Northway Financial, Inc. Announces First Quarter Earnings

NORTH CONWAY, N.H., April 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Northway Financial, Inc. (the “Company”) ( NWYF), the parent company of Northway Bank (the “Bank”), today reported a net loss for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 of $1.4MM, or $(0.51) per basic common share.

William J. Woodward President and Chief Executive Officer stated, “Our first quarter 2020 results were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As we navigate through these unprecedented times, we are following the Center for Disease Control guidelines and have implemented several changes to the way we are operating as an essential business to protect both our employees and customers. Our focus has been on assisting those customers that have been negatively impacted by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. We enter this period of uncertainty in very good financial condition and are well positioned in credit quality, liquidity and capital.”

Financial Highlights

• Excluding unrealized losses on marketable equity securities pretax net income was $1.6MM at March 31, 2020. First quarter earnings reflect a decline in the stock market and equity values due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken to control its spread.
• Total assets were $897MM, total loans, net, were $630MM, and total deposits were $716MM at March 31, 2020.
• Loans, net, increased $2.5MM from December 31, 2019 and $1.3MM from March 31, 2019.
• Commercial Real Estate Loans increased $34MM, or 11%, compared to March 31, 2019.
• Residential Loan balances decreased $14MM, or 8%, compared to March 31, 2019 primarily due to sales of existing and newly originated loans.
• The net interest margin at March 31, 2020 was 3.43%, down slightly from 3.45% at March 31, 2019.
• The cost of interest-bearing liabilities was 0.62% at March 31, 2020, down from 0.82% at March 31, 2019.
• Regulatory capital ratios at March 31, 2020 were 11.13% Tier 1 Core Capital to Average Assets, 17.51% Total Risk-Based Capital, and 13.07% Common Equity Risk-Based Capital.
• Nonperforming loans as a percentage of total loans stood at 0.53% at March 31, 2020.
• The market price of our common stock, as of April 24, 2020, was $25.00, reflecting the downturn in the stock market.

About Northway Financial, Inc.

Northway Financial, Inc., headquartered in North Conway, New Hampshire, is a bank holding company. Through its subsidiary bank, Northway Bank, the Company offers a broad range of financial products and services to individuals, businesses and the public sector from its 16 full-service banking offices and its loan production offices located in Bedford and Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Forward-looking Statements

Statements included in this press release that are not historical or current fact are “forward-looking statements” made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical earnings and those presently anticipated or projected. Northway Financial, Inc. disclaims any obligation to subsequently revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements, or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances.