NEW CANAAN, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 28, 2024-- Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: BWFG), a leading commercial bank with a growing digital focus, reported GAAP net income of $1.9 million, or $0.24 per share for the third quarter of 2024, versus $1.1 million, or $0.14 per share, for the second quarter of 2024. The Company's Board of Directors declared a $0.20 per share cash dividend, payable November 22, 2024 to shareholders of record on November 11, 2024.

Third quarter of 2024 results include an $8.2 million previously disclosed charge-off taken against a $13.7 million office loan participation as a $0.79 drag to earnings per share. Pre-tax, pre-provision net revenue (PPNR) of $9.0 million, or $1.17 per share, fell 7% relative to the second quarter of 2024 at $9.7 million, or $1.25 per share.

On October 28, 2024, the Company announced that on October 23, 2024, its Board of Directors authorized a new share repurchase plan. Under the terms of the share repurchase plan, the Company is authorized to buy back up to 250,000 shares of its outstanding common stock. In connection with the authorization of the new plan, the Company terminated its existing plan, originally approved in 2018 and amended in 2021, pursuant to which the Company has purchased 532,802 shares of its common stock.

Discussion of Outlook; Bankwell Financial Group President and CEO, Christopher R. Gruseke:

"Although we were disappointed with the elevated charge-off in the third quarter, the Company’s go-forward outlook remains favorable. Our liability sensitive balance sheet leaves us well positioned for accelerating margin expansion in the coming quarters, and we believe that strategic investments in our commercial lending platform will help us diversify our assets and improve our profitability."

Key Points for Third Quarter and Bankwell’s Outlook

Brokered Deposits Decrease, Liability Sensitive Balance Sheet.

• Brokered deposits declined $24.2 million in the third quarter of 2024 and are down $168.5 million since December 31, 2023.
• Reported net interest margin was 2.72%, which included a -6 basis point impact as a result of charges associated with a single non-performing loan and fees associated with called brokered CDs.
• With $1.3 billion of time deposits maturing in the next 12 months at a weighted average rate of 4.89%, the Company anticipates an annualized reduction in funding costs by $3.35 million, given current pricing. This translates into approximately $0.33 incremental EPS, or approximately 11 basis points on net interest margin, given no further changes to Fed Funds and stable asset yields.
• Further, the Company anticipates $0.5 billion of loans to reprice or mature over the same period, which could further benefit net interest margin by an additional 15 to 20 basis points on an annualized basis.

NPL to be Sold, Residential Care Upgrades a Positive Sign.

• A $27.1 million multifamily commercial real estate loan was placed on nonperforming status as of September 30, 2024. As of October 28, 2024, the Company has a signed agreement for the sale of this loan at par value. As of September 30, 2024, this loan comprises 103 basis points of the 2.50% nonperforming loans as a percentage of total loans.
• Elsewhere, favorable macroeconomic trends were reflected in improved operating results among the Company's residential care borrowers. Specifically, during the quarter four relationships totaling $42 million were upgraded. The Company anticipates the positive trend to continue as both Medicaid reimbursement rates and operational costs normalize.

Ongoing Investments with Continued Focus on Efficiency.

• The Company continues to invest for future growth, with notable recent developments including a lending partnership with Lendio, the launch of Bankwell Direct, the launch of a new Small Business Administration (SBA) division, and hiring key leadership personnel.
• The Company continues to operate efficiently with a non-interest expense to average asset ratio of 1.62% for the quarter ended September 30, 2024.

Third Quarter 2024 Financial Highlights and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

Pre-Tax, Pre-Provision Net Revenue⁽¹⁾ ("PPNR")

PPNR for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, were $9.0 million and $27.4 million, respectively, a decrease of 20.1% and 28.6%, respectively, from the $11.3 million and $38.4 million recognized in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, respectively.

• Revenues (net interest income plus noninterest income) for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 were $21.9 million, versus $23.5 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2023. The decrease in revenues for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 was attributable to an increase in interest expense on deposits. Revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 were $65.8 million, versus $75.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023. The decrease in revenues for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 was attributable to an increase in interest expense on deposits and lower gains from loan sales, partially offset by an increase in interest and fees on loans due to higher loan yields and prepayment fees.
• The net interest margin (fully taxable equivalent basis) for the quarters ended September 30, 2024 and September 30, 2023 was 2.72% and 2.85%, respectively. The decrease in the net interest margin was due to an increase in funding costs, partially offset by an increase in interest income on earning assets. For the quarter ended September 30, 2024, the net interest margin includes a -5 basis point unfavorable impact as a result of the $27.1 million commercial real estate loan being placed on non-performing status plus a -1 basis point unfavorable impact from one-time costs associated with Brokered CDs called during the quarter.
• Overall non-interest income of $1.2 million increased 69.3% when compared to the second quarter, primarily due to higher gains as a result of more SBA loan sales. Service charges increased when compared to the second quarter and continues to grow on a positive trend line.
• Total non-interest expense of $12.9 million increased 5% compared to the second quarter as the Company continues to invest in strategic initiatives.

