Waukesha-based CIB Marine Bancshares Inc. recovered from a year-ago loss and turned a profit in the fourth quarter.
CIB Marine, which is the holding company for CIBM Bank, operating as Marine Bank in Wisconsin, reported fourth quarter net income of $1.4 million, or 4 cents per diluted share, compared with an $800,000 loss, or 4 cents lost per share, in the fourth quarter of 2015.
CIB Marine in July was awarded $1.3 million in a settlement of litigation related to 2006 and 2007 asset purchase transactions, which it is expected to receive in the second half of the year.
The financial institution’s full-year results also demonstrated a major recovery, with a 2016 net income of $4.4 million, or 12 cents per diluted share, compared with a loss of $600,000, or 3 cents lost per share, in 2015.
Net interest income was up $1.8 million in 2016 versus 2015, which the company attributed to a $64 million increase in average loans outstanding.
Noninterest income was up $5 million year-over-year due to mortgage activity and gains related to assets previously charged or written down.
The CIBM Bank subsidiary reported net income of $4.6 million for 2016, up from $300,000 in 2015. CIBM Bank has 11 banking offices and three mortgage loan offices in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.
CIB Marine struggled during the Great Recession, was under a cease-and-desist order from regulators for a time and went through Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It completed a reorganization in 2010, and de-listed its stock in 2012. In April, an activist shareholder attempted and failed to nominate his own director to the board.
“CIB Marine completed a successful year in 2016 and is pleased to be reporting for the year an increase of 74 percent in the book value per share of common stock and progress in a number of strategic areas of the company,” said J. Brian Chaffin, president and chief executive officer of CIB Marine Bancshares. “For the year 2016 our loan portfolio grew on net 8.8 percent, reflecting more than $100 million in new portfolio loan originations, deposits grew 8.9 percent and mortgage revenues grew 92 percent. In addition, we started our SBA lending and facility financing activities; executed a significant expense management program; and made a number of investments in information technology to enhance our services and improve product delivery, as well as fund a number of security and infrastructure measures.
“Our eyes and energy are focused on 2017 and the future now. Interest rates are higher across the yield curve over the past year and Fed policy rates are forecast to increase further in 2017. During 2017 we expect a softer residential lending market due to the increase in mortgage rates, but we continue to work on expanding our mortgage lending activities more deeply through our banking markets and we are optimistic our SBA lending activities will increase over the prior year. Our traditional retail and commercial community banking activities contributed significantly to the results in 2016 and we are working towards continued development and growth of our customer relationships within the communities where we live and work.”
