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February 19, 2021
Dear Fellow Marine Shareholders:
I am pleased to announce that despite the most challenging operating circumstances in memory, Marine Bancorp of Florida achieved record growth, earnings, and profitability in 2020. As a result of our continued positive financial performance, Marine Bank is rated 4-Stars, Excellent by Bauer Financial, the premier bank-rating organization.
2020 Financial Summary (revised 02/19/2021):
|
million $ |
Full year 2020 |
Full year 2019 |
% change |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Net Income |
2.967 |
1.614 |
84% |
|
Total Assets |
425 |
286 |
49% |
|
million $ |
|
|
|
|
Total Loans |
330 |
242 |
36% |
|
Total Deposits |
392 |
257 |
53% |
|
Total Checking + Now |
170 |
109 |
56% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Marine Bancorp Tangible Book Value Per Common Share |
$18.96 |
$16.68 |
13.7% |
|
Actual Earnings Per Share |
$2.16 |
$1.18 |
83% |
|
Earnings Per Share (December Annualized) |
$2.96 |
$1.40 |
111% |
|
Return on Shareholders’ Equity |
12.32% |
7.41% |
66% |
|
thousand $ |
|
|
|
|
Non-performing assets |
121 |
0 |
-- |
Financial Performance
Net income after tax in 2020 was $2,967,000, compared to $1,614,000 for 2019, an improvement of $1,353,000 or 84%.
The Company has experienced asset growth year over year with $425 million in total assets as of December 31, 2020, compared to $286 million at the close of 2019, an increase of $139 million or 49%.
Gross loans outstanding were $330 million as of December 31, 2020 compared to $242 million at the end of 2019, an increase of $88 million or 36%. This includes $49 million of the original $62 million in PPP loans originated in 2020. Loans are our most important earning asset and revenue source, so this loan growth helps drive the strong income performance.
Total deposits as of December 31, 2020 were $392 million as compared to $257 million at the end of 2019, an increase of $136 million or 53%. Most significantly, our checking accounts, highly valued as a no-and low-cost loan funding source, grew to $170 million as of December 31, 2020 from $109 million in 2019, a $61 million increase or 56%. This is a direct result of our focus on acquiring these accounts and our ability to offer all the high-tech conveniences of a big bank plus the personalized service for which we are well known.
For 2020, Return on Shareholders’ Equity (ROE) was 12.32% as compared to 7.41% for 2019, an increase of 66%. ROE is a key profitability ratio used to measure the Bank’s income that is earned on our shareholders’ equity; this measures how effectively Marine Bank is using your investment to generate profits.
For 2020, the actual earnings per share was $2.16 versus $1.18 for 2019, an increase of $.98 per share or 83%. On an annualized basis, earnings per share was $2.96 for December 2020, versus $1.40 for the same month in 2019, an increase of $1.56 per share, or 111%.
As a result of the financial success reported above, the common stock tangible book value of your company increased to $18.96 per share as of December 31, 2020, from $16.68 at the end of 2019, an increase of $2.28 per share, or 13.7%.
Our Strategy
Our success is the product of our focused efforts to not only grow the Bank but improve profitability by enhancing our customers’ experience. By soliciting new high-value prospects, while selling our value proposition rather than low prices and high rates, we have achieved a deeper wallet share with both existing and new customers. We have also benefited from being in an area with strong economic growth and a declining number of locally based banks, making Marine Bank the best choice.
Our People and Culture
As Marine Bank grows, and we add new employees, we have been very careful to maintain and enhance our employee culture. The goal is to create a workplace where employees want to come to work, excel at their jobs, meet and exceed customer expectations, make a difference in their community and be part of a winning team. To continue this critical effort, our employee theme for 2021 is “Being an Owner”. We will continue our efforts to teach employees to think like owners which is good for all our shareholders.
Covid-19
We are continuing Covid-19 safety protocols: a hand washing sink at the front door, teller transactions only in the drive-in, social distancing inside the buildings, requiring masks, clear shower curtains around the cubicles in the back office areas, UV lights in the air conditioning system and frequent deep cleaning with a non-toxic formula used to sterilize hospital operating rooms. This allows us to keep our doors open during regular business hours to serve customers while maximizing the safety of our customers and employees.
Bringing Capital to Our Community
During the spring and early summer, Marine Bank originated 790 SBA Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling $62 million dollars. Our team demonstrated a heroic response to meet this demand and ultimately funded eight weeks of payroll for some 6,500 employees. Their responsiveness and sincere commitment to secure relief for these small businesses motivated many non-Marine customers to become full relationship customers.
