First Citrus Bancorporation, Inc. Reports Continued Record-Setting Growth in 2021 Second Quarter and Strong Asset Quality

TAMPA, Fla., July 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Citrus Bancorporation, Inc. (OTC Markets: FCIT), the parent bank holding company for First Citrus Bank, released its financial results for the second quarter of 2021.

Net earnings of $1,960,000 for the quarter ended June 30, 2021, was the highest in company history. During the second quarter, assets, deposits, and non-Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP") loans also grew to record levels.

Second Quarter 2021 Highlights (compared to second quarter 2020)

• Net earnings growth of 52%;
• Asset growth of 14%;
• Non-PPP loan growth of 12%;
• Demand deposit growth of 41%;
• Deposit growth of 20%;
• Earnings per share growth of 51%.

Net earnings for the quarter ended June 30, 2021, was $1,960,000 or $0.95 per share, compared to the net income of $1,290,000, or $0.63 per share for the quarter ended June 30, 2020.

Book value per share as of June 30, 2021, was $22.03, an increase of 14% over the $19.35 book value per share as of June 30, 2020. A $0.45 special cash dividend per share of Common, Class A Preferred, and Class B Preferred stock was paid on March 4, 2021.

Total assets were $628 million as of June 30, 2021, an increase of $79 million, or 14%, from $549 million as of June 30, 2020.

Total loans grew to $452 million as of June 30, 2021, an increase of $14 million, or 3%, from $438 million at June 30, 2020. Excluding PPP loans, the loan portfolio reached $370 million, an increase of $41 million, or 12%, as of June 30, 2021, compared to $329 million for the prior year quarter. PPP loans decreased to 1,102 loans and totaled $82 million on June 30, 2021, compared to 1,232 loans totaling $109 million as of June 30, 2020. The number of loans granted forgiveness by the SBA reached 1,127 and totaled $98 million as of June 30, 2021.

As of June 30, 2021, loans delinquent 30 to 89 days totaled $115,000, compared to $62,000 for the prior year period. Nonperforming loans, defined as nonaccrual loans and loans 90 days past due accruing interest, totaled $ .8 million or .18% of total loans compared to $1.8 million or .41% for the prior year period. All remaining temporary loan payment deferments made to borrowers under the CARES Act have resumed their regular payment schedules.

Total deposits as of June 30, 2021, were $567 million, an increase of $94 million, or 20%, over the prior year quarter. Demand deposits grew 41% over the prior year quarter to $313 million and represented 55% of total deposits.

“Our people are executing well, capitalizing on the core deposit growth and retention opportunity generated from PPP,” said John Barrett, President and CEO of First Citrus Bank. “Concurrently, we hit the ground running opening our new branch in downtown St. Pete which opened last month. As a result, we’ve turned in another record quarter of earnings and year-to-date operating performance.”

About First Citrus Bancorporation, Inc.
First Citrus Bancorporation, Inc., is a Florida corporation and the parent bank holding company for First Citrus Bank, a Florida commercial bank. First Citrus Bancorporation, Inc., is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and was ranked as the fifth best-performing regional bank stock in the Southeastern United States over the past five years by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Stock trades on the OTC Markets under the ticker symbol "FCIT."

About First Citrus Bank
First Citrus Bank, a $628 million commercial bank, was established in 1999 and is headquartered in Tampa. It is ranked as one of the Top 100 Community Banks in 2021 by American Banker and named Top 5 SBA Lender in Tampa Bay for 2020 by the SBA. First Citrus Bank was selected as the Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce 2019 Small Business of the Year and ranked as one of the Top 25 Commercial Loan Producers in the Nation by the magazine Independent Banker. It serves businesses and individuals through a range of tailored financial solutions specializing in personal and business banking services with six locations throughout Tampa Bay.

First Citrus Bank enhances vibrancy throughout Tampa Bay by helping families become more financially secure and businesses economically successful. For additional information, please visit https://www.firstcitrus.com.

Information in this release relating to the company's future prospects, which are forward-looking statements, involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including, but not limited to, the following: (1) operating, legal and regulatory risks, such as continued levels of loan quality and origination volume, continued relationships with major customers and technological changes; (2) economic, political and competitive forces affecting our banking business, such as changes in economic conditions, especially in our market area, interest rate fluctuations, competitive product, and pricing pressures within our market, personal and corporate bankruptcies, monetary policy and inflation; (3) our ability to grow internally or through acquisitions; and (4) the risk that management's analyses of these risks and forces could be incorrect and/or that the strategies developed to address them could be unsuccessful. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words, such as "expects," "believe," "will," "intends," "will be," or "would." First Citrus Bancorporation assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking information in this announcement, except as required under applicable law.