Waterstone Financial, Inc. Announces Results of Operations for the Quarter Ended March 31, 2015

WAUWATOSA, Wis., April 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: WSBF), holding company for WaterStone Bank, reported net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 of $3.0 million, compared to $1.9 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2014. For the quarter ended March 31, 2015, net income per diluted share was $0.09 as compared to $0.05 for the quarter ended March 31, 2014.

1st Quarter 2015 Highlights

• Mortgage banking segment net income totaled $1.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 compared to $31,000 for the quarter ended March 31, 2014.  The quarter ended March 31, 2015 represents the third consecutive quarter in which the mortgage banking segment has outperformed the prior year comparative quarter.  Mortgage banking operations were positively impacted by a higher volume of loans originated during the first quarter of 2015 compared to the first quarter of 2014.  Along with the improved volumes, the segment's efficiency ratio dropped to 88.8% for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 compared to 99.7% for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 due to ongoing expense control efforts.
• Community banking segment net income totaled $1.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 compared to $1.8 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2014. 
• Total non-performing assets decreased $4.1 million or 7.3% to $52.6 million at March 31, 2015 from $56.7 million at December 31, 2014 and decreased $17.3 million or 24.7% from $69.9 million at March 31, 2014. 
• Past due loans decreased by $7.4 million, or 21.7%, to $26.7 million at March 31, 2015 from $34.1 million at December 31, 2014 and decreased $15.7 million, or 37.0% from $42.4 million at March 31, 2014.  Loans past due less than 90 days decreased by $2.3 million, or 26.1%, to $6.7 million at March 31, 2015 from $9.0 million at December 31, 2014 and decreased $10.2 million, or 60.4%, from 16.8 million at March 31, 2014.
• Commenced a share purchase program, under which 381,800 shares have been repurchased at an average price of $12.97 per share on the open market as of March 31, 2015.

"Our Mortgage Banking segment experienced strong growth in loan origination volumes from our expanding branch network translating into significant revenue gains while our focus on cost containment added more to the bottom line during the quarter," said Doug Gordon, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. "We also opened the doors of WaterStone Investment Services, a wealth management division in our Community Banking segment, allowing us to provide a more comprehensive service offering to our customers." 

About Waterstone Financial, Inc.

Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: WSBF) is a single-bank, holding company headquartered in Wauwatosa, WI.  With $1.8 billion in assets at March 31, 2015, Waterstone has nine community bank branches in the metropolitan Milwaukee market, a loan production office in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and mortgage banking offices in 17 states around the country.  Additional financial detail related to WaterStone Bank, SSB can be found on the FDIC web site (www.fdic.gov) under the "Industry Analysis" tab.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding expected financial and operating activities and results that are preceded by, followed by, or that include words such as "may," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates" or "believes."  Such statements are subject to important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements.  These factors include (i) exposure to the deterioration in the commercial and residential real estate markets which could result in increased charge-offs and increases in the allowance for loan losses,  (ii) various other factors, including changes in economic conditions affecting borrowers, new information regarding outstanding loans and identification of additional problem loans, which could require an increase in  the allowance for loan losses, (iii) Waterstone's ability to maintain required levels of capital and other current and future regulatory requirements, (iv) the impact of recent and future legislative initiatives on the financial markets, and (v) those factors referenced in Item 1A. Risk Factors in Waterstone's most recent Annual Report on Form  10-K and as may be described from time to time in Waterstone's subsequent SEC filings, which factors are incorporated herein by reference.  Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect only Waterstone's belief as of the date of this press release.

A total of 1,024,713 shares have been repurchased as of April 22, 2015.

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SOURCE Waterstone Financial, Inc.