TrustCo Announces Fourth Quarter Net Income Up 26%

GLENVILLE, NY, Jan 23, 2012 (CRWENEWSWIRE) — TrustCo Bank Corp NY (TrustCo) (Nasdaq:TRST) today announced net income for the fourth quarter of 2011 of $8.7 million, up 26.2% over the prior-year period and equal to diluted earnings per share of $0.093, compared to net income of $6.9 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.090 for the fourth quarter of 2010. Fourth quarter 2011 per share results include the full quarter effect of the common stock offering completed on July 6, 2011.

On a pre-tax basis, earnings were up 40.6% from $10.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2010 to $14.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. The fourth quarter of 2011 also saw continued core balance sheet growth. Robert J. McCormick, President and Chief Executive Officer noted, “We are pleased that the fourth quarter resulted in solid earnings gains and continued core loan and deposit growth. 2011 was an important year for TrustCo, marked by improved profits, continued balance sheet growth, lower non-performing assets and the addition of new capital that proactively addresses capital requirements and positions us for growth in 2012 and beyond. We look forward to the new year with optimism as our internal trends remain positive. The banking industry continues to face challenges, but the progress TrustCo has made this year has been significant.” Return on average equity and return on average assets were 10.15% and 0.83%, respectively, for the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to 10.49% and 0.71% for the fourth quarter of 2010. Increased capital from the common stock offering led to a lower return on average equity for the fourth quarter of 2011. The efficiency ratio improved to 46.68% for the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to 53.25% for the fourth quarter of 2010, due to a combination of revenue growth and tight control of core operating expenses.

For the full year 2011 net income was $33.1 million and resulted in diluted earnings per share of $0.389, as compared to the full year 2010 net income of $29.3 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.381. Net income was up 12.8% from the full year 2010 to the full year 2011, and income before taxes was up 19.3%. Return on average equity and return on average assets were 11.04% and 0.81%, respectively, for the full year of 2011 and 11.48% and 0.77% for 2010. Full year results, including per share figures, include the impact of the additional equity only since the offering was completed.

Mr. McCormick also noted “We continue to see some signs of economic improvement in the markets in which we operate, although some core problems remain, particularly high levels of unemployment. We believe our long-term focus on traditional lending criteria and conservative balance sheet management has helped us avoid most aspects of the problems that have afflicted many banks in recent years, which has enabled us to maintain a strong balance sheet and continued profitability. As a result, we have been able to focus on conducting business, which has put us in a position to take advantage of the significant upheaval that customers of other banks have seen. We are particularly encouraged by the continued growth of our core loan and deposit portfolios.”

TrustCo continued to report solid growth in loans and deposits on a year-over-year basis. For the quarter ended December 31, 2011, average loans were up $147.3 million or 6.3% compared to the same period in 2010, while average deposits increased $196.0 million or 5.6% over the same period. One new office was added to the branch network, with 136 offices open at year-end. Mr. McCormick noted that, “We are pleased with the progress that we have made in growing loans and deposits through our recently completed branch expansion program but are mindful that fully achieving our goals will take time and continued hard work. We believe our success in growing customer relationships provides the basic building blocks that will help drive profit growth over the coming years.”

Nonperforming loans were $48.8 million as of December 31, 2011, approximately equal to the prior year and below the 2011 peak of $50.4 million at March 31, 2011. Nonperforming assets declined to $54.0 million at December 31, 2011, compared to $56.2 million at December 31, 2010. At December 31, 2011, nonperforming loans were equal to 1.93% of total loans, compared to 2.07% at December 31, 2010. Nonperforming assets to total assets fell to 1.27% at December 31, 2011, compared to 1.42% at December 31, 2010. The allowance for loan losses as a percentage of gross loans and as a multiple of net charge-offs remains strong. Reserves to total loans continued to improve, increasing from 1.78% at December 31, 2010 to 1.93% at December 31, 2011, and covered annualized fourth quarter net charge-offs by 3.7 times, compared to an annualized 2.4 times for the fourth quarter of 2010. The coverage ratio, or allowance for loan losses to nonperforming loans improved to 99.9% at December 31, 2011, compared to 85.9% at December 31, 2010.

Net interest margin for the fourth quarter of 2011 was 3.35%, down from 3.38% in the third quarter of 2011 and from 3.43% in the fourth quarter of 2010. The decline in the margin reflects the continued effect of the low rate environment on both the loan and investment portfolios, partly offset by lower deposit pricing.

