Access National Announces Second Quarter 2017 Earnings

Access National Corporation (NASDAQ: ANCX) (the “Corporation” or “Access”), parent company for Access National Bank (the “Bank”) and Middleburg Investment Group, reported second quarter 2017 net income of $3.85 million, or $0.19 per common share. Excluding merger related one-time charges, net income was $7.46 million or $0.37 per diluted share. This represents the Corporation’s 68th consecutive quarterly profit over its 70 quarter history. Consistent with management’s stated objective of a 40% to 50% dividend payout ratio against core earnings, the Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.15 per share for common shareholders of record as of August 14, 2017 and payable on August 25, 2017.

Highlights

• Strategic merger with Middleburg Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: MBRG) closed on schedule April 1, 2017 and data/office integrations remain on schedule for August 4, 2017;
• Reported second quarter earnings of $3.85 million or $0.19 per diluted share. Excluding $5.2 million in pre-tax merger related costs ($3.6 million after-tax), earnings were $7.46 million or $0.37 per diluted share;
• Tangible book value1 per common share was $11.32 at June 30, 2017, an increase of $0.09 from the prior period after considering merger costs;
• Loans held for investment were $1.93 billion at June 30, 2017 compared to $943 million at June 30, 2016, a year-over-year growth of 204.5%. Exclusive of purchased loans, linked quarter growth was $38 million or 7.8% annualized; and
• Non-interest bearing demand deposits of $660 million were 30.2% of total deposits at June 30, 2017 compared to $392 million at June 30, 2016, a year-over-year growth of 168.4%.

The transformative combination of Access National with Middleburg Financial was consummated on April 1, 2017 as announced October 24, 2016. “While most of the expected overhead efficiencies have yet to be realized, management’s excitement and confidence over the financial benefits of this combination strengthen daily. The evidence of our confidence is best illustrated by the organic growth in the loan portfolio and the positive quality migration of core deposits in spite of significant management distraction towards integration and conversion activities,” said Michael Clarke, President and Chief Executive Officer of Access. He continued, “We remain committed to delivering the base line economic assumptions behind the merger and are confident that future financial results will fortify and advance shareholder interests.”

Second quarter 2017 pre-tax earnings were $5.9 million, up $1.8 million from first quarter 2017, and included pre-tax merger related costs of $5.2 million. The commercial banking segment’s net interest income grew $12.5 million when compared to the first quarter of 2017 and was offset by an increase in salaries and employee benefits of $3.8 million. The mortgage banking segment has been relatively unaffected by the merger, contributing pre-tax earnings of $1.2 million or 20% of the consolidated total. The wealth services segment saw a $1.1 million increase in revenue which was offset by an increase in operating expenses of $849 thousand when comparing the second quarter of 2017 to the first quarter of 2017. The earnings contributions from wealth services will be developing over the next few quarters as the unprofitable operations of the legacy Access segment are integrated with and suppress the profitable operations of Middleburg Investment Group. Departure of underperforming personnel and loss of select underpriced accounts during the second quarter transition will result in reduced overhead of a greater magnitude than loss of revenue contribution from associated lost business. The leadership of Middleburg Investment Group and the expanded capabilities resulting from the merger are enhancing the client value proposition in a way that will produce consistent and growing fee income.

The net interest margin increased to 3.91% from 3.46% when comparing second quarter to first quarter 2017. Second quarter net interest margin exclusive of the $1.9 million credit mark accretion for the acquired loan portfolio and the $34 thousand in liability discount amortization was 3.61% for the three months ended June 30, 2017.

Total assets were $2.8 billion at June 30, 2017, up from $1.4 billion at March 31, 2017. Organic growth in loans held for investment excluding the growth attributed to the acquired loan portfolio was $38.0 million on a linked quarter basis due mainly to growth in commercial real estate of $29.7 million and commercial of $10.3 million. The organic growth from the linked period reflects intended migration as the residential and consumer loan categories decreased while commercial, commercial real estate and construction categories grew.

Total deposits at June 30, 2017 were $2.2 billion, an increase of $1.0 billion when compared to March 31, 2017. At June 30, 2017, non-interest bearing deposits which represent 30.2% of the deposit portfolio were $660.5 million, an increase of $283.8 million from the linked quarter. While non-interest bearing demand deposits remain the largest and most attractive source of funding for the Corporation, the combination of legacy Middleburg’s significant low cost interest-bearing demand deposits and legacy Access’ non-interest bearing demand deposits accounted for $1.1 billion or 51.0% of total deposits at June 30, 2017. Interest-bearing deposits increased to $1.5 billion at June 30, 2017, an increase of $746.4 million from the prior quarter. Brokered deposits as a percentage of the deposit portfolio decreased quarter over quarter, from 9.5% of the portfolio at March 31, 2017 to 4.6% at June 30, 2017. Exclusive of purchased deposits, wholesale deposits declined $52.8 million on a linked quarter basis. The go-forward strategy places a high priority on the maintenance and expansion of core deposits, particularly high value demand deposit relationships.

As a result of the strategic merger, the loan to deposit ratio dropped to 88.2% at June 30, 2017 from 92.7% in the prior period. Appropriately leveraging the loan to deposit ratio in future periods represents an earnings growth opportunity.

Non-performing assets (“NPAs”) increased to $9.0 million at June 30, 2017 from $5.2 million at March 31, 2017, representing 0.32% and 0.37% of total assets, respectively. Included in the NPAs total is $2.4 million in other real estate owned. The allowance for loan loss was $14.7 million and $13.7 million at June 30, 2017 and March 31, 2017, respectively, and represented 0.76% of total loans held for investment at June 30, 2017 and 1.28% of total loans held for investment at March 31, 2017. The remaining credit and fair value marks on the loans acquired in the merger totaled $16.0 million at June 30, 2017.

Tangible book value2 per common share increased from $11.23 at March 31, 2017 to $11.32 at June 30, 2017. The tangible common equity ratio for Access National Corporation and its subsidiary bank was 8.97% at June 30, 2017, within the Corporation’s target range of 8.00% to 10.50%.

Access National Corporation is the parent company of Access National Bank and Middleburg Investment Group serving Northern and Central Virginia. Additional information is available on our website at www.AccessNationalBank.com. Shares of Access National Corporation are traded on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol "ANCX".

Forward-Looking Statements

The information presented herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding expectations or predictions of future financial or business performance or conditions. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "may," "could," "will," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "forecast," "intend," "plan," "prospects," "estimate," "potential," or by variations of such words or by similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties which change over time. Forward-looking statements in this report may include, but are not limited to, statements about projected impacts of and financial results generated by the merger of Access and Middleburg Financial Corporation (“Middleburg”). Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and Access assumes no duty to update forward-looking statements.

In addition to factors previously disclosed in Access's reports filed with the SEC and those identified elsewhere in this release, the following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed in or implied by forward-looking statements and historical performance: changes in asset quality and credit risk; changes in interest rates and capital markets; the introduction, timing and success of business initiatives; competitive conditions; and the inability to recognize cost savings or revenues or to implement integration plans associated with the merger of Access and Middleburg.

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