Amalgamated Financial Corp. Reports Fourth Quarter 2024 Financial Results: Solid Loan Growth; Net Interest Margin Rises to 3.59%

Common Equity Tier 1 Capital Ratio of 13.90% | Tangible Common Equity Ratio of 8.41%

NEW YORK, Jan. 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Amalgamated Financial Corp. (the “Company” or “Amalgamated”) (Nasdaq: AMAL), the holding company for Amalgamated Bank (the “Bank”), today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2024.

Fourth Quarter 2024 Highlights (on a linked quarter basis)

• Net income of $24.5 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, compared to $27.9 million, or $0.90 per diluted share.
• Core net income¹ of $28.0 million, or $0.90 per diluted share, compared to $28.0 million, or $0.91 per diluted share.

Deposits and Liquidity (following the Election Cycle Conclusion)

• Total deposits decreased $414.0 million, or 5.5%, to $7.2 billion, including Bank initiated calls of above market rate Brokered CDs which totaled $102.1 million and brought Brokered CD balances to zero.
• Excluding Brokered CDs, on-balance sheet deposits decreased $311.9 million or 4.2% to $7.2 billion.
• Political deposits decreased $992.3 million to $969.6 million, resulting in an Election Cycle Conclusion balance of $326.0 million or 50.6% higher than the previous Election Cycle Conclusion balance from fourth quarter 2022.
• Off-balance sheet deposits peaked at $1.3 billion during the quarter. Election Cycle Conclusion off-balance sheet deposit balance was zero.
• Average cost of deposits excluding Brokered CDs, increased 1 basis point to 152 basis points, where non-interest-bearing deposits comprised 40% of total deposits.
• Cash and borrowing capacity totaled $2.7 billion (immediately available) plus unpledged securities (two-day availability) of $441 million for total liquidity within two-days of $3.2 billion (86% of total uninsured deposits).

Margin and Assets

• Net interest margin expanded 8 basis points to 3.59%.
• Net interest income grew $1.0 million, or 1.4%, to $73.1 million.
• Net loans receivable increased $126.4 million, or 2.8%, to $4.6 billion.
• Net loans receivable increased $167.6 million or 3.8%, excluding $36.0 million of predominantly low-yielding performing residential loans moved to held-for-sale.
• Total multifamily and commercial real estate loan portfolio of $1.8 billion had concentration of 201% to total risk based capital.
• Total PACE assessments grew $17.9 million, or 1.5% to $1.2 billion.

Capital and Returns

• Tier 1 leverage ratio grew by 43 basis points to 9.06% and the Common Equity Tier 1 ratio was 13.90%
• Tangible common equity¹ ratio of 8.41%, representing a ninth consecutive quarter of improvement.
• Tangible book value per share¹ increased $0.31, or 1.4%, to $22.60.
• Strong core return on average tangible common equity¹ of 16.13% and core return on average assets¹ of 1.34%.

Share Repurchase

• Repurchased approximately 25,000 shares, or $0.8 million of common stock under the Company’s $40 million share repurchase program announced in the first quarter of 2022, with $18.7 million of remaining capacity.

Full Year 2024 Highlights (from year end 2023)

• Net income of $106.4 million, or $3.44 per diluted share, compared to $88.0 million, or $2.86 per diluted share, an increase of 20.9%.
• Core net income¹ was $107.8 million, or $3.48 per diluted share, as compared to $90.5 million, or $2.94 per diluted share, an increase of 19.1%.
• Total deposits, excluding Brokered CDs increased by $410.8 million, or 6.1% to $7.2 billion.
• Net loans receivable increased $354.1 million or 8.3%, excluding $76.8 million of predominantly low-yielding performing residential loans either sold or moved to held-for-sale.
• Total PACE assessments increased $66.0 million, or 5.8%, to $1.2 billion.
• Net interest income increased $21.1 million or 8.1%, to $282.4 million compared to $261.3 million.
• Nonperforming assets were stable, decreasing 12 basis points to $25.9 million or 0.31% of total assets.
• Classified or criticized assets improved by 42 basis points to 2.06% of total loans.
• Tangible book value per share increased $3.87, or 20.6%, to $22.60 from $18.74.

Priscilla Sims Brown, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Our fourth quarter was outstanding, particularly when considering it was an Election Cycle Conclusion quarter. Historically, an Election Cycle Conclusion quarter is one where we see the most pressure on our business due to political deposit outflows and yet in this cycle we performed substantially better across all our key metrics. We enter the new year in an envious position and ready to take advantage of the many opportunities we see to drive value for all our stakeholders.”

