Equity Bank(EQBK) - 2024 Q4 - Annual Results

Financial Performance - Net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, was $17.0 million, or $1.04 per diluted share, with a net interest margin of 4.17%[1][4] - Net income for Q4 2024 was $16,986,000, compared to a net loss of $28,299,000 in Q4 2023[32] - Basic earnings per share for Q4 2024 was $1.06, a significant recovery from a loss of $1.84 per share in Q4 2023[32] - Net interest income for the year ended December 31, 2024, was $186,162,000, up 16.9% from $159,018,000 in 2023[32] - Net interest income for the quarter was $49,473 thousand, compared to $39,467 thousand in the same quarter last year, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 25.4%[43] - Core net income allocable to common stockholders was $17,834 thousand for the quarter, up from $12,536 thousand a year ago, marking a 42.5% increase[43] - Return on average assets (ROAA) was 1.31% for the quarter, compared to (2.29%) in the same quarter last year, showing a positive trend[43] - Core earnings per diluted share for the quarter was $1.10, compared to $1.32 in the previous quarter, reflecting a decrease of 16.67%[37] Capital and Equity - The company completed a common stock capital raise, issuing 2,067,240 shares at $44.50 per share, resulting in a total capital impact of $87.0 million[4][15] - Total stockholders' equity increased to $592,918 thousand as of December 31, 2024, up from $452,860 thousand a year earlier, representing a growth of 31%[42] - Tangible common equity increased to $523,891 thousand, up from $391,462 thousand a year earlier, reflecting a growth of 33.8%[42] - The company's tangible common equity to tangible assets ratio closed at 9.95%[4][15] Loans and Deposits - Loan balances closed at $3.5 billion, reflecting a full-year growth of $167.9 million, or 5.0%, with a loan-to-deposit ratio of 80.0%[4][12] - Deposit balances increased by $211.2 million during the quarter, with full-year growth in deposits, excluding brokered, at $304.2 million, or 7.3%[4][13] - Total loans held-for-investment decreased to $3,500,816 thousand as of December 31, 2024, from $3,600,925 thousand as of September 30, 2024, representing a decline of 2.78%[36] - Net loans held for investment increased to $3,457,549 thousand as of December 31, 2024, compared to $3,557,435 thousand as of September 30, 2024, a decrease of 2.80%[36] Income and Expenses - Total non-interest income for the quarter was $8.8 million, down from $9.3 million in the previous quarter[4][9] - Total non-interest expense increased to $37.8 million from $30.3 million in the previous quarter[4][10] - Total non-interest expense for the year was $144,157,000, an increase from $135,601,000 in 2023[32] - Non-interest income for the year increased to $38,822,000 from a loss of $19,129,000 in the previous year[32] - Non-interest income totaled $8,816,000, down from $9,317,000 in the previous quarter, indicating a decrease of 5.4%[34] Tax and Ratios - The effective tax rate for the quarter was 16.7%, consistent with the previous quarter[4][11] - The efficiency ratio improved to 63.02% for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, compared to 52.59% in the previous quarter[37] - The Tier 1 Leverage Ratio improved to 11.67% as of December 31, 2024, compared to 9.55% as of September 30, 2024[37] - The allowance for credit losses on loans to total loans ratio was 1.24% as of December 31, 2024, up from 1.21% as of September 30, 2024[36] Other Key Metrics - Nonaccrual loans decreased from $31.3 million to $27.1 million, representing 0.77% of total loans[4][14] - Total interest and dividend income for Q4 2024 was $74,979,000, an increase of 16.5% from $64,294,000 in Q4 2023[32] - The average yield on total interest-earning assets increased to 6.35% for the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to 5.36% for the previous year[38] - The average outstanding balance of total loans for the three months ended December 31, 2024, was $3,525,765 thousand, with a yield of 7.15%[41]