C&F Financial Corporation — FY 2014 Form 10-K
Reporting period: Year ended December 31, 2014; this is an annual filing, not a standalone fourth-quarter report. C&F is a Virginia bank holding company operating retail banking, mortgage banking and non-prime auto finance. The comparison is affected by the October 2013 acquisition of Central Virginia Bankshares (CVBK), whose bank was merged into C&F Bank in March 2014.
Financial performance and condition
- Profit: Net income was $12.35 million, down 14.3% from $14.40 million in 2013. Diluted EPS was $3.59, versus $4.18. Return on average assets fell to 0.93% from 1.35%; return on average common equity fell to 10.34% from 13.39%.
- Revenue and margins: Interest income was $86.50 million and net interest income was $77.97 million, up from $80.21 million and $71.59 million, respectively. On a taxable-equivalent basis, net interest income was $80.29 million, while net interest margin narrowed to 6.55% from 7.44%. Noninterest income declined 11.9% to $19.57 million, mainly due to lower mortgage production and loan-sale gains.
- Credit costs: Provision for loan losses rose to $16.33 million from $15.09 million. Net charge-offs were $15.58 million, including $19.02 million of consumer-finance charge-offs, offset by $4.27 million of recoveries. The allowance for loan losses was $35.61 million; C&F Finance’s allowance was 8.50% of its loans.
- Segment results: Retail Banking net income increased to $5.58 million from $3.31 million; Mortgage Banking fell to $0.41 million from $1.95 million; Consumer Finance fell to $6.94 million from $10.54 million. Retail benefited partly from CVBK purchase-accounting accretion and improved asset quality. Mortgage originations declined to $478.6 million from $721.3 million; consumer finance earnings were pressured by lower yields and higher credit costs.
- Balance sheet and liquidity: Total assets were $1.333 billion, loans net of allowance $800.2 million, deposits $1.026 billion and shareholders’ equity $123.4 million at year-end. Liquid assets totaled $279.1 million. Reported available borrowing capacity was $281.4 million, against $127.5 million outstanding under listed funding sources.
- Debt and capital: Short- and long-term borrowings totaled $142.0 million, with an additional $25.1 million in trust preferred capital notes. Corporation capital ratios were 13.3% Tier 1 risk-based, 14.5% total risk-based and 9.2% Tier 1 leverage; the Bank was categorized as well capitalized. Basel III rules took effect January 1, 2015, with the capital conservation buffer phasing in through 2019.
- Cash flow: Operating activities provided $34.2 million; investing activities used $24.4 million; financing activities provided $9.7 million. Cash and cash equivalents increased $19.5 million to $167.6 million.
Changes, outlook and significant items
- Net income declined despite higher net interest income: lower mortgage revenue, weaker consumer-finance results and higher noninterest expenses outweighed retail banking improvement. Noninterest expenses rose 11.3% to $64.14 million, reflecting CVBK integration, additional staffing and technology costs, partly offset by lower OREO and mortgage production costs.
- Management expected 2015 earnings to face lower CVBK-related accretion, continued weak mortgage demand and potentially higher rates, and elevated consumer-finance charge-offs and competition. Retail loan growth and deployment of excess cash were also identified as important challenges. The filing provides no numerical earnings guidance.
- CVBK acquisition-related loan and deposit fair-value adjustments contributed $3.0 million of pretax net accretion in 2014. Management expects lower accretion income in 2015. Acquisition accounting also involved estimates of purchased credit-impaired loan cash flows; changes in estimates could affect provisions or future interest income.
- Key risks include commercial real estate and non-prime auto credit concentration, borrower and collateral deterioration, used-car resale values, interest-rate changes, mortgage repurchase/indemnification claims, regulatory costs, cybersecurity and third-party service risks. The mortgage indemnification reserve was $2.09 million; 2014 payments were $566,000. Ordinary-course litigation was not expected by management to have a material adverse effect.
- Management reported effective disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting; the auditor gave unqualified opinions on the financial statements and internal controls. The company repurchased its Treasury warrant for $2.3 million in May 2014 and thereby completed its exit from TARP. The board declared $1.19 per share in 2014 dividends.
Investor verification priorities
- Track consumer-finance delinquency, charge-off and recovery trends, allowance adequacy, underwriting competition and repossessed-vehicle values.
- Assess whether mortgage originations and gains recover, and whether the $2.09 million indemnification reserve adequately covers investor claims.
- Separate recurring earnings from CVBK purchase-accounting accretion and confirm the expected pace of its decline.
- Review net interest margin sensitivity, liquidity deployment, funding costs and compliance with Basel III capital requirements.
- Verify CVBK integration savings, ongoing integration costs and the quality and performance of acquired loans.