ROCKLAND, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ: INDB), parent of Rockland Trust Company, today announced 2015 first quarter net income of $9.5 million, or $0.38 per diluted share as compared to $16.0 million, or $0.66 per diluted share in the prior quarter. The decrease in the Company’s earnings was largely attributable to merger and acquisition costs of $6.3 million, net of tax, recognized during the first quarter, relating to the February 20, 2015 acquisition of Peoples Federal Bancshares, Inc. (“Peoples”). When excluding these expenses and other items that the Company considers to be non-core, net operating earnings for the first quarter were $15.8 million, or $0.63 per diluted share, versus the prior quarter’s net operating earnings of $16.6 million, or $0.69 per diluted share, representing decreases of 4.5% and 8.7%, respectively.

“During the first quarter of 2015 we welcomed Peoples customers to Rockland Trust in a seamless manner due to superb teamwork on the part of many of my colleagues,” said Christopher Oddleifson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Independent Bank Corp. and Rockland Trust Company. “Although the severe winter weather and competitive pressures made organic loan growth challenging, our asset quality remains pristine due to our credit underwriting discipline. Rockland Trust is stronger than ever and well positioned to take advantage of opportunities in Boston and the other markets we serve.”

PEOPLES ACQUISITION

The Peoples acquisition added eight full-service branches, $463.9 million in loans and $432.3 million in deposits, at fair value. Total consideration of $141.8 million was paid with stock and cash, with the Company issuing 2,052,137 shares of common stock and paying $55.4 million in cash, in the aggregate, to Peoples shareholders. The following table provides the purchase price allocation of net assets acquired for this transaction:

For further detail on the loans and deposits acquired, see the organic growth table provided in the financial schedules accompanying this release.

BALANCE SHEET

Total assets of $6.9 billion at March 31, 2015 increased by $546.2 million, or 8.6%, from the prior quarter and by $685.2 million, or 11.0%, as compared to the year ago period, inclusive of the acquisition of Peoples.

Inclusive of the Peoples acquisition, total loans at March 31, 2015 grew by $422.4 million, or 8.5% over the prior quarter and by $585.8 million, or 12.2% over the prior year period. On an organic basis, total loans declined slightly by $41.5 million, or 3.4% on an annualized basis in the first quarter. Growth in the commercial real estate, construction, and home equity portfolios was countered by declines in the commercial and industrial and residential loans portfolios as heightened competition and severe weather served to restrain loan closings and line utilization. Compared to a year ago, total loans grew organically by $121.9 million, or 2.5%.

Inclusive of the Peoples acquisition, total deposits at March 31, 2015 grew by $460.2 million, or 8.8% over the prior quarter and by $556.5 million, or 10.9% over the prior year period. On an organic basis, core deposits continued their steady growth with a rise of $47.0 million, or 4.2% on an annualized basis over the prior quarter and now represent 86.7% of total deposits. Total cost of deposits increased by one basis point as a result of the acquired deposit base, yet remained low at 0.21% for the quarter, reflecting the Company’s continued emphasis on lower cost funding. Compared to a year ago, total deposits grew organically by $124.2 million, or 2.4%.

The securities portfolio increased from the prior quarter to $782.3 million at March 31, 2015. The increase of $58.3 million was due primarily to the acquired Peoples portfolio of $43.6 million. The securities portfolio comprised 11.3% of total assets as of March 31, 2015.

Stockholders’ equity at March 31, 2015 rose to $732.9 million, an increase of 14.4% from the prior quarter, primarily as a result of the stock issued as consideration for the Peoples acquisition. Compared to the year ago period, stockholders’ equity has increased by $130.3 million, or 21.6%. The strong growth in capital led to an increase in the Company’s tangible book value per share, which increased by $0.64, or 3.3% during the first quarter, to $19.82. The Company’s tangible common ratio of 7.73% also reflected a strong increase from the prior quarter.

NET INTEREST INCOME

Net interest income increased to $51.2 million for the first quarter as compared to $49.8 million in the linked quarter, reflective of higher earning asset levels and a higher loan yield. During the first quarter, the Company’s net interest margin increased by eight basis points from the prior quarter to 3.50%, driven mainly by a four basis point accretion adjustment related to early payoffs on loans acquired along with lower liquid balances.

