United Community Banks, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter Results

EPS of $0.61, Return on Assets of 1.50% and Return on Equity of 12.07%
GREENVILLE, S.C., Jan. 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ: UCBI) (“United”) today announced its fourth quarter financial results, including strong year-over-year loan and deposit growth, operating efficiency and asset quality. Diluted earnings per share were $0.61, an increase of $0.05 or 9% from a year ago. Excluding a nominal amount of merger-related and other charges, diluted operating earnings per share were also $0.61, up 7% over last year. United’s return on assets was 1.50% and its return on common equity was 12.1% for the quarter. On an operating basis, United’s return on assets was also 1.50% and its return on tangible common equity was 15.5%.
During the quarter, the company sold its remaining investment in its indirect auto portfolio, completing its exit from that business.  Excluding indirect auto, loans grew at a 2% annualized rate in the fourth quarter. United’s net interest margin decreased as expected due to falling interest rates. Other items that impacted the net interest margin included seasonally higher average public deposits invested at lower yielding overnight rates and lower purchased loan accretion when compared to previous quarters. Core transaction deposits remained stable and total deposits grew by $140 million.For the full year of 2019, United’s return on assets increased 11 basis points to 1.46% and EPS increased by 12%. Operating return on assets increased 11 basis points to 1.51% and operating EPS increased 11%, as the company continued to execute on its plans to deliver top quartile performance.  2019 saw strong operating leverage, resulting in a company best efficiency ratio of 55.8% and an operating efficiency ratio of 54.5%.“Our fourth quarter caps off what has been an outstanding year for United.  Our team continued delivering best in class customer service, which has led to the achievement of our top quartile performance goals,” said Lynn Harton, Chairman and CEO of United. “We are proud and honored that United was named one of the ‘Best Banks to Work For’ by American Banker for the third year in a row, as well as one of the ‘World’s Best Banks in 2019’ by Forbes.  These accolades are totally due to the passion and caring of our 2,341 employees and their efforts to build a great company where they can develop fulfilling careers, reach ambitious financial goals and serve United’s customers and communities at the highest level.  We look forward to continued success in 2020.”2019 Highlights:2019 earnings per diluted share were $2.31, a 12% increase over 2018
— Excluding merger-related and other charges, operating earnings per diluted share for 2019 were $2.38 compared to $2.14 in 2018, an increase of 11%Return on assets was 1.46% in 2019, an increase of 11 basis points from 2018
— Excluding merger-related and other charges, operating return on assets was 1.51%, an increase of 11 basis points from 2018Efficiency ratio of 55.8% in 2019 improved 154 basis points as compared to 2018
— Excluding merger-related and other charges, efficiency ratio of 54.5% improved 144 basis points as compared to 2018End of period loans grew $430 million in 2019, up 5% over December 31, 2018Common Equity Tier 1 ratio was 13.0% at December 31, 2019, compared to 12.2% at December 31, 2018Dividends of $0.68 per share were declared in 2019, up 17% over 2018United completed the acquisition of First Madison Bank & Trust on May 1, 2019Share repurchases of 500,495 shares were accomplished during the year at an average price of $26.01Fourth Quarter 2019 Financial Highlights:EPS of $0.61, representing growth of 9% over last year, or 7% on an operating basisReturn on assets of 1.50%Return on common equity of 12.1%Operating return on tangible common equity of 15.5%, excluding merger-related and other chargesEnd of period total loans fell by $90 million, but excluding indirect auto, end of period loans grew at a 2% annualized paceLoan production was strong at $854 million, but was offset by higher than usual paydownsDespite weaker seasonality, our mortgage business remained strong with loan locks of $411 million, compared to $251 million a year ago due to a favorable rate environment and the impact of new hiresNet interest margin of 3.93% was down 19 basis points compared to the third quarter and down 4 basis points compared to a year agoEfficiency ratio of 54.9%Net charge-offs of 18 basis points, up six basis points from last quarter and remaining at historically low levelsNonperforming assets of 0.28% of total assets, compared with 0.24% at September 30, 2019 and 0.20% at December 31, 2018Unusual items in the quarter netted to a slight gain, with a $1.6 million bank owned life insurance gain offset by $0.9 million in securities losses.  Additionally, our indirect portfolio sales resulted in a $0.7 million loss offset by a $0.5 million indirect portfolio loan loss reserve releaseConference Call
United will hold a conference call, Wednesday, January 22, 2020, at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the contents of this press release and to share business highlights for the quarter. To access the call, dial (877) 380-5665 and use the conference number 7081477. The conference call also will be webcast and available for replay for 30 days by selecting “Events & Presentations” within the Investor Relations section of United’s website at www.ucbi.com.For more information:
Jefferson Harralson
Chief Financial Officer
(864) 240-6208
Jefferson_Harralson@ucbi.com
⁽¹⁾ Excludes merger-related and other charges which includes termination of pension plan in the third quarter of 2019, executive retirement charges in the second quarter of 2019 and amortization of certain executive change of control benefits.
