Bank of Marin Bancorp Reports Record Annual Earnings

Bank of Marin Bancorp Reports Record Annual Earnings

Significant Loan Growth of $60.2 Million in the Fourth Quarter

NOVATO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Bank of Marin Bancorp, "Bancorp" (NAS: BMRC) , parent company of Bank of Marin, announced earnings for the quarter ended December 31, 2012 of $4.7 million, an increase of $1.5 million, or 45.8% from $3.2 million in the third quarter of 2012, and an increase of $1.3 million, or 39.0% from $3.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. Diluted earnings per share totaled $0.86 in the fourth quarter of 2012, up $0.27, or 45.8% from $0.59 in the prior quarter, and up $0.23, or 36.5% from $0.63 in the same quarter a year ago. Earnings for the fourth quarter of 2012 reflect a $1.0 million pre-tax gain on the pay-off of a purchased-credit impaired ("PCI") loan. This gain increased fourth quarter diluted earnings per share by 12 cents on an after-tax basis.

2012 record annual earnings totaled $17.8 million, an increase of $2.3 million, or 14.5%, from $15.6 million a year ago. Diluted earnings per share for the year ended December 31, 2012 totaled $3.28, up $0.39, or 13.5%, from $2.89 in the prior year.

"The Bank's overall strong performance demonstrates the solid relationships we have built with customers while also maintaining our high credit quality standards," said Russell A. Colombo, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our robust loan growth in the fourth quarter reflects our continued focus on business development to build the loan portfolio."

Bancorp also provided the following highlights on its operating and financial performance for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2012:

• Loan growth in the fourth quarter of 2012 totaled $60.2 million, or 5.9%, primarily due to investor-owned commercial real estate loan originations in the Marin and San Francisco markets. Gross loans totaled $1.1 billion at December 31, 2012.

• Credit quality remains solid with non-performing loans at 1.64% of total loans, down from 1.90% in the prior quarter. Accruing loans past due 30 to 89 days decreased from $2.1 million in the prior quarter to $588 thousand at December 31, 2012.

• Deposits increased $50.3 million, or 4.2% in 2012 to $1.3 billion, reflecting a favorable shift in the deposit mix from higher-interest bearing time accounts to core deposits. Non-interest bearing deposits comprised 31.1% of total deposits at December 31, 2012.

• In a conscious effort to deploy excess liquidity, Bancorp grew the investment portfolio by $52.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2012 and $98.6 million in the year ended December 31, 2012 (primarily investment-grade municipal securities and corporate bonds).

• On January 17, 2013, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.18 per share. The cash dividend is payable to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 1, 2013 and will be payable on February 15, 2013.

"By funding a significant volume of new loans, increasing security purchases, and strategically running off higher-cost, non-relationship deposit accounts, we reduced our excess liquidity and managed our net interest margin," said Christina Cook, Chief Financial Officer. "The strong lending effort also increased the loan-to-deposit ratio from last quarter, reflecting improved utilization of our funding sources."

Loans and Credit Quality

Gross loans totaled $1.1 billion at December 31, 2012 and increased $60.2 million, or 5.9% over last quarter, and increased $42.8 million, or 4.2% over a year ago. The uncertainty of the current economic environment makes the predictability of loan growth for the industry difficult going forward. Non-performing loans totaled $17.7 million, or 1.64%, of Bancorp's loan portfolio at December 31, 2012, compared to $19.2 million, or 1.90%, at September 30, 2012 and $12.0 million, or 1.16%, a year ago. The decrease in non-performing loans from the prior quarter includes a $3.0 million construction loan that was paid off as expected in November 2012, which had been placed on non-accrual status in the preceding quarter. Accruing loans past due 30 to 89 days totaled $588 thousand at December 31, 2012, down from $2.1 million at September 30, 2012 and $7.4 million a year ago.

The provision for loan losses totaled $700 thousand in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to $2.1 million in the prior quarter and $2.5 million in the same quarter a year ago. The decreases in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to the prior quarter and same quarter a year ago are primarily due to fewer newly identified problem loans that have significant credit loss exposure. The provision for loan loss totaled $2.9 million and $7.1 million in 2012 and 2011, respectively.

The allowance for loan losses totaled 1.27% of loans at December 31, 2012, compared to 1.30% at September 30, 2012 and 1.42% at December 31, 2011. The decline from the prior quarter end primarily relates to a shift in the mix of loans towards those that have a lower reserve factor. The decline from prior year primarily relates to current year charge-offs of specific reserves established in 2011. Net charge-offs in the fourth quarter of 2012 totaled $178 thousand, compared to $2.4 million in the prior quarter and $1.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. Net charge-offs in 2012 totaled $3.9 million compared to $4.8 million in the prior year.

