By Northwest—
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Northwest Bancshares, Inc., (the “Company”), (NasdaqGS: NWBI) announced net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 of $30.1 million, or $0.24 per diluted share. This represents a decrease of $5.0 million, or 14.3%, compared to the same quarter last year when net income was $35.1 million, or $0.28 per diluted share. The annualized returns on average shareholders’ equity and average assets for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 were 7.65% and 0.82% compared to 9.00% and 1.01% for the same quarter last year.
The Company also announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per share payable on February 14, 2022 to shareholders of record as of February 3, 2022. This is the 109th consecutive quarter in which the Company has paid a cash dividend. Based on the market value of the Company’s common stock as of December 31, 2021, this represents an annualized dividend yield of approximately 5.6%.
Ronald J. Seiffert, Chairman, President and CEO, added, “Earnings were enhanced this year due to the release of credit loss reserves throughout 2021 including this quarter. These reserves had been previously built up as a result of the uncertainties created by COVID-19. We are also very pleased that non-performing and classified assets as well as our delinquencies continued to trend downward in 2021 and that our expenses remained well-contained heading into 2022. Although yields stabilized in 2021, our net interest spread and net interest margin both declined due to our current excess liquidity position.”
Mr. Seiffert continued, “Our overall in-branch transaction volumes once again declined in 2021 as our customers continued to migrate towards our digital banking experience. As a result, we have decided to further optimize our branch network by consolidating 12% of our branch offices in April of 2022. This effort, coupled with other efficiency measures, generated $2.8 million in severance and restructuring costs in the fourth quarter with an additional $3.5 million expected to be recognized in the first quarter of 2022. This overall initiative is anticipated to generate approximately $8.0 million in annual operating expense savings beginning in the second quarter of 2022.”
Net interest income decreased by $6.2 million, or 6.1%, to $96.7 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, from $102.9 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2020, due to a $10.4 million, or 9.8%, decrease in interest income on loans receivable. The decrease in interest income on loans was due to a decrease of $616.7 million, or 5.8%, in the average balance of loans in addition to a reduction in the yield on loans to 3.79% for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 from 3.97% for the same quarter last year.
Partially offsetting this decrease was a decrease in interest expense on deposits of $2.4 million, or 36.0%, primarily due to a decrease in our cost of interest-bearing liabilities to 0.26% for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 from 0.38% for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 as market interest rates continued to decline over the past year. Partially offsetting the decline in deposit interest rates was growth in the average balance of interest-bearing liabilities of $266.9 million, or 2.9%. The net impact of these changes caused the Company’s net interest margin to decrease to 2.89% for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 from 3.26% for the same quarter last year.
The provision for credit losses experienced a net credit of $1.9 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, compared to a credit of $2.2 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2020. This credit to provision expense was primarily the result of improvements in the economic forecasts and our overall improvement in credit quality. Total classified loans decreased by $126.2 million, or 25.8%, to $363.2 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 from $489.3 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2020.
Noninterest income decreased by $5.1 million, or 15.8%, to $27.0 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 from $32.1 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2020. This decrease was primarily due to the decrease in mortgage banking income of $5.0 million, or 70.2%, to $2.1 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 from $7.1 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2020. This decrease in mortgage banking income reflects the continued impact of less favorable pricing in the secondary market. In addition, there was a decrease in insurance commission income of $2.0 million, or 100.0%. Partially offsetting these decreases was an increase in trust and brokerage income as growth in both customer accounts and market gains contributed to a $1.1 million, or 19.2%, increase over the prior year.
Noninterest expense decreased $6.6 million, or 7.1%, to $86.3 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, from $92.8 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2020. This decrease primarily resulted from a $4.4 million, or 61.1%, decrease in merger, asset disposition and restructuring expense to $2.8 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 from $7.2 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 due to both periods incurring expenses as part of branch optimization initiatives.
In addition, other expenses decreased $2.4 million, or 63.9%, to $1.3 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 from $3.7 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 primarily due to a reduction in the unfunded loan loss reserve associated with improving credit trends for construction loans and undrawn lines of credit in the current year. Slightly offsetting this decrease was an increase in processing expenses of $1.5 million, or 11.9%, to $13.6 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 from $12.2 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 as we continue to invest in technology and infrastructure and as activity driven utilization fees for online and mobile banking and loan origination platforms have increased.
Net income for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $154.3 million, or $1.21 per diluted share. This represents an increase of $79.5 million, or 106.2%, compared to the year ended December 31, 2020, when net income was $74.9 million, or $0.62 per diluted share. The annualized returns on average shareholders’ equity and average assets for the year ended December 31, 2021 were 9.91% and 1.08% compared to 4.72% and 0.58% for the prior year. This increase in net income was the result of a decrease in provision for credit losses of $95.9 million primarily as a result of releasing reserves built up in the prior year due to the uncertainties around the impact of COVID-19.
In addition, there was a $10.6 million, or 8.0%, increase in non-interest income largely due to the $25.3 million gain recognized on the sale of the insurance business in the second quarter of 2021, partially offset by a $15.5 million decrease in mortgage banking income which, as previously noted, is due to the impact of less favorable pricing in the secondary market. In addition, noninterest expense decreased $2.6 million, or 0.7%, primarily driven by acquisition and branch optimization costs in the prior year which were partially offset by MutualBank related increases in compensation as well as increased cost associated with our digital strategy rollout.
Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Northwest Bancshares, Inc. is the bank holding company of Northwest Bank. Founded in 1896 and headquartered in Warren, Pennsylvania, Northwest Bank is a full-service financial institution offering a complete line of business and personal banking products, employee benefits and wealth management services. As of December 31, 2021, Northwest operates 162 full-service community banking offices and eight free standing drive-through facilities in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and Indiana. Northwest Bancshares, Inc.’s common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (“NWBI”). Additional information regarding Northwest Bancshares, Inc. and Northwest Bank can be accessed on-line at www.northwest.com.
