic growth and higher market levels.
• Wealth management fees were up $0.5 million from the prior quarter and were up $1.9 million from the second quarter of 2023. The increase from the prior quarter was driven by organic growth and favorable market performance. The increase from the second quarter of 2023 was driven by the addition of Salisbury revenues, organic growth and market performance.
• Insurance revenues decreased $0.5 million from the seasonally high first quarter of 2024 and increased 7.7% from the prior year due to solid organic growth.

Noninterest Expense        

• Total noninterest expense was $89.6 million for the second quarter of 2024, compared to $91.8 million for the first quarter of 2024 and $78.8 million for the second quarter of 2023. Total noninterest expense, excluding $1.2 million of acquisition expenses in the second quarter of 2023, decreased 2.4% compared to the previous quarter and increased 15.4% from the second quarter of 2023.
• Salaries and benefits decreased 0.6% from the prior quarter driven by seasonally higher payroll taxes and stock-based compensation expenses in the first quarter of 2024. These decreases were partially offset by a full quarter of merit pay increases, which were effective in March, and higher medical costs. The 18.3% increase from the second quarter of 2023 was driven by the impact of the Salisbury acquisition, merit pay increases, higher medical and other benefit costs.
• Technology and data services decreased from the prior quarter primarily due to cost savings from various efficiency initiatives.
• Occupancy costs decreased from the prior quarter due to lower seasonal costs, including utilities, and increased from the second quarter of 2023 driven by additional expenses from the Salisbury acquisition.
• Amortization of intangible assets were consistent with the first quarter and increased $1.7 million from the second quarter of 2023 primarily due to the amortization of intangible assets related to the Salisbury acquisition.
  
  

Income Taxes

• The effective tax rate was 22.0% for the second quarter of 2024 which was up from 21.7% for the first quarter of 2024 and down from 22.4% for the second quarter of 2023.
  
  

Capital

• Tangible common equity to tangible assets¹ was 8.11% at June 30, 2024. Tangible book value per share² was $22.54 at June 30, 2024, $22.07 at March 31, 2024 and $21.55 at June 30, 2023.
• Stockholders’ equity increased $36.3 million from December 31, 2023 driven by net income generation of $66.5 million, partially offset by dividends declared of $30.2 million and a $2.0 million increase in accumulated other comprehensive loss driven by the change in the fair value of securities available for sale.
• June 30, 2024, CET1 capital ratio of 11.70%, leverage ratio of 10.16% and total risk-based capital ratio of 14.88%.
  
  

Dividend

• The Board of Directors approved a third-quarter cash dividend of $0.34 per share at a meeting held earlier today. The dividend represents a $0.02 per quarter, or 6.3%, increase over the dividend paid in the third quarter of 2023. This is the Company’s twelfth consecutive year of annual dividend increases. The dividend will be paid on September 13, 2024 to stockholders of record as of August 30, 2024.
  
  

Stock Repurchase

• The Company purchased 5,700 shares of its common stock during the second quarter of 2024 at an average price of $33.02 per share under its previously announced share repurchase program. The Company may repurchase shares of its common stock from time to time to mitigate the potential dilutive effects of stock-based incentive plans and other potential uses of common stock for corporate purposes. As of June 30, 2024, there were 1,992,400 shares available for repurchase under this plan.
  
  

Conference Call and Webcast

The Company will host a conference call at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern) Tuesday, July 23, 2024, to review the second quarter 2024 financial results. The audio webcast link, along with the corresponding presentation slides, will be available on the Company’s Event Calendar page at and will be archived for twelve months.

Corporate Overview

NBT Bancorp Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered in Norwich, NY, with total assets of $13.50 billion at June 30, 2024. The Company primarily operates through NBT Bank, N.A., a full-service community bank, and through two financial services companies. NBT Bank, N.A. has 154 banking locations in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Connecticut. EPIC Retirement Plan Services, based in Rochester, NY, is a national benefits administration firm. NBT Insurance Agency, LLC, based in Norwich, NY, is a full-service insurance agency. More information about NBT and its divisions is available online at: , , and .

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by the use of phrases such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect,” “forecasts,” “projects,” “will,” “can,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “may,” or other similar terms. There are a number of factors, many of which are beyond the Company’s control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements include, among others, the following possibilities: (1) local, regional, national and international economic conditions, including actual or potential stress in the banking industry, and the impact they may have on the Company and its customers, and the Company’s assessment of that impact; (2) changes in the level of nonperforming assets and charge-offs; (3) changes in estimates of future reserve requirements based upon the periodic review thereof under relevant regulatory and accounting requirements; (4) the effects of and changes in trade and monetary and fiscal policies and laws, including the interest rate policies of the Federal Reserve Board (“FRB”); (5) inflation, interest rates, securities market and monetary fluctuations; (6) political instability; (7) acts of war, including international military conflicts, or terrorism; (8) the timely development and acceptance of new products and services and the perceived overall value of these products and services by users; (9) changes in consumer spending, borrowing and saving habits; (10) changes in the financial performance and/or condition of the Company’s borrowers; (11) technological changes; (12) acquisition and integration of acquired businesses; (13) the ability to increase market share and control expenses; (14) changes in the competitive environment among financial holding companies; (15) the effect of changes in laws and regulations (including laws and regulations concerning taxes, banking, securities and insurance) with which the Company and its subsidiaries must comply, including those under the Dodd-Frank Act, and the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act of 2018; (16) the effect of changes in accounting policies and practices, as may be adopted by the regulatory agencies, as well as the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the Financial Accounting Standards Board and other accounting standard setters; (17) changes in the Company’s organization, compensation and benefit plans; (18) the costs and effects of legal and regulatory developments, including the resolution of legal proceedings or regulatory or other governmental inquiries, and the results of regulatory examinations or reviews; (19) greater than expected costs or difficulties related to the integration of new products and lines of business; and (20) the Company’s success at managing the risks involved in the foregoing items.

The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made, and advises readers that various factors, including, but not limited to, those described above and other factors discussed in the Company’s annual and quarterly reports previously filed with the SEC, could affect the Company’s financial performance and could cause the Company’s actual results or circumstances for future periods to differ materially from those anticipated or projected.

Unless required by law, the Company does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligations to, publicly release any revisions that may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements.

Non-GAAP Measures

This press release contains financial information determined by methods other than in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). Where non-GAAP disclosures are used in this press release, the comparable GAAP measure, as well as a reconciliation to the comparable GAAP measure, is provided in the accompanying tables. Management believes that these non-GAAP measures provide useful information that is important to an understanding of the results of the Company’s core business as well as provide information standard in the financial institution industry. Non-GAAP measures should not be considered a substitute for financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP and investors should consider the Company’s performance and financial condition as reported under GAAP and all other relevant information when assessing the performance or financial condition of the Company. Amounts previously reported in the consolidated financial statements are reclassified whenever necessary to conform to current period presentation.