Increases Loan Balances, Credit Reserves & Liquidity

STAMFORD, Conn., May 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Patriot National Bancorp, Inc. (“Patriot,” “Bancorp” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: PNBK), the parent company of Patriot Bank, N.A. (the “Bank”), today announced net loss of $53.0 thousand, or $(0.01) basic and diluted loss per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2023.

These results compared to net income of $1.8 million, or $0.45 per basic and diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 2022 and net income of $800 thousand, or $0.20 basic and diluted earnings per share reported in the first quarter of 2022.

The first quarter of 2023 financial results were adversely impacted by increasing reserves, which resulted in an elevated provision for credit losses of $1.3 million, compared to no provision for loan losses recorded for the first quarter of 2022; and the impact of lower net interest margin which was impacted by the higher funding costs resulting from the recent uncertainty in the banking sector.

The Bank reported steady quarterly loan growth of 3.6%, as compared to December 31, 2022. Net interest margin remained strong at 3.29%. The Bank continued executing its, low-cost deposit gathering strategies to complement its branch franchise. Prepaid deposits have grown to $176.2 million as of March 31, 2023. The combination of timing events associated with the onboarding of new deposit channels and rate increases in the Bank’s steady state deposit funding has resulted in a decrease in net interest margin from the previous quarter. Net interest margin decreased 48bps from 3.77% reported in the fourth quarter of 2022, but increased 23bps from 3.06% for the first quarter of last year. The Bank’s prepaid debit card and deposit strategy programs are expected to increasingly become significant contributors to the Bank’s diversified funding sources.

Patriot President & CEO David Lowery stated: "I am excited to have been promoted to Patriot’s President and CEO and look forward to providing increased value to our customers, driving shareholder returns, and establishing Patriot as a preferred work environment for our employees. The first quarter of 2023 was a particularly challenging time for banks overall. However, during this period, PNBK made great strides in investing in its future, growing and diversifying its loan book and deposit base year over year, and increasing reserves.”

While the full impact of recent investments will take time to flow to the bottom line, the Bank’s strengths can be evidenced by:

Financial Results:

Total assets increased to $1.1 billion, as of March 31, 2023, as compared to $1.0 billion on December 31, 2022. This was primarily due to an increase in loans from $848.3 million at December 31, 2022, to $878.8 million as of March 31, 2023. Total deposits for the quarter remained stable at $856.5 million, relative to $860.4 million as of December 31, 2022.

Effective January 1, 2023, the Company adopted ASU 2016-13, pertaining to the measurement of credit losses on financial instruments ("CECL"), and as a result, recorded an increase in the allowance for credit losses on loans of $7.4 million, an allowance for credit losses on off-balance sheet exposure of $1.1 million, and a cumulative adjustment to the opening balance of accumulated deficit of $6.2 million, net of a deferred tax adjustment of $2.3 million. The adoption of CECL does not impact Patriot’s income statement, but such adoption is reflected in Patriot’s shareholder’s equity.

Net interest income for the three months ended March 31, 2023, was $8.0 million, an increase of $1.3 million or 19.1% from the first quarter of 2022 and a decline from $9.6 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2022. The increase from the prior year first quarter was primarily attributable to the growth in the loan portfolio and growth in prepaid deposits from the Bank’s Deposit Strategies Division. The decline from the fourth quarter of 2022 was due to narrower net interest margin due to higher deposit costs and an increase in wholesale borrowings to purposely increase liquidity.

The Bank’s net interest margin was 3.29% for the three months ended March 31, 2023, compared with 3.77% in the fourth quarter of 2022 and 3.06% for the three months ended March 31, 2022.

Non-interest income for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, and 2022 was $835 thousand and $814 thousand, respectively. The higher non-interest income for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, was primarily attributable to higher non-interest income from the Bank’s Deposit Strategies Division.

Non-interest expenses for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, and 2022, were $7.6 million and $6.4 million, respectively.

For the three months ended March 31, 2023, a credit for income taxes of $19 thousand was recorded, compared to a provision for income taxes of $311 thousand for the three months ended March 31, 2022. The effective tax rate for the first quarter of 2023 and 2022 was 26.4% and 28.0%, respectively.

