Local Bank Reports Year-End Results, Announces Dividend

Last week Prime Meridian Holding Company, the parent bank holding company for Prime Meridian Bank, announced financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2015.

The Company reported net earnings of $501,000, or $0.26 per basic and diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, compared to net earnings of $545,000 or $0.30 per basic and diluted share, for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2014.

For the year ended December 31, 2015, the Company reported net earnings of $1.7 million, or $0.88 per basic and $0.87 per diluted share compared to net earnings of $1.0 million, or $0.59 per basic and $0.58 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2014.

The Company also announced today that its Board of Directors has declared the Company’s first annual cash dividend of $0.05 per share on its common stock. This dividend is payable on March 8, 2016 to shareholders of record on February 18, 2016.

“Our team’s efforts to consistently provide outstanding service to our clients – and to do so in an efficient manner – has resulted in steady positive growth in key areas of the Bank,” said Sammie D. Dixon, Jr., CEO and President. “The numbers tell the story: The strong growth in both our commercial lending and mortgage business, coupled with strong deposit growth fueled, in part, by our first venture into a new market, Crawfordville, Florida, demonstrate our team is getting it done.”

Also integral to the Company’s success, according to Dixon, is the Bank’s ability to maintain strong asset quality – a function of solid underwriting procedures. “Doing so has positioned us with one of the lowest percentages of nonperforming assets (NPAs) among our regional peers,” he said.

Highlights

· Net interest income grew 11.0% and 15.0% for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2015, respectively, as compared to the same periods in 2014. The increase in both periods was due to higher average loan balances in 2015.

· Total assets increased 16.0% during 2015 to $244.0 million.

· The Company grew its net loan portfolio year over year 23.2%, or $35.2 million, to $187.1 million.

· Mortgage banking revenue increased 76.7% to $546,000 in 2015 and continues to represent a growing and profitable source of income for the Company.

· For the year ended December 31, 2015, the Return on Average Assets was 0.74%, the Return on Average Equity was 7.15%, and the net interest margin was 3.87%.

· During the third quarter of 2015, the Company opened a third full-service office located in Crawfordville, Florida and by December 31, 2015, had collected nearly $15 million in new deposits from this location.

Headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida, Prime Meridian Holding Company offers a broad range of banking services through its wholly owned subsidiary, Prime Meridian Bank, a Florida state- chartered non-member bank. Founded in 2008, the Bank serves its primary market of the Tallahassee Metropolitan Statistical Area, but also serves clients in the North Florida and South Georgia markets. The Bank currently has three office locations, two in Tallahassee, and a third branch in Crawfordville, Florida. As of December 31, 2015, the consolidated Company had 56 full-time equivalent employees.

  Prime meridian