ASHEVILLE, N.C., Jan. 29, 2019 — HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: HTBI) (“Company”), the holding company of HomeTrust Bank (“Bank”), today announced record net income and diluted earnings per share for the second quarter of fiscal 2019.

Highlights for the second quarter of fiscal 2019:

For the quarter ended December 31, 2018 compared to the corresponding quarter in the previous year:

• net income was $8.0 million, compared to a net loss of $10.7 million;
• diluted earnings per share (“EPS”) was $0.43, compared to a diluted loss per share of $0.59;
• return on assets (“ROA”) increased to 0.95% from (1.31)%;
• net interest income increased $1.7 million, or 6.9% to $27.1 million from $25.4 million;
• noninterest income increased $626,000, or 14.0% to $5.1 million from $4.5 million;
• organic net loan growth, which excludes purchases of home equity lines of credit, was $57.3 million, or 9.4% annualized compared to $23.6 million, or 4.2% annualized for the same quarter last year;
• first ever cash dividend of $0.06 per share totaling $1.1 million; and
• repurchased 431,855 shares of common stock at an average share price of $27.61.

Earnings for the three months ended December 31, 2017 included an approximately $17.7 million write-down of deferred tax assets as a result of the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) with no comparable charge in the same 2018 period.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2018 compared to the corresponding quarter in the previous year and before the write-down of deferred tax assets from the change in the federal tax rate (non-GAAP):

• net income increased 14.4% to $8.0 million from $7.0 million;
• diluted EPS increased 13.2% to $0.43 from $0.38; and
• ROA increased 10.5% to 0.95% from 0.86%.

“I am extremely proud of how hard our team members work to meet the needs of our customers and have produced consistently improving financial results for our shareholders,” said Dana Stonestreet, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer. “They achieved double digit percentage gains in non-GAAP net income, EPS, and ROA over the same quarter last year. Our new equipment finance line of business continues to gain momentum with $46.0 million in new originations for the quarter and $78.7 million year to date. Our continued improvements in financial performance resulted in our first cash dividend paid in December along with the adoption of a new stock repurchase program. The HomeTrust team is excited about all they will accomplish in the second half of fiscal 2019 to make it our best year ever,” stated Stonestreet.

Income Statement Review

Net interest income increased to $27.1 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2018 compared to $25.4 million for the comparative quarter in fiscal 2018. The $1.7 million or 6.9% increase was primarily due to a $5.4 million increase in interest and dividend income driven by an increase in average interest-earning assets, which was partially offset by a $3.7 million increase in interest expense. Average interest-earning assets increased $145.0 million, or 4.9% to $3.1 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2018 compared to $3.0 billion for the corresponding quarter in fiscal 2018. For the quarter ended December 31, 2018, the average balance of total loans receivable increased $204.1 million, or 8.5% primarily due to organic loan growth. The average balance of other interest-earning assets increased $32.7 million, or 13.5% primarily due to increases in commercial paper investments. These increases were mainly funded by the cumulative decrease of $91.8 million, or 28.1% in average interest-earning deposits in other banks and securities available for sale, and an increase in average interest-bearing deposits of $122.5 million, or 6.8% as compared to the same quarter last year. Net interest margin (on a fully taxable-equivalent basis) for the three months ended December 31, 2018 increased to 3.51% from 3.46% for the same period a year ago.

Total interest and dividend income increased $5.4 million, or 18.7% for the three months ended December 31, 2018 as compared to the same period last year, which was primarily driven by a $4.4 million, or 16.8% increase in loan interest income and a $663,000, or 50.9% increase in interest income from commercial paper and interest-bearing deposits in other banks. The additional loan interest income was driven by the increase in both the average balance of loans receivable and loan yields compared to the prior year quarter. Average loan yields increased 31 basis points to 4.72% for the quarter ended December 31, 2018 from 4.41% in the corresponding quarter from last year primarily due to the impact of the increases in the targeted federal funds rate over the past year. Partially offsetting the increase in loan interest income was a $96,000, or 10.4% decrease in the accretion of purchase discounts on acquired loans as a result of reduced prepayments as compared to the same quarter last year. For the quarters ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, average loan yields included 13 and 15 basis points, respectively, from the accretion of purchase discounts on acquired loans.

