Colony Bankcorp, Inc. today reported financial results for the first quarter of 2022. 

Financial Highlights:

• Net income increased to $5.3 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2022, compared to net income for the fourth quarter of 2021 of $4.2 million, or $0.30 per diluted share, and $4.9 million, or $0.52 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2021.

• Operating net income of $5.8 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2022 as compared to $5.5 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2021, and $5.0 million, or $0.53 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2021 (see Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures).

• $50,000 in provision for loan losses was recorded in first quarter of 2022.

• Total loans, excluding loans held for sale and loans that originated under the Paycheck Protection Program (the “PPP”), totaled $1.4 billion at March 31, 2022, an increase of $24.2 million, or 1.8% from the prior quarter.

• The Company announced a cost efficiency initiative that is expected to save $3.0 million per year starting in late third quarter 2022.

• Mortgage production was $97.2 million, with $23.9 million in refinances, and $70.0 million in purchases in the first quarter of 2022.

• Small Business Specialty Lending (“SBSL”) closed $5.8 million in Small Business Administration (“SBA”) loans and sold $13.5 million in SBA loans in the first quarter of 2022.

• In February of 2022, the Company issued and sold approximately 3.85 million shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering, with aggregate proceeds totaling approximately $63.5 million and net proceeds totaling approximately $59.3 million.

The Company also announced that on April 21, 2022, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.1075 per share, to be paid on its common stock on May 20, 2022, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 6, 2022. The Company had 17,586,333 shares of its common stock outstanding as of April 20, 2022.

Commenting on the announcement, Heath Fountain, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are happy to kick off 2022 with a successful first quarter, and we are also excited to partner with the new investors and existing shareholders that participated in our capital raise. The resulting increase in common equity continues to strengthen our ability to take advantage of the myriad of opportunities available to Colony.

“I am proud of the way our team handled the truly unprecedented changes in interest rates during the quarter. For Colony, the impacts of the volatility were primarily experienced in unrealized losses in securities driving a lower tangible book value per share and in lower mortgage revenues. Even during this volatility, our lending team was able to grow loan balances (excluding PPP forgiveness) at an over 7% annualized rate during the quarter. We remain comfortable with our expectations of 8-12% loan growth for 2022.

“Today, we are also announcing a new efficiency initiative. Our plan is to reduce our banking division workforce by 24 team members, or 6% of total workforce, which includes closing two branches (Soperton and Luthersville) subject to customary regulatory approvals. This effort will save approximately $3.0 million per year when completed (which is currently expected to be late in the third quarter of 2022), and we are projecting $2.0 million of expenses related to this initiative to be recognized in second quarter of 2022. We are targeting a bank level efficiency ratio of 60% over the next three years, and this will push us further down that road.

“We still have significant opportunities to grow earnings at Colony through merger activity, market dislocation due to other acquisitions, ancillary business line acquisition and additional production hires. We continue to optimize the existing platform to take advantage of these opportunities, and expect to continue our growth as Georgia’s pre-eminent community bank.

“We recently announced that our CFO, Tracie Youngblood is leaving the Company. I would like to personally thank Ms. Youngblood for her contributions to our success during her tenure. We could not have made the progress we have without her efforts. Further, I look forward to the contributions our new CFO, Andy Borrmann will make in his new role. During his brief tenure with us, he has demonstrated an ability to add significant value to the execution of our strategy. His significant experience and results focused mindset will benefit our team and our shareholders.”