Fourth Quarter Earnings

Net income was $24.5 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, compared to $27.9 million, or $0.90 per diluted share, for the prior quarter. The $3.4 million decrease during the quarter was primarily driven by a $6.7 million decrease in non-core ICS One Way Sell fee income from the off-balance sheet deposit strategy, offset by a $1.0 million increase in net interest income, a $1.6 million decrease in losses on securities sales, and a $1.7 million decrease in income tax expense.

Core net income¹ was $28.0 million, or $0.90 per diluted share, compared to $28.0 million, or $0.91 per diluted share, for the prior quarter. Excluded from core net income, pre-tax, was a $4.1 million reduction in fair value on a pool of lower yielding performing residential loans moved to held for sale, $1.3 million of ICS One-Way Sell fee income, $1.0 million of losses on the sale of securities, and $0.9 million of accelerated depreciation from our solar tax equity investments. Excluded from the prior quarter, pre-tax, was $8.1 million of ICS One-Way Sell fee income, a $4.3 million reduction in fair value on a pool of lower yielding performing residential loans moved to held for sale, $3.2 million of losses on the sale of securities, $1.1 million of accelerated depreciation from solar tax equity investments, $0.7 million of gains on subordinated debt repurchases, and $0.2 million in severance costs.

Net interest income was $73.1 million compared to $72.1 million for the prior quarter. Loan interest income increased $3.9 million, and loan yields increased 21 basis points mainly as a result of a $126.2 million increase in average loan balances, as well as the recognition of a discrete $1.3 million acceleration of deferred costs on certain loans in the prior quarter. Adjusted for this discrete item, loan interest income increased by $2.6 million in the quarter. Interest income on securities decreased $2.0 million driven by a 13 basis point decrease in securities yield related to interest rate resets as well as a decrease in the average balance of securities of $75.2 million. Interest expense on total interest-bearing deposits decreased $1.5 million driven primarily by a 39 basis point decrease in cost, despite an increase in the average balance of total interest-bearing deposits of $342.2 million. The decrease in cost was primarily related to repricing on money market products and select non-time deposit accounts in tandem with Federal Reserve rate decisions. The increase in average balance was the result of managing $1.1 billion of off-balance sheet deposits to offset expected political deposit outflow. Additionally, the Bank initiated calls of above market rate Brokered CD’s which totaled $102.1 million early in the current quarter.

Net interest margin was 3.59%, an increase of 8 basis points from 3.51% in the prior quarter. As noted above, there was one discrete item that affected the third quarter margin. Excluding this discrete item, net interest margin improved 2 basis points from the prior quarter. Additionally, income from prepayment penalties had a one basis point impact on net interest margin in the current quarter, while there was no impact in the prior quarter.

Provision for credit losses totaled an expense of $3.7 million compared to an expense of $1.8 million in the prior quarter. The expense in the quarter was primarily driven by charge-offs on consumer solar and small business portfolios, a $0.5 million charge-off in connection with the note sale of one non-performing multifamily loan, and increases to specific reserves on loans that are individually analyzed, partially offset by updates to CECL model assumptions.

Non-interest income was $4.8 million, compared to $8.9 million in the prior quarter. Excluding all non-core income adjustments noted above, core non-interest income¹ was $9.5 million, compared to $8.8 million in the prior quarter. The increase was primarily related to commercial banking fees, fees from treasury investment services, and modestly higher income from the trust business.

Non-interest expense was $41.1 million, an increase of $0.2 million from the prior quarter. Core non-interest expense¹ was $41.1 million, an increase of $0.4 million from the prior quarter. This was mainly driven by a $0.9 million increase in compensation and employee benefits expense mainly related to corporate performance accruals, as well as higher data processing expense related to the digital initiatives that began in the current quarter and are expected to continue in 2025. The already strong core efficiency ratio improved to 49.82% during the quarter.

The provision for income tax expense was $8.6 million, compared to $10.3 million for prior quarter. The effective tax rate for the quarter is 25.9%, compared to 26.9% for the prior quarter. The decrease in the tax rate during the quarter was the result of discrete tax items which resulted in a tax benefit. Excluding these discrete items, the tax rate would have been 26.6%.

