Business
Columbia Financial, Inc. Announces Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Year Ended December 31, 2020
FAIR LAWN, N.J., Jan. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Columbia Financial, Inc. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CLBK), the mid-tier holding company for Columbia Bank
About this update from Columbia Financial, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"FAIR LAWN, N.J., Jan. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Columbia Financial, Inc. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CLBK), the mid-tier holding company for Columbia Bank (the \"Bank\"), reported net income of $20.7 million, or $0.19 per basic and diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2020, as compared to net income of $13.5 million, or $0.12 per basic and diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2019. Earnings for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 reflected higher net interest income, non-interest income, and lower provision for loan losses, partially offset by higher non-interest expense and income tax expense. The increase in net interest income for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 was primarily due to a decrease in interest expense of $9.8 million, or 41.4%. During the quarter ended December 31, 2020, the reduction of the cost of funds on deposits coupled with a lower average borrowings balance contributed to the reduction in interest expense. During the quarter ended December 31, 2020, $149.6 million of Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (\"FHLB\") borrowings which were prepaid, and accounted for as early extinguishments of debt, resulted in a loss of $1.2 million included in non-interest expense. For the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company reported net income of $57.6 million, or $0.52 per basic and diluted share, as compared to net income of $54.7 million, or $0.49 per basic and diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2019. Earnings for the year ended December 31, 2020 reflected higher net interest income, partially offset by higher provision for loan losses, lower non-interest income, and higher non-interest expense and higher income tax expense. The higher provision for losses for the year ended December 31, 2020 was primarily attributable to consideration of the deterioration of economic factors and loan performance due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in increases to qualitative factors, and to a lesser extent, due to an increase in charge-offs for the year. The Company elected to defer the adoption of the Current Expected Credit Loss (\"CECL\") methodology until December 31, 2020 as permitted by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (\"CARES Act\"). In late December 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 was enacted, and extended certain provisions of the...