WASHINGTON & CHARLESTON, W.Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--United Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: UBSI), today reported earnings for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020. Earnings for the third quarter of 2020 were a record $103.8 million, or $0.80 per diluted share, as compared to earnings of $66.0 million, or $0.65 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2019. Earnings for the first nine months of 2020 were $196.7 million, or $1.68 per diluted share, as compared to earnings of $196.8 million, or $1.93 per diluted share, for the first nine months of 2019.

Third quarter 2020 results produced an annualized return on average assets of 1.56%, an annualized return on average equity of 9.68% and an annualized return on average tangible equity of 16.94%, compared to annualized returns on average assets, average equity and average tangible equity of 1.33%, 7.79% and 14.16%, respectively, for the third quarter of 2019. For the nine months of 2020, United’s annualized return on average assets was 1.12%, the annualized return on average equity was 6.85% and the annualized return on average tangible equity was 12.19% compared to annualized returns on average assets, average equity and average tangible equity of 1.35%, 7.93% and 14.56%, respectively, for the first nine months of 2019.

Higher net income in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the third quarter of 2019 was primarily due to higher income from mortgage banking activities, driven by an elevated volume of mortgage loan originations and sales in the secondary market, as well as the impact of the Carolina Financial Corporation (“Carolina Financial”) acquisition. Partially offsetting the increase in net income were merger-related expenses from the Carolina Financial acquisition, $10.4 million in prepayment penalties on the early payoff of three long-term FHLB advances and higher provision for credit losses resulting from an adverse future macroeconomic forecast as a result of the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic under the Current Expected Credit Loss (“CECL”) accounting standard.

“Despite the continued uncertainty in the economic environment, we achieved record earnings during the third quarter of 2020 and successfully completed the Carolina Financial system conversion,” stated Richard M. Adams, United’s Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. “United has continued to focus on meeting our customers’ needs during the COVID-19 pandemic by suspending residential property foreclosures, offering fee waivers, providing payment deferrals, and processing over 8,900 loans totaling approximately $1.3 billion under the government Paycheck Protection Program. Our credit quality and regulatory ratios remain strong and position us well to continue delivering for our customers and for continued growth.”

The results of operations for Carolina Financial are included in the consolidated results of operations from the date of acquisition, May 1, 2020. As a result of the acquisition, the third quarter and first nine months of 2020 reflected higher average balances, income, and expense, including merger-related expense of $5.7 million and $53.7 million for the third quarter and first nine months of 2020, respectively, as compared to the same time periods in 2019.

Net Interest Income and Net Interest Margin

Net interest income for the third quarter of 2020 was $185.7 million, which was an increase of $43.7 million or 31% from the third quarter of 2019, primarily due to an increase in average earning assets from the Carolina Financial acquisition. Tax-equivalent net interest income, a non-GAAP measure which adjusts for the tax-favored status of income from certain loans and investments, for the third quarter of 2020 increased $43.9 million or 31% from the third quarter of 2019 to $186.7 million. Average earning assets for the third quarter of 2020 increased $6.1 billion or 35% from the third quarter of 2019 due to a $4.6 billion or 33% increase in average net loans and loans held for sale, a $1.1 billion or 137% increase in average short-term investments and a $366.6 million or 14% increase in average investment securities. The net interest spread for the third quarter of 2020 increased 19 basis points from the third quarter of 2019 due to a 98 basis point decrease in the average cost of funds primarily due to the impact of declines in interest rates from the third quarter of 2019 partially offset by a 79 basis point decrease in the average yield on earning assets from the third quarter of 2019 due to the decline in market interest rates and the lower yield on Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans. In addition, loan accretion on acquired loans was $11.7 million and $7.2 million for the third quarter of 2020 and 2019, respectively, an increase of $4.5 million, primarily driven by the accretion on loans acquired from the Carolina Financial acquisition. The net interest margin of 3.18% for the third quarter of 2020 was a decrease of 9 basis points from the net interest margin of 3.27% for the third quarter of 2019.

Net interest income for the first nine months of 2020 was $497.8 million, which was an increase of $61.1 million or 14% from the first nine months of 2019, primarily due to an increase in average earning assets from the Carolina Financial acquisition. Tax-equivalent net interest income for the first nine months of 2020 was $500.6 million, an increase of $61.1 million or 14% from the first nine months of 2019. Average earning assets for the first nine months of 2020 increased $3.6 billion or 21% from the first nine months of 2019 due to a $2.7 billion or 20% increase in average net loans and loans held for sale, a $632.0 million or 81% increase in average short-term investments and a $259.1 million or 10% increase in average investment securities. The net interest spread for the first nine months of 2020 decreased 2 basis points from the first nine months of 2019 due to a 73 basis point decrease in the average yield on earning assets partially offset by a 71 basis point decrease in the average cost of funds. Loan accretion on acquired loans was $30.8 million and $30.2 million for the first nine months of 2020 and 2019, respectively, an increase of $676 thousand. The net interest margin of 3.21% for the first nine months of 2020 was a decrease of 21 basis points from the net interest margin of 3.42% for the first nine months of 2019.

