SOUDERTON, Pa., July 26, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania (NASDAQ:UVSP), parent company of Univest Bank and Trust Co. and its insurance, investments and equipment financing subsidiaries, today announced financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2017 of $11.8 million, or $0.44 diluted earnings per share, compared to net income of $5.2 million, or $0.27 diluted earnings per share, for the three months ended June 30, 2016. Net income for the six months ended June 30, 2017 was $22.6 million, or $0.85 diluted earnings per share, compared to net income of $12.5 million, or $0.64 diluted earnings per share, for the comparable period in the prior year. The financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 included a tax-free bank owned life insurance (“BOLI”) death benefit claim of $889 thousand, which represents $0.03 diluted earnings per share in each period. The financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016 included acquisition and integration costs related to the acquisition of Fox Chase Bancorp (“Fox Chase”) of $1.2 million and $1.4 million, or $0.06 and $0.07 of diluted earnings per share net of tax, respectively. There were no acquisition and integration costs during the six months ended June 30, 2017.

Loans
Gross loans and leases increased $168.3 million, or 20.1% (annualized), from March 31, 2017 and $224.3 million, or 13.7% (annualized), from December 31, 2016. Gross loans and leases increased $1.2 billion, or 49.7%, from June 30, 2016, primarily due to the $776.2 million of loans acquired from Fox Chase. Organic loan growth, which excludes the loans acquired from Fox Chase at June 30, 2016, was $388.9 million, representing an increase of 12.5% from June 30, 2016 to June 30, 2017. The growth in loans in 2017 was primarily in commercial real estate, commercial business and residential real estate loans.

Deposits
Total deposits decreased $17.9 million, or 2.1% (annualized), from March 31, 2017 primarily due to a seasonal decrease in public funds deposits partially offset by increases in commercial customer deposits. Deposits increased $90.5 million, or 5.6% (annualized), from December 31, 2016 primarily due to growth in commercial customer deposits. Deposits grew $971.0 million, or 40.8%, from June 30, 2016 primarily due to $738.3 million of deposits acquired from Fox Chase. Organic deposits, which excludes the Fox Chase deposits at June 30, 2016, increased $232.7 million, or 7.5%, from June 30, 2016.

Net Interest Income and Margin
Net interest income of $35.3 million for the second quarter of 2017 increased $1.0 million, or 3.0%, from the first quarter of 2017 and increased $11.6 million, or 49.2%, from the second quarter of 2016. Net interest income of $69.6 million increased $22.4 million, or 47.5%, for the six months ended June 30, 2017 from the same period in the prior year. Net interest margin, on a tax-equivalent basis, was 3.76% for the second quarter of 2017, compared to 3.80% for the first quarter of 2017 and 3.81% for the fourth quarter of 2016. The favorable impact of purchase accounting accretion was 8 basis points ($742 thousand) for the quarter ended June 30, 2017 compared to 8 basis points ($764 thousand) for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 and 20 basis points ($1.8 million) for the quarter ended December 31, 2016. Excluding the impact of purchase accounting accretion, net interest margin was 3.68% for the quarter ended June 30, 2017 compared to 3.72% for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 and 3.61% for the quarter ended December 31, 2016. The increase in net interest income of $1.0 million for the second quarter of 2017 as compared to the first quarter of 2017 was due to a $106 million, or 11.1% (annualized), increase in average interest earning assets which was slightly offset by the decrease in net interest margin due to higher deposit and borrowing costs. A detailed analysis comparing net interest margin and net interest income for the quarter ended June 30, 2017 as compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2017 is included in the attached exhibits.

Noninterest Income
Noninterest income for the quarter ended June 30, 2017 was $16.0 million, an increase of $2.0 million, or 14.3%, from the second quarter of 2016. Noninterest income for the six months ended June 30, 2017 was $31.0 million, an increase of $3.1 million, or 11.3%, from the comparable period in the prior year. Service charges on deposits increased $257 thousand, or 24.3%, for the quarter and $502 thousand, or 24.4%, for the six months ended June 30, 2017, mostly due to fees on deposit accounts acquired from Fox Chase. Investment advisory commission and fee income increased $557 thousand, or 20.1%, for the quarter and $1.1 million, or 19.6%, for the six months ended June 30, 2017 primarily due to a combination of increased new customer relationships and favorable market performance during 2016 and the first half of 2017. BOLI income increased $1.1 million for the quarter and $1.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, primarily due to proceeds from BOLI death benefits of $889 thousand recognized in the second quarter of 2017 and policies acquired from Fox Chase. Other income increased $529 thousand, or 26.3%, for the quarter and $840 thousand, or 20.9%, for the six months ended June 30, 2017, mainly due to an increase in other service fee income of $314 thousand for the quarter and $470 thousand for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and net gains on sales of other real estate owned of $121 thousand for the quarter and $235 thousand for the six months ended June 30, 2017. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in the net gain on sale of securities of $392 thousand for the quarter and $421 thousand for the six months ended June 30, 2017. In addition, the net gain on mortgage banking decreased $174 thousand, or 10.2%, for the quarter and $279 thousand, or 9.5%, for the six months ended June 30, 2017 primarily due to a decrease in mortgage volume.

