ALPENA, Mich., July 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- First Federal of Northern Michigan Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: FFNM) (the "Company") reported consolidated net earnings of $263,000, or $0.09 per basic and diluted share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2011 compared to consolidated net earnings of $319,000, or $0.11 per basic and diluted share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2010.

Consolidated net income for the six months ended June 30, 2011 was $423,000, or $0.15 per basic and diluted share, compared to $522,000, or $0.18 per basic and diluted share for the six months ended June 30, 2010.

Listed below are a few key points relative to the Company's results for the quarter ended June 30, 2011:

    --  Significant quarter over quarter improvement in the Company's net
        interest margin (from 3.73% for the quarter ended June 30, 2010 to 4.19%
        for the quarter ended June 30, 2011) due to both a 58 basis point
        reduction in the cost of funds period over period and to a large
        commercial loan which returned to accruing status during the quarter
        ended June 30, 2011.
    --  Provision for Loan Losses of ($19,000) and $48,000, for the three and
        six months ended June 30, 2011, respectively, as compared to provisions
        of $595,000 and $606,000 for the three and six months ended June 30,
        2010.
    --  First Federal of Northern Michigan remains "well-capitalized" for
        regulatory purposes.

Michael W. Mahler, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, "We are pleased once again to report net income for the second quarter of 2011. Five of our last six quarters have been profitable, which demonstrates that our focused efforts over the last two-plus years have begun to produce sustainable earnings. The Bank continues to also focus on net interest margin and has successfully improved it to 4.19% for the quarter ended June 30, 2011. For the same quarter one year earlier our net interest margin stood at 3.73%. Our increase in net interest margin has come mostly on the cost of funds side, where lower market interest rates have reduced the costs of our deposits and borrowings. We continue our relationship-focused 'Community Bank' approach to building customer relationships and, consequently, growing our lower-costing core deposit base which has grown by $4.5 million year to date and $15.5 million since the start of 2009."

Mahler also commented, "The return to strong asset quality continues to be our top priority. Non-performing loans have decreased $2.3 million since the start of the year. Our Texas Ratio has decreased from 64.29% at December 31, 2009 to 37.07% at June 30, 2011. We have seen improvement in several key areas related to asset quality, including delinquency trends, the number of classified loans and the level of non accrual loan balances. We are also encouraged by the interest and success in selling bank-owned properties during the quarter. The Bank has done well marketing bank-owned properties, particularly residential real estate. Commercial properties are slower moving although we have seen a recent increase in interest and have accepted an offer on the largest piece of bank-owned property."

"The Bank remained profitable for the quarter in spite of still inflated collection costs as we near conclusion on certain foreclosure actions. In addition, the Bank recorded secondary write-downs on certain bank-owned properties as part of our on going evaluation and monitoring. We are encouraged by the fact that certain classified loans have been upgraded in recent quarters with more expected before year end. The Bank realized $19,000 income from the provision expense for the quarter and had a modest provision of $48,000 for the six-month period ended June 30, 2011. This is the result of significant improvement in the historical loan charge-off trends along with the improvement in asset quality metrics. The shrinking of the loan portfolio through normal pay downs, charge-offs and moving loans to a bank-owned property status since the start of the year also contributed to the decline in loan balances which lead to a lower loan loss reserve requirement."

Selected Financial Ratios



                          For the Three Months   For the Six Months
                             Ended June 30         Ended June 30
                          -------------------- ------------------
                             2011        2010    2011        2010
                             ----        ----    ----        ----

    Performance Ratios:
    Net interest margin      4.19%       3.73%   4.08%       3.67%
    Average interest rate
     spread                  4.04%       3.55%   3.93%       3.47%
    Return on average
     assets*                 0.49%       0.56%   0.39%       0.45%
    Return on average
     equity*                 4.41%       5.41%   3.56%       4.42%

    * Annualized



                                                    As of
                                                    -----
                                   June 30,    December 31,    June 30,
                                      2011          2010          2010
                                  ---------   -------------   ---------
    Asset Quality Ratios:
    Non-performing assets to
     total assets                       4.06%           4.37%       4.40%
    Non-performing loans to total
     loans                              2.90%           4.13%       4.20%
    Allowance for loan losses to
     non-performing loans              51.28%          42.85%      44.66%
    Allowance for loan losses to
     total loans                        1.48%           1.77%       1.87%

    "Texas Ratio" (Bank)               37.07%          39.66%      41.42%

    Total non-performing loans
     ($000 omitted)                   $4,273          $6,606      $7,000
    Total non-performing assets
     ($000 omitted)                   $8,898          $9,424      $9,992