Deposits

Deposits totaled $1.3 billion at both December 31, 2012 and September 30, 2012, and increased $50.3 million, or 4.2% from $1.2 billion at December 31, 2011. The increase in deposits from the prior year primarily reflects increases of $35.0 million in transaction accounts, $30.1 million in non-interest bearing accounts, $17.8 million in savings accounts and $9.3 million in money market accounts, partially offset by decreases of $30.9 million in CDARS® time accounts and $10.9 million in other time accounts.

Earnings

Net interest income totaled $15.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2012, up from $14.9 million in the prior quarter and $15.7 million in the same quarter last year. The tax-equivalent net interest margin was 4.62%, 4.44% and 4.79% for those respective periods. The increase in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to the prior quarter primarily relates to a $1.0 million gain on the pay-off of a purchased-credit impaired loan.

Net interest income totaled $63.2 million and $63.8 million in 2012 and 2011, respectively. The tax-equivalent net interest margin was 4.74% in 2012 compared to 5.13% in 2011. The decreases in 2012 compared to 2011 primarily relate to a lower level of accretion on purchased loans. In addition, rate concessions and downward repricing on existing loans, as well as new loans yielding lower rates continue to negatively impact the loan yield. The decreases are partially offset by a reduction in the cost of interest-bearing liabilities, as the prior year reflects a $924 thousand pre-payment penalty on a Federal Home Loan Bank ("FHLB") advance in September 2011. Furthermore, the current year reflects the maturity of another FHLB advance in January 2012, as well as the downward repricing on deposits.

Key components of our net interest margin were as follows:

Accretion on PCI loans fluctuates based on changes in cash flows expected to be collected. For acquired loans not considered credit-impaired, the level of accretion varies due to maturities and early pay-offs of these loans. Gains on pay-offs of PCI loans are recorded as interest income when the pay-off amounts exceed the recorded investment.

Non-interest income in the fourth quarter of 2012 totaled $1.8 million and remained relatively consistent with the prior quarter and increased $292 thousand, or 19.2%, from the same quarter a year ago. The 2012 non-interest income totaled $7.1 million, an increase of $843 thousand, or 13.4% from last year. The increases in the year and fourth quarter of 2012 compared to the same periods a year ago primarily relate to higher merchant interchange income and service charges on deposit accounts.

Non-interest expense totaled $9.6 million in both the fourth quarter of 2012 and the prior quarter. Non-interest expense decreased from $9.7 million in the same quarter a year ago, which included a $683 thousand core deposit intangible asset write-off, partially offset by higher personnel costs in the fourth quarter of 2012. Non-interest expense totaled $38.7 million and $38.3 million in 2012 and 2011, respectively, representing a $411 thousand or 1.1% increase. The increase in the full year of 2012 compared to 2011 primarily reflects higher personnel costs associated with merit increases, and to a lesser extent, new hires in the lending and deposit services areas.

About Bank of Marin Bancorp

Bank of Marin, as the sole subsidiary of Bank of Marin Bancorp (NAS: BMRC) , is the premier community and business bank in Marin County with 17 offices in Marin, San Francisco, Napa and Sonoma counties. Bank of Marin offers business and personal banking, private banking and wealth management services, with a strong focus on supporting local businesses in the community. Incorporated in 1989, Bank of Marin has received the highest five star rating from Bauer Financial for more than thirteen years (www.bauerfinancial.com) and has been recognized for several years as one of the "Best Places to Work in the North Bay" by the North Bay Business Journal and one of the "Top Corporate Philanthropists" by the San Francisco Business Times. With assets exceeding $1.4 billion, Bank of Marin Bancorp is included in the Russell 2000 Small-Cap Index and has been recognized as a Top 200 Community Bank for the past five years by US Banker Magazine.

Forward Looking Statements

This release may contain certain forward-looking statements that are based on management's current expectations regarding economic, legislative, and regulatory issues that may impact Bancorp's earnings in future periods. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They often include the words "believe," "expect," "intend," "estimate" or words of similar meaning, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could" or "may." Factors that could cause future results to vary materially from current management expectations include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, the economic uncertainty in the United States and abroad, changes in interest rates, deposit flows, real estate values, expected future cash flows on acquired loans, and competition; changes in accounting principles, policies or guidelines; changes in legislation or regulation; and other economic, competitive, governmental, regulatory and technological factors affecting Bancorp's operations, pricing, products and services. These and other important factors are detailed in various securities law filings made periodically by Bancorp, copies of which are available from Bancorp without charge. Bancorp undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.