Total interest expense increased $3.7 million, or 101.7% for the quarter ended December 31, 2018 compared to the same period last year. The increase was primarily driven by a $2.1 million, or 134.1% increase in deposit interest expense and a $1.6 million, or 77.8% increase in interest expense on borrowings. The additional deposit interest expense was a result of our focus on increasing deposits as the average balance of interest-bearing deposits increased $122.5 million along with a 42 basis point increase in the average cost of interest-bearing deposits for the quarter ended December 31, 2018 compared to the same quarter last year. Average borrowings decreased $3.2 million or 0.5% for the quarter ended December 31, 2018 compared to the same period last year, however, interest expense from borrowings increased $1.6 million due to the 97 basis point increase in the average cost of borrowings between the periods. The overall average cost of funds increased 55 basis points to 1.13% for the current quarter compared to 0.58% in the same quarter last year due primarily to the impact of the previously mentioned interest rate increases on our interest-bearing liabilities.

Net interest income increased $3.3 million or 6.6% to $53.4 million for the six months ended December 31, 2018 compared to $50.1 million for the six months ended December 31, 2017. Average interest-earning assets increased $151.1 million, or 5.1% to $3.1 billion for the six months ended December 31, 2018 compared to $2.9 billion in the same period in 2017. The $200.4 million, or 8.4% increase in the average balance of loans receivable for the six months ended December 31, 2018 was due primarily to organic loan growth, which was mainly funded by the cumulative decrease of $97.0 million, or 28.7% in average interest-earning deposits in other banks and securities available for sale, and an increase in average interest-bearing deposits of $123.8 million, or 7.0%. Net interest margin (on a fully taxable-equivalent basis) for the six months ended December 31, 2018 increased three basis points to 3.48% from 3.45% for last year.

Total interest and dividend income increased $9.7 million, or 17.0% for the six months ended December 31, 2018 as compared to the same period last year. The increase was primarily driven by an $7.9 million, or 15.3% increase in loan interest income, a $1.4 million, or 54.7% increase in interest income from commercial paper and interest-bearing deposits in other banks, and a $596,000, or 47.4% increase in other investment income. The additional loan interest income was primarily due to the increase in the average balance of loans receivable, which was partially offset by a $500,000, or 29.5% decrease in the accretion of purchase discounts on acquired loans to $1.2 million for the six months ended December 31, 2018 from $1.7 million for the same period in fiscal 2018, as a result of reduced prepayments as compared to the same period last year. For the six months ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, average loan yields included nine and 15 basis points, respectively, from the accretion of purchase discounts on acquired loans.

Total interest expense increased $6.4 million, or 91.9% for the six months ended December 31, 2018 compared to the same period last year. This increase was primarily related to the increase in average interest-bearing deposits and the corresponding 34 basis point increase in the average cost of those deposits, resulting in additional deposit interest expense of $3.5 million for the six months ended December 31, 2018 as compared to the same period in the prior year. The average cost of borrowings increased 91 basis points, more than offsetting a $12.7 million decline in average borrowings resulting in an additional $2.9 million in interest expense from borrowings for the six months ended December 31, 2018 as compared to the same period in the prior year. The overall cost of funds increased 48 basis points to 1.04% for the six months ended December 31, 2018 compared to 0.56% in the corresponding period last year.

Noninterest income increased $626,000, or 14.0% to $5.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2018 from $4.5 million for the same period in the previous year. The leading factors of the increase included a $590,000, or 29.7% increase in service charges on deposit accounts as a result of an increase in deposit accounts and related fees; and an $156,000, or 26.3% increase in other noninterest income primarily related to operating lease income from the new equipment finance line of business. Partially offsetting these increases was a $220,000, decline in gains from the sale of loans for the three months ended December 31, 2018 compared to the same period last year primarily related to decreasing residential mortgage banking activity.

Noninterest income increased $2.0 million, or 22.7% to $10.7 million for the six months ended December 31, 2018 from $8.7 million for the same period in the previous year, primarily due to a $1.1 million, or 29.9% increase in service charges on deposit accounts; a $731,000, or 38.8% increase on gain on sale of loans primarily due to originations and sales of the guaranteed portion of U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) commercial loans; and a $244,000, or 20.6% increase in other noninterest income. Partially offsetting these increases was a $164,000 decline in gains from the sale of premises and equipment for the six months ended December 31, 2018 compared to the same period last year as there were no sales occurring during the current period.