Financial Condition

Total assets of the Company at June 30, 2011 were $218.9 million, an increase of $3.2 million, or 1.5%, from assets of $215.7 million at December 31, 2010. Net loans receivable decreased $12.3 million to $144.8 million at June 30, 2011, due to the continued effect of adjustable-rate or balloon mortgage loans that have paid off or been refinanced and sold into the secondary market, a large purchased mortgage loan which paid off during the six-month period, consumer loan balances that have declined due to normal pay-downs, pay-off of an out-of-state commercial loan participation, and in general, limited originations of loans to be held in the Company's portfolio. Investment securities increased $12.4 million from December 31, 2010 to June 30, 2011 due primarily to the purchase of GNMA and municipal securities as opportunities arose and as we received funds from loan pay-offs.

Deposits increased $645,000 to $156.1 million at June 30, 2011 from $155.5 million at December 31, 2010. During this period, lower-costing accounts such as savings, money market and checking accounts increased by approximately $3.0 million. This was partially offset by a decrease in our certificate of deposit accounts of approximately $2.4 million. FHLB advances increased $3.0 million to $32.0 million from December 31, 2010 as we leveraged to grow our balance sheet.

The ratio of total nonperforming assets to total assets was 4.06% at June 30, 2011 compared to 4.37% at December 31, 2010 and 4.40% at June 30, 2010. Non-performing assets decreased by $526,000 from December 31, 2010 to June 30, 2011. The Company continues to closely monitor non-performing assets and has taken a variety of steps to reduce the level thereof, such as:


    --  Timely pursuit of foreclosure and/or repossession options coupled with
        quick and aggressive marketing efforts of repossessed assets;
    --  Restructuring loans, where feasible, to assist borrowers in working
        through this financially challenging time;
    --  Allowing borrowers to structure short-sales of properties, where
        appropriate and feasible; and
    --  Working with borrowers to find a means of reducing outstanding debt
        (such as through sales of collateral).

Stockholders' equity was $24.1 million at June 30, 2011 compared to $23.2 million at December 31, 2010. The increase was due primarily to net earnings for the six-month period of $423,000 and an increase of $340,000 in the unrealized gain on available-for-sale investment securities. First Federal of Northern Michigan's regulatory capital remains at levels in excess of regulatory requirements, as shown in the table below.



                                                        Regulatory
                                      Actual               Minimum
                                 Amount   Ratio       Amount   Ratio
                                 ------   -----       ------   -----
                                        Dollars in Thousands
      Tier 1 (Core)
       capital ( to
              adjusted assets)  $21,810   10.04%      $8,694    4.00%
      Total risk-
       based capital (
       to risk-
              weighted assets)  $23,459   16.53%     $11,353    8.00%
      Tier 1 risk-
       based capital (
       to
              risk-weighted
               assets)          $21,810   15.37%      $5,676    4.00%
      Tangible Capital
       ( to
              tangible assets)  $21,810   10.04%      $3,260    1.50%



                                        Minimum to be
                                             Well
                                          Capitalized
                                        Amount         Ratio
                                        ------         -----
                                Dollars in Thousands
      Tier 1 (Core)
       capital ( to
              adjusted assets)               $10,867     5.00%
      Total risk-
       based capital (
       to risk-
              weighted assets)               $14,191    10.00%
      Tier 1 risk-
       based capital (
       to
              risk-weighted
               assets)                        $8,514     6.00%
      Tangible Capital
       ( to
              tangible assets)                $4,347     2.00%

Results of Operations

Interest income decreased to $ 2.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2011 from $2.9 million for the year earlier period. Interest income decreased to $5.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2011 as compared to $5.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2010. The decrease in interest income for the three month period was due to two main factors: a period over period decrease of $10.8 million in the average balance of our interest-earning assets and a decrease of 9 basis points in the yield on interest-earning assets due in part to lower market interest rates period over period.

Interest expense decreased to $581,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2011 from $900,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2010. Interest expense for the six months ended June 30, 2011 decreased to $1.2 million from $1.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2010. The decrease in interest expense for the three-month period was due in part to a $12.9 million decrease in the average balance of our interest-bearing liabilities and a decrease in our overall cost of funds of 58 basis points period over period. Most notably, the average balance of our FHLB advances decreased $10.0 million from the from the three-month period ended June 30, 2010 to the same period in 2011 and the cost of our FHLB advances decreased 71 basis points period over period. In addition our certificates of deposit decreased $7.0 million from the three-month period ended June 30, 2010 to the same period in 2011 and the cost of our certificates of deposits decreased 55 basis points period over period.