⁽²⁾ Net income divided by average realized common equity, which excludes accumulated other comprehensive income (loss).        
⁽³⁾ Excludes effect of acquisition related intangibles and associated amortization.
⁽⁴⁾ Annualized.⁽¹⁾ Excludes merger-related and other charges which includes amortization of certain executive change of control benefits, the 2017 impact of remeasurement of United’s deferred tax assets following the passage of tax reform legislation, a 2017 release of disproportionate tax effects lodged in OCI, a 2016 deferred tax asset impairment charge related to cancelled non-qualified stock options and 2015 impairment losses on surplus bank property.
⁽²⁾ Net income less preferred stock dividends, divided by average realized common equity, which excludes accumulated other comprehensive income (loss).
⁽³⁾ Excludes effect of acquisition related intangibles and associated amortization.






⁽¹⁾ Interest revenue on tax-exempt securities and loans has been increased to reflect comparable interest on taxable securities and loans. The rate used was 26%, reflecting the statutory federal income tax rate and the federal tax adjusted state income tax rate.
⁽²⁾ Included in the average balance of loans outstanding are loans on which the accrual of interest has been discontinued and loans that are held for sale.
⁽³⁾ Securities available for sale are shown at amortized cost. Pretax unrealized gains of $36.0 million in 2019 and unrealized losses of $59.5 million in 2018 are included in other assets for purposes of this presentation.
⁽⁴⁾ Net interest margin is taxable equivalent net interest revenue divided by average interest-earning assets.
⁽¹⁾ Interest revenue on tax-exempt securities and loans has been increased to reflect comparable interest on taxable securities and loans. The rate used was 26%, reflecting the statutory federal income tax rate and the federal tax adjusted state income tax rate.
⁽²⁾ Included in the average balance of loans outstanding are loans on which the accrual of interest has been discontinued and loans that are held for sale.
⁽³⁾ Securities available for sale are shown at amortized cost. Pretax unrealized gains of $12.8 million in 2019 and unrealized losses of $45.2 million in 2018 are included in other assets for purposes of this presentation.
⁽⁴⁾ Net interest margin is taxable equivalent net-interest revenue divided by average interest-earning assets.About United Community Banks, Inc.
United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ: UCBI) is a bank holding company headquartered in Blairsville, Georgia, with executive offices in Greenville, South Carolina. United is one of the southeast region’s largest full-service financial institutions with $12.9 billion in assets, and 149 offices in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. It operates principally through United Community Bank, its bank subsidiary, which specializes in personalized community banking services for individuals, small businesses and companies. Services include a full range of consumer and commercial banking products, including mortgage, advisory, and treasury management. Respected national research firms consistently recognize United Community Bank for outstanding customer service. For five of the past six years, J.D. Power has ranked United Community Bank first in customer satisfaction in the Southeast. In 2019, for the sixth consecutive year, Forbes magazine included United on its list of the 100 Best Banks in America, and for the first time included United on its list of The World’s Best Banks. Additional information about UCBI and the Bank can be found at www.ucbi.com.Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release, including the accompanying financial statement tables, contains financial information determined by methods other than in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. This financial information includes certain operating performance measures, which exclude merger-related and other charges that are not considered part of recurring operations, such as “operating net income,” “operating net income per diluted common share,” “operating earnings per share,” “tangible book value per common share,” “operating return on common equity,” “operating return on tangible common equity,” “operating return on assets,” “operating efficiency ratio,” and “tangible common equity to tangible assets.” These non-GAAP measures are included because United believes they may provide useful supplemental information for evaluating United’s underlying performance trends. These measures should be viewed in addition to, and not as an alternative to or substitute for, measures determined in accordance with GAAP, and are not necessarily comparable to non-GAAP measures that may be presented by other companies. To the extent applicable, reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable measures as reported in accordance with GAAP are included with the accompanying financial statement tables.