On a linked-quarter basis, net interest income for the third quarter of 2020 increased $15.1 million or 9% from the second quarter of 2020. United’s tax-equivalent net interest income for the third quarter of 2020 increased $15.1 million or 9% from the second quarter of 2020. Average earning assets increased $1.8 billion or 8% from the second quarter of 2020, due to the full quarter impact of assets acquired in the Carolina Financial acquisition and PPP loan activity. Average net loans and loans held for sale increased $1.3 billion or 7% and average short-term investments increased $419.0 million or 27%. The net interest spread for the third quarter of 2020 increased 5 basis points from the second quarter of 2020 due to a 16 basis point decrease in the average cost of funds partially offset by a 11 basis point decrease in the average yield on earning assets. Loan accretion on acquired loans increased $2.2 million from the second quarter of 2020 primarily driven by the accretion on loans acquired from Carolina Financial. The net interest margin remained flat at 3.18% for the third quarter of 2020 from the second quarter of 2020.

Credit Quality

United’s asset quality continues to be sound relative to the current economic environment. At September 30, 2020, nonperforming loans were $152.3 million, or 0.85% of loans & leases, net of unearned income, as compared to nonperforming loans of $131.1 million, or 0.96% of loans & leases, net of unearned income, at December 31, 2019. Nonperforming loans of $37.9 million were added from the Carolina Financial acquisition. As of September 30, 2020, the allowance for loan losses was $225.8 million or 1.26% of loans & leases, net of unearned income, as compared to $77.1 million or 0.56% of loans & leases, net of unearned income, at December 31, 2019. The increase in the allowance for loan losses was due to the adoption of CECL, the impact of COVID-19 and the loans acquired from Carolina Financial. Total nonperforming assets of $178.0 million, including OREO of $25.7 million at September 30, 2020, represented 0.69% of total assets as compared to nonperforming assets of $146.6 million or 0.75% at December 31, 2019.

For the quarters ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, the provision for credit losses was $16.8 million and $5.0 million, respectively. The increase in the provision in relation to the prior year quarter was driven by the impact from the reasonable and supportable forecasts of future macroeconomic conditions used in the estimation of expected credit losses adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic under CECL. The provision for the first nine months of 2020 was $89.8 million as compared to $15.4 million for the first nine months of 2019. In addition to the impact of reasonable and supportable forecasts on reserves, the increase was also driven by the provision for credit losses of $29.0 million recorded on purchased non-credit deteriorated (“non-PCD”) loans from the Carolina Financial acquisition. Net charge-offs were $5.6 million and $4.3 million for the third quarter of 2020 and 2019, respectively. Net charge-offs were $16.7 million and $15.1 million for the first nine months of 2020 and 2019, respectively. Annualized net charge-offs as a percentage of average loans & leases, net of unearned income were 0.12% and 0.13% for the third quarter and first nine months of 2020, respectively. On a linked-quarter basis, the provision for credit losses decreased $29.1 million due primarily to the provision expense recorded on the non-PCD loans acquired from Carolina Financial in the second quarter of 2020.

Noninterest Income

Noninterest income for the third quarter of 2020 was $135.5 million, which was an increase of $93.2 million or 221% from the third quarter of 2019. The change was driven by an $85.4 million increase in income from mortgage banking activities due to an elevated volume of mortgage loan originations and sales in the secondary market as well as the addition of mortgage banking operations from the Carolina Financial acquisition. Noninterest income for the third quarter of 2020 also included $2.3 million in mortgage loan servicing income and a $2.2 million gain on the sale of a bank premises.

Noninterest income for the first nine months of 2020 was $260.7 million, which was an increase of $147.4 million or 130% from the first nine months of 2019. The increase was due mainly to an increase of $135.9 million in income from mortgage banking activities. Net gains on investment securities were $2.6 million for the first nine months of 2020 as compared to a gain of $66 thousand for the first nine months of 2019, an increase of approximately $2.5 million. Noninterest income for the first nine months of 2020 also included $3.9 million in mortgage loan servicing income and a $2.2 million gain on the sale of a bank premises.

On a linked-quarter basis, noninterest income for the third quarter of 2020 increased $47.1 million or 53% from the second quarter of 2020 primarily due to an increase of $41.2 million in income from mortgage banking activities, a $2.2 million gain on the sale of a bank premises, and an increase in fees from deposit services of $1.3 million.

