Community Bank System, Inc. (CBU) SEC Filing 10-Q Quarterly Report for the period ending Thursday, March 31, 2022

Exhibit 99.1

	News Release For further information, please contact:
5790 Widewaters Parkway, DeWitt, N.Y. 13214	Joseph E. Sutaris, EVP & Chief Financial Officer Office: (315) 445-7396

Community Bank System, Inc. Reports

First Quarter 2022 Results

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — April 25, 2022 — Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE: CBU) reported first quarter 2022 net income of $47.1 million, or $0.86 per fully-diluted share. This compares to $52.9 million of net income, or $0.97 per fully-diluted share for the first quarter of 2021. The $0.11, or 11.3%, decrease in earnings per share was primarily attributable to increases in the provision for credit losses, operating expenses, income taxes and fully-diluted shares outstanding, offset, in part, by increases in net interest income and noninterest revenues. Comparatively, the Company recorded $0.80 in fully-diluted earnings per share for the linked fourth quarter of 2021. Operating earnings per share, a non-GAAP measure, which excludes acquisition expenses, acquisition-related contingent consideration adjustments and unrealized gain (loss) on equity securities, net of tax, was $0.87 for the first quarter of 2022, as compared to $0.97 in the first quarter of 2021 and $0.81 in the fourth quarter of 2021. First quarter 2021 results were complemented by a net benefit recorded in the provision for credit losses and higher Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”)-related revenues than the first quarter of 2022 which, net of tax, were responsible for a $0.17 decrease in fully-diluted operating earnings per share year-over-year. The $0.06 improvement in operating earnings per share from the fourth quarter of 2021 was primarily driven by a lower provision for credit losses, higher noninterest revenues and lower operating expenses. First quarter 2022 a

First Quarter 2022 Performance Highlights:

“Community Bank System’s first quarter 2022 results were highlighted by continued noninterest revenue expansion, the deployment of excess liquidity into loans and investment securities, and low funding and credit-related costs,” said Mark E. Tryniski, President & CEO. “I am pleased by the continued momentum we are seeing in our business, particularly in this more favorable interest rate environment. During the first quarter, we continued to deliver solid organic loan growth while also deploying a significant amount of our excess liquidity into the investment securities portfolio, driving improvements in our core net interest income. In addition, the double-digit growth in noninterest revenues over the first quarter of 2021 came from both higher banking-related noninterest revenues and increases from each of our three financial services business lines – employee benefit services, insurance services, and wealth management services. Asset quality also remained strong with annualized net charge-offs of just three basis points in the quarter and nonperforming loans as a percent of total loans improving to 0.49% at March 31, 2022, compared to 0.62% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021 and 1.02% one year prior.”