Balance Sheet Quarterly Summary

Total assets were $8.3 billion compared to $8.4 billion at September 30, 2024, in keeping with the neutral balance sheet strategy. Notable changes within individual balance sheet line items include a $88.5 million decrease in cash and cash equivalents, a $163.6 million decrease in securities mainly to fund loan originations, and a $126.4 million increase in net loans receivable. On the liabilities side, deposits excluding Brokered CDs decreased by $311.9 million. During the quarter, the Bank initiated calls on all $102.1 million of Brokered CDs that were above market rate. Additionally, $250.7 million of short-term borrowings were utilized to fund deposit runoff late in the quarter mainly related to nonprofit clients making end of year contributions in response to the election as well as regular union pension outflows. The average balance of short-term borrowings in the quarter was $31.6 million.

Total net loans receivable were $4.6 billion, an increase of $126.4 million, or 2.8% for the quarter. The increase in loans was primarily driven by a $117.1 million increase in commercial and industrial loans and a $60.2 million increase in multifamily loans, partially offset by a $3.7 million decrease in the commercial real estate portfolio, a $9.0 million decrease in consumer solar loans, and a $36.7 million decrease in residential loans, primarily due to the noted loan pool sale. During the quarter, criticized or classified loans increased $7.3 million largely related to the downgrades of four commercial and industrial loans totaling $32.7 million and one $5.4 million multifamily loan to substandard and accruing, as well as an additional $0.9 million of small business loans. This was offset by upgrades and payoffs of five commercial and industrial loans totaling $14.7 million, the upgrade of one $7.9 million multifamily loan and one $4.0 million commercial real estate loan, a $2.3 million multifamily loan note sale resulting in a partial charge-off, the charge-off of one $0.4 million commercial and industrial loan, and the charge-off of six additional small business loans totaling $1.0 million.

Total deposits were $7.2 billion, a decrease of $414.0 million, or 5.5%, during the quarter. Total deposits excluding Brokered CDs decreased by $311.9 million to $7.2 billion, or a 4.2% decrease. Most notably, deposits held by politically active customers, such as campaigns, PACs, advocacy-based organizations, and state and national party committees were $1.0 billion as of December 31, 2024, a decrease of $992.3 million during this quarter. Non-interest-bearing deposits represented 44% of average total deposits and 40% of ending total deposits for the quarter, contributing to an average cost of total deposits of 153 basis points. Super-core deposits totaled approximately $3.8 billion, had a weighted average life of 18 years, and comprised 54% of total deposits. Total uninsured deposits were $3.7 billion, comprising 52% of total deposits, down from 59% of total deposits in the third quarter.

Nonperforming assets totaled $25.9 million, or 0.31% of period-end total assets, a decrease of $2.7 million, compared with $28.6 million, or 0.34% on a linked quarter basis. The decrease in nonperforming assets was primarily driven by a $1.0 million decrease in commercial and industrial nonaccrual loans from a payoff of one nonaccrual loan and charge-offs of two small business loans.

During the quarter, the allowance for credit losses on loans decreased $1.4 million to $60.1 million. The ratio of allowance to total loans was 1.29%, a decrease of 6 basis points from 1.35% in the third quarter of 2024. The decrease was primarily related to coverage ratio reductions on the multifamily and residential loan portfolios as annually updated assumptions used in the allowance for credit loss model resulted in lower required reserves. The multifamily portfolio reflected stronger forward performance expectations as certain loans repriced or exited the portfolio. Additionally, the composition of the residential portfolio reflected stronger collateral values and borrower profiles.

Capital Quarterly Summary

As of December 31, 2024, Common Equity Tier 1 Capital ratio was 13.90%, Total Risk-Based Capital ratio was 16.26%, and Tier-1 Leverage Capital ratio was 9.06%, compared to 13.82%, 16.25% and 8.63%, respectively, as of September 30, 2024. Stockholders’ equity at December 31, 2024 was $707.7 million, an increase of $9.4 million during the quarter. The increase in stockholders’ equity was primarily driven by $24.5 million of net income for the quarter offset by $3.7 million in dividends paid at $0.12 per outstanding share, $0.8 million of common stock repurchases, and a $11.9 million decline in accumulated other comprehensive loss primarily due to the tax effected mark-to-market on the available for sale securities portfolio.

Tangible book value per share was $22.60 as of December 31, 2024 compared to $22.29 as of September 30, 2024. Tangible common equity improved to 8.41% of tangible assets, compared to 8.14% as of September 30, 2024.

