Citizens Community Bancorp, Inc. Announces Fiscal Second Quarter Results

EAU CLAIRE, WI--(Marketwired - Apr 29, 2016) - Citizens Community Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: CZWI) (the "Company"), the parent company of Citizens Community Federal N.A. (the "Bank"), a national banking association offering full-service retail banking and commercial lending, today announced unaudited financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2016. Second quarter results featured relatively favorable year-over-year earnings growth, strong capital ratios, and solid asset quality. For the three months ended March 31, 2016, net income was $701,000, or $0.13 per diluted share, compared with net income of $596,000, or $0.11 per diluted share, for the same quarter last year.

Edward H. Schaefer, President and CEO, stated: "Our second quarter fiscal 2016 results were extremely positive despite the flattening yield curve. We believe the year-over-year earnings per share increase of 18% provides evidence that our branch rationalization strategy positions the Company to become even more profitable."

Second Quarter Highlights

  • Asset quality remained excellent. As of March 31, 2016, nonperforming assets were $2.3 million, or 0.38% of total assets, compared with nonperforming assets of $2.1 million, or 0.37% of total assets, as of September 30, 2015.

  • Strong capital levels. As of March 31, 2016, the Company and the Bank exceeded all regulatory standards to be considered "well-capitalized". Book value per share increased to $11.83 at March 31, 2016 from $11.57 at September 30, 2015.

  • Announced acquisition. On February 4, 2016, the Company announced an agreement to acquire Community Bank of Northern Wisconsin ("Community Bank"), a subsidiary of Old Murry Bancorp, Inc. The all-cash transaction was valued at $17 million and is expected to be accretive to earnings in fiscal 2017. Community Bank is headquartered in Rice Lake, Wisconsin and has total assets of approximately $153 million. On April 22, 2016, the OCC approved the proposal for the merger of Community Bank with and into the Bank. The merger is expected to close in May 2016.

  • Increased dividend. The Board of Directors of the Company increased the annual cash dividend by 50% to $0.12 per share from $0.08 per share, which reflected the Company's balance sheet strength and increased earnings. The dividend was paid on March 25, 2016 to shareholders of record on March 11, 2016.

Income Statement and Balance Sheet Overview

In addition to the previously noted acquisition agreement with Community Bank, in February 2016, the Company purchased the loans and deposits from two branch offices of Central Bank, a Minnesota state bank. These branches, located in our Rice Lake and Barron County footprints, had loans and deposits of $16.4 million and $27.1 million, respectively. Also as previously announced, the Company closed two branch offices in January as part of its branch rationalization plan. Mark C. Oldenberg, Executive Vice President and CFO commented, "Our strategic plan should enhance operating results as we refocus on key markets and gain greater cost efficiencies throughout our organization."