Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend of $0.1075 Per Share

FITZGERALD, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Colony Bankcorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBAN) (“Colony” or the “Company”) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter of 2021 and for the year ended December 31, 2021. Financial highlights are shown below.

Financial Highlights:

• Net income was $4.2 million, or $0.30 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2021. Net income for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $18.7 million, or $1.66 per diluted share.

• Operating net income of $5.5 million, or $0.40 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2021 and $22.2 million, or $1.98 per diluted share for the year ended December 31, 2021. (see Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures).

• $50,000 in provision for loan losses was recorded in fourth quarter of 2021 and $700,000 was recorded for the full year of 2021.

• Total loans, excluding loans held for sale and PPP, totaled $1.3 billion at December 31, 2021, an increase of $36.6 million, or 2.8% from the prior quarter.

• Mortgage production was $99.5 million, with $26.2 million in refinances, and $73.3 million in purchases in the fourth quarter of 2021. Total mortgage production in 2021 was $405.0 million.

• Small Business Specialty Lending (“SBSL”) closed $41.6 million in Small Business Administration (“SBA”) loans and sold $24.3 million in SBA loans in the fourth quarter and closed $100.0 million and sold $58.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2021.

• Non-recurring charges of $600,000 related to efficiency efforts incurred in the fourth quarter of 2021.

• Losses on sales of securities of $200,000 were recognized in the fourth quarter of 2021. Underperforming securities were sold and higher yielding securities were purchased.

The Company also announced that on January 20, 2022, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.1075 per share, to be paid on its common stock on February 18, 2022, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 4, 2022. Outstanding shares as of January 20, 2022 were 13,741,848.

Commenting on the announcement, Heath Fountain, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “First, I would like to thank all of the Colony team members who were involved with the successful integration of the SouthCrest platform in November. These projects are critical to the success of any acquisition and our team dedicated the hours necessary to achieve the best outcome possible. As a result of these efforts, we are currently on track to achieve the efficiencies that were projected for this acquisition.

“Clearly COVID remains a big part of the economic picture, and while we continue to see accelerated loan repayments, our lending team was able to grow net loans over 11% annualized during the quarter which is within our stated goal of 8-12%. Our current expectations are that this level of loan growth should continue into 2022.

“We were also very pleased with the growth in core deposits during the quarter. The majority of the nearly $180 million increase from the third quarter balances occurred in the non-interest bearing and interest bearing deposit categories. While some of this growth was due to seasonally strong public funds deposits, the growth to the overall balance sheet will provide us an excellent base for potential future earnings.

“The Company continues to experience very mild credit losses and non-performing asset levels. Non-performing loans decreased primarily due to one large payoff and multiple smaller upgrades due to recent payment performance.

“Finally, we continue to 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.”

Balance Sheet

• Total assets were $2.7 billion at December 31, 2021, an increase of $927.7 million, or 52.6%, compared to the same period in 2020. The increase was primarily related to acquisition of SouthCrest Financial Group, Inc. (“SouthCrest”).

• Total loans, including loans held for sale, totaled $1.38 billion at December 31, 2021, an increase of $264.2 million, or 23.8% from the same period in 2020. Legacy loan growth was up $116.6 million or 13.4% compared to the same period in 2020. The increase in total loans was primarily the result of the acquisition of SouthCrest offset by the forgiveness of loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”).

• Total deposits totaled $2.4 billion at December 31, 2021, an increase of $929.6 million, or 64.3%, compared to the same period in 2020. The increase was in all types of deposits and was primarily the result of the acquisition of SouthCrest.

• Total borrowings at December 31, 2021 totaled $88.4 million, a decrease of $78.6 million, or 47.1%, compared to the same period in 2020.

Capital

• Colony continues to maintain a strong capital position, with ratios that exceed regulatory minimums required to be classified as “well-capitalized.”

• Preliminary tier one leverage ratio, tier one capital ratio, total risk-based capital ratio and common equity tier one capital ratio were 7.48%, 11.90%, 12.69%, and 10.46%, respectively, at December 31, 2021.

Fourth Quarter Results of Operations

• Net interest income, on a tax-equivalent basis, for the fourth quarter of 2021 totaled $19.2 million, compared to $15.2 million for the fourth quarter 2020. The increase during the quarter is primarily attributable to a full quarter of loan interest income related to loans acquired in the acquisition of SouthCrest.

• Net interest margin decreased 42 basis points from prior year fourth quarter of 2020 primarily driven by a decrease in deferred fee income recognized on PPP loans and a decrease in interest rates on loans and investments during 2021 offset by a decrease in rates paid on deposits.

• Noninterest income totaled $10.8 million for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2021, an increase of $2.8 million, or 34.5%, compared to the same period in 2020. The increase was primarily attributable to SBSL loan sales, Southcrest and insurance acquisitions, growth in interchange fee income and service charges on deposits offset by gain on the sale of assets that happened in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2021.

• Noninterest expense totaled $24.5 million for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2021, compared to $16.0 million for the same period in 2020. The increase in noninterest expense primarily resulted from a $3.9 million increase in salary expense and $1.4 million increase in acquisition expenses related to the acquisitions of SouthCrest and The Barnes Agency (“Barnes”).