Conference Call

As previously announced, Amalgamated Financial Corp. will host a conference call to discuss its fourth quarter and full year results today, January 23, 2025 at 11:00am (Eastern Time). The conference call can be accessed by dialing 1-877-407-9716 (domestic) or 1-201-493-6779 (international) and asking for the Amalgamated Financial Corp. Fourth Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. A telephonic replay will be available approximately two hours after the call and can be accessed by dialing 1-844-512-2921, or for international callers 1-412-317-6671 and providing the access code 13743057. The telephonic replay will be available until January 30, 2025.

Interested investors and other parties may also listen to a simultaneous webcast of the conference call by logging onto the investor relations section of our website at http://ir.amalgamatedbank.com/. The online replay will remain available for a limited time beginning immediately following the call.

The presentation materials for the call can be accessed on the investor relations section of our website at https://ir.amalgamatedbank.com/.

About Amalgamated Financial Corp.

Amalgamated Financial Corp. is a Delaware public benefit corporation and a bank holding company engaged in commercial banking and financial services through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Amalgamated Bank. Amalgamated Bank is a New York-based full-service commercial bank and a chartered trust company with a combined network of five branches across New York City, Washington D.C., and San Francisco, and a commercial office in Boston. Amalgamated Bank was formed in 1923 as Amalgamated Bank of New York by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, one of the country’s oldest labor unions. Amalgamated Bank provides commercial banking and trust services nationally and offers a full range of products and services to both commercial and retail customers. Amalgamated Bank is a proud member of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values and is a certified B Corporation®. As of December 31, 2024, total assets were $8.3 billion, total net loans were $4.6 billion, and total deposits were $7.2 billion. Additionally, as of December 31, 2024, trust business held $35.0 billion in assets under custody and $14.6 billion in assets under management.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This release (and the accompanying financial information and tables) refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures including, without limitation, “Core operating revenue,” “Core non-interest expense,” “Core non-interest income,” “Core net income,” “Tangible common equity,” “Average tangible common equity,” “Core return on average assets,” “Core return on average tangible common equity,” and “Core efficiency ratio.”

Management utilizes this information to compare the operating performance for December 31, 2024 versus certain periods in 2024 and 2023 and to prepare internal projections. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures facilitate making period-to-period comparisons and are meaningful indications of operating performance. In addition, because intangible assets such as goodwill and other discrete items unrelated to the core business, which are excluded, vary extensively from company to company, we believe that the presentation of this information allows investors to more easily compare the results to those of other companies.

The presentation of non-GAAP financial information, however, is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for GAAP financial measures. We strongly encourage readers to review the GAAP financial measures included in this release and not to place undue reliance upon any single financial measure. In addition, because non-GAAP financial measures are not standardized, it may not be possible to compare the non-GAAP financial measures presented in this release with other companies’ non-GAAP financial measures having the same or similar names. Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial disclosures to comparable GAAP measures found in this release are set forth in the final pages of this release and also may be viewed on our website, amalgamatedbank.com.

Terminology

Certain terms used in this release are defined as follows:

“Core efficiency ratio” is defined as “Core non-interest expense” divided by “Core operating revenue.” We believe the most directly comparable performance ratio derived from GAAP financial measures is an efficiency ratio calculated by dividing total non-interest expense by the sum of net interest income and total non-interest income.

“Core net income” is defined as net income after tax excluding gains and losses on sales of securities, ICS One-Way Sell fee income, changes in fair value on loans held-for-sale, gains on the sale of owned property, costs related to branch closures, restructuring/severance costs, acquisition costs, tax credits and accelerated depreciation on solar equity investments, and taxes on notable pre-tax items. We believe the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is net income.

“Core non-interest expense” is defined as total non-interest expense excluding costs related to branch closures, restructuring/severance, and acquisitions. We believe the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is total non-interest expense.

“Core non-interest income” is defined as total non-interest income excluding gains and losses on sales of securities, ICS One-Way Sell fee income, changes in fair value on loans held-for-sale, gains on the sale of owned property, and tax credits and accelerated depreciation on solar equity investments. We believe the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is non-interest income.

“Core operating revenue” is defined as total net interest income plus “core non-interest income”. We believe the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is the total of net interest income and non-interest income.

“Core return on average assets” is defined as “Core net income” divided by average total assets. We believe the most directly comparable performance ratio derived from GAAP financial measures is return on average assets calculated by dividing net income by average total assets.

“Core return on average tangible common equity” is defined as “Core net income” divided by average “tangible common equity.” We believe the most directly comparable performance ratio derived from GAAP financial measures is return on average equity calculated by dividing net income by average total stockholders’ equity.