Two items affected fourth quarter results relative to prior periods. Fourth quarter 2011 income tax expense was affected by a $450 thousand one-time item that increased the effective tax rate and is not expected to be repeated in 2012. This item reduced net income in both the three and twelve-month periods of 2011, thus reducing the increase in net income from the 2010 periods to the 2011 periods. The effective tax rate for the fourth quarter of 2011 was 40.3%, compared to 33.4% in the fourth quarter of 2010 and 35.9% in the third quarter of 2011. Fourth quarter 2011 results also included a reduction of $745 thousand in securities gains compared to the level recorded in the fourth quarter of 2010.

On July 6, 2011, the Company completed an offering of 15.6 million common shares, raising net proceeds of $67.6 million. The additional capital significantly improved the Company’s capital position. At December 31, 2011, the tangible equity ratio was 7.97% compared to 6.45% at December 31, 2010. Tangible book value per share also increased, from $3.31 per share to $3.62 per share over that period.

TrustCo Bank Corp NY is a $4.2 billion savings and loan holding company and through its subsidiary, Trustco Bank, operated 136 offices in New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Florida at December 31, 2011.

In addition, the Bank operates a full service Trust Department. The common shares of TrustCo are traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol TRST.

A conference call to discuss fourth quarter 2011 results will held at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time on January 24, 2012. Those wishing to participate in the call may dial toll-free 1-877-317-6789. International callers must dial + 1-412-317-6789. A replay of the call will be available until April 23, 2012 by dialing 1-877-344-7529 (1-412-317-0088 for international callers), Conference Number 10008723. The call will also be audio webcast at: https://services.choruscall.com/links/trst120124.html, and will be available until January 24, 2013.

Safe Harbor Statement

All statements in this news release that are not historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The “forward-looking statements” may include statements regarding future events or performance and statements regarding TrustCo’s ability to offer and sell securities under its shelf registration statement. Such forward-looking statements are subject to factors that could cause actual results to differ materially for TrustCo from those discussed. TrustCo wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The following important factors, among others, in some cases have affected and in the future could affect our actual results and could cause our actual financial performance to differ materially from that expressed in any forward-looking statement: credit risk, the effects of and changes in, trade, monetary and fiscal policies and laws, including interest rate policies of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, inflation, interest rates, market and monetary fluctuations, competition, the effect of changes in financial services laws and regulations (including laws concerning taxation, banking and securities), real estate and collateral values, changes in accounting policies and practices, as may be adopted by the bank regulatory agencies, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (”FASB”) or the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board; changes in local market areas and general business and economic trends and the matters described under the heading “Risk Factors” in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, as amended, and in our subsequent securities filings.

Source: TrustCo Bank Corp NY

Contact:

Kevin T. Timmons
Vice President/Treasurer
(518) 381-3607

Non-GAAP Financial Measures Reconciliation

Tangible book value per share and tangible equity as a percentage of tangible assets at period end are non-GAAP financial measures derived from GAAP-based amounts. We calculate tangible equity and tangible assets by excluding the balance of intangible assets from shareholders’ equity and total assets, respectively. We calculate tangible book value per share by dividing tangible equity by common shares outstanding, as compared to book value per common share, which we calculate by dividing shareholders’ equity by common shares outstanding. We calculate tangible equity as a percentage of tangible assets at period end by dividing tangible equity by tangible assets at period end. We believe that this is consistent with the treatment by bank regulatory agencies, which exclude intangible assets from the calculation of risk-based capital ratios.

The efficiency ratio is a non-GAAP measure of expense control relative to recurring revenue. We calculate the efficiency ratio by dividing total noninterest expenses as determined under GAAP, but excluding other real estate expense, net, which we refer to below as recurring expense, by net interest income (fully taxable equivalent) and total noninterest income as determined under GAAP, but excluding net gains on securities from this calculation, which we refer to below as recurring revenue. We believe that this provides one reasonable measure of core expenses relative to core revenue.

We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide information that is important to investors and that is useful in understanding our financial position, results and ratios. However, these non-GAAP financial measures are supplemental and are not a substitute for an analysis based on GAAP measures. As other companies may use different calculations for these measures, this presentation may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures reported by other companies. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures of tangible common equity, tangible book value per share and efficiency ratio to the underlying GAAP numbers is set forth below.

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