OREANDA-NEWS. Northway Financial, Inc. (the “Company”) (OTCQB:NWYF), the parent company of Northway Bank (the “Bank”), today reported net income for the year ended December 31, 2017 of $7.3MM, or $2.64 per basic common share, compared to $4.0MM, or $1.46 per basic common share for the year ended December 31, 2016.

President and Chief Executive Officer William J. Woodward stated, “The Company had a very strong year, net income was very strong, stock price was up significantly, our levels of nonperforming loans are improved and in line with peers. As a result of this year’s performance, the Board of Directors has declared a semi-annual cash dividend of $0.35 per share, payable on February 20, 2018, to common stockholders of record on February 12, 2018.  The dividend is being increased from $0.32 per share to $0.35 per share, a 9.4% increase. The 2017 total dividend payment of $0.67 per share results in a 25% payout ratio based on net income available to common stockholders. Based on a share price of $31.08 on January 31, 2018, this semi-annual dividend, when annualized, results in a dividend yield of approximately 2.2%.”

Mr. Woodward went on to comment, “We are very pleased with the performance of the Company and we encourage you to read the Financial Highlights.  We look forward to providing you more detail in our 2017 Annual Report.”   

The Company’s common stock is available through brokers and is quoted on the OTCQB under the stock symbol “NWYF”.

Financial Highlights      

  • For the year ended December 31, 2017 Return on Average Assets was 0.82% and Return on Average Equity was 9.32%.
  • Total assets were $884MM, net loans were $565MM, and total deposits were $723MM at December 31, 2017.
  • Non-Maturity Deposits including Customer Repo Accounts increased $34MM or 5% when compared to December 31, 2016.
  • Net interest margin improved to 3.48% compared to 3.17% at December 31, 2016 with the yield on earning assets increasing 14 basis points to 3.84% and the cost of interest-bearing liabilities decreasing 20 basis points to .45%.
  • Noninterest expense was reduced $3.0MM year-over-year due to the one-time expense related to the termination of the defined benefit plan in 2016.
  • Regulatory capital ratios at December 31, 2017 were 10.45% Tier 1 Leverage, 16.66% Total Risk Based Capital, and 12.08% Common Equity Tier 1.
  • Nonperforming loans as a percentage of total loans stood at 0.52% at December 31, 2017 compared to 0.60% at December 31, 2016.
  • The market price of our common stock increased to $31.08 as of January 31, 2018, a 16% improvement from the end of 2016.