Business
Lakeland Financial Reports Record Annual Performance
Year-to-Date Record Net Income Improves by 13% to $95.7 Million WARSAW, Ind., Jan. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lakeland Financial Corporation (Nasdaq Global
About this update from Lakeland Financial Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"Year-to-Date Record Net Income Improves by 13% to $95.7 Million\nWARSAW, Ind., Jan. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lakeland Financial Corporation (Nasdaq Global Select/LKFN), parent company of Lake City Bank, today reported record full year net income of $95.7 million, which represents an increase of $11.4 million, or 13.5%, compared with net income of $84.3 million for 2020. Diluted earnings per share of $3.74 was also a record for 2021, which increased 13.3% compared to $3.30 for 2020. Net income for 2021 benefited from growth in net interest income and lower provision expense as compared to 2020, offset by an increase in noninterest expense. The company further reported quarterly net income of $24.3 million for the three months ended December 31, 2021 versus $24.6 million for the comparable period of 2020, a decrease of 1.3%. Diluted net income per common share decreased 2.1% to $0.95 for the three months ended December 31, 2021 versus $0.97 for the comparable period of 2020. On a linked quarter basis, net income increased $164,000, or 0.7%, from the third quarter of 2021, of $24.1 million, or $0.94 diluted earnings per share. Pretax pre-provision earnings were $29.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2021, a decrease of 5.7%, or $1.8 million, from $31.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2020. On a linked quarter basis, pretax pre-provision earnings decreased 3.6%, or $1.1 million, from $30.9 million for the third quarter of 2021. The decreases in net income and pretax pre-provision earnings were driven primarily by lower Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan income in the fourth quarter of 2021. PPP loan income, which includes both interest income and fee accretion, was $2.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to $6.5 million during the comparable quarter of 2020 and $3.9 million for the third quarter of 2021. “We enter 2022 with great optimism and confidence in the core relationship businesses within Lake City Bank. During the last two years, we have experienced unprecedented growth that has challenged our management of the balance sheet and necessitated a level of flexibility and adaptability by the entire Lake City Bank team. We end 2021 strongly with record net income and a balance sheet ready for future growth. Our highly asset sensitive balance sheet is well-positioned for the interest rate hikes we expect to...