NONINTEREST INCOME

The Company recorded noninterest income of $16.6 million during the first quarter, which represents a $1.9 million, or 10.4%, decrease from the linked quarter. Significant changes in noninterest income in the first quarter compared to the prior quarter included the following:

• Deposit account fees and interchange and ATM fees decreased by $624,000, or 7.9%, mainly due to seasonal and weather related reductions in customer activity.
• Investment management income increased by $220,000, or 4.5%, and assets under administration increased by 3.4%.
• The income from the cash surrender value of life insurance policies decreased $133,000, or 14.6%, due to the timing of dividends received on certain policies which occurred during the prior quarter.
• Loan level derivative income declined $608,000 due to decreased volume.
• Other noninterest income decreased $893,000, or 32.4%, mainly due to capital gain distributions of $403,000 on the Company’s equity security portfolio during the fourth quarter of 2014 and an income decrease of $247,000 on a Community Reinvestment Act investment. Additionally, the Company recorded no gains on sale of fixed income securities during the quarter, as compared to $121,000 in the prior quarter.

NONINTEREST EXPENSE

Inclusive of merger and acquisition costs, the Company recorded noninterest expense of $55.0 million during the first quarter, a $10.6 million, or 23.9%, increase from the prior quarter. Significant changes in noninterest expense in the first quarter compared to the prior quarter included the following:

• Salaries and employee benefits increased $817,000, or 3.3%, due primarily to the addition of Peoples, as well as increases in equity compensation, medical insurance and a seasonal increase in payroll taxes. These increases were partially offset by decreases in performance based incentives and commissions.
• Occupancy and equipment expense increased $1.0 million, or 19.6%, mainly due to higher snow removal costs, as well as general expense increases due to the addition of Peoples facilities.
• The Company incurred $10.2 million in merger and acquisition costs related to the Peoples acquisition that closed on February 20, 2015.
• Other noninterest expenses decreased by $875,000, or 7.4%, as the Company experienced lower costs related to mortgage operations, loan workouts, debit cards, ATM expense, and other losses and charge-offs. These decreases were offset by an increase of $227,000 in advertising expenses due to the rollout of a spring marketing campaign.

The Company generated a return on average assets and a return on average common equity of 0.58% and 5.58%, respectively, in the first quarter, as compared to 0.99% and 9.93% in the prior quarter. On an operating basis, the return on average assets and the return on average common equity for the three months ended March 31, 2015 were 0.97% and 9.33%, respectively, as compared to 1.02% and 10.29%, respectively, for the prior quarter.

ASSET QUALITY

Asset quality metrics remained strong during the first quarter, due to the Company’s ongoing credit discipline and prudent resolution of problem loans. For the first quarter, total net charge-offs declined to $85,000, or 0.01% of average loans on an annualized basis, compared to 0.13% for the quarter ending December 31, 2014. The low charge-off levels were reflective of significant recoveries recognized by the Company during the first quarter. In light of the exceptionally low net charge-off level and an organic decline in the loan portfolio, application of current accounting guidelines resulted in a slight reduction in the allowance for loan losses in the first quarter and a corresponding negative provision for loan losses of $500,000 as compared to a provision of $1.8 million in the prior quarter. Nonperforming loans increased during the first quarter by $2.8 million to $30.3 million, and represent 0.56% of total loans at March 31, 2015, as compared to 0.55% of total loans at December 31, 2014. In addition, nonperforming assets were $40.3 million at the end of the first quarter, as compared to $38.9 million in the prior quarter. Delinquency as a percentage of loans was 0.53% at March 31, 2015, a decrease of twenty seven basis points from the prior quarter.

The allowance for loan losses was $54.5 million at March 31, 2015, as compared to $55.1 million at December 31, 2014. The Company’s allowance for loan losses as a percentage of loans was 1.01% and 1.11% at March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively. Loans acquired in connection with the Peoples acquisition have been recorded at fair value, including a reduction for estimated credit losses, and without carryover of the respective portfolio’s historical allowance for loan losses. Excluding these recently acquired loans at March 31, 2015, the allowance for loan losses would have been approximately 1.11% of total loans.

CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION

Christopher Oddleifson, Chief Executive Officer and Robert Cozzone, Chief Financial Officer will host a conference call to discuss first quarter earnings at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday, April 17, 2015. Internet access to the call is available on the Company’s website at www.rocklandtrust.com or via telephonic access by dial-in at 1-888-336-7153 reference: INDB. A replay of the call will be available by calling 1-877-344-7529. Replay Conference Number: 10062760 and will available through May 1, 2015. Additionally, a webcast replay will be available until April 17, 2016.

ABOUT INDEPENDENT BANK CORP.

Independent Bank Corp. has approximately $6.9 billion in assets and is the holding company for Rockland Trust Company, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Massachusetts. Rockland Trust offers a wide range of banking, investment, and insurance services to businesses and individuals through retail branches, commercial lending offices, investment management offices, and residential lending centers located in Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, as well as through telephone banking, mobile banking, and the Internet. Rockland Trust, which was named to Sandler 2014 Sm-All Stars list of top performing small-cap banks and thrifts in the country, is an FDIC Member and an Equal Housing Lender. To find out why Rockland Trust is the bank “Where Each Relationship Matters ®”, please visit www.rocklandtrust.com.

This press release contains certain “forward-looking statements” with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business of the Company.These statements may be identified by such forward-looking terminology as “expect,” “achieve,” “plan,” “believe,” “future,” “positioned,” “continued,” “will,” “would,” “potential,” or similar statements or variations of such terms.Actual results may differ from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements.

Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:

• a weakening in the United States economy in general and the regional and local economies within the New England region and the Company’s market area;
• adverse changes in the local real estate market;
• a further deterioration of the credit rating for U.S. long-term sovereign debt;
• acquisitions may not produce results at levels or within time frames originally anticipated and may result in unforeseen integration issues or impairment of goodwill and/or other intangibles;
• changes in, trade, monetary and fiscal policies and laws, including interest rate policies of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System;
• higher than expected tax rates and any changes in and any failure by the Company to comply with tax laws generally and requirements of the federal New Markets Tax Credit program;
• unexpected changes in market interest rates for interest earning assets and/or interest bearing liabilities;
• adverse changes in asset quality including an unanticipated credit deterioration in our loan portfolio;
• unexpected increased competition in the Company’s market area;
• unanticipated loan delinquencies, loss of collateral, decreased service revenues, and other potential negative effects on our business caused by severe weather or other external events;
• a deterioration in the conditions of the securities markets;
• our inability to adapt to changes in information technology;
• electronic fraudulent activity within the financial services industry, especially in the commercial banking sector;
• adverse changes in consumer spending and savings habits;
• the inability to realize expected revenue synergies from the Peoples Federal Bancshares merger in the amounts or in the timeframe anticipated;
• inability to retain customers and employees, including those of Peoples Federal Bancshares;
• the effect of new laws and regulations regarding the financial services industry including, but not limited to, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act;
• changes in laws and regulations (including laws and regulations concerning taxes, banking, securities and insurance) generally applicable to the Company’s business;
• changes in accounting policies, practices and standards, as may be adopted by the regulatory agencies as well as the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, and other accounting standard setters; and
• other unexpected material adverse changes in our operations or earnings.

This press release contains financial information determined by methods other than in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). This information includes operating earnings and operating EPS, return on average assets and return on average common equity calculated on an operating basis, and the allowance for loan losses excluding the loans acquired from Peoples. The non-GAAP financial measures, including operating earnings and operating EPS, exclude gain or loss due to items that management believes are unrelated to its core banking business and will not have a material financial impact on operating results in future periods, such as gains or losses on the sales of securities, merger and acquisition expenses, and other items. The Company’s management uses operating earnings and operating EPS to measure the strength of the Company’s core banking business and to identify trends that may to some extent be obscured by such excluded gains or losses. The Company has included information on these non-GAAP measures because management believes that investors may find it useful to have access to the same analytical tool used by management and may also find that it facilitates the comparison of the Company to other companies in the financial services industry. These non-GAAP measures should not be viewed as a substitute for operating results determined in accordance with GAAP. An item which management deems to be non-core and excludes when computing these non-GAAP measures can be of substantial importance to the Company’s results for any particular quarter or year. The Company’s non-GAAP performance measures, including operating earnings and operating EPS, are not necessarily comparable to non-GAAP performance measures which may be presented by other companies.