Univest Financial Corporation Reports Fourth Quarter 2024 Results

18.2% increase in earnings per share compared to fourth quarter 2023

SOUDERTON, Pa., Jan. 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Univest Financial Corporation ("Univest” or the "Corporation") (NASDAQ: UVSP), parent company of Univest Bank and Trust Co. (the "Bank") and its insurance, investments and equipment financing subsidiaries, announced net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 was $18.9 million, or $0.65 diluted earnings per share, compared to net income of $16.3 million, or $0.55 diluted earnings per share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2023.

Loans

Gross loans and leases increased $95.8 million, or 1.4% (5.6% annualized), from September 30, 2024, primarily due to increases in commercial real estate and residential mortgage loans, partially offset by decreases in construction and commercial loans. Gross loans and leases increased $259.4 million, or 3.9%, from December 31, 2023, primarily due to increases in commercial, commercial real estate and residential mortgage loans, partially offset by a decrease in construction loans.

Deposits and Liquidity

Total deposits decreased $94.9 million, or 1.4% (5.6% annualized), from September 30, 2024, primarily due to decreases in public funds and brokered deposits, partially offset by increases in commercial and consumer deposits. Total deposits increased $383.5 million, or 6.0%, from December 31, 2023, due to increases in consumer, commercial, brokered, and public funds deposits. Noninterest-bearing deposits totaled $1.4 billion and represented 20.9% of total deposits at December 31, 2024, compared to $1.3 billion representing 19.3% of total deposits at September 30, 2024. Unprotected deposits, which excludes insured, internal, and collateralized deposit accounts, totaled $1.5 billion at December 31, 2024 compared to $1.4 billion at September 30, 2024. This represented 22.0% of total deposits at December 31, 2024, compared to 20.3% at September 30, 2024.

As of December 31, 2024, the Corporation reported on balance sheet cash and cash equivalents totaling $328.8 million. The Corporation and its subsidiaries had committed borrowing capacity of $3.7 billion at December 31, 2024, of which $2.1 billion was available. The Corporation and its subsidiaries also maintained uncommitted funding sources from correspondent banks of $468.0 million at December 31, 2024. Future availability under these uncommitted funding sources is subject to the prerogatives of the granting banks and may be withdrawn at will.

Net Interest Income and Margin

Net interest income of $55.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2024 increased $2.7 million, or 5.1%, from the fourth quarter of 2023 and $2.3 million, or 4.3%, from the third quarter of 2024. The increase in net interest income for the three months ended December 31, 2024 compared to the same period in the prior year was due to higher average balances of interest-earning assets and increased yields on loans and leases, partially offset by higher average balances in interest-bearing liabilities and related costs. The increase in net interest income for the three months ended December 31, 2024 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2024 was due to higher average balances of interest-earning deposits with other banks and a reduction in the cost of interest-bearing liabilities, partially offset by an increase in the average balance of interest-bearing liabilities.

Net interest margin, on a tax-equivalent basis, was 2.88% for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to 2.82% for the third quarter of 2024 and 2.84% for the fourth quarter of 2023. Excess liquidity reduced net interest margin by approximately 14 basis points for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 compared to approximately nine basis points for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 and approximately ten basis points for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. Excluding the impact of excess liquidity, the net interest margin, on a tax-equivalent basis, would have been 3.02% for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2.91% for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 and 2.94% for the quarter ended December 31, 2023.

Noninterest Income

Noninterest income for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 was $21.3 million, an increase of $2.7 million, or 14.6%, from the comparable period in the prior year.

Investment advisory commission and fee income increased $896 thousand, or 19.6%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 compared to the comparable period in the prior year, primarily due to increased assets under management and supervision driven by new business and market appreciation.

Net gain on mortgage banking activities increased $511 thousand, or 63.2%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 compared to the comparable period in the prior year, primarily due to increased salable volume and favorable margins.

Other service fee income increased $506 thousand, or 17.1%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 compared to the comparable period in the prior year, primarily due to the reversal of a $785 thousand valuation allowance on mortgage servicing rights that was initially recorded in the third quarter of 2024. The reversal was driven by a decrease in prepayment speed assumptions as a result of the increase in interest rates during the quarter. Additionally, net servicing fees on sold mortgage loans decreased by $269 thousand, primarily attributable to the sale of mortgage servicing rights associated with $591.1 million of serviced loans in the first quarter of 2024 and increased amortization driven by prepayments.

Noninterest Expense

Noninterest expense for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 was $50.7 million, an increase of $1.6 million, or 3.3%, from the comparable period in the prior year.