The Company's net interest margin increased to 4.19% for the three-month period ended June 30, 2011 from 3.73% for the same period in 2010. During this time period, the average yield on interest-earning assets decreased 9 basis points to 5.34% from 5.43%. The average cost of funds decreased 58 basis points to 1.30% from 1.88%, due to reductions of 55 basis points on our certificates of deposit, 42 basis points on our Money market and NOW accounts, and 71 basis points on our FHLB advances quarter over quarter. For the six-month period ended June 30, 2011, the Company's net interest margin increased to 4.08% from 3.67% for the same period in 2010. During this time period, the average yield on interest-earning assets decreased 14 basis points to 5.26% from 5.40%, while the cost of funds decreased 66 basis points to 1.98% from 2.64%.

The provision for loan losses for the three-month period ended June 30, 2011 was income of $19,000, as compared to expense of $595,000 for the prior year period. For the six-month period ended June 30, 2011, the provision for loan losses was $48,000 as compared to $606,000 for the same period ended June 30, 2010. Our provision for loan losses is based on an eight-quarter rolling average of actual net charge-offs adjusted for various environmental factors for each pool of loans in our portfolio. Total net charge-offs for the quarter-ended June 30, 2011 were $422,000 as compared to $1.8 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2009, which rolled-off our required reserve calculation based on our eight-quarter rolling average method. That decrease in charge-offs quarter over quarter resulted in lower loss factors which were applied to our various pools of loans to establish an adequate reserve. In addition, loan balances have declined substantially from December 31, 2010. Both of these factors enabled us to reverse provision expense recorded in prior periods. The provision was based on management's review of the components of the overall loan portfolio, the status of non-performing loans and various subjective factors.

Non-interest income decreased to $393,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2011 from $1.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2010. Non-interest income decreased to $842,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2011 from $1.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2010. Both the three- and six-month results in 2010 reflected a $447,000 gain on sale of investments as a result of a restructuring of the investment portfolio in an effort to reduce credit risk as well as a $200,000 settlement on a lawsuit. Additionally, in 2011 we continue to experience a decrease in mortgage banking activities income as compared to 2010, especially during the three-month period ended June 30, 2011. Despite mortgage interest rates that remain historically low, mortgage banking activities, consisting mostly of homeowner refinances, continue to decline. Mortgage refinances were considerably lower for both the three- and six-month periods ended June 30, 2011 as compared to the prior year periods.

Non-interest expense decreased from $2.4 million for the three months ended June 30, 2010 to $2.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2011. Non-interest expense decreased to $4.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2011 from $4.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2010. Notably, our FDIC premiums decreased for both the three- and six-month periods ended June 30, 2011 due to improvement in our risk profile resulting in lower FDIC assessments.

Safe Harbor Statement

This news release and other releases and reports issued by the Company, including reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission, may contain "forward-looking statements." The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company is including this statement for purposes of taking advantage of the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.



    First Federal of Northern Michigan Bancorp, Inc. and Subsidiaries
    Consolidated Balance Sheet
    --------------------------


                                               June 30,       December
                                                  2011        31, 2010
                                               --------       --------
                                               (Unaudited)
    ASSETS
    Cash and cash equivalents:
    Cash on hand and due from banks             $3,951,713    $1,889,999
    Overnight deposits with FHLB                    34,756        72,658
                                                    ------        ------
    Total cash and cash equivalents              3,986,469     1,962,657
    Securities AFS                              47,671,712    35,301,238
    Securities HTM                               2,485,000     2,520,000
    Loans held for sale                            550,613             -
    Loans receivable, net of allowance for
     loan losses of $2,190,949 and
                    $2,831,332 as of June 30,  144,825,894   157,143,918
    2011 and December 31, 2010,
    respectively
    Foreclosed real estate and other
     repossessed assets                          4,625,417     2,818,343
    Federal Home Loan Bank stock, at cost        3,266,100     3,775,400
    Premises and equipment                       5,924,907     6,026,793
    Accrued interest receivable                  1,158,565     1,230,938
    Intangible assets                              481,081       627,306
    Prepaid FDIC premiums                          852,890       967,143
    Deferred tax asset                             471,751       659,194
    Other assets                                 2,623,837     2,700,034
                                                 ---------     ---------
    Total assets                              $218,924,236  $215,732,964
                                              ============  ============


    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
    Liabilities:
    Deposits                                  $156,110,486  $155,465,896
    Advances from borrowers for taxes and
     insurance                                     370,215       130,030
    Federal Home Loan Bank Advances             32,000,000    29,000,000
    REPO Sweep Accounts                          4,847,231     6,172,362
    Accrued expenses and other liabilities       1,530,196     1,728,735
                                                 ---------     ---------

