As a result of strong year-over-year growth in both assets and the number of new customers who chose LNB to be their bank, and the conservative approach the Company took in 2020 to address the uncertainties of the pandemic, Lyons Bancorp, Inc., the parent financial holding company for The Lyons National Bank reported record earnings for 2021. Lyons Bancorp earned $15.5 million in 2021, a 51% increase from the $10.3 million it reported in 2020. On a per diluted share basis, earnings were $4.62 as compared to $3.12 last year. As a result of the Bank’s common stock Shareholders’ Rights Offering in the third quarter of 2021, the Company had approximately 250 thousand more shares outstanding on December 31, 2021, than the year before.
“This past year (2021) was a watershed year for the Bank,” said Robert Schick, Chairman and President of Lyons Bancorp, Inc. “While the overall sentiment of the country was somewhat brighter than the gloom that prevailed in 2020, many folks were still in a hibernating mode, and even today, many businesses are still not operating at full capacity. Yet, the Bank recorded its second best year ever in attracting new customers to our way of banking. It is nothing short of amazing and a tribute to the leadership of Tom Kime, our Bank’s President and CEO and his remarkable staff.”
The conservative approach the Bank took in 2020 to add extensively to its reserve for possible loan losses reduced that year’s earnings, ending the Bank’s 23-year record of consecutive increases in year-over-year earnings. Fortunately, the Bank has not experienced a large increase in problem loans. Accordingly, while the Bank again added to it loan loss reserve in 2021, it did so at a substantially less aggressive pace. “It’s important to note, that unlike many other financial institutions who withdrew money from their loan reserves in 2021, LNB did not. Rather, the Bank’s strategy is to grow the amount of its outstanding loans, thereby absorbing any excess in its reserve account,” said Schick.
Year-end assets totaled $1.63 billion for 2021 as compared to $1.42 billion for 2020. Year-end loans and deposits for 2021 totaled $1.14 billion and $1.47 billion respectively compared to 2020’s loan and deposit balances of $1.02 billion and $1.29 billion. Shareholders’ equity totaled $109.6 million, up over $14 million from last year. In 2021, the Company paid $4.6 million in common and preferred dividends as compared to $4.2 million in 2020.
The Company’s return on average assets during 2021 was 0.99% as compared to 0.78% in 2020. Its return on average equity was 15.62% up 5.15% from the previous year.
The Bank charged off 0.04% of total loans in 2021 as compared to 0.05% in 2020. Year-end totals for loans not performing to contract were $3.5 million in 2021 versus $3.3 million in 2020. The Bank’s allowance for possible loan losses was $18.3 million at year end 2021 compared to $17.4 million in 2020.
The common shares of Lyons Bancorp, Inc., are traded on the OTCQX. The last known trade of Lyons Bancorp common stock in 2021 was $43.20 versus $40.00 in 2020. As of this writing, the last known trade reported was $46.50 per share.
Lyons Bancorp, Inc. is the financial holding company for The Lyons National Bank. The Lyons National Bank is a community bank with offices in Lyons, Clyde, Macedon, Newark, Ontario and Wolcott in Wayne County; Jordan in Onondaga County; Geneva, Canandaigua and Farmington in Ontario County; Waterloo in Seneca County, Penn Yan in Yates County, Perinton in Monroe County and Auburn in Cayuga County. The Lyons National Bank has one subsidiary, Lyons Realty Associates Corp.
