GLENS FALLS, N.Y. (May 1, 2025) – Arrow Financial Corporation (NasdaqGS® – AROW) ("Arrow" or "the Company") announced financial results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2025. Reported net income for the first quarter of 2025 was $6.3 million and fully diluted earnings per share ("EPS") was $0.38, versus $4.5 million and EPS of $0.27 for the fourth quarter of 2024.
The Board of Directors of Arrow declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.28 per share payable May 23, 2025 to shareholders of record as of May 13, 2025.
The quarter was adversely impacted by the recognition of a specific reserve of $3.75 million ($0.17 per share) related to a $15 million commercial real estate loan participation secured by properties in two office parks in upstate New York, where Arrow is a 22% participant in a $67 million multi-bank lending facility as previously reported in a Form 8-K filed April 16, 2025.
This quarter's results also reflect approximately $0.6 million ($0.03 per share) of non-core unification costs related to Arrow’s planned July 2025 system conversion and operational merger of its two banking subsidiaries.
This Earnings Release and related commentary should be read in conjunction with the Company's May 1, 2025 Form 8-K and related First Quarter 2025 Investor Presentation, which can also be found on Arrow's website: arrowfinancial.com/documents/investor-presentations.
Arrow President and CEO David S. DeMarco:
"We delivered another quarter of strong margin expansion along with continued loan growth, further improving core profitability during these volatile economic times. We continue to execute on our strategic initiatives for continued growth, including expanding our Corporate Banking Team in the Capital Region of New York state. Our overall credit quality remains extremely strong, despite the recent development in one of our larger commercial credit exposures. We believe this to be an isolated incident as all credit metrics outside of this particular exposure are trending favorably. Furthermore, we are moving closer to finalizing our bank unification efforts to better serve our growing market and drive stronger operating performance under one brand."
First-Quarter Highlights and Key Metrics
- Net Income of $6.3 million (EPS of $0.38)
- Record Net Interest Income of $31.4 million
- Net Interest Margin improved to 3.07% (3.08% FTE1), up from 2.83% (2.85% FTE) in the prior quarter
- Deposit balances increased to $4.0 billion, resulting in a Loan-to-Deposit ratio of 86.1%
- Cost of interest-bearing deposits decreased by 23 bps in the quarter to 2.41%
- Year-to-date loan growth of approximately $22 million2 (2.5% annualized), despite an increase in loan pay-offs and sale activity
- Quarter-end loan exit rates increased to 5.45% at March 31, 2025 vs. 5.40% at December 31, 2024
- Tangible Book Value increased to $22.72
- Repurchased $3.4 million shares (128,047 shares at an average cost of $26.48 per share)
- Increased share repurchase authority by $5.0 million, resulting in a total of $6.6 million available
- Return on Average Assets (ROA) improved to 0.59%, up from 0.41% in the previous quarter
- Excluding the impact of the specific reserve and unification related expenses, ROA was 0.91%
1 FTE Net interest margin is a non-GAAP measure. See reconciliation on Note 3 to the Selected Quarterly Information.
2 Includes both $3.3 million fair value hedge adjustment at March 31, 2025 and $2.2 million fair value hedge adjustment at December 31, 2024.
Income Statement
- Net Income: Net income for the first quarter of 2025 was $6.3 million, increasing from $4.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2024.
- Compared to the prior quarter, net income benefited from an increase of $1.7 million in net interest income and an increase in non-interest income of $3.6 million, partially offset by an increase in the provision for credit losses of $2.2 million and a slight increase in non-interest expense of $207 thousand.
- Net Interest Income: Net interest income for the first quarter of 2025 was $31.4 million, increasing 5.6% from $29.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2024.
- Total interest and dividend income was $50.4 million for the first quarter of 2025, a decrease from $50.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. Interest expense for the first quarter of 2025 was $19.0 million, a decrease from $21.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2024. The decrease in interest expense from the prior quarter was driven primarily by active management of deposit rates, partially offset by changes in deposit composition.