Salaries, benefits and commissions increased $2.2 million, or 7.5%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 compared to the comparable period in the prior year, primarily due to an increase in incentive compensation due to increased profitability.

Deposit insurance premiums decreased $248 thousand, or 18.4%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 compared to the comparable period in the prior year, driven by an improvement in the financial ratios that contribute to our deposit insurance assessment rate.

Data processing decreased $298 thousand, or 6.7%, for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 compared to the comparable period in the prior year, primarily due to reduced costs for various long-term service agreements.

Tax Provision

The effective income tax rate was 20.3% for the quarters ended December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023. The effective tax rates for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 reflected the benefits of tax-exempt income from investments in municipal securities and loans and leases.

Asset Quality and Provision for Credit Losses

Nonperforming assets totaled $33.2 million at December 31, 2024, $36.6 million at September 30, 2024, and $40.1 million at December 31, 2023. During the quarter, two nonaccrual modified construction loans to one borrower totaling $2.2 million were paid-off.

Net loan and lease charge-offs were $767 thousand for the three months ended December 31, 2024 compared to $820 thousand and $1.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.

The provision for credit losses was $2.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024 compared to $1.4 million and $1.9 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. The allowance for credit losses on loans and leases as a percentage of loans and leases held for investment was 1.28% at December 31, 2024, September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023.

Dividend and Share Repurchases

On January 22, 2025, Univest declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.21 per share to be paid on February 19, 2025 to shareholders of record as of February 5, 2025. During the quarter ended December 31, 2024, the Corporation repurchased 139,492 shares of common stock at an average price of $29.64 per share. Including brokerage fees and excise tax, the average price per share was $29.97. During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Corporation repurchased 802,535 shares of common stock at an average price of $23.26 per share. Including brokerage fees and excise tax, the average price per share was $23.52. As of December 31, 2024, 1,400,154 shares are available for repurchase under the Share Repurchase Plan.

Conference Call

Univest will host a conference call to discuss fourth quarter 2024 results on Thursday, January 23, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. EST. Participants may preregister at https://www.netroadshow.com/events/login?show=36ba59ff&confId=76000. The general public can access the call by dialing 1-833-470-1428; using Access Code 072687. A replay of the conference call will be available through March 20, 2025 by dialing 1-866-813-9403; using Access Code 251906.

About Univest Financial Corporation

Univest Financial Corporation (UVSP), including its wholly-owned subsidiary Univest Bank and Trust Co., Member FDIC, has approximately $8.1 billion in assets and $5.2 billion in assets under management and supervision through its Wealth Management lines of business at December 31, 2024. Headquartered in Souderton, Pa. and founded in 1876, the Corporation and its subsidiaries provide a full range of financial solutions for individuals, businesses, municipalities and nonprofit organizations primarily in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Univest delivers these services through a network of more than 50 offices and online at www.univest.net.

This press release and the reports Univest files with the Securities and Exchange Commission often contain "forward-looking statements" relating to trends or factors affecting the financial services industry and, specifically, the financial condition and results of operations, business, prospects and strategies of Univest. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties in that there are a number of important factors that could cause Univest's future financial condition, results of operations, business, prospects or strategies to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: (1) competition and demand for financial services in our market area; (2) inflation and/or changes in interest rates, which may adversely impact our margins and yields, reduce the fair value of our financial instruments, reduce our loan originations and/or lead to higher operating costs and higher costs we pay to retain and attract deposits; (3) changes in asset quality, prepayment speeds, loan sale volumes, charge-offs and/or credit loss provisions; (4) changes in liquidity, including the size and composition of our deposit portfolio and the percentage of uninsured deposits in the portfolio; (5) our ability to access cost-effective funding; (6) changes in economic conditions nationally and in our market, including potential recessionary conditions and the levels of unemployment in our market area; (7) changes in the economic assumptions or methodology used to calculate our allowance for credit losses; (8) legislative, regulatory, accounting or tax changes; (9) monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. government, including the policies of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; (10) the imposition of tariffs or other domestic or international governmental policies impacting the value of the products of our borrowers; (11) technological issues that may adversely affect our operations or those of our customers; (12) a failure or breach in our operational or security systems or infrastructure, including cyberattacks; (13) changes in the securities markets; (14) the current or anticipated impact of military conflict, terrorism or other geopolitical events; (15) our ability to enter into new markets successfully and capitalize on growth opportunities and/or (16) risk factors mentioned in the reports and registration statements Univest files with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

(UVSP - ER)