Southeastern Bank Financial Corp., the holding company for Georgia Bank & Trust Company of Augusta, today reported quarterly net income of $4.87 million for the three months ended September 30, 2015, or $0.72 in diluted earnings per share, compared to $4.38 million, or $0.65 in diluted earnings per share, in the third quarter of 2014, an increase of 11.0 percent.

"We are pleased to report a quarterly increase in earnings over the year-ago period," said Ronald L. Thigpen, President and Chief Operating Officer. "Net interest income for the third quarter reflects both an improvement in total interest income and a reduction in total interest expense from the prior year quarter. Continuing improvement in credit quality allowed a lower provision for loan loss expense. Non-interest income reflected a 16.8 percent increase in gain on sale of loans from mortgage origination and increases in retail investment income and trust service fees. We had excellent growth in our balance sheet as we experienced solid deposit growth. Loan growth continues to remains lower than expected year to date and continues to be a major challenge. Overall, we continue to perform well reflecting an annualized 1.06 percent return on average assets and an annualized 11.69 percent return on average equity for the third quarter of 2015.”

Total assets at September 30, 2015, were $1.8 billion, an increase of $84.2 million or 4.9 percent from December 31, 2014. Total loans outstanding at the end of the third quarter were $962.4 million, a decrease of $3.9 million from December 31, 2014, and an increase of $19.9 million from June 30, 2015. Total deposits were $1.5 billion at September 30, 2015, an increase of $77.1 million from December 31, 2014, and an increase of $6.6 million from June 30, 2015. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $50.6 million at the end of the third quarter of 2015.

Net interest income for the third quarter of 2015 totaled $13.5 million, a 3.7 percent increase from $13.1 million for the same period in 2014. Noninterest income for the third quarter totaled $5.3 million, an increase from $5.2 million for the same period a year ago. Key increases were reflected from higher mortgage origination volume and increased retail investment income and trust service, partly offset by losses recognized in sales of investment securities. Noninterest expense was $11.6 million in the third quarter of 2015, an increase of 4.7 percent from a year ago primarily resulting from increased commission expense.

The net interest margin was 3.18 percent for the quarter-ended September 30, 2015, compared to 3.20 percent at December 31, 2014, and 3.16 percent for the same period a year ago. Annualized return on average assets (ROA) was 1.06 percent for the third quarter of 2015, an increase from 0.99 percent for the same period a year ago, and annualized return on average shareholder's equity (ROE) was 11.69 percent, a slight decrease from 11.74 percent from the third quarter of 2014.

Nonperforming assets at September 30, 2015, were 0.77 percent of total assets, compared to 1.26 percent at December 31, 2014, and 1.09 percent at September 30, 2014. Net charge-offs for the third quarter of 2015 totaled 0.56 percent of average loans on an annualized basis, compared to 0.43 percent annualized in the third quarter of 2014. The company held $360 thousand in OREO at September 30, 2015, compared to $1.1 million at December 31, 2014, and $1.4 million at September 30, 2014.

The company's loan loss provision expense was $132 thousand in the third quarter of 2015, compared to a credit of $2.7 million in the previous quarter, and $876 thousand in the third quarter a year ago. As noted in the second quarter earnings release, the $2.7 million credit in the previous quarter reflected the impact from a significant payoff and recovery. The allowance for loan losses at September 30, 2015, was $22.2 million, or 2.30 percent of loans outstanding, compared to $25.5 million, or 2.64 percent of loans outstanding, at December 31, 2014, and $26.7 million, or 2.79 percent of loans outstanding, at September 30, 2014.

"We are encouraged by the loan growth we experienced during the third quarter and the increasing pipeline for loans. We are also pleased with the increases in mortgage origination volume along with core deposit growth,” said Thigpen. "Our balance sheet remains strong and we look forward to supporting the needs of our customers. We remain excited about the growth prospects for the community related to the relocation of U. S. Army Cyber Command to Fort Gordon.”

On October 21, 2015, the company's Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share of common stock payable on November 20, 2015, to shareholders of record as of November 6, 2015.