Business
Lakeland Financial Reports First Quarter 2020 Performance and Management of COVID-19
WARSAW, Ind., April 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lakeland Financial Corporation (Nasdaq Global Select/LKFN), parent company of Lake City Bank, today reported
About this update from Lakeland Financial Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"WARSAW, Ind., April 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lakeland Financial Corporation (Nasdaq Global Select/LKFN), parent company of Lake City Bank, today reported quarterly net income of $17.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020, a decrease of 20% versus $21.7 million for the first quarter of 2019. Diluted earnings per share also decreased 20% to $0.67 for the first quarter of 2020, versus $0.84 for the first quarter of 2019. On a linked quarter basis, net income decreased $4.9 million, or 22% from the fourth quarter of 2019, which resulted in net income of $22.2 million and $0.86 diluted earnings per share. Pretax pre-provision earnings were $27.5 million for the first quarter of 2020, an increase of 1% or $281,000 as compared to the first quarter of 2019. On a linked quarter basis, pretax pre-provision earnings were down 1% from $27.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2019.\n David M. Findlay, President and Chief Executive Officer stated, “The Lake City Bank team has done an exceptional job managing through an intensely challenging period for our company, our clients and our communities. We entered 2020 with an optimistic outlook for the future and with strong momentum in all of our business units. Notwithstanding the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are proud of both our results for the first quarter and our team’s reaction to the crisis. In spite of the surreal business environment we are operating in today, we will emerge from this stronger and with an intense focus on the future.” Findlay continued, “Our core operating performance was strong as we moved into March. Our net interest margin was improving versus the linked fourth quarter and we were experiencing healthy growth in core commercial and retail deposits as well as strong loan growth to kick off the year. As March evolved, the challenging environment created by the COVID-19 pandemic affected our borrowers and our regional economy. In addition, the resulting interest rate actions by the Federal Reserve Bank quickly influenced our net interest margin. As a result of the Federal Reserve Bank’s rate actions, we took very aggressive steps to manage net interest margin going forward.” Financial Performance – First Quarter 2020 First Quarter 2020 versus First Quarter 2019 highlights: Return on average assets of 1.40%, compared to 1.80%Return on a...