Noninterest expense for the three months ended December 31, 2018 increased $881,000, or 4.2% to $21.9 million compared to $21.0 million for the three months ended December 31, 2017. The increase was primarily due to a $884,000, or 7.4% increase in salaries and employee benefits; a $300,000, or 18.8% increase in computer services; a $83,000, or 26.0% increase in marketing and advertising, and a $78,000, or 3.2% increase in net occupancy expense, mainly driven by the expansion of our SBA and equipment finance lines of business. Partially offsetting these increases was the cumulative decrease of $464,000 or 10.1% in telephone, postage, and supplies expense; deposit insurance premiums, real estate owned (“REO”) related expenses; core deposit intangibles amortization; and other expenses for the three months ended December 31, 2018 compared to the same period last year.

Noninterest expense for the six months ended December 31, 2018 increased $1.9 million, or 4.5% to $43.7 million compared to $41.9 million for the six months ended December 31, 2017. The increase was primarily due to a $1.2 million, or 5.0% increase in salaries and employee benefits; a $604,000, or 19.2% increase in computer services; a $198,000, or 49.0% increase in REO related expenses; and a cumulative increase of $202,000, or 2.9% in net occupancy, marketing and advertising, and telephone, postage, and supplies expense. Partially offsetting these increases was a $309,000, or 22.1% decrease in core deposit intangible amortization and a $194,000, or 23.3% decrease in deposit insurance premiums for the six months ended December 31, 2018 compared to the same period last year.

For the three months ended December 31, 2018, the Company’s income tax expense was $2.3 million compared to $19.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2017. The Company’s federal income tax provision for the three months ended December 31, 2018 benefited from the impact of the Tax Act that lowered the corporate federal income tax rate from 34% to 21%. In the fourth quarter of 2017, following a revaluation of net deferred tax assets due to the Tax Act, the Company recorded additional income tax expense of $17.7 million.

For the six months ended December 31, 2018, the Company’s income tax expense was $4.5 million compared to $22.0 million for the corresponding period last year. The Company’s corporate federal income tax rate for the six months ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 was 21% and 27.5%, respectively.

Balance Sheet Review

Total assets increased $108.9 million, or 3.3% to $3.4 billion at December 31, 2018 from $3.3 billion at June 30, 2018. Total liabilities increased $107.2 million, or 3.7% to $3.0 billion at December 31, 2018 from $2.9 billion at June 30, 2018. Deposit growth of $61.8 million, or 2.8%; a $53.0 million, or 8.3% increase in borrowings; and the cumulative decrease of $20.2 million, or 9.1% in certificates of deposit in other banks and investment securities were used to fund the $106.4 million, or 4.2% increase in total loans receivable, net of deferred loan fees, the $10.2 million, or 4.5% increase in commercial paper, the $7.2 million, or 123.0% increase in loans held for sale, and the $2.9 million, or 7.0% increase in other investments, net during the first six months of fiscal 2019. The increase in net loans receivable from June 30, 2018, was primarily driven by organic net loan growth of $134.1 million, or 11.1% annualized. The $75.8 million, or 51.0% increase in commercial and industrial loans was driven by our new equipment finance line of business. In addition, commercial real estate loans increased during the six months ended December 31, 2018, by $47.0 million or 5.5%. The increase in loans held for sale was due primarily to SBA loans originated during the period.

Stockholders’ equity at December 31, 2018 increased $1.7 million, or 0.4% to $411.0 million from $409.2 million at June 30, 2018. The increase was due to $15.8 million in net income, $1.5 million in stock-based compensation, and a $576,000 increase in other comprehensive income representing a reduction in unrealized losses on investment securities, net of tax, partially offset by 560,155 shares of common stock repurchased at an average cost of $27.49, or approximately $15.6 million in total, and $1.1 million related to our first cash dividend. As of December 31, 2018, HomeTrust Bank was considered “well capitalized” in accordance with its regulatory capital guidelines and exceeded all regulatory capital requirements with Common Equity Tier 1, Tier 1 Risk-Based, Total Risk-Based, and Tier 1 Leverage capital ratios of 11.86%, 11.86%, 12.58%, and 10.68%, respectively.  In addition, the Company exceeded all regulatory capital requirements as of that date.