“Super-core deposits” are defined as total deposits from commercial and consumer customers, with a relationship length of greater than 5 years. We believe the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is total deposits.

“Tangible assets” are defined as total assets excluding, as applicable, goodwill and core deposit intangibles. We believe the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is total assets.

“Tangible common equity”, and “Tangible book value” are defined as stockholders’ equity excluding, as applicable, minority interests, preferred stock, goodwill and core deposit intangibles. We believe that the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is total stockholders’ equity.

“Traditional securities portfolio” is defined as total investment securities excluding PACE assessments. We believe the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is total investment securities.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements included in this release that are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified through the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “anticipate,” “aspire,” “should,” “would,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “expect,” “estimate,” “continue,” “in the future,” “may” and “intend,” as well as other similar words and expressions of the future. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, any or all of which could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to:

1. uncertain conditions in the banking industry and in national, regional and local economies in our core markets, which may have an adverse impact on our business, operations and financial performance;
2. deterioration in the financial condition of borrowers resulting in significant increases in credit losses and provisions for those losses;
3. deposit outflows and subsequent declines in liquidity caused by factors that could include lack of confidence in the banking system, a deterioration in market conditions or the financial condition of depositors;
4. changes in our deposits, including an increase in uninsured deposits;
5. our ability to maintain sufficient liquidity to meet our deposit and debt obligations as they come due, which may require that we sell investment securities at a loss, negatively impacting our net income, earnings and capital;
6. unfavorable conditions in the capital markets, which may cause declines in our stock price and the value of our investments;
7. negative economic and political conditions that adversely affect the general economy, housing prices, the real estate market, the job market, consumer confidence, the financial condition of our borrowers and consumer spending habits, which may affect, among other things, the level of non-performing assets, charge-offs and provision expense;
8. fluctuations or unanticipated changes in the interest rate environment including changes in net interest margin or changes in the yield curve that affect investments, loans or deposits;
9. the general decline in the real estate and lending markets, particularly in commercial real estate in our market areas, and the effects of the enactment of or changes to rent-control and other similar regulations on multi-family housing;
10. changes in legislation, regulation, public policies, or administrative practices impacting the banking industry, including increased minimum capital requirements and other regulation in the aftermath of recent bank failures;
11. the outcome of legal or regulatory proceedings that may be instituted against us;
12. our inability to achieve organic loan and deposit growth and the composition of that growth;
13. the composition of our loan portfolio, including any concentration in industries or sectors that may experience unanticipated or anticipated adverse conditions greater than other industries or sectors in the national or local economies in which we operate;
14. inaccuracy of the assumptions and estimates we make and policies that we implement in establishing our allowance for credit losses;
15. changes in loan underwriting, credit review or loss reserve policies associated with economic conditions, examination conclusions, or regulatory developments;
16. any matter that would cause us to conclude that there was impairment of any asset, including intangible assets;
17. limitations on our ability to declare and pay dividends;
18. the impact of competition with other financial institutions, including pricing pressures and the resulting impact on our results, including as a result of compression to net interest margin;
19. increased competition for experienced members of the workforce including executives in the banking industry;
20. a failure in or breach of our operational or security systems or infrastructure, or those of third party vendors or other service providers, including as a result of unauthorized access, computer viruses, phishing schemes, spam attacks, human error, natural disasters, power loss and other security breaches;
21. increased regulatory scrutiny and exposure from the use of “big data” techniques, machine learning, and artificial intelligence;
22. a downgrade in our credit rating;
23. “greenwashing claims” against us and our Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) products and increased scrutiny and political opposition to ESG and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (“DEI”) practices;
24. any unanticipated or greater than anticipated adverse conditions (including the possibility of earthquakes, wildfires, and other natural disasters) affecting the markets in which we operate;
25. physical and transitional risks related to climate change as they impact our business and the businesses that we finance;
26. future repurchase of our shares through our common stock repurchase program; and
27. descriptions of assumptions underlying or relating to any of the foregoing.

Additional factors which could affect the forward-looking statements can be found in our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC and available on the SEC’s website at https://www.sec.gov/. We disclaim any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this release, which speak only as of the date hereof, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Investor Contact:
Jamie Lillis
Solebury Strategic Communications
[email protected]
800-895-4172

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Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The information provided below presents a reconciliation of each of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

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¹ Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP measure are set forth on the last page of the financial information accompanying this press release and may also be found on our website, www.amalgamatedbank.com.