RUSTON, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Century Next Financial Corporation (OTCBB: CTUY), the holding company of Bank of Ruston with $132.1 million in assets, today announced financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2013.

Financial Performance

In the third quarter of 2013, Century Next Financial Corporation (the “Company”) had net income after tax of $302,000 compared to net income of $234,000 for the third quarter of 2012, an increase of $68,000 or 29.1%. For the nine months ended September 30, 2013, our net income was $591,000, an increase of $94,000 or 18.9%, over net income of $497,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2012. Earnings per share for the third quarter of 2013 were $0.31 per basic and diluted share compared to $0.24 per basic and diluted share reported in the third quarter of 2012. For the nine months ended September 30, 2013, earnings per share were $0.61 per basic and diluted share compared to $0.52 per basic and diluted share reported for the nine months ended September 30, 2012.

President & CEO William D. Hogan stated, “We are very pleased with the performance of our company and thankful to have the opportunity to serve the customers of Lincoln Parish and the surrounding areas. So far this year, we have experience tremendous loan growth while continuing to maintain both strong asset quality and capital. We are excited that Bank of Ruston increased its market share of deposits in Lincoln Parish to 10.7% at mid-year 2013, up from 9.7% in 2012. Bank of Ruston’s market share is now the second largest of ten FDIC-insured financial institutions in the Parish included in the most recent report.”

Balance Sheet

Overall, total assets increased by $11.5 million or 9.5% to $132.1 million at September 30, 2013 compared to $120.6 million at December 31, 2012. The increase in assets was primarily a result of increases in net loans of $14.0 million, debt and equity securities of $518,000, and other assets of $344,000 partially offset by a decrease in cash and cash equivalents of $3.4 million.

The largest component of assets, loans, net of deferred fees and costs and the allowance for loan losses, increased over the nine-month period ended September 30, 2013 by $14.0 million or 14.5% compared to December 31, 2012. Total net loans at September 30, 2013 were $110.4 million compared to $96.4 million at December 31, 2012. The growth was primarily the result of demand for commercial both real estate and business loans.

Total deposits at September 30, 2013 increased $5.5 million or 5.8% to $100.0 million compared to $94.6 million at December 31, 2012. Time and interest-bearing checking deposits were the growth areas mainly contributing to the increase in overall deposits.

Total short-term borrowings increased to $10.5 million at September 30, 2013 from $5.3 million at December 31, 2012, an increase of $5.2 million or 98.9%. This growth was primarily in Federal Home Loan Bank borrowings to help fund loan growth.

Income Statement

Net income was $302,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2013, a $68,000 or 29.1%, increase over net income of $234,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2012. For the nine months ended September 30, 2013, our net income was $591,000, an increase of $94,000 or 18.9%, over net income of $497,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2012.

Net interest income was $1.4 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2013 compared to $1.2 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2012. This was an increase of $150,000, or 12.3%. For the nine-month period ended September 30, 2013, net interest income was $4.0 million, which was a $513,000, or 14.6% increase over the $3.5 million for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2012. The increases for both the quarter and year-to-date periods were primarily from interest income earned from the increased loan volume. The Company also reduced overall interest expense.

The provision for loan losses amounted to $51,000 for the quarter ended September 30, 2013, compared to $30,000 in provision for the quarter ended September 30, 2012. For the nine-month period ended September 30, 2013, the provision for loan losses was $123,000 compared to $90,000 for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2012. The increases in loan loss provisions for the quarter and year-to-date periods as compared to the prior year periods is not a result of increased loss activity but more appropriately a result of increased risk awareness and identification to strengthen the allowance for loan losses.

Total non-interest income amounted to $290,000 for the quarter ended September 30, 2013 compared to $341,000 for the quarter ended September 30, 2012, a decrease of $51,000 or 15.0%. For the nine-month period ending September 30, 2013, total non-interest income was $727,000 compared to $867,000 for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2012, a decrease of $140,000 or 16.1%. The decrease was primarily from a reduction of income generated from mortgage activity due to increasing mortgage rates and a slowing of the refinancing cycle.

Total non-interest expense decreased by $17,000 or 1.4% to $1.19 million for the three months ended September 30, 2013, compared to $1.21 million for the three months ended September 30, 2012. For the nine-month period ending September 30, 2013, total non-interest expense increased by $214,000 or 6.0% to $3.8 million compared to $3.6 million for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2012. Although non-interest expense increased year over year on a year-to-date basis, the Company showed improvement in its efficiency ratio, a measure of expense as a percent of total income, to 79.6% for the nine months ended September 30, 2013 compared to 81.5% for the same period in 2012.

Capital

The Bank is required to maintain regulatory capital sufficient to meet tier-1 leverage, tier-1 risk-based and total risk-based capital ratios of at least 4.0%, 4.0% and 8.0%, respectively. At September 30, 2013, the Bank exceeded each of its capital requirements with ratios of 12.90%, 16.14% and 16.31%, respectively. Capital remains above peer group averages as of the most recent report at June 30, 2013.

Deregistration

On October 4, 2013, the Company filed Form 15 with the Securities and Exchange Commission to deregister its common stock from the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The action was taken to reduce legal, accounting and administrative costs associated with being a reporting company under the Exchange Act. Nevertheless, the common stock continues to be quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board (“OTCBB”) as long as the Company continues to file required regulatory filings with its primary regulator which is the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. This information will also be provided to the OTCBB as required. In addition, the Company plans to continue providing financial information to current and potential investors through periodic press releases and posting the information on its wholly-owned subsidiary’s, Bank of Ruston, website at www.bankruston.com under the Investor Relations section.

Additional Information

Century Next Financial Corporation is the holding company for Bank of Ruston (the “Bank”) which conducts business from its main office and full-service branch office, located in Ruston, Louisiana. The Company was formed in 2010 and is subject to the regulatory oversight of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary and is an insured federally-chartered stock savings association subject to the regulatory oversight of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Bank was established in 1905 and is headquartered in Ruston, Louisiana. The Bank is a full-service bank with two banking offices in Ruston. The Bank emphasizes professional and personal banking service directed primarily to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, and individuals. The Bank provides a full range of banking services including its primary business of real estate lending to residential and commercial customers.

Statements contained in this news release which are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They often include words like “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” and “intend” or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” or “may.” We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.