Horizon Bancorp, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter 2024 Results and Successful Execution of Several Key Strategic Initiatives

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind., Jan. 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — (NASDAQ GS: HBNC) – Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (“Horizon” or the “Company”), the parent company of Horizon Bank (the “Bank”), announced its unaudited financial results for the three months and year ended December 31, 2024.

“We are very pleased with Horizon’s fourth quarter results, which displayed a significantly more profitable core business model and the successful completion of several major initiatives aimed at continuing this positive trajectory throughout 2025. During the quarter, the team exited lower-yielding securities at a favorable time, and capitalized on the opportunity to redeploy this liquidity into higher yielding loans and to exit higher-cost funding. These actions, combined with an impressive 22.4% annualized growth rate in commercial loans, increased the margin by 31 basis points from the third quarter. Additionally, the team completed its previously communicated fourth quarter initiatives aimed at restructuring its expense base to create greater efficiency in 2025”, President and CEO, Thomas Prame said. “The core franchise continues to have strong momentum, and we are positioned well to create greater returns for our shareholders in 2025.”

Net loss for the three months ended December 31, 2024 was $10.9 million, or a loss of $0.25 per diluted share, compared to net income of $18.2 million, or $0.41, for the third quarter of 2024 and compared to a net loss of $25.2 million, or a loss of $0.58 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2023. Net income for the three months ended December 31, 2024 was negatively impacted by the $39.1 million pre-tax loss on the sale of investment securities, and expenses directly related to the previously announced strategic initiatives. Partially offsetting these items was the reversal of the $5.1 million tax valuation allowance, which served to reduce the Company’s tax liability in the fourth quarter of 2024. Net income for the three months ended December 31, 2023 was negatively impacted by the $31.6 million pre-tax loss on the sale of investment securities, tax expense of $8.6 million related to the termination of BOLI policies and the establishment of the tax valuation allowance.

Net income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 was $35.4 million or $0.80 per diluted share, compared to net income of $28.0 million, or $0.64, for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023.

Fourth Quarter 2024 Highlights

• Net interest income increased for the fifth consecutive quarter to $53.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024, compared to $46.9 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024. The net interest margin, on a fully taxable equivalent (“FTE”) basis¹, also expanded for the fifth consecutive quarter, to 2.97% compared with 2.66% for the three months ended September 30, 2024.

• As previously disclosed, the Company completed the repositioning of $332.2 million of available-for-sale securities during the fourth quarter. While the sale resulted in a pre-tax loss of $39.1 million, the Company redeployed the proceeds received into higher-yielding loans and continued to manage down higher cost funding sources.

• Total loans were $4.91 billion at December 31, 2024, up $108.6 million from September 30, 2024 balances. Consistent with the Company’s stated growth strategy, the commercial portfolio showed continued organic growth momentum during the quarter, which was offset with planned run-off of lower-yielding indirect auto loans in the consumer loan portfolio. Loans held for sale (“HFS”) increased $65.5 million as a result of the Company’s transfer of its mortgage warehouse loan balances of $64.8 million at December 31, 2024.

• Total deposits declined by $126.4 million during the quarter, to $5.60 billion at period end, with the majority of the decline in time deposits, which declined by $131.5 million. The Company’s non-maturity deposit base continued to display strength, growing for the third consecutive quarter, including another quarter of relatively stable non-interest bearing deposit balances and growth in core relationship consumer and commercial portfolios.

• Credit quality remained strong, with annualized net charge offs of 0.05% of average loans during the fourth quarter. Non-performing assets to total assets of 0.35% remains well within expected ranges, with no material change from the prior quarter. Provision for loan losses of $1.2 million reflects increased provision for unfunded commitments and net growth in commercial loans held for investment (“HFI”), partially offset by the elimination of the reserve associated with mortgage warehouse and the reduction of reserve related to the planned runoff of indirect auto in the current quarter, when compared with the prior quarter.

• Continued the process for the sale of the mortgage warehouse division during the quarter. Sold the business for a gain, effective January 17th, which will be recognized in Q1 2025 results.

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¹ Non-GAAP financial metric. See non-GAAP reconciliation included herein for the most directly comparable GAAP measure.

Income Statement Highlights

Net Interest Income

Net interest income was $53.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $46.9 million in the third quarter of 2024, driven by strong expansion of the Company’s net FTE interest margin, while average interest earning assets increased by $65.9 million, or 0.9% from the prior quarter. Horizon’s net FTE interest margin¹ was 2.97% for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to 2.66% for the third quarter of 2024, attributable to the favorable mix shift in average interest earning assets toward higher-yielding loans and in the average funding mix toward lower-cost deposit balances, in addition to disciplined pricing strategies on both sides of the balance sheet. The fourth quarter net FTE interest margin did benefit by approximately five basis points related to interest recoveries on specific commercial loans.

Provision for Credit Losses

During the fourth quarter of 2024, the Company recorded a provision for credit losses of $1.2 million. This compares to a provision for credit losses of $1.0 million during the third quarter of 2024, and $1.3 million during the fourth quarter of 2023. The increase in the provision for credit losses during the fourth quarter of 2024 when compared with the third quarter of 2024 was primarily attributable to increased provision for unfunded commitments and net growth in commercial loans, partially offset by the elimination of the reserve associated with mortgage warehouse balances moved to HFS and the reduction of reserve related to the planned runoff of indirect auto in the current quarter, when compared with the prior quarter.

For the fourth quarter of 2024, the allowance for credit losses included net charge-offs of $0.6 million, or an annualized 0.05% of average loans outstanding, compared to net charge-offs of $0.4 million, or an annualized 0.03% of average loans outstanding for the third quarter of 2024, and net charge-offs of $0.8 million, or an annualized 0.07% of average loans outstanding, in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The Company’s allowance for credit losses as a percentage of period-end loans HFI was 1.07% at December 31, 2024, compared to 1.10% at September 30, 2024 and 1.13% at December 31, 2023.

Non-Interest Income

Total non-interest loss was $29.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to non-interest income of $11.5 million in the third quarter of 2024. As previously disclosed, the Company completed the repositioning of $332.2 million of available-for-sale securities during the quarter resulting in a pre-tax loss on sale of investment securities of $39.1 million.

Non-Interest Expense

Total non-interest expense was $44.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared with $39.3 million in the third quarter of 2024. The increase in non-interest expense during the fourth quarter of 2024 was primarily driven by a $3.7 million increase in salaries and employee benefits expense, which is mainly attributable to the acceleration of stock compensation expense and the expenses related to the termination of a legacy benefits program, in addition to increased incentive compensation accruals and higher medical benefit claims expense. Outside services and consultants expense increased by $793 thousand related to direct expenses for strategic initiatives executed in the fourth quarter and additional expense accruals.

Income Taxes

Horizon recorded a net tax benefit for the fourth quarter of 2024, which is reflective of the reduction to full-year pre-tax income, attributable to the realized securities loss, and the reversal of the $5.1 million tax valuation allowance.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Total assets decreased by $126.3 million, or 1.6%, to $7.80 billion as of December 31, 2024, from $7.93 billion as of September 30, 2024. The decrease in total assets is primarily due to proceeds from the sale of investment securities being partially utilized to pay down higher-cost time deposits, as the remaining proceeds from the sale were either reinvested in commercial loans or held in interest-bearing cash accounts.

Total investment securities decreased by $328.2 million, or 13.5%, to $2.1 billion as of December 31, 2024, from $2.4 billion as of September 30, 2024. As previously disclosed, the Company sold $332.2 million in book value of available-for-sale securities during the fourth quarter at a loss of $39.1 million. There were no purchases of investment securities during the fourth quarter of 2024.

Total loans were $4.91 billion at December 31, 2024, up $108.6 million from September 30, 2024 balances. Consistent with the Company’s stated growth strategy, the commercial portfolio showed continued organic growth momentum during the quarter, which was offset with planned run-off of lower-yielding indirect auto loans in the consumer loan portfolio. Loans held for sale (“HFS”) increased $65.5 million as a result of the Company’s transfer of its mortgage warehouse loan balances of $64.8 million at December 31, 2024.

Total deposits decreased by $126.4 million, or 2.2%, to $5.6 billion as of December 31, 2024 when compared to balances as of September 30, 2024. Non-interest bearing deposits were relatively unchanged during the quarter, while savings and money market accounts grew by $25.9 million, or 0.8%. Time deposits declined by $131.5 million, or 10.8%, as the Company elected to use certain proceeds from the sale of investment securities to reduce higher-cost balances.

Total borrowings remained essentially unchanged during the quarter, at $1.1 billion as of December 31, 2024, while balances subject to repurchase agreements declined by $32.5 million, to $89.9 million.

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¹ Non-GAAP financial metric. See non-GAAP reconciliation included herein for the most directly comparable GAAP measure.

Capital

The following table presents the consolidated regulatory capital ratios of the Company for the previous three quarters, and the Company’s preliminary estimate of its consolidated regulatory capital ratios for the quarter ended December 31, 2024:

As of December 31, 2024, the ratio of total stockholders’ equity to total assets is 9.79%. Book value per common share was $17.46, increasing $0.19 during the fourth quarter of 2024.

Tangible common equity¹ totaled $598.1 million at December 31, 2024, and the ratio of tangible common equity to tangible assets¹ was 7.83% at December 31, 2024, up from 7.58% at September 30, 2024. Tangible book value, which excludes intangible assets from total equity, per common share¹ was $13.68, increasing $0.22 during the fourth quarter of 2024 behind the growth in retained earnings, excluding the securities loss that was previously in accumulated other comprehensive income, the recovery of the tax valuation allowance and a credit to additional paid-in capital from the closing out of the previously noted legacy benefits program.