Noninterest Expense
Noninterest expense for the quarter ended June 30, 2017 was $32.5 million, an increase of $3.0 million, or 10.2%, compared to the second quarter of 2016. Noninterest expense for the six months ended June 30, 2017 was $64.6 million, an increase of $8.1 million, or 14.3%, from the comparable period in the prior year. Salaries and benefit expense increased $2.3 million for the quarter and $4.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, primarily attributable to higher staffing levels resulting from the Fox Chase acquisition, additional staff hired to support revenue generation across all business lines and the expansion into Lancaster County. Premises and equipment expenses increased $869 thousand for the quarter and $1.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, primarily due to higher premises expense related to Fox Chase locations and expansion into Philadelphia, Lancaster County and the Lehigh Valley. Data processing expense increased $551 thousand for the quarter and $1.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017 due to increased investments in computer software and our outsourced data processing solution as well as the addition of Fox Chase processing expense. Other expense increased $732 thousand for the quarter and $1.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017 primarily due to inclusion of Fox Chase-related expenses and an increase of $289 thousand for the quarter and $705 thousand for the six months ended June 30, 2017 related to Bank shares tax as a result of a statutory rate increase in 2017 and the Corporation's growth primarily due to the Fox Chase acquisition. These increases were partially offset by acquisition and integration costs during 2016 related to the Fox Chase acquisition totaling $1.2 million for the quarter and $1.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2016. There were no acquisition or integration costs during the three or six months ended June 30, 2017. In addition, intangible expense decreased $545 thousand for the quarter and $552 thousand for the six months ended June 30, 2017 as a result of the settlement of the Girard Partners Inc. acquisition earn-out in the fourth quarter of 2016 and the conclusion of the earn-out period for the Sterner Insurance Associates acquisition, which resulted in a reversal of a prior accrual of $303 thousand during the second quarter of 2017.

Asset Quality and Provision for Loan and Lease Losses
Non-accrual loans and leases, including non-accrual troubled debt restructured loans, were $20.2 million at June 30, 2017, compared to $17.9 million at December 31, 2016. Nonperforming assets were $34.4 million at June 30, 2017, compared to $27.1 million at December 31, 2016. During the second quarter of 2017, incremental balances of $8.8 million related to one borrower were classified as troubled debt restructurings as the related loans were granted amortization period extensions. Net loan and lease charge-offs were $1.4 million during the second quarter of 2017 and $1.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017. The provision for loan and lease losses was $2.8 million for the second quarter of 2017 and $5.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017. The allowance for loan and lease losses as a percentage of loans and leases held for investment, excluding covered loans acquired in the Fox Chase and Valley Green Bank acquisitions, which were recorded at fair value as of the acquisition date, was 0.73% at June 30, 2017, compared to 0.74% at March 31, 2017 and 0.73% at December 31, 2016.

Tax Provision
The effective income tax rate was 26.4% for the quarter ended June 30, 2017, compared to 28.1% for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 and was 26.4% for the six months ended June 30, 2017, compared to 27.9% for the six months ended June 30, 2016. The effective income tax rate during the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2017 was impacted by the previously discussed BOLI death benefit of $889 thousand and by the adoption of ASU 2016-9. Excluding these two items, the effective income tax rate was 28.5% for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2017, which reflects the impact of the Corporation's level of tax exempt income for the period relative to the overall level of taxable income.

Dividend
On May 22, 2017, Univest declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per share, payable on July 3, 2017. This represented a 2.64% annualized yield based on the closing price of Univest’s stock on the date the dividend was paid.

About Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania (UVSP), including its wholly-owned subsidiary Univest Bank and Trust Co., has approximately $4.5 billion in assets and $3.4 billion in assets under management and supervision through its Wealth Management lines of business at June 30, 2017. Headquartered in Souderton, Pa. and founded in 1876, the Corporation and its subsidiaries provide a full range of financial solutions for individuals, businesses, municipalities and nonprofit organizations in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Univest delivers these services through a network of more than 50 offices in southeastern Pennsylvania extending to the Lehigh Valley and Lancaster, as well as in New Jersey and Maryland and online at www.univest.net.