BROOKFIELD, Wis., April 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CIB Marine Bancshares, Inc. (the "Company" or "CIB Marine") (OTCQX:CIBH), the holding company of CIBM Bank (the "Bank"), announced its unaudited results of operations and financial condition for the quarter and three months ended March 31, 2024. During the quarter, CIBM Bank's loan portfolio growth slowed to $14 million and deposits grew $45 million, allowing the Bank to reduce borrowings by $45 million, improve its liquidity profile, and control cost of funds. The Mortgage Division improved its operating results versus the first quarter of 2023, but did have an operating loss as a result of the severe production environment created by higher interest rates and lack of housing supply. Income before tax was $0.2 million for the first quarter of 2024, nominally higher than the fourth quarter of 2023. Net income was $0.2 million for the first quarter of 2024 or $0.13 basic and $0.10 diluted net income per share, compared to a loss of $0.9 million during the fourth quarter of 2023 or $0.67 basic and $0.67 diluted net loss per share. Net income for the first quarter of 2023 was $0.2 million or $0.17 basic or $0.13 diluted net income per share. Financial highlights for the quarter include: CIBM Bank's loan portfolio balances increased $14 million, primarily from funding prior commercial real estate construction loans and other new commercial segment loans. This is down from $33 million of growth in the fourth quarter of 2023. Loan portfolio growth is expected to continue to decline due to higher loan rates and balance sheet management. Deposits increased by $45 million, primarily in time deposits and money market accounts, as lower-cost fundings were used to reduce higher-cost short term borrowings from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago ("FHLB"). This helped to control some of the cost of funds pressures for the period and improved the Bank's liquidity profile as the loan to deposit ratio declined from 98% at December 31, 2023, to 94% at March 31, 2024, and borrowing availability with the FHLB increased. As of March 31, 2024, non-performing assets, modified loans to borrowers experiencing financial difficulty, and loans 90 days or more past due and still accruing to total assets and nonaccrual loans to total loans ratios were 0.89% and 0.48%, respectively, compared to 0.90% and 0.50%, respectively, on December 31, 2023, and 0.14% and 0.08%, respectively, on March 31, 2023. Also, as of March 31, 2024, the allowance for credit losses on loans ("ACLL") to loans was 1.23% compared to an ACLL of 1.27% on December 31, 2023, and 1.51% on March 31, 2023. The ACLL qualitative factors, including in the assessment of the ACLL, include economic forecasts obtained from third parties. Over the course of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, gross domestic product and unemployment forecasts have improved with declining recession risk resulting in a lower ACLL to loans ratio. Net interest margin was down 12 basis points from the prior quarter as the increase in the cost of funds was more than the increase in the yields on earning assets. Although progress was made in controlling the cost of funds by reducing our high-cost borrowings and replacing them with lower cost deposits, this progress was offset by certain other deposit relationship cost increases and higher cost renewals of time deposits. Net interest income was down $0.2 million from the fourth quarter of 2023 and down $0.9 million from the first quarter of 2023. For the quarter ended March 31, 2024, Banking Division net income was $0.8 million, down $0.2 million from the same period in 2023, and Mortgage Division net loss was $0.3 million, improved by $0.2 million due to prior cost saving actions and certain new hire costs in 2023, despite the continued market challenges. The remaining $0.3 million net loss was from parent company sub-debt and administration expenses. Reflecting on the quarter, Mr. J. Brian Chaffin, CIB Marine's President and CEO, commented, "We have had some real successes this past quarter in a number of areas. Our solid deposit growth has resulted in an improved liquidity profile and, based on current forecasts, we believe it will lead to improved net interest margins in the future. Our targeted cost controls from last year are in place and have offset some of the decline in revenues. "In this environment of constrained revenues, we continue to use balance sheet management to improve capital ratios in support of future preferred stock redemptions. Under this strategy, we expect slow – possibly even negative – loan growth in the foreseeable future, as well as possible asset sales, such as the sale of $2.7 million SBA 7(a) guaranteed loans for a gain of $0.2 million that we completed in the first quarter. "In addition, due to continued challenges in mortgage banking largely originating from a shortfall in housing supply and high interest rates, and after evaluating many options, we significantly reduced ongoing operating costs for future periods with reductions of operations and less productive sales staff, and adjusted certain fees and compensation arrangements at the end of the first quarter of 2024 to improve the range of potential outcomes to include a profitable year in the Mortgage Division." He concluded, "We plan on covering a number of important topics related to our operating results and capital plans for our shareholders in more detail at the Annual Shareholder Meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 25th. We encourage shareholders to visit our website for additional details regarding our virtual shareholder meeting, and to review the meeting materials." CIB Marine Bancshares, Inc. is the holding company for CIBM Bank, which operates nine banking offices in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana, and has mortgage loan officers and/or offices in nine states. More information on the Company is available at www.cibmarine.com, including recent shareholder letters, links to regulatory financial reports, and audited financial statements. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSCIB Marine has made statements in this release that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. CIB Marine intends these forward-looking statements to be subject to the safe harbor created thereby and is including this statement to avail itself of the safe harbor. Forward-looking statements are identified generally by statements containing words and phrases such as "may," "project," "are confident," "should be," "intend," "predict," "believe," "plan," "expect," "estimate," "anticipate" and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements reflect CIB Marine's current views with respect to future events and financial performance that are subject to many uncertainties and factors relating to CIB Marine's operations and the business environment, which could change at any time.There are inherent difficulties in predicting factors that may affect the accuracy of forward-looking statements. Stockholders should note that many factors, some of which are discussed elsewhere in this Earnings Release and in the documents that are incorporated by reference, could affect the future financial results of CIB Marine and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements contained or incorporated by reference in this document. These factors, many of which are beyond CIB Marine's control, include but are not limited to: operating, legal, execution, credit, market, security (including cyber), and regulatory risks; economic, political, and competitive forces affecting CIB Marine's banking business; the impact on net interest income and securities values from changes in monetary policy and general economic and political conditions; and the risk that CIB Marine's analyses of these risks and forces could be incorrect and/or that the strategies developed to address them could be unsuccessful. These factors should be considered in evaluating the forward-looking statements, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. CIB Marine undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties and CIB Marine's actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in forward-looking statements. CIB MARINE BANCSHARES, INC. Selected Unaudited Consolidated Financial Data                     At or for the   Quarters Ended   3 Months Ended   March 31, December 31, September June 30, March 31,   March 31, March 31,     2024     2023     30, 2023     2023     2023       2024     2023     (Dollars in thousands, except share and per share data) Selected Statement of Operations Data:                 Interest and dividend income $ 11,801   $ 11,328   $ 10,117   $ 9,152   $ 8,472     $ 11,801   $ 8,472   Interest expense   6,840     6,190     5,180     3,643     2,601       6,840     2,601   Net interest income   4,961     5,138     4,937     5,509     5,871       4,961     5,871   Provision for (reversal of) credit losses   (28 )   135     (140 )   (246 )   159       (28 )   159   Net interest income after provision for (reversal of) credit losses   4,989     5,003     5,077     5,755     5,712       4,989     5,712   Noninterest income (1)   1,627     1,824     2,368     3,298     1,410       1,627     1,410   Noninterest expense   6,421     6,669     7,007     7,457     6,805       6,421     6,805   Income before income taxes   195     158     438     1,596     317       195     317   Income tax expense   17     1,050     59     431     89       17     89   Net income (loss) $ 178   $ (892 ) $ 379   $ 1,165   $ 228     $ 178   $ 228                     Common Share Data:                 Basic net income (loss) per share $ 0.13   $ (0.67 ) $ 0.28   $ 0.88   $ 0.17     $ 0.13   $ 0.17   Diluted net income (loss) per share   0.10     (0.67 )   0.21     0.64     0.13       0.10     0.13   Dividend   0.00     0.00     0.00     0.00     0.00       0.00     0.00   Tangible book value per share (2)   52.59     53.35     52.05     52.47     53.28       52.59     53.28   Book value per share (2)   50.84     51.58     50.28     50.70     51.48       50.84     51.48   Weighted average shares outstanding - basic   1,341,181     1,334,163     1,333,889     1,318,460     1,308,603       1,341,181     1,308,603   Weighted average shares outstanding - diluted   1,820,498     1,813,207     1,814,716     1,815,593     1,803,218       1,820,498     1,803,218   Financial Condition Data:                 Total assets $ 897,595   $ 899,060   $ 874,247   $ 819,521   $ 787,244     $ 897,595   $ 787,244   Loans   736,019     722,084     688,446     647,823     608,492       736,019     608,492   Allowance for credit losses on loans   (9,087 )   (9,136 )   (8,947 )   (8,999 )   (9,193 )     (9,087 )   (9,193 ) Investment securities   119,300     131,529     130,476     114,661     126,001       119,300     126,001   Deposits   772,377     727,565     644,165     613,808     632,339       772,377     632,339   Borrowings   32,120     76,956     138,469     113,950     65,173       32,120     65,173   Stockholders' equity   85,091     85,075     83,313     83,876     83,615       85,091     83,615   Financial Ratios and Other Data:                 Performance Ratios:                 Net interest margin (3)   2.29 %   2.41 %   2.43 %   2.90 %   3.22 %     2.29 %   3.22 % Net interest spread (4)   1.63 %   1.79 %   1.85 %   2.42 %   2.82 %     1.63 %   2.82 % Noninterest income to average assets (5)   0.73 %   0.78 %   1.15 %   1.68 %   0.72 %     0.73 %   0.72 % Noninterest expense to average assets   2.87 %   3.00 %   3.31 %   3.77 %   3.58 %     2.87 %   3.58 % Efficiency ratio (6)