MCLEAN, Va., July 21, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Southern National Bancorp of Virginia Inc. (NASDAQ:SONA), the holding company for Sonabank, announced today that net income for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 was $2.8 million and $5.4 million for the first half of 2016. That compares to $2.5 million and $4.5 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015.

The Board of Directors declared a dividend of $.08 per share payable August 19, 2016 to shareholders of record on August 8, 2016. This was Southern National’s nineteenth consecutive quarterly dividend. Based on SONA’s average stock price for the quarter ended June 30, 2016, that is an annualized dividend yield of 2.63%.

Overview

• Loan demand remained robust although slightly lower than in the first quarter. The decreases in the issuance of Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities seem to have taken the pressure off of pricing of commercial real estate loans which continued to be strong despite the falling interest rate environment. Loans, net of unearned income, increased by $76.9 million during the first half of 2016 or 9.27%. Of the increase, approximately $26 million was a result of purchases of residential portfolio product from Southern Trust Mortgage (STM).
• STM had a solid quarter. Sonabank’s 44% share in their net income for the quarter resulted in pre-tax income of $552 thousand, down from the $793 thousand recorded in the second quarter last year. The decrease in net income in the second quarter of 2016 compared to the second quarter of 2015 was mainly due to the increase of the loan buy-back provision in regards to a loan that STM repurchased and expenses associated with opening a new branch in Charleston, South Carolina.
• Other Southern National metrics remained strong during the quarter. The efficiency ratio was 50.51%. The return on average assets was 1.04% and the return on average equity was 9.18%.

Net Interest Income

Net interest income was $10.2 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2016 compared to $9.0 million during the same period last year. Average loans during the second quarter of 2016 were $888.1 million compared to $751.1 million during the same period last year. Sonabank’s net interest margin was 4.06% in the second quarter of 2016 which was the same as the second quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016. The accretion of the discount on loans acquired in the acquisitions of Greater Atlantic Bank, HarVest and Prince Georges Federal Savings Bank (PGFSB) contributed $490 thousand to net interest income during the three months ended June 30, 2016 compared to $723 thousand during the second quarter of 2015.

Net interest income was $19.9 million during the six months ended June 30, 2016, compared to $18.0 million during the comparable period in the prior year. Average loans during the six months ended June 30, 2016 were $865.6 million compared to $732.4 million during the same period last year. Sonabank’s net interest margin was 4.06% during the first half of 2016 compared to 4.18% during the six months ended June 30, 2015. The loan discount accretions on our three acquisitions were $1.0 million in the first half of 2016 compared to $1.5 million in the same period last year.

Noninterest Income

During the second quarter of 2016 Sonabank had noninterest income of $1.0 million compared to noninterest income of $1.8 million during the second quarter of 2015. We recognized income from our investment in STM in the amount of $552 thousand compared to $793 thousand during the same quarter last year. Much of the non-interest income in the second quarter of 2015 resulted from the fact that we transferred from our held-to-maturity (HTM) portfolio all of the trust preferred securities and a non-government sponsored residential collateralized mortgage obligation (CMO) that had previously been classified as other than temporarily impaired to the available-for-sale (AFS) classification. We sold five of these trust preferred securities and the CMO recognizing a net gain of $520 thousand.

Noninterest income decreased to $1.5 million in the first six months of 2016 from $2.2 million in the first six months of 2015. The decrease was primarily due to the income from the STM investment and the gain on the sale of securities mentioned above.

Noninterest Expense

Noninterest expenses were $5.6 million and $11.7 million during the second quarter and the first half of 2016, respectively, compared to $5.6 million and $11.4 million during the same periods in 2015. During the first half of 2016, we had losses of $275 thousand because of impairment recognized on three OREO properties. This was partially offset by gains on the sale of three properties in the amount of $192 thousand, resulting in a net loss of $83 thousand. During the six months ended June 30, 2015, we had losses on Other Real Estate Owned (OREO) of $540 thousand because of impairment recognized on four OREO properties. This was partially offset by a gain on the sale of one property in the amount of $277 thousand, resulting in a net loss of $263 thousand. Employee compensation increased by $415 thousand compared to the first half of 2015, due to increases in the normal course of business.