Credit Quality

As of December 31, 2024, total non-accrual loans increased by $2.2 million, or 9%, from September 30, 2024, to 0.53% of total loans HFI. Total non-performing assets increased $1.8 million, or 7%, to $27.4 million, compared to $25.6 million as of September 30, 2024. The ratio of non-performing assets to total assets increased to 0.35% compared to 0.32% as of September 30, 2024.

As of December 31, 2024, net charge-offs increased by $243 thousand to $621 thousand, compared to $378 thousand as of September 30, 2024 and remain just 0.05% annualized of average loans.

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¹ Non-GAAP financial metric. See non-GAAP reconciliation included herein for the most directly comparable GAAP measure.

Earnings Conference Call

As previously announced, Horizon will host a conference call to review its fourth quarter financial results and operating performance.

Participants may access the live conference call on January 23, 2025 at 7:30 a.m. CT (8:30 a.m. ET) by dialing 833-974-2379 from the United States, 866-450-4696 from Canada or 1-412-317-5772 from international locations and requesting the “Horizon Bancorp Call.” Participants are asked to dial in approximately 10 minutes prior to the call.

A telephone replay of the call will be available approximately one hour after the end of the conference through February 1, 2025. The replay may be accessed by dialing 877-344-7529 from the United States, 855-669-9658 from Canada or 1–412–317-0088 from other international locations, and entering the access code 9847279.

About Horizon Bancorp, Inc.

Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ GS: HBNC) is the $7.8 billion-asset commercial bank holding company for Horizon Bank, which serves customers across diverse and economically attractive Midwestern markets through convenient digital and virtual tools, as well as its Indiana and Michigan branches. Horizon’s retail offerings include prime residential and other secured consumer lending to in-market customers, as well as a range of personal banking and wealth management solutions. Horizon also provides a comprehensive array of in-market business banking and treasury management services, as well as equipment financing solutions for customers regionally and nationally, with commercial lending representing over half of total loans. More information on Horizon, headquartered in Northwest Indiana’s Michigan City, is available at horizonbank.com and investor.horizonbank.com.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Certain information set forth in this press release refers to financial measures determined by methods other than in accordance with GAAP. Specifically, we have included non-GAAP financial measures relating to net income, diluted earnings per share, pre-tax, pre-provision net income, net interest margin, tangible stockholders’ equity and tangible book value per share, efficiency ratio, the return on average assets, the return on average common equity, and return on average tangible equity. In each case, we have identified special circumstances that we consider to be non-recurring and have excluded them. We believe that this shows the impact of such events as acquisition-related purchase accounting adjustments and swap termination fees, among others we have identified in our reconciliations. Horizon believes these non-GAAP financial measures are helpful to investors and provide a greater understanding of our business and financial results without giving effect to the purchase accounting impacts and one-time costs of acquisitions and non–recurring items. These measures are not necessarily comparable to similar measures that may be presented by other companies and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the related GAAP measure. See the tables and other information below and contained elsewhere in this press release for reconciliations of the non-GAAP information identified herein and its most comparable GAAP measures.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward–looking statements regarding the financial performance, business prospects, growth and operating strategies of Horizon Bancorp, Inc. and its affiliates (collectively, “Horizon”). For these statements, Horizon claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements in this press release should be considered in conjunction with the other information available about Horizon, including the information in the filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Forward-looking statements provide current expectations or forecasts of future events and are not guarantees of future performance. The forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. We have tried, wherever possible, to identify such statements by using words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “will” and similar expressions in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance.

Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially include: current financial conditions within the banking industry; changes in the level and volatility of interest rates, changes in spreads on earning assets and changes in interest bearing liabilities; increased interest rate sensitivity; the aggregate effects of elevated inflation levels in recent years; loss of key Horizon personnel; increases in disintermediation; potential loss of fee income, including interchange fees, as new and emerging alternative payment platforms take a greater market share of the payment systems; estimates of fair value of certain of Horizon’s assets and liabilities; changes in prepayment speeds, loan originations, credit losses, market values, collateral securing loans and other assets; changes in sources of liquidity; macroeconomic conditions and their impact on Horizon and its customers; legislative and regulatory actions and reforms; changes in accounting policies or procedures as may be adopted and required by regulatory agencies; litigation, regulatory enforcement, and legal compliance risk and costs; rapid technological developments and changes; cyber terrorism and data security breaches; the rising costs of cybersecurity; the ability of the U.S. federal government to manage federal debt limits; climate change and social justice initiatives; the inability to realize cost savings or revenues or to effectively implement integration plans and other consequences associated with mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures; acts of terrorism, war and global conflicts, such as the Russia and Ukraine conflict and the Israel and Hamas conflict; and supply chain disruptions and delays. These and additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements are discussed in Horizon’s reports (such as the Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K) filed with the SEC and available at the SEC’s website (www.sec.gov). Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward–looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Horizon does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to publicly release the result of any revisions that may be made to update any forward-looking statement to reflect the events or circumstances after the date on which the forward–looking statement is made, or reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except to the extent required by law.