CORNELIUS, N.C., April 21, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aquesta Financial Holdings, Inc (stock symbol AQFH) and its Subsidiaries - including its major subsidiary Aquesta Bank ("Aquesta") announced today operating income for the first quarter of 2015 (three month period ending March 31, 2015). For the first quarter, Aquesta had unaudited net income of $501,000 (20 cents per share) compared to unaudited net income of $428,000 for the first quarter of 2014 (17 cents per share).
Aquesta's total assets slightly decreased to $263.1 million at March 31, 2015 compared to $263.6 million at December 31, 2014. During that same period total loans grew to $173.9 million compared to $172.2 million, or annualized growth rate of approximately 4 percent.
Jim Engel, CEO and President of Aquesta, said, "We are pleased Aquesta continued its accelerated earnings growth. This quarter's earnings grew approximately 15 percent over the same quarter in the prior year. This growth was fueled by excellent year over year loan growth." Engel continued, "We are also very happy to have announced during the quarter our planned purchase of a bank branch located near the desirable Southpark area of Charlotte from CertusBank. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter 2015. This acquisition should further enhance our market share and help generate continued organic growth of loans and earnings."
Aquesta provided the following financial highlights for comparison:
| 3/31/15 | 12/31/14 | |
| unaudited | unaudited | |
| (dollars in thousands) | ||
| Financial Highlights | ||
| Total Assets | 263,100 | 263,566 |
| Total Loans | 173,891 | 172,250 |
| Total Core Deposits | 116,733 | 119,409 |
| NPAs* as a % of Assets | 1.81 | 1.17 |
| ALLL** as a % of Loans | 1.44 | 1.44 |
| Book Value Per Share | 8.97 | 8.88 |
| Tangible Book Value Per Share | 8.26 | 8.16 |
| 3/31/15 | 3/31/14 | |
| YTD | YTD | |
| Non Interest Income*** | 829 | 836 |
| Net Interest Income | 2,330 | 2,097 |
| Provision for Loan Losses | 20 | 104 |
| Net Income | 501 | 428 |
| Earnings Per Share | 0.20 | 0.17 |
*NPA's consist of loans 90 days or more past due and still accruing, nonaccrual loans, troubled debt restructurings and other real estate owned.
**ALLL is the Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses
***Excludes gains/losses on the sale of securities.
Aquesta Financial Holdings, Inc. is the bank holding company for Aquesta Bank, a commercial bank headquartered at Lake Norman just north of Charlotte. The Aquesta Bank operates branches in Cornelius, Davidson, Mooresville and Huntersville with additional branch acquisition announced for Charlotte. Aquesta Bank's wholly owned independent insurance agency (Aquesta Insurance Services, Inc.) has offices in Aquesta Bank branches and Wilmington, North Carolina. For additional information, please contact Kristin Couch (Chief Financial Officer) at 704-439-4343.
Information in this press release may contain forward looking statements that might involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include without limitation, the effects of future economic conditions, governmental fiscal and monetary policies, legislative and regulatory changes, and changes in interest rates.