Noninterest Expense

Noninterest expense for the third quarter of 2020 was $171.6 million, an increase of $75.5 million or 78% from the third quarter of 2019 due to additional employee and branch office related expenses of $44.9 million mainly from the Carolina Financial acquisition, $10.4 million in prepayment penalties on the early payoff of three long-term FHLB advances, a $3.2 million increase in mortgage loan servicing expense and impairment and an increase of $12.6 million in other expenses. In particular, employee compensation increased $38.1 million (some of which was due to higher employee incentives and commissions related to the increased mortgage banking production), employee benefits increased $4.6 million and net occupancy expenses increased $2.2 million. Mortgage loan servicing expense and impairment included a $400 thousand temporary impairment on mortgage servicing rights. Within other expense, the largest drivers of the increase included merger-related expenses associated with the Carolina Financial acquisition of $3.6 million, the expense for the reserve for unfunded commitments increased $4.0 million and the amortization of income tax credits increased $1.4 million. Partially offsetting the increases to noninterest expense was a decrease of $671 thousand in other real estate owned (“OREO”) expense due to fewer declines in fair value of OREO properties.

Noninterest expense for the first nine months of 2020 was $422.1 million, an increase of $136.3 million or 48% from the first nine months of 2019. The largest drivers of the increase were additional employee and branch office related expenses of $82.5 million from the Carolina Financial acquisition as well as higher employee incentives and commissions expense mainly related to the higher mortgage banking production. Additionally, data processing expense increased $11.6 million (including the Carolina Financial data processing contract termination penalty of $9.7 million recorded in the second quarter of 2020), mortgage loan servicing expense and impairment increased $5.6 million (including $1.1 million temporary impairment on mortgage servicing rights) and prepayment penalties on the early payoff of long-term FHLB advances increased $5.3 million to $10.4 million for the first nine months of 2020 compared to $5.1 million for the first nine months of 2019. Other expense also increased $28.3 million due to merger-related expenses of $10.7 million associated with the Carolina Financial acquisition, an increase in the expense for the reserve for unfunded commitments of $7.6 million, and an increase in the amortization of income tax credits of $3.8 million which reduces the effective tax rate. Partially offsetting the increases to noninterest expense were decreases of $1.2 million in OREO expense due to fewer declines in fair value of OREO properties.

On a linked-quarter basis, noninterest expense for the third quarter of 2020 increased $22.2 million or 15% from the second quarter of 2020 due primarily to the added employee and branch office related expenses of $16.9 million from the Carolina Financial acquisition as well as higher employee incentives and commissions expense mainly related to the higher mortgage banking production. Noninterest expense for the third quarter also included the $10.4 million in prepayment penalties on the early payoff of three long-term FHLB advances. Partially offsetting the increases to noninterest expense were decreases of $9.2 million in data processing expense due to the $9.7 million contract termination penalty recorded in the second quarter of 2020.

Income Tax Expense

For the third quarter and first nine months of 2020, income tax expense was $29.0 million and $49.9 million as compared to $17.0 million and $51.9 million, respectively, for the third quarter and first nine months of 2019. The increase in the third quarter of 2020 from the third quarter of 2019 was due to overall higher earnings and a higher effective tax rate while the decrease for the first nine months of 2020 from the first nine months of 2020 was due mainly to slightly lower earnings. On a linked-quarter basis, income tax expense increased $17.9 million also due to higher earnings. United’s effective tax rate was 21.8% for the third quarter of 2020, 20.5% for the third quarter of 2019 and 17.3% for the second quarter of 2020. For the first nine months of 2020 and 2019, United's effective tax rate was 20.2% and 20.9%, respectively, reflecting higher amortization of income tax credits in 2020.

Regulatory Capital

United continues to be well-capitalized based upon regulatory guidelines. United’s estimated risk-based capital ratio is 15.2% at September 30, 2020 while its estimated Common Equity Tier 1 capital, Tier 1 capital and leverage ratios are 13.0%, 13.0% and 10.1%, respectively. The September 30, 2020 ratios reflect United’s election of a five-year transition provision, allowed by the Federal Reserve Board and other federal banking agencies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to delay for two years the full impact of CECL on regulatory capital, followed by a three-year transition period. The regulatory requirements for a well-capitalized financial institution are a risk-based capital ratio of 10.0%, a Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 6.5%, a Tier 1 capital ratio of 8.0% and a leverage ratio of 5.0%.

About United Bankshares, Inc.

As of September 30, 2020, United had consolidated assets of approximately $25.9 billion. United is the parent company of United Bank, the largest community bank headquartered in the D.C. Metro region. United Bank has 231 offices in West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and the nation’s capital. United’s stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the quotation symbol "UBSI."