POUGHKEEPSIE – Rhinebeck Bancorp, Inc., the holding company of Rhinebeck Bank, reported net income for the three months ended December 31, 2020, of $2.3 million ($0.21 per basic and diluted share), compared with $1.7 million ($0.16 per basic and diluted share) for the comparable prior-year period, which was an increase of $604,000, or 34.7%.
Net income for the year ended December 31, 2020, was $5.9 million ($0.55 per basic and diluted share), compared with $6.0 million ($0.56 per basic and diluted share for the year ended December 31, 2019, a decrease of $46,000, or 0.8%.
Officials say the significantly increased provision expense, due to the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, was the single largest reason for the decrease in earnings year over year. Increased gain on sales of loans had a significant positive impact on the net income quarter over quarter and for the year.
President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Quinn said, “This past year presented challenges not seen in our lifetimes and I am proud of our staff’s response to the crisis. We were able to pivot to a work from home environment while meeting the challenges of processing a large number of PPP loan requests and achieving a 15.9% increase in assets along with a 20.2% increase in deposits. Our efficiency ratio improved by 8.7% year over year driven by increases in net interest and noninterest income. During the year, we were able to maintain a net interest margin of 3.56%, which while down 20 basis points year over year, did show signs of improvement during the fourth quarter of 2020 despite the continuing low-rate environment. I am happy to say that efforts to expand in Orange County have progressed with expected branch openings in early 2021.”
Other financial highlights from the quarterly report:
- Total assets grew from $154.9 million, or 15.9%, to $1.13 billion at December 31, 2020, from $973.9 million at December 31, 2019.
- Net loans increased $80.3 million, or 10.1%, to $873.8 million at December 31, 2020, from $793.5 million at December 31, 2019.
- Allowance for loan losses as a percent of total gross loans increased 58 basis points to 1.33% at December 31, 2020, from 0.75% at December 31, 2019.
- Total deposit balances were $929.4 million at December 31, 2020, increasing by $156.0 million, or 20.2%, from $773.3 million at December 31, 2019.
- The efficiency ratio improved 9.3%, falling to 66.19% for the fourth quarter of 2020 from 72.98% for the same quarter of 2019. The efficiency ratio improved 8.7%, falling to 67.29% for the year ended December 31, 2020, from 73.73% for the year ended December 31, 2019.