Asset Quality

• Nonperforming assets totaled $5.8 million and $13.1 million at December 31, 2021 and September 30, 2021, respectively. Nonaccrual loans decreased $6.7 million due to loan payoffs and loans moved to accruing status that were properly performing.

• OREO and repossessed assets totaled $330,000 at December 31, 2021, a decrease of $480,000, or 59% compared to September 30, 2021, primarily related to sale of two OREO properties in the fourth quarter.

• Net recoveries on loans charged-off were $17,000, or (0.01)% of average loans for the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to net charge-offs of $144,000 or 0.05% for the third quarter of 2021.

• The loan loss reserve was $12.9 million, or 0.96% of total loans, at December 31, 2021, compared to $12.9 million, or 0.98% of total loans, at September 30, 2021.

Asset quality remains strong as indicated by the overall improvement in asset quality ratios as of the fourth quarter 2021.

About Colony Bankcorp

Colony Bankcorp, Inc. is the bank holding company for Colony Bank. Founded in 1975 and headquartered in Fitzgerald, Georgia, Colony operates 39 locations throughout Georgia. At Colony Bank, we offer a wide range of banking services including personal banking, business banking, mortgage solutions, government guaranteed lending solutions, and more. We have expanded our services to also include consumer insurance products, such as automotive, homeowners, and other insurance needs for our community. Colony’s common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “CBAN.” For more information, please visit www.colony.bank. You can also follow the Company on social media.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of, and subject to the protections of, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In addition, certain statements may be contained in the Company’s future filings with the SEC, in press releases, and in oral and written statements made by or with the approval of the Company that are not statements of historical fact and constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of, and subject to the protections of, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (i) projections and/or expectations of revenues, income or loss, earnings or loss per share, the payment or nonpayment of dividends, capital structure and other financial items; (ii) statement of plans and objectives of Colony Bankcorp, Inc. or its management or Board of Directors, including those relating to products or services; (iii) statements of future economic performance; (iv) statements regarding growth strategy, capital management, liquidity and funding, and future profitability; (v) statements regarding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and related variants on the Company’s business and financial results and conditions; (vi) statements relating to the timing, benefits, costs, and synergies of the recently completed acquisitions of SouthCrest (the “Merger”) and Barnes; and (vii) statements of assumptions underlying such statements. Words such as “believes,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “targeted” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements.

Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related variants on the Company’s assets, business, cash flows, financial condition, liquidity, prospects and results of operations; potential increases in the provision for loan losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and related variants; the Company’s ability to implement its various strategic and growth initiatives; competitive pressures among financial institutions increasing significantly; economic conditions, either nationally or locally, in areas in which the Company conducts operations being less favorable than expected; interest rate risk; legislation or regulatory changes which adversely affect the ability of the consolidated Company to conduct business combinations or new operations, including changes to statutes, regulations or regulatory policies or practices as a result of, or in response to, COVID-19 and related variants; adverse results from current or future litigation, regulatory examinations or other legal and/or regulatory actions, including as a result of the Company’s participation in and execution of government programs related to the COVID-19 pandemic and related variants; the risk that the cost savings and any revenue synergies from the Merger and the acquisition of Barnes may not be realized or take longer than anticipated; the risk of successful integration of SouthCrest’s and Barnes’ businesses into the Company; reputation risk and the reaction of each of the Company’s, SouthCrest’s and Barnes’ customers, suppliers, employees or other business partners to the Merger and the Barnes acquisition; the risk that the integration of SouthCrest’s operations into the operations of the Company will be materially delayed or will be more costly or difficult than expected; the timing and achievement of expected cost reductions following the Merger; the timing and achievement of the recovery of the reduction of tangible book value resulting from the Merger; the risks associated with the Company’s pursuit of future acquisitions; and general competitive, economic, political and market conditions or other unexpected factors or events. These and other factors, risks and uncertainties could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from the future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Many of these factors are beyond the Company’s ability to control or predict.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which such statements are made. These forward-looking statements are based upon information presently known to the Company’s management and are inherently subjective, uncertain and subject to change due to any number of risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, the risks and other factors set forth in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, under the captions “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors,” and in the Company’s quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

Explanation of Certain Unaudited Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The measures entitled operating net income; adjusted earnings per diluted share; tangible book value per common share; and operating efficiency ratio; are not measures recognized under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and therefore are considered non-GAAP financial measures. The most comparable GAAP measures are net income, diluted earnings per share, book value per common share, and efficiency ratio, respectively. Operating net income and operating efficiency ratio both exclude acquisition-related expenses. Adjusted earnings per diluted share includes the adjustments to operating net income. Tangible book value per common share excludes goodwill and other intangibles.

Management uses these non-GAAP financial measures in its analysis of the Company's performance and believes these presentations provide useful supplemental information, and a clearer understanding of the Company's performance, and if not provided would be requested by the investor community. The Company believes the non-GAAP measures enhance investors' understanding of the Company's business and performance. These measures are also useful in understanding performance trends and facilitate comparisons with the performance of other financial institutions. The limitations associated with operating measures are the risk that persons might disagree as to the appropriateness of items comprising these measures and that different companies might calculate these measures differently.

These disclosures should not be considered an alternative to GAAP. The computations of operating net income; adjusted earnings per diluted share; tangible book value per common share; and operating efficiency ratio and the reconciliation of these measures to net income, diluted earnings per share, book value per common share, efficiency ratio, are set forth in the table below.