* * * * *

About the Company:

Founded in 1994, and now celebrating its 29th year, Patriot National Bancorp, Inc. (“Patriot” or “Bancorp”) is the parent holding company of Patriot Bank N.A. (“Bank”), a nationally chartered bank headquartered in Stamford, CT. The Bank is headquartered in Stamford and operates 9 branch locations: in Scarsdale, NY; and Darien, Fairfield, Greenwich, Milford, Norwalk, Orange, Stamford, Westport, CT with Express Banking locations at Bridgeport/ Housatonic Community College, downtown New Haven and Trumbull at Westfield Mall. The Bank also maintains SBA lending offices in Stamford, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, along with a Rhode Island operations center.

Patriot’s mission is to serve its local community and nationwide customer base by providing a growing array of banking solutions to meet the needs of individuals and small businesses owners. Patriot places great value in the integrity of its people and how it conducts business. The emphasis on building strong client relationships and community involvement are cornerstones of Patriot’s philosophy as it seeks to maximize shareholder value.

“Safe Harbor” Statement Under Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

Certain statements contained in Bancorp’s public statements, including this one, may be forward looking. These forward-looking statements are based on Patriot’s current expectations and assumptions regarding Patriot’s business, the economy, and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to future results and occurrences, they are subject to inherent risks, uncertainties, changes in circumstances and other factors that are difficult to predict. Many possible events or factors could affect Patriot’s future financial results and performance and could cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of Patriot to differ materially from any anticipated results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others: (1) changes in prevailing interest rates which would affect the interest earned on the Company’s interest earning assets and the interest paid on its interest bearing liabilities; (2) the timing of re-pricing of the Company’s interest earning assets and interest bearing liabilities; (3) the effect of changes in governmental monetary policy; (4) the effect of changes in regulations applicable to the Company and the Bank and the conduct of its business; (5) changes in competition among financial service companies, including possible further encroachment of non-banks on services traditionally provided by banks; (6) the ability of competitors that are larger than the Company to provide products and services which it is impracticable for the Company to provide; (7) the state of the economy and real estate values in the Company’s market areas, and the consequent effect on the quality of the Company’s loans; (8) demand for loans and deposits in our market area; (9) recent governmental initiatives that are expected to have a profound effect on the financial services industry and could dramatically change the competitive environment of the Company; (10) other legislative or regulatory changes, including those related to residential mortgages, changes in accounting standards, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) premiums that may adversely affect the Company; (11) the application of generally accepted accounting principles, consistently applied; (12) the fact that one period of reported results may not be indicative of future periods; (13) the state of the economy in the greater New York metropolitan area and its particular effect on the Company's customers, vendors and communities; (14) political, social, legal and economic instability, civil unrest, war, catastrophic events, acts of terrorism; (15) possible future outbreaks of infectious diseases, including the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak; (16) changes in the level and direction of loan delinquencies and write-offs and changes in estimates of the adequacy of the allowance for loan losses; (17) our ability to access cost-effective funding; (18) our ability to implement and change our business strategies; (19) changes in the quality or composition of our loan or investment portfolios; (20) technological changes that may be more difficult or expensive than expected; (21) our ability to manage market risk, credit risk and operational risk in the current economic environment; (22) our ability to enter new markets successfully and capitalize on growth opportunities; (23) changes in consumer spending, borrowing and savings habits; (24) our ability to retain key employees; (25) our compensation expense associated with equity allocated or awarded to our employees; and (26) other such factors, including risk factors, as may be described in the Company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

PATRIOT NATIONAL BANCORP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited)

PATRIOT NATIONAL BANCORP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited)

FINANCIAL RATIOS AND OTHER DATA

Deposits:

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 per share numbers that exclude intangible assets and exclude the net reduction in Book equity resulting from the change in value of its Available for Sale investment securities (AFS). A computation and reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures used for these purposes is contained in the accompanying Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measures tables. We believe that due to the temporary nature of the change in AFS securities which is a result of the current interest rate environment, providing the Book value per share data excluding the Other Comprehensive Loss associated with the valuation of AFS securities provides investors with information useful in understanding our financial position. The 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.

Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measures (unaudited):