West Bancorporation, Inc. Announces Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results and Declares Quarterly Dividend

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa, July 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- West Bancorporation, Inc. (Nasdaq: WTBA; the “Company”), parent company of West Bank, today reported second quarter 2025 net income of $8.0 million, or $0.47 per diluted common share, compared to first quarter 2025 net income of $7.8 million, or $0.46 per diluted common share, and second quarter 2024 net income of $5.2 million, or $0.31 per diluted common share. For the first six months of 2025, net income was $15.8 million, or $0.93 per diluted common share, compared to $11.0 million, or $0.65 per diluted common share, for the first six months of 2024. On July 23, 2025, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.25 per common share. The dividend is payable on August 20, 2025, to stockholders of record on August 6, 2025.

David Nelson, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, “We had a solid second quarter and have significantly improved year-to-date net interest income, net interest margin and efficiency ratio compared to the first six months of 2024. We believe that we are well positioned for continued improvement in earnings through asset repricing while controlling funding costs and maintaining our pristine credit quality.”

David Nelson added, “Our best-in-class credit quality metrics continue to be extremely strong. We had no loans on nonaccrual status and no loans past due greater than 90 days at June 30, 2025. Loan balances have been relatively flat this year as loan production has been offset by payoffs resulting from customers selling business assets and refinancing commercial real estate in the secondary market. We continue to identify high-quality opportunities for growing our core customer base in all of our markets.”

Second Quarter 2025 Financial Highlights

Second Quarter 2025 Compared to First Quarter 2025 Overview

• Loans decreased $50.1 million in the second quarter of 2025, primarily due to a decrease in commercial loans and commercial real estate loans, partially offset by an increase in construction loans. The decrease in loan balances in the second quarter of 2025 was primarily due to payoffs resulting from customers selling business assets and refinancing commercial real estate in the secondary market, along with a slight reduction in the utilization of lines of credit within the commercial loans segment.

• No credit loss expense on loans was recorded in either the second or first quarter of 2025.

• The allowance for credit losses to total loans was 1.03 percent at June 30, 2025, compared to 1.01 percent at March 31, 2025. There were no nonaccrual loans at June 30, 2025, compared to one nonaccrual loan with a balance of $181 thousand at March 31, 2025.

• Deposits increased $67.5 million, or 2.0 percent, in the second quarter of 2025. Brokered deposits totaled $208.3 million at June 30, 2025, compared to $335.5 million at March 31, 2025, a decrease of $127.2 million. Excluding brokered deposits, deposits increased $194.7 million, or 6.5 percent, during the second quarter of 2025. In the second quarter of 2025, a local municipal customer deposited approximately $243.0 million of bond proceeds that are expected to be withdrawn over 24 months. As of June 30, 2025, estimated uninsured deposits, which exclude deposits in a reciprocal deposit network, brokered deposits and public funds protected by state programs, accounted for approximately 27.2 percent of total deposits.

• Net interest margin, on a fully tax-equivalent basis (a non-GAAP measure), was 2.27 percent for the second quarter of 2025, compared to 2.28 percent for the first quarter of 2025. Net interest income for the second quarter of 2025 was $21.4 million, compared to $20.9 million for the first quarter of 2025. The increase in net interest income was primarily due to an increase in interest income on deposits with banks due to the increase in the average balance of interest-earning deposits with banks.

• The efficiency ratio (a non-GAAP measure) was 56.45 percent for the second quarter of 2025, compared to 56.37 percent for the first quarter of 2025.

• The tangible common equity ratio was 5.94 percent as of June 30, 2025, compared to 5.97 percent as of March 31, 2025.

Second Quarter 2025 Compared to Second Quarter 2024 Overview

• Loans decreased $32.4 million at June 30, 2025, or 1.1 percent, compared to June 30, 2024. The decrease was primarily due to the decreases in commercial loans and construction loans, partially offset by an increase in commercial real estate loans. The decrease in commercial loan balances at June 30, 2025 compared to June 30, 2024 was primarily due to a reduction in the utilization of lines of credit.

• Deposits increased $211.1 million, or 6.6 percent, at June 30, 2025, compared to June 30, 2024. Included in deposits were brokered deposits totaling $208.3 million at June 30, 2025, compared to $370.3 million at June 30, 2024. Excluding brokered deposits, deposits increased $373.1 million, or 13.3 percent, as of June 30, 2025, compared to June 30, 2024. In the second quarter of 2025, a local municipal customer deposited approximately $243.0 million of bond proceeds that are expected to be withdrawn over 24 months.

• Borrowed funds decreased to $390.3 million at June 30, 2025, compared to $525.5 million at June 30, 2024. The decrease was primarily attributable to a decrease of $85.5 million in federal funds purchased and other short-term borrowings and a decrease of $45.0 million in Federal Home Loan Bank advances. The decrease in borrowed funds balances resulted primarily from the increase in deposits since June 30, 2024.

