Sierra Bancorp(US:BSRR)2026-02-02 13:01Financial Performance - Sierra Bancorp reported record quarterly net income of $12.9 million, or $0.97 per diluted share, representing a 24% increase from $10.4 million, or $0.72 per diluted share, in Q4 2024[5]. - For the full year 2025, net income was $42.3 million, or $3.11 per diluted share, a 4% increase from $40.6 million, or $2.82 per diluted share, in 2024[7]. - Net income for the year ended December 31, 2025, was $42,327 thousand, compared to $40,560 thousand in 2024, marking a growth of 4.36%[56]. - Net income for the three months ended December 31, 2025, was $12.894 million, up from $9.699 million in the previous quarter, representing a 32.6% increase[61]. Asset Growth - Total assets grew to $3.83 billion, a 6% increase from $3.61 billion at the end of 2024[5]. - Total assets increased to $3,829,279 thousand as of December 31, 2025, up from $3,614,271 thousand a year earlier, representing a growth of 5.95%[53]. - Total assets as of December 31, 2025, were $3,691,951,000, a slight increase from $3,658,132,000 on December 31, 2024[63]. Loan Performance - Loans at amortized cost increased by $215.4 million, or 9%, to $2.5 billion for the full year 2025, driven by enhancements to the mortgage warehouse program[5]. - Gross loans at amortized cost increased by $215.4 million, with a strategic increase of $191.9 million in mortgage warehouse balances[35]. - Total loans increased to $2,469,067,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2025, compared to $2,314,900,000 for the same quarter in 2024, reflecting a growth of 6.7%[63]. Credit Quality - Credit loss expense for the full year 2025 was $6.1 million, compared to $4.6 million in 2024, with a reversal of $0.8 million in Q4 2025[24]. - Nonperforming loans decreased to $13,231 thousand, down from $19,668 thousand a year ago, indicating a reduction of 32.93%[54]. - The ratio of nonperforming loans to gross loans improved to 0.52% at December 31, 2025, from 0.84% at December 31, 2024[42]. - The allowance for credit losses on loans was $21.5 million at December 31, 2025, down from $24.8 million at December 31, 2024, representing 0.84% of total loans[44]. Deposit Trends - The cost of average total deposits declined to 1.14% in Q4 2025, down from 1.46% in Q4 2024[5]. - Deposit balances declined by $15.2 million, or 0.5%, primarily due to a 13% decrease in customer time deposits[39]. - Total deposits were $2,876,436 thousand as of December 31, 2025, a slight decrease from $2,891,668 thousand a year earlier[53]. Operational Efficiency - The efficiency ratio improved to 57.69% in Q4 2025, compared to 59.74% in Q4 2024, showing enhanced operational efficiency[58]. - Noninterest income totaled $7.337 million for the three months ended December 31, 2025, down from $8.058 million in the previous quarter, a decrease of 8.9%[61]. - Noninterest expense was $23.018 million for the three months ended December 31, 2025, slightly down from $23.635 million in the previous quarter, a reduction of 2.6%[61]. Shareholder Returns - The company repurchased 1,024,792 shares of common stock throughout 2025, representing 7.2% of shares outstanding at the end of 2024[5]. - The quarterly dividend was increased by one cent to $0.26 per share, marking the 108th consecutive quarterly dividend[5]. - Basic earnings per share for Q4 2025 was $0.97, an increase from $0.73 in Q4 2024, representing a growth of 32.88%[57].