Allowance for Credit Losses - Loans ("ACL-Loans")

The ACL-Loans was $27.8 million as of September 30, 2024 compared to $27.9 million as of December 31, 2023. The ACL-Loans as a percentage of total loans was 1.06% as of September 30, 2024 compared to 1.03% as of December 31, 2023.

Provision for credit losses was $6.3 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024. The increase in the provision for credit losses for the quarter was primarily due to a charge-off of $8.2 million which previously did not have an associated specific reserve. The increase was partially offset by a $1.0 million recovery on a previously charged-off loan.

Total nonaccrual loans increased $9.3 million to $65.5 million as of September 30, 2024 when compared to the previous quarter. The increase was primarily due to a $27.1 million commercial real estate multifamily loan¹. The increase was partially offset by two loans that were partially charged-off for a total of $15.4 million and two loans that were paid off totaling $4.7 million in the third quarter of 2024. Nonperforming assets as a percentage of total assets increased to 2.07% at September 30, 2024 from 1.53% at December 31, 2023.

1. As of October 28, 2024, the Company has a signed agreement for the sale of this loan at par value.

Financial Condition & Capital

Assets totaled $3.2 billion at September 30, 2024, a decrease of $54.4 million, or 1.7% compared to December 31, 2023. Gross loans totaled $2.6 billion at September 30, 2024, a decrease of $95.4 million, or 3.5% compared to December 31, 2023. Deposits totaled $2.7 billion at September 30, 2024, a decrease of $48.6 million, or 1.8% compared to December 31, 2023. Brokered deposits have decreased $168.5 million or 17.7%, when compared to December 31, 2023

Shareholders’ equity totaled $267.9 million as of September 30, 2024, an increase of $2.2 million compared to December 31, 2023, primarily a result of net income of $6.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2024. The increase was partially offset by dividends paid of $4.7 million.

The Company's capital position was generally stable during the third quarter, with total risk-based capital, common-equity tier 1 capital and leverage ratios at 12.83%, 11.80%, and 10.24%, respectively, at September 30, 2024. The Company repurchased 9,670 shares and 85,990 shares at weighted average prices of $23.86 and $24.82 per share for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2024.

We recommend reading this earnings release in conjunction with the Third Quarter 2024 Investor Presentation, located at http://investor.mybankwell.com/Presentations and included as an exhibit to our October 28, 2024 Current Report on Form 8-K.

Conference Call

Bankwell will host a conference call to discuss the Company’s financial results and business outlook on October 29, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. E.T. The call will be accessible by telephone and webcast using https://investor.mybankwell.com/news-market-data/event-calendar/default.aspx. A supplementary slide presentation will be posted to the website prior to the event, and a replay will be available for 12 months following the event.

About Bankwell Financial Group

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. is the holding company for Bankwell Bank (“Bankwell”). Bankwell is a full-service Commercial Bank, established in 2013. Headquartered in New Canaan, CT, Bankwell serves customers nationwide, delivering unmatched accessibility, expertise, and responsiveness. Bankwell offers an array of commercial financing products, including Working Capital lines of credit, SBA loans, Acquisition loans, and Commercial mortgages, in addition to digital and physical treasury management and deposit services.

For more information about this press release, interested parties may contact Christopher R. Gruseke, President and Chief Executive Officer or Courtney E. Sacchetti, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Bankwell Financial Group at (203) 652-0166 or at ir@mybankwell.com.

For more information, visit www.mybankwell.com.

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements about the Company. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding anticipated future events and can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They often include words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” and “intend” or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” or “may.” Forward-looking statements, by their nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results include increased competitive pressures, changes in the interest rate environment, general economic conditions or conditions within the banking industry or securities markets, and legislative and regulatory changes that could adversely affect the business in which the Company and its subsidiaries are engaged.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to evaluating the Company's financial performance in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), management may evaluate certain non-GAAP financial measures, such as the efficiency ratio. A computation and reconciliation of certain non-GAAP financial measures used for these purposes is contained in the accompanying Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measures tables. We believe that providing certain non-GAAP financial measures provides investors with information useful in understanding our financial performance, our performance trends and financial position. For example, the Company believes that the efficiency ratio is useful in the assessment of financial performance, including noninterest expense control. The Company believes that tangible common equity, tangible assets, tangible common equity to tangible assets, tangible common shareholders' equity, fully diluted tangible book value per common share, adjusted noninterest expense, operating revenue, efficiency ratio, average tangible common equity, annualized return on average tangible common equity, return on average assets, return on average shareholders' equity, pre-tax, pre-provision net revenue, net interest margin, net loan charge-offs as a percentage of average loans, pre-tax, pre-provision net revenue on average assets, and the dividend payout ratio are useful to evaluate the relative strength of the Company's performance and capital position. We utilize these measures for internal planning and forecasting purposes. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered a substitute for GAAP basis measures and results, and we strongly encourage investors to review our consolidated financial statements in their entirety and not to rely on any single financial measure.