- Net Interest Margin: Net interest margin, on an FTE basis, for the first quarter of 2025 increased to 3.08%, compared to 2.85% for the fourth quarter of 2024. The increase in net interest margin compared to the fourth quarter in 2024 was primarily the result of continued yield expansion on earning assets combined with the moderating cost of interest-bearing liabilities. Net interest margin is negatively affected by deposits continuing to migrate to higher cost products, such as money market savings and time deposits, while being positively impacted by repricing of higher cost time deposits.
| |
Three Months Ended |
| |
(Dollars in Thousands) |
| |
March 31, 2025 |
December 31, 2024 |
March 31, 2024 |
| Interest and Dividend Income |
$ 50,366 |
$ 50,901 |
$ 46,677 |
| Interest Expense |
19,009 |
21,214 |
20,222 |
| Net Interest Income |
31,357 |
29,687 |
26,455 |
| Average Earning Assets(A) |
4,143,939 |
4,167,039 |
4,085,398 |
| Average Interest-Bearing Liabilities |
3,184,196 |
3,185,215 |
3,108,093 |
| |
|
|
|
| Yield on Earning Assets(A) |
4.93% |
4.86% |
4.60% |
| Cost of Interest-Bearing Liabilities |
2.42 |
2.65 |
2.62 |
| Net Interest Spread |
2.51 |
2.21 |
1.98 |
| Net Interest Margin |
3.07 |
2.83 |
2.60 |
| Net Interest Margin - FTE |
3.08 |
2.85 |
2.62 |
| |
|
|
|
| (A) Includes Nonaccrual Loans. |
|
|
|
- Provision for Credit Losses: For the first quarter of 2025, the provision for credit losses was $5.0 million compared to $2.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. The primary driver of the increase was Arrow's recognition of a $3.75 million specific reserve on a $15 million commercial real estate loan. Other drivers for the provision for credit losses in the first quarter of 2025 were charge-offs, growth in loan balances and changes to the economic forecast factors embedded in the credit loss allowance model. Subsequent to March 31, 2025, the bank group foreclosed on the collateral related to the above referenced commercial real estate loan.
- Non-Interest Income: Non-interest income for the three months ended March 31, 2025, was $7.8 million, an increase from $4.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. The increase from the prior quarter was primarily attributable to the absence of a $3.0 million pre-tax loss related to the investment portfolio repositioning as well as a $0.7 million pre-tax charge related to legacy branding, both recognized in the fourth quarter of 2024.
- Non-Interest Expense: Non-interest expense for the first quarter of 2025 was $26.0 million, an increase from $25.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. The first quarter of 2025 included unification expenses of approximately $0.6 million. The unification expenses were primarily comprised of project management and information technology costs related to the July 2025 system conversion. Arrow continues to focus on overall expense management.
- Provision for Income Taxes: The provision for income taxes and effective tax rate were $1.8 million and 22.4%, for the first quarter of 2025, and $0.8 million and 14.4%, for the fourth quarter of 2024. The increase in the effective tax rate from the fourth quarter of 2024 was primarily attributable to the change in pre-tax income combined with a change in the amount of tax advantaged earning assets as a percentage of total earning assets.
Balance Sheet
- Total Assets: Total assets were $4.4 billion at March 31, 2025, an increase of $142.5 million, or 3.3%, as compared to December 31, 2024. For the first quarter of 2025, overall growth in the balance sheet was attributable to changes in cash balances, primarily from seasonal municipal and corporate deposits, as well as growth in the loan portfolio.
- Investments: Total investments were $553.0 million as of March 31, 2025, a decrease of $17.8 million, or 3.1%, compared to December 31, 2024. The decrease from December 31, 2024 was driven primarily by paydowns and maturities. There were no credit quality issues related to the investment portfolio.
- Loans3: Total loans were $3.4 billion as of March 31, 2025. Loan growth for the first quarter of 2025 was $22.3 million. Loan growth was primarily driven by an increase in residential real estate loans. Please see the loan detail included in the Consolidated Financial Information table on page 12.
