Press release
First Community Bankshares, Inc. Announces First Quarter 2022 Results and Quarterly Cash Dividend
BLUEFIELD, Va., April 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Community Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCBC) (www.firstcommunitybank.com) (the “Company”) today reported
About this update from First Community Bankshares, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"BLUEFIELD, Va., April 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Community Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCBC) (www.firstcommunitybank.com) (the “Company”) today reported its unaudited results of operations and other financial information for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. The Company reported quarterly net income of $9.52 million, or $0.56 per diluted common share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. The Company also declared a quarterly cash dividend to common shareholders of twenty-seven cents ($0.27) per common share, which is an increase of 8.00% over the same quarter last year. The quarterly dividend is payable to common shareholders of record on May 6, 2022, and is expected to be paid on or about May 20, 2022. This marks the 37th consecutive year of regular dividends to common shareholders. First Quarter 2022 and Current Highlights Income Statement Net income of $9.52 million for the quarter was a decrease of $5.09 million, or $0.26 per diluted common share, compared to the same quarter of 2021. The decrease was primarily driven by a return to more normalized expense in the provision for credit losses of $1.96 million for the first quarter of 2022 compared to a $4.00 million reversal of provision in the first quarter of 2021. The current year provision is largely due to robust loan growth in the first quarter, principally led by commercial loan demand. The reversal of provision in the first quarter of 2021 was driven by a significantly improved economic outlook than in early 2020.Despite the significant increase in credit loss provision between the two periods, annualized first quarter return on average assets was 1.20% and return on average common equity was 8.98%.Net interest margin for the first quarter was 3.55%, which was a three basis point increase from 3.52% reported for the fourth quarter of 2021. The cost of interest-bearing deposits declined another three basis points to 0.10%.Salaries and employee benefits increased $787 thousand, or 7.23%, from last year. During the quarter, the Company implemented annualized wage increases of approximately $2.5 million as part of its ongoing strategic initiative to enhance Human Capital Management, which included an increased minimum wage. Balance Sheet and Asset Quality The Company’s loan portfolio increased by $78.73 million, or an annualized growth rate of 14.74%, during the fir...