• Net interest margin, on a fully tax-equivalent basis (a non-GAAP measure), was 2.27 percent for the second quarter of 2025, compared to 1.86 percent for the second quarter of 2024. Net interest income for the second quarter of 2025 was $21.4 million, compared to $17.2 million for the second quarter of 2024. The increase in net interest margin and net interest income was primarily due to the decrease in interest expense on deposits and borrowed funds. The cost of deposits and cost of borrowed funds decreased by 51 and 46 basis points, respectively, in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the second quarter of 2024. Also contributing to the improvement was an increase in average deposit balances of $248.4 million, in comparing the same time periods, which resulted in the reduction of higher-cost borrowed funds and an increase in interest-earning deposits with banks.
  

• The efficiency ratio (a non-GAAP measure) was 56.45 percent for the second quarter of 2025, compared to 67.14 percent for the second quarter of 2024. The improvement in the efficiency ratio in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the second quarter of 2024 was primarily due to the increase in net interest income, partially offset by an increase in noninterest expense.

• The tangible common equity ratio was 5.94 percent as of June 30, 2025, compared to 5.65 percent as of June 30, 2024. The increase in the tangible common equity ratio was due to retained net income and the decrease in accumulated other comprehensive loss.
  

The Company filed its report on Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission today. Please refer to that document for a more in-depth discussion of the Company’s financial results. The Form 10-Q is available on the Investor Relations section of West Bank’s website at www.westbankstrong.com.

The Company will discuss its results in a conference call scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Central Time on Thursday, July 24, 2025. The telephone number for the conference call is 800-715-9871. The conference ID for the conference call is 7846129. A recording of the call will be available until August 7, 2025, by dialing 800-770-2030. The conference ID for the replay call is 7846129, followed by the # key.

About West Bancorporation, Inc. (Nasdaq: WTBA)

West Bancorporation, Inc. is headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa. Serving customers since 1893, West Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of West Bancorporation, Inc., is a community bank that focuses on lending, deposit services, and trust services for small- to medium-sized businesses and consumers. West Bank has six offices in the Des Moines, Iowa metropolitan area, one office in Coralville, Iowa, and four offices in Minnesota in the cities of Rochester, Owatonna, Mankato and St. Cloud.

Certain statements in this report, other than purely historical information, including estimates, projections, statements relating to the Company’s business plans, objectives and expected operating results, and the assumptions upon which those statements are based, are “forward-looking statements” within the meanings of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements may appear throughout this report. These forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words “believes,” “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “future,” “confident,” “may,” “should,” “will,” “strategy,” “plan,” “opportunity,” “will be,” “will likely result,” “will continue” or similar references, or references to estimates, predictions or future events. Such forward-looking statements are based upon certain underlying assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Because of the possibility that the underlying assumptions are incorrect or do not materialize as expected in the future, actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements.  Risks and uncertainties that may affect future results include: interest rate risk, including the effects of changes in interest rates; fluctuations in the values of the securities held in our investment portfolio, including as a result of changes in interest rates; competitive pressures, including from non-bank competitors such as credit unions, “fintech” companies and digital asset service providers; technological changes implemented by us and other parties, including third-party vendors, which may be more difficult to implement or more expensive than anticipated or which may have unforeseen consequences to us and our customers, including the development and implementation of tools incorporating artificial intelligence; pricing pressures on loans and deposits; our ability to successfully manage liquidity risk; changes in credit and other risks posed by the Company’s loan portfolio, including declines in commercial or residential real estate values or changes in the allowance for credit losses dictated by new market conditions, accounting standards or regulatory requirements; the concentration of large deposits from certain clients, including those who have balances above current FDIC insurance limits; the threat or imposition of domestic or foreign tariffs or other governmental policies impacting the global supply chain and the value of products produced by our commercial borrowers; changes in local, national and international economic conditions, including the level and impact of inflation, and future monetary policies of the Federal Reserve in response thereto, and possible recession; the impact of bank failures or adverse developments at other banks and related negative publicity about the banking industry in general on investor and depositor sentiment regarding the stability and liquidity of banks; changes in legal and regulatory requirements, limitations and costs; changes in customers’ acceptance of the Company’s products and services; the occurrence of fraudulent activity, breaches or failures of our or our third-party partners’ information security controls or cyber-security related incidents, including as a result of sophisticated attacks using artificial intelligence and similar tools; unexpected outcomes of existing or new litigation involving the Company; the monetary, trade and other regulatory policies of the U.S. government; acts of war or terrorism, including the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, widespread disease or pandemics, or other adverse external events; risks related to climate change and the negative impact it may have on our customers and their businesses; changes to U.S. tax laws, regulations and guidance; potential changes in federal policy and at regulatory agencies as a result of the 2024 presidential election; new or revised accounting policies and practices, as may be adopted by state and federal regulatory agencies, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board; talent and labor shortages and employee turnover; and any other risks described in the “Risk Factors” sections of reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update such forward-looking statements to reflect current or future events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.