    Total liabilities                          194,858,128   192,497,023
                                               -----------   -----------

    Stockholders' equity:
    Common stock ($0.01 par value 20,000,000
     shares authorized
       3,191,999 shares issued                      31,918        31,918
    Additional paid-in capital                  23,851,341    23,822,152
    Retained earnings                            2,661,488     2,238,064
    Treasury stock at cost (307,750 shares      (2,963,918)   (2,963,918)
    Unearned compensation                             (556)      (38,382)
    Accumulated other comprehensive income         485,835       146,107
                                                   -------       -------
    Total stockholders' equity                  24,066,108    23,235,941
                                                ----------    ----------
    Total liabilities and stockholders'
     equity                                   $218,924,236  $215,732,964
                                              ============  ============


    First Federal of Northern Michigan Bancorp, Inc. and Subsidiaries
    Consolidated Statement of Income
    --------------------------------


                      For the Three Months            For the Six Months
                         Ended June 30,                 Ended June 30,
                         --------------                 --------------
                         2011            2010            2011            2010
                         ----            ----            ----            ----
                           (Unaudited)                    (Unaudited)
    Interest
     income:
    Interest and
     fees on
     loans         $2,317,197      $2,552,986      $4,590,517      $5,093,399
    Interest and
     dividends on
     investments
       Taxable        134,402         106,843         229,217         239,406
       Tax-exempt      40,011          58,455          80,339         111,267
    Interest on
     mortgage-
     backed
     securities       199,702         165,313         383,068         321,846
                      -------         -------         -------         -------
    Total
     interest
     income         2,691,312       2,883,597       5,283,141       5,765,918
                    ---------       ---------       ---------       ---------

    Interest
     expense:
    Interest on
     deposits         407,875         601,733         845,128       1,239,557
    Interest on
     borrowings       172,681         298,657         340,755         617,239
                      -------         -------         -------         -------
    Total
     interest
     expense          580,556         900,390       1,185,883       1,856,796
                      -------         -------       ---------       ---------

    Net interest
     income         2,110,756       1,983,207       4,097,258       3,909,122
    Provision for
     loan losses      (19,238)        594,840          48,120         605,928
                      -------         -------          ------         -------
    Net interest
     income after
     provision
     for loan
     losses         2,129,994    1,388,367    4,049,138    3,303,194
                    ---------       ---------       ---------       ---------

    Non-interest
     income:
    Service
     charges and
     other fees       181,228         199,340         345,719         403,514
    Mortgage
     banking
     activities       182,463         315,223         418,446         563,315
    Gain on sale
     of
     investments            -         447,387               -         496,817
    Net gain
     (loss) on
     sale of
     premises and
     equipment,
      real estate
       owned and
       other
       repossessed
       assets         (37,756)      42,691      (46,431)      53,867
    Other              67,048         260,723         124,601         326,336
                       ------         -------         -------         -------
    Total non-
     interest
     income           392,983       1,265,364         842,335       1,843,849
                      -------       ---------         -------       ---------

    Non-interest
     expense:
    Compensation
     and employee
     benefits       1,159,252       1,194,299       2,328,188       2,365,241
    FDIC
     Insurance
     Premiums          51,170          94,348         122,387         188,548
    Advertising        33,817          36,103          56,838          55,992
    Occupancy         267,652         288,237         537,694         600,813
    Amortization
     of
     intangible
     assets            73,112          73,112         146,225         146,225
    Service
     bureau
     charges           79,292          86,114         155,498         165,696
    Professional
     services         133,570         149,091         221,147         252,202
    Other             462,389         515,103         900,072         850,786
                      -------         -------         -------         -------
    Total non-
     interest
     expense        2,260,254       2,436,407       4,468,049       4,625,503
                    ---------       ---------       ---------       ---------

    Income before
     income tax
     benefit          262,723         217,324         423,424         521,540
    Income tax
     benefit                -        (101,913)              -               -
                          ---        --------             ---             ---

    Net Income       $262,723        $319,237        $423,424        $521,540
                     ========        ========        ========        ========

    Per share
     data:
    Net income
     per share
       Basic             0.09            0.11            0.15            0.18
       Diluted           0.09            0.11            0.15            0.18
    Weighted
     average
     number of
     shares
     outstanding
       Basic        2,884,049       2,884,249       2,884,049       2,884,249
       Including
        dilutive
        stock
        options     2,884,049       2,884,249       2,884,049       2,884,249
    Dividends per
     common share           -               -               -               -

SOURCE First Federal of Northern Michigan Bancorp, Inc.