Loan Loss Provision/Asset Quality

The loan loss provision for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 was $1.4 million, compared to $1.5 million for the same period last year. For the six months ended June 30, 2016, the loan loss provision was $2.0 million compared to $2.0 million for the same period last year. Charge offs for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016 were $1.7 million and $2.1 million, respectively. Charge offs for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015 were $1.3 million and $1.6 million, respectively. The increased level of charge-offs in the second quarter of 2016 was mainly due to a single borrower, who was current, but experiencing serious cash flow problems. We believe that our remaining exposure is protected by the value of our collateral which includes receivables and real estate.

Non-covered OREO as of June 30, 2016 was $9.4 million compared to $10.1 million as of the end of the previous year. During the first six months of 2016 we disposed of two non-covered properties, and there were no transfers from loans to OREO.

Non-covered nonaccrual loans were $2.3 million, of which $1.7 million were fully covered by SBA guarantees at June 30, 2016 compared to $4.2 million ($3.5 million of which were loans fully covered by SBA guarantees) at the end of last year. The ratio of non-covered non-performing assets (excluding the SBA guaranteed loans) to non-covered assets improved from 1.07% at the end of 2015 to 0.92% at June 30, 2016. The portions of these SBA loans that were unguaranteed were charged off.

Southern National Bancorp of Virginia’s allowance for loan losses as a percentage of non-covered total loans at June 30, 2016 was 0.96%, compared to 1.06% at the end of 2015. Management believes the allowance is adequate at this time but continues to monitor trends in environmental factors which may potentially affect future losses.

Securities Portfolio

Investment securities, available for sale and held to maturity, were $96.0 million at June 30, 2016 down from $101.0 million at December 31, 2015.

Securities in our investment portfolio as of June 30, 2016 were as follows:

• residential government-sponsored mortgage-backed securities in the amount of $20.7 million and residential government-sponsored collateralized mortgage obligations totaling $2.7 million
• callable agency securities in the amount of $52.0 million
• municipal bonds in the amount of $15.1 million with a taxable equivalent yield of 3.33% and ratings ranging from Aaa to Aa1 (Moody’s) and AAA to AA- (Standard & Poor’s)
• trust preferred securities in the amount of $5.6 million, $4.0 million of which is Alesco VII A1B which is rated A1 (Moody’s), BBB+ (Standard and Poor’s) and A (Fitch)

During the first six months of 2016, we purchased $23.0 million of callable agency securities and a fixed rate residential government-sponsored mortgage-backed security in the amount of $2.0 million. Callable agency securities in the amount of $27.1 million were called during the six months ended June 30, 2016.

In the second quarter of 2015, we transferred seven of the trust preferred securities and a non-government sponsored residential CMO that had been other than temporarily impaired from the held-to-maturity classification to the available-for-sale classification. We sold five of these trust preferred securities and the CMO recognizing a net gain of $520 thousand. The two trust preferred securities we retained in the AFS classification have a fair value of $1.4 million as of June 30, 2016. We also have two trust preferred securities that we retained in the HTM classification in the amount of $4.2 million, one of which is the above-mentioned Alesco VII. These two securities have never been other than temporarily impaired.

Deposits

Total deposits were $902.8 million at June 30, 2016 compared to $825.3 million at December 31, 2015. Demand deposits and NOW accounts were $131.8 million at June 30, 2016 up from $111.8 million at December 31, 2015. This appears to be our efforts bearing fruit. Our savings accounts were up from $49.9 million to $53.0 million, after a promotion. On the other hand our money market accounts were down from $131.7 million to $126.7 million as one of our high profile competitors began paying 1.00% on internet money market accounts marketed through their branches.

Stockholders’ Equity

Total stockholders’ equity increased from $119.6 million at December 31, 2015 to $123.0 million at June 30, 2016 as a result of the retention of earnings. Our Tier 1 Risk Based Capital Ratios were 12.57% and 12.43% for Southern National Bancorp of Virginia, Inc. and Sonabank, respectively, as of June 30, 2016.

Southern National Bancorp of Virginia, Inc. is a bank holding company with assets of $1.1 billion at June 30, 2016. Sonabank provides a range of financial services to individuals and small and medium sized businesses. Sonabank has fifteen branches in Virginia, located in Fairfax County (Reston, McLean and Fairfax), in Charlottesville, Warrenton (2), Middleburg, Leesburg (2), South Riding, Front Royal, New Market, Haymarket, Richmond and Clifton Forge, and eight branches in Maryland, in Rockville, Shady Grove, Frederick, Bethesda, Upper Marlboro, Brandywine, Owings and Huntingtown.