Net income of $10.2 million and earnings per common share of $1.34 for the three months ended March 31, 2022
Annualized return on average assets of 1.27% for the three months ended March 31, 2022
Annualized return on average common equity of 12.62% for the three months ended March 31, 2022
Quarterly cash dividend of $0.22 per share declared, matching prior quarter and an increase of 4.8% from prior-year first quarter

MANITOWOC, Wis., April 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank First Corporation (NASDAQ:BFC) ("Bank First" or the "Bank"), the holding company for Bank First, N.A., reported net income of $10.2 million, or $1.34 per share, for the first quarter of 2022, compared with net income of $11.5 million, or $1.49 per share, for the prior-year first quarter.

Operating Results

Net interest income during the first quarter of 2022 was $22.3 million, down $0.9 million from the previous quarter but up $0.2 million from the first quarter of 2021. Interest income on loans originated through the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP") totaled $0.7 million during the first quarter of 2022, compared to $1.3 million during the previous quarter and $2.4 million during the first quarter of 2021.

During the first quarter of 2022 the Bank engaged in a strategy to enhance net interest income, utilizing $300.0 million in short-term borrowings from the Federal Home Loan Bank and investing these funds in short-term, liquid, interest-earning assets. This strategy increased net interest income during the quarter by $0.1 million.

Interest income related to purchase accounting entries, resulting from our acquisitions of other institutions over the last several years, increased net interest income during the first quarter of 2022 by $0.3 million, or $0.03 per share after tax, compared to $0.7 million and $0.5 million, or $0.07 and $0.05 per share after tax, for the fourth and first quarters of 2021, respectively.

Excluding income from PPP loans and the impact of purchase accounting entries, net interest income increased $2.1 million in the first quarter year-over-year. Excluding income from PPP loans, the impact of purchase accounting entries, and the impact of two fewer earning days in the current quarter, net interest income increased $0.6 million quarter-over-quarter.

Net interest margin was 3.06% for the first quarter of 2022, compared to 3.47% for the previous quarter and 3.57% for the first quarter of 2021. The aforementioned short-term net interest income enhancement strategy decreased net interest margin by 0.29% during the quarter. Purchase loan accounting entries added 0.04%, 0.11% and 0.09% to net interest margin for each of these periods, respectively.

Bank First recorded a provision for loan losses of $1.2 million during the first quarter of 2022, compared to $0.6 million and $0.9 million during the fourth and first quarters of 2021, respectively. Significant first quarter loan growth, as discussed later in this release, led to the need for a higher provision for loan losses. Through the first three months of 2022, recoveries of previously charged-off loans exceeded current charge-offs by $0.2 million. This compared favorably to negligible net charge-offs during the first three months of 2021.

Noninterest income was $5.2 million during the first quarter of 2022, compared to $5.5 million and $6.3 million during the fourth and first quarters of 2021, respectively. Income from our investment in Ansay & Associates LLC increased $0.4 million from the prior quarter, and $0.1 million from the prior-year first quarter. A slowdown in residential mortgage lending, experienced across the banking industry, led to a decline in gains on sales of mortgage loans to the secondary market of $0.5 million from the prior quarter, and $2.1 million from the prior-year first quarter. Finally, gains on sales of other real estate owned during the quarter totaled $0.2 million, comparing favorably to losses of $0.2 million in the prior quarter and gains of $0.1 million in the prior-year first quarter. The Bank ended the first quarter of 2022 with no other real estate property owned.

Noninterest expense was $12.7 million in the first quarter of 2022, compared to $13.4 million and $12.4 million during the fourth and first quarters of 2021, respectively. Personnel expense totaled $7.2 million for the first quarter of 2022, compared to $7.3 million and $7.1 million for the fourth and first quarters of 2021, respectively. Outside service fees totaled $1.2 million in the first quarter of 2022, compared to $0.8 million for the fourth and first quarters of 2021. Outside service fees included $0.5 million in expenses related to the pending acquisition of Denmark Bancshares, Inc. Finally, other noninterest expense during the first quarter of 2022 declined by $1.1 million from the prior quarter. During the fourth quarter of 2021, Bank First incurred a one-time expense when it purchased a domain name from another institution for $0.8 million as part of a rebranding initiative. No similar expense was incurred during the current quarter, leading to the positive variance quarter-over-quarter.

Balance Sheet

Total assets were $2.92 billion at March 31, 2022, a $12.6 million decrease from December 31, 2021, but up $78.7 million from March 31, 2021. Total loans were $2.32 billion at March 31, 2022, up $81.2 million from December 31, 2021, and up $87.8 million from March 31, 2021. Excluding PPP originations and repayments or forgiveness, loans grew by 12.7% over the trailing twelve months. Annualized loan growth during the first quarter of 2022 net of these same items amounted to 17.6%. Total deposits, nearly all of which remain core deposits, were $2.56 billion at March 31, 2022, up $28.7 million from December 31, 2021, and up $109.1 million from March 31, 2021. Noninterest-bearing demand deposits comprised 31.4% of the Bank's total core deposits at March 31, 2022.

Asset Quality

Nonperforming assets at March 31, 2022, totaled $5.4 million, down from $8.2 million and $14.7 million at the end of the fourth and first quarters of 2021, respectively. Nonperforming assets to total assets ended the first quarter of 2022 at 0.19%, down from 0.28% at the end of the prior quarter and down from 0.52% from the end of the prior-year first quarter.

Capital Position

Stockholders' equity totaled $318.3 million at March 31, 2022, a decrease of $4.4 million from the previous quarter but an increase of $14.9 million from March 31, 2021. Interest rate movements during the current quarter significantly impacted the value of investments in the Bank's available-for-sale investment portfolio, creating a loss in other comprehensive income which reduced stockholders equity by $8.2 million. Dividends totaling $1.7 million and share repurchases totaling $5.0 million further reduced capital. Strong earnings served to partially offset these items, increasing capital by $10.2 million.

Dividend Declaration

Bank First's Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.22 per common share, payable on July 6, 2022, to shareholders of record as of June 22, 2022.

For further information, contact:

Kevin M LeMahieu, Chief Financial Officer

Phone: (920) 652-3200 / klemahieu@bankfirst.com

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SOURCE Bank First Corporation

Bank First Announces Net Income for the First Quarter of 2022