- Allowance for Credit Losses: The allowance for credit losses was $37.8 million as of March 31, 2025, which represented 1.11% of loans outstanding, as compared to $33.6 million, or 0.99%, at December 31, 2024. The increase in the allowance for credit losses was primarily driven by the recognition of the specific reserve of $3.75 million. Excluding the specific reserve, the coverage ratio for the allowance for credit loses was 1.00%. Net charge-offs, expressed as an annualized percentage of average loans outstanding, were 0.10% for the three-month period ended March 31, 2025, as compared to 0.06% for the three-month period ended December 31, 2024. Nonperforming assets were $19.5 million as of March 31, 2025, representing 0.44% of period-end assets, compared to 0.50% at December 31, 2024.
- Deposits: At March 31, 2025, deposit balances were $4.0 billion, an increase of $140.2 million from December 31, 2024. The increase from December 31, 2024 was primarily attributable to the seasonality of municipal deposits as well as an additional $125.0 million of brokered CDs. The brokered CDs partially replaced previous wholesale funding sources and are part of a cash flow hedge using interest rate swaps to reduce overall funding costs. Please refer to page 7 for further details related to deposits.
- Capital: Total stockholders’ equity was $404.4 million at March 31, 2025, an increase of $3.5 million, or 0.9%, from December 31, 2024. The increase from December 31, 2024 was primarily attributable to net income of $6.3 million and other comprehensive income of $4.9 million offset by dividends of $4.7 million and share repurchases of $3.4 million. Arrow's regulatory capital ratios remain strong. As of March 31, 2025, Arrow's Common Equity Tier 1 Capital Ratio was 12.59% and Total Risk-Based Capital Ratio was 14.48%. The capital ratios of Arrow and its subsidiary bank continued to exceed the “well capitalized” regulatory standards.
3 Excludes both $3.3 million fair value hedge adjustment at March 31, 2025 and $2.2 million fair value hedge adjustment at December 31, 2024.
Additional Commentary
- BauerFinancial Ratings: Arrow Bank National Association ("Arrow Bank") received a 5-Star Superior rating from BauerFinancial, Inc., the nation’s premier bank rating firm. Arrow Bank has earned this designation for 72 consecutive quarters, securing its prominent position as an “Exceptional Performance Bank.”
————
About Arrow: Arrow Financial Corporation is a holding company headquartered in Glens Falls, New York, serving the financial needs of northeastern New York. The Company is the parent of Arrow Bank, a full-service commercial bank, and Upstate Agency, LLC, a comprehensive insurance agency. Other subsidiaries include North Country Investment Advisers, Inc.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures Reconciliation: In addition to presenting information in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP), this news release contains financial information determined by methods other than GAAP (non-GAAP). The following measures used in this release, which are commonly utilized by financial institutions, have not been specifically exempted by the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and may constitute "non-GAAP financial measures" within the meaning of the SEC's rules. Certain non-GAAP financial measures include: tangible book value, tangible equity, return on tangible equity, tax-equivalent adjustment and related net interest income, tax-equivalent net interest margin and the efficiency ratio. Management believes that the non-GAAP financial measures disclosed by Arrow from time to time are useful in evaluating Arrow's performance and that such information should be considered as supplemental in nature and not as a substitute for or superior to the related financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Non-GAAP financial measures may differ from similar measures presented by other companies. See the reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures in the section "Selected Quarterly Information."
Safe Harbor Statement: The information contained in this news release may contain statements that are not historical in nature but rather are based on management’s beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates and projections about the future. These statements may be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, involving a degree of uncertainty and attendant risk. In the case of all forward-looking statements, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what the statements predict or forecast, explicitly or by implication. Arrow undertakes no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. This News Release should be read in conjunction with Arrow’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, and other filings with the SEC.
To view the full tables for the earnings release, please Click Here.