We have now begun the forgiveness phase of the PPP loan program and Marine Bank is processing forgiveness applications with more arriving daily. To date we have secured forgiveness for $20 million in PPP loans and we love calling borrowers to say, “Your loan has been forgiven!”
Simultaneous with the forgiveness applications we are processing new applications for PPP round three. The pace is much more controlled, and at this writing we have processed about 210 applications for $18.3 million funding some 1,984 jobs.
The Paycheck Protection Program loans were not the only loan trick last year. In 2020, we closed 166 new business loans for $55 million, to bring much needed capital to Main Street. Additionally, we closed 221 new residential loans for $61 million to assist our customers with buying new homes or lowering their existing loan rates. This is fabulous work by our Team on behalf of our community.
Credit Quality
We do not yet know how the entire banking industry’s loan quality may be negatively impacted by the ongoing pandemic-caused economic distress. Marine Bank entered the pandemic with the best credit quality in the Bank’s history and were able to offer four-month payment deferrals to all borrowers to help them cope with the government ordered shutdown of the economy. Eighty customers representing $39.6 million in loans took us up on this offer. I am pleased to report that all these customers are now back to making their normal payments. This is good news for both the Bank and our customers and is an indication of a return to economic normality.
Marine Bank has an $8.6 million exposure to the hardest hit industries: restaurants, travel, hospitality, day care and food manufacturing. This is 3% of total loans and 30% of capital. These borrowers are all performing and based on our conversations with them, we expect continued payment performance.
Thus far, we have not observed any significant credit portfolio concerns, but in anticipation of possible losses, we have added more than normal funds to the Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses (ALLL) which is a direct charge against earnings. For example, we funded $980,000 into the ALLL in 2020 vs. $256,000 in 2019. This increased our ALLL/gross loans ratio (excluding PPP loans) to 1.29% vs. 1.11% for the same time last year. We will continue to monitor the portfolio and take quick action as necessary to work with the customers while protecting the Bank’s asset quality.
New Services
We are continually investing in new products and services to make Banking with Marine easy. Earlier this year, we upgraded our mobile application to enable a full suite of account notifications. This allows our customers to temporarily lock a debit card and to place a variety of alerts on their account including low balance alert, payment alerts, debit card swipe alerts and more. Our customers tell us this enables them to better manage their accounts and prevent fraud.
Later this year, we will be upgrading our consumer and business online banking platforms. The new consumer system’s design is aesthetically pleasing and will have a similar look and feel as our mobile platform. The business online platform will have several new features that have been requested by our business customers. For the lending area we are installing new systems that will enable faster processing of both commercial and residential mortgage loans. The result will be faster approvals of your Marine Bank loan needs.
Annual Shareholder Meeting
The 2021 Annual Shareholder Meeting will be held on Wednesday April 28th at 4:30 p.m. Considering the ongoing pandemic, this will again be a virtual meeting. Please stay tuned for more details and you can always get updates on the MarineBank.bank website under Investor Relations.
Wealth Management
We are pleased to have Warren Capital Management as our strategic partner for wealth management. Warren Capital Management is led by Sue Tompkins, a local and highly skilled investment advisor. If you have not already done so, please contact us at (772) 231-8222 to set up an appointment to review your portfolio and investment goals.
Marine Stock Trading
Your Marine Bancorp of Florida stock is listed on the OTC market under the ticker symbol of MBOF. Mike Acampora of DA Davidson is our market maker. If you have an interest in buying or selling Marine stock, please contact Mike at 904-456-6153 or macampora@dadco.com.
What You Can Do
Please check Marine Bank’s Facebook and LinkedIn pages. They provide value-added banking and financial related information and news about your Bank. Your “likes” and “shares” are important so please follow us!
Remember to refer your friends, family members, business associates or someone you think will be a good customer of your Bank. Over the last three years, more than 99% of the respondents to our service survey said they would recommend Marine Bank to others, so you can be assured we will exceed their expectations.
2020 was a challenging year, and we are all glad it is now in the rearview mirror. However, it will also serve as a lasting demonstration of how our team, our customers and our community overcame insurmountable difficulties together and emerged stronger than before. Thank you for your support of Marine Bank and our Team. It is our goal to continue to enhance the value of your investment.
Sincerely yours,
William J. Penney
President, CEO & Chairman