By
January 31, 2013
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 31, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Beneficial Mutual Bancorp, Inc. ("Beneficial") (Nasdaq:BNCL), the parent company of Beneficial Bank (the "Bank"), today announced its financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31,
2012.
Beneficial recorded net income of $3.8 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2012 compared to net income of $5.9 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, recorded for the quarter ended December 31, 2011. Net income for the year ended December 31, 2012 totaled $14.2 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, compared to $11.0 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2011. Net income for the year ended December 31, 2012 included $2.2 million of merger and restructuring charges related to the acquisition of SE Financial Corp., the parent holding company of St. Edmond's Federal Savings Bank. Net income for the year ended December 31, 2011 included $5.1 million of restructuring charges related to the implementation of our expense management reduction program.
Credit costs have decreased during the quarter and year ended December 31, 2012 from the same periods in 2011 but continue to have a significant impact on our financial results. During the quarter and year ended December 31, 2012, the Bank recorded a provision for credit losses of $6.0 million and $28.0 million, respectively, compared to a provision of $8.5 million and
$37.5 million for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2011, respectively.
We continue to reduce our non-performing asset levels. At December 31, 2012 our non-performing assets were $104.2 million, representing a decrease of $19.2 million, or 15.6% from $123.4 million at September 30, 2012, and a $49.9 million decrease, or
32.4%, from $154.1 million at December 31, 2011. Excluding government guaranteed student loans of $24.0 million, non- performing assets were $80.2 million or 1.60% of total assets at December 31, 2012. We also have increased our reserves and at December 31, 2012, the allowance for loan losses totaled $57.6 million, or 2.36% of total loans, compared to $54.2 million, or
2.10% of total loans, at December 31, 2011. We expect that the provision for credit losses will remain elevated in 2013 as we continue to focus on reducing our non-performing loan levels.
Gerard Cuddy, Beneficial's President and CEO, stated, "During 2012 we made progress toward a number of our goals. We added resources to our credit team and were pleased by the improvement in our asset quality metrics as we experienced a
32.4% decrease in our non-performing assets at December 31, 2012 compared to a year ago. We also were able to continue
to grow our retail and business customer base and experienced strong deposit growth of 9.3% in 2012. We successfully closed and integrated the S.E Financial Corp. acquisition which increased our presence in our key markets. Capital, liquidity, and reserves remain strong and will position Beneficial for future growth.
"In 2012, earnings were challenged given the slow growing economy and the related lack of loan demand in our markets. The low interest rate environment also resulted in net interest margin compression for the quarter and we expect that the continued low interest rate environment will put pressure on net interest margin in future periods. As we look ahead to 2013, we are focused on increasing profitability, further reducing our non-performing asset levels, growing our commercial loan portfolio, pursuing acquisitions, controlling expenses and increasing our retail and commercial customer base. We remain committed to our customers by delivering an education-based experience through The Beneficial Conversation and have made it our mission to always help them do the right thing financially."
Highlights for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2012:
