BankFinancial Corporation Reports Financial Results for 2020 and Will Host Conference Call and Webcast on Wednesday, February 3, 2021 - Seite 2

Total loans declined by $165.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to a $111.5 million decline in multi-family mortgage loans and a $56.3 million decline in commercial line of credit balances resulting from COVID-19 fiscal stimulus payments to healthcare providers. Total deposits increased by $108.8 million, primarily due to a $257.8 million increase in core retail and business deposits, partially offset by a $93.9 million decrease in retail certificates of deposit, and a $55.2 million decrease in wholesale certificates of deposits. As a result of the changes in the loan and deposit portfolios, the Company’s liquid assets were 31.5% of total assets at December 31, 2020.

The Company’s asset quality remained stable in 2020. The ratio of nonperforming loans to total loans was 0.12% and the ratio of nonperforming assets to total assets was 0.09% at December 31, 2020. Nonperforming commercial-related loans represented 0.03% of total commercial-related loans at December 31, 2020. Our allowance for losses on loans and leases increased to 0.77% of total loans as of December 31, 2020, compared to 0.65% at December 31, 2019, reflecting the increased inherent credit risks arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Company’s capital position remained strong, with a Tier 1 leverage ratio of 10.79% at December 31, 2020.  Throughout 2020, the Company maintained its quarterly dividend rate at $0.10 per common share. The Company repurchased 508,699 common shares during the year ended December 31, 2020, which represented 3.3% of the common shares that were outstanding on December 31, 2019. The Company’s book value per share increased in 2020 by 2.6% to $11.71 per share at December 31, 2020.

F. Morgan Gasior, the Chairman and CEO of the Company, said, “The Company ended 2020 in a strong financial condition, with excellent asset quality and considerably more liquid assets.  Our financial results for 2020 reflect the significant impact of the material declines in interest rates, increases in market and borrower liquidity due to coronavirus pandemic fiscal and monetary stimulus actions, and our continued emphasis on consistent credit risk management. Notwithstanding the disruption caused by COVID-19, we increased our originations of commercial equipment finance transactions by 57% in 2020 due to the expansion of our product lines to include governmental, middle-market and small-ticket transactions. We also accelerated the development of our Commercial Finance credit products to include general commercial, governmental and certain specialty markets in addition to our Equipment Finance lessor credit and our healthcare lending capabilities. The continued expansion of our Equipment Finance and Commercial Finance products and originations capabilities in 2021 will help us deploy our significant excess liquidity and further enhance the diversification of our commercial credit portfolios. We also began to expand our Treasury Services capabilities, focusing on generating noninterest income and commercial deposits that align with our Equipment Finance, Commercial Real Estate and Commercial Finance credit products.”