TOMS RIVER, N.J., April 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Shore Community Bank (SHRC) today reported net income of $826,817 or 26 cents per diluted share for the three months ended March 31, 2019, compared to net income of $838,339 or 27 cents per diluted share reported for the first quarter of 2018.
The Board of Directors also announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.075 per share. The dividend will be paid on May 17, 2019 to all shareholders of record on May 7, 2019.
Commenting on the results, Robert T. English, President and Chief Executive Officer stated, "We are pleased with the first quarter earnings performance as we exceeded our internal forecast by 1 cent per share and if not for the New Jersey Business Tax rate increase to 11.50% from 9.00%, enacted in July 2018, earnings would have equaled last year's first quarter of 27 cents per diluted share." Mr. English further stated, "A return on average assets of 1.25% this quarter is outstanding for a bank of our asset size."
Total assets at March 31, 2019 were $273.9 million compared to $267.5 million at December 31, 2018. Total loans increased $1.0 million and stood at $211.7 million compared to $210.7 million at December 31, 2018 while total deposits increased $4.9 million to $240.3 million at March 31, 2019 compared to $235.4 million at December 31, 2018.
The provision for loan losses totaled $30,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2019, compared to $20,000 in the first quarter of 2018. Net loan recoveries in the first quarter 2019 totaled $6,689 compared to net recoveries of $25,969 recorded in the first quarter of 2018.
Non-performing assets totaled $3.0 million at March 31, 2019 and included $2.0 million of non-performing loans and $1.0 million of other real estate owned (OREO), unchanged from year end 2018.
The allowance for loan losses, as a percentage of period end loans, was 1.22 percent at March 31, 2019 compared to 1.21 percent at December 31, 2018.
Book value per share at March 31, 2019 was $10.19 compared to $9.97 at December 31, 2018 based on 3.1 million shares outstanding in each period.
Shore Community Bank is traded on the OTCPK under the symbol "SHRC".
Shore Community Bank operates five banking offices located in Toms River, Jackson and Manahawkin, New Jersey. The Bank was founded in 1997 by a group of local business leaders with the objective of returning community-based banking to the Toms River, Ocean County, New Jersey area.
Information in this release relating to Shore Community Bank's future prospects which are forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including, but not limited to, the following: (1) operating, legal and regulatory risks, such as continued levels of loan quality and origination volume, continued relationships with major customers and technological changes; (2) economic, political and competitive forces affecting our banking business, such as changes in economic conditions, especially in our market area, interest rate fluctuations, competitive product and pricing pressures within our market, personal and corporate bankruptcies, monetary policy and inflation; (3) our ability to grow internally or through acquisitions; and (4) the risk that management's analyses of these risks and forces could be incorrect and/or that the strategies developed to address them could be unsuccessful. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "forecast," "intend," "will," "may" or other similar words and expressions. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Shore Community Bank assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking information in this announcement, except as required under applicable law.
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