Business
Investar Holding Corporation Announces 2021 Fourth Quarter Results
BATON ROUGE, LA / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / Investar Holding Corporation ("Investar") (NASDAQ:ISTR), the holding company for Investar Bank, National
About this update from Investar Holding Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"BATON ROUGE, LA / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / Investar Holding Corporation (\"Investar\") (NASDAQ:ISTR), the holding company for Investar Bank, National Association (the \"Bank\"), today announced financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2021. Investar reported net income of $6.9 million, or $0.67 per diluted common share, for the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to a net loss of $10.0 million, or $0.95 per diluted common share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2021, and net income of $4.5 million, or $0.42 per diluted common share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2020.On a non-GAAP basis, core earnings (loss) per diluted common share for the fourth quarter of 2021 were $0.56 compared to ($1.06) for the third quarter of 2021 and $0.39 for the fourth quarter of 2020. Core earnings (loss) exclude certain non-operating items including, but not limited to, gain on sale of investment securities, change in the fair value of equity securities, and acquisition expense (refer to the Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures tables for a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP metrics).Investar Holding Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer John D'Angelo said:\"Despite the lingering effects of the pandemic and the impacts of Hurricane Ida on some of our market areas in the third quarter, Investar had a strong finish to 2021, and we are optimistic about the future. We recorded record net income of $6.9 million in the fourth quarter, and continued to see our net interest margin improve as we experienced a further reduction in our cost of deposits and utilized some of our excess liquidity to invest in securities. While the balance of our PPP loans continues to decline, we had organic loan growth of $9.9 million, or 0.5%, during the fourth quarter. We expect loan demand to continue to improve throughout 2022 and anticipate 5% loan growth for the year.We remain focused on improving our core metrics. We closed an additional branch, located in our Texas market, in the fourth quarter, and are continually evaluating opportunities to improve our branch network efficiency and further reduce costs. While challenges remain, we are identifying opportunities and executing strategies we believe are sustainable and add long-term value for our shareholders.\"Fourth Quarter HighlightsCost of deposits decreased 13 basis points...