Asset Quality

The allowance for loan losses was $21.4 million, or 0.81% of total loans, at December 31, 2018 compared to $21.1 million, or 0.83% of total loans, at June 30, 2018. The allowance for loan losses to total gross loans excluding acquired loans was 0.89% at December 31, 2018, compared to 0.91% at June 30, 2018.

There was no provision for losses on loans for the six months ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 reflecting the decline in nonaccruing loans and net loan recoveries offset by loan growth. Net loan recoveries totaled $359,000 for the six months ended December 31, 2018, compared to net loan charge-offs of $61,000 for the same period in fiscal 2018. Net recoveries as a percentage of average loans increased to (0.03%) for the six months ended December 31, 2018 from net charge-offs of 0.01% for the same period last year.

Nonperforming assets decreased $2.0 million, or 13.5% to $12.6 million, or 0.37% of total assets, at December 31, 2018 compared to $14.6 million, or 0.44% of total assets at June 30, 2018. Nonperforming assets included $9.6 million in nonaccruing loans and $3.0 million in REO at December 31, 2018, compared to $10.9 million and $3.7 million, in nonaccruing loans and REO, respectively, at June 30, 2018. Included in nonperforming loans are $3.9 million of loans restructured from their original terms of which $2.2 million were current at December 31, 2018, with respect to their modified payment terms. At December 31, 2018, $5.8 million, or 60.0% of nonaccruing loans were current on their required loan payments. Purchased impaired loans aggregating $2.1 million obtained through prior acquisitions are excluded from nonaccruing loans due to the accretion of discounts established in accordance with the acquisition method of accounting for business combinations. Nonperforming loans to total loans was 0.37% at December 31, 2018 compared to 0.43% at June 30, 2018.

The ratio of classified assets to total assets decreased slightly to 0.97% at December 31, 2018 from 1.00% at June 30, 2018. Classified assets remained consistent at $33.2 million at December 31, 2018 compared to $33.1 million at June 30, 2018. Our overall asset quality metrics continue to demonstrate our commitment to growing and maintaining a loan portfolio with a moderate risk profile.

About HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc.

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. is the holding company for HomeTrust Bank. As of December 31, 2018, the Company had assets of $3.4 billion. The Bank, founded in 1926, is a North Carolina state chartered, community-focused financial institution committed to providing value added relationship banking through 43 locations as well as online/mobile channels. Locations include: North Carolina (including the Asheville metropolitan area, the “Piedmont” region, Charlotte, and Raleigh/Cary), Upstate South Carolina (Greenville), East Tennessee (including Kingsport/Johnson City/Bristol, Knoxville, and Morristown) and Southwest Virginia (including the Roanoke Valley). The Bank is the 2nd largest community bank headquartered in North Carolina.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements often include words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” and “intend” or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” or “may.” Forward-looking statements are not historical facts but instead represent management’s current expectations and forecasts regarding future events, many of which are inherently uncertain and outside of our control. Actual results may differ, possibly materially, from those currently expected or projected in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, include expected cost savings, synergies and other financial benefits from our acquisitions  might not be realized within the expected time frames or at all, and costs or difficulties relating to integration matters might be greater than expected; increased competitive pressures; changes in the interest rate environment; changes in general economic conditions and conditions within the securities markets; legislative and regulatory changes; and other factors described in HomeTrust’s latest annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission – which are available on our website at htb.com  and on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Any of the forward-looking statements that we make in this press release or the documents we file with or furnish to the SEC are based upon management’s beliefs and assumptions at the time they are made and may turn out to be wrong because of inaccurate assumptions we might make, because of the factors described above or because of other factors that we cannot foresee. We do not undertake and specifically disclaim any obligation to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements. These risks could cause our actual results for fiscal 2019 and beyond to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements by, or on behalf of, us and could negatively affect our operating and stock performance.

WEBSITE: WWW.HOMETRUSTBANCSHARES.COM

Contact:
Dana L. Stonestreet – Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Tony J. VunCannon – Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Secretary and Treasurer
828-259-3939