Home Federal Bancorp, Inc. Of Louisiana (HFBL) SEC Filing 10-Q Quarterly report for the period ending Sunday, December 31, 2017

FOR RELEASE: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 at 4:30 PM (Eastern)

HOME FEDERAL BANCORP, INC. OF LOUISIANA REPORTS RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 FOR THE THREE AND SIX MONTHS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2017

Shreveport, Louisiana – January 30, 2018 – Home Federal Bancorp, Inc. of Louisiana (the "Company") (Nasdaq: HFBL), the holding company of Home Federal Bank, reported net income for the three months ended December 31, 2017 of $361,000, compared to net income of $763,000 reported for the three months ended December 31, 2016. The Company's basic and diluted earnings per share were $0.20 and $0.19, respectively, for the three months ended December 31, 2017 compared to basic and diluted earnings per share of $0.42 and $0.40, respectively, for the three months ended December 31, 2016. The Company reported net income of $1.4 million for the six months ended December 31, 2017, compared to $1.8 million for the six months ended December 31, 2016. The Company's basic and diluted earnings per share were $0.76 and $0.72, respectively, for the six months ended December 31, 2017 compared to $0.97 and $0.94, respectively, for the six months ended December 31, 2016. The decrease in net income for the three and six month periods ended December 31, 2017 as compared to the same periods in the prior year reflected primarily the effect of the one-time non-cash charge related to the re-measurement of the Company's deferred tax assets arising from the lower U.S. corporate tax rate provided for by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "Tax Act") enacted in December 2017. The non-recurring deferred tax adjustment was $642,000 for the three and six months ended December 31, 2017, representing $0.34 diluted earnings per share.

The decrease in net income for the three months ended December 31, 2017 resulted primarily from an increase of $795,000 in the provision for income taxes and a $124,000, or 15.1%, decrease in non-interest income, partially offset by an increase of $326,000, or 9.6%, in net interest income, a decrease of $100,000, or 33.3%, in provision for loan losses and a $91,000, or 3.2%, decrease in non-interest expense. The increase in the provision for income taxes was primarily due to the $642,000 re-measurement charge of the Company's net deferred tax asset as a result of the Tax Act signed into law on December 22, 2017. The increase in net interest income for the three months ended December 31, 2017 was primarily due to a $525,000, or 12.9%, increase in total interest income, partially offset by an increase of $199,000, or 30.3%, in aggregate interest expense primarily due to an increase in the average volume of interest bearing deposits. The Company's average interest rate spread was 3.54% for the three months ended December 31, 2017 compared to 3.50% for the three months ended December 31, 2016. The Company's net interest margin was 3.76% for the three months ended December 31, 2017 compared to 3.67% for the three months ended December 31, 2016. The increase in the average interest rate spread on a comparative quarterly basis was primarily the result of an increase of 26 basis points in average rate on interest-earning assets. The increase in net interest margin was primarily the result of a higher percentage increase in the average volume of interest-earning assets for the three months ended December 31, 2017 compared to the prior year quarterly period.

The decrease in net income for the six months ended December 31, 2017 resulted primarily from an increase of $868,000, or 106.5%, in the provision for income taxes and a $274,000, or 14.1%, decrease in non-interest income, partially offset by an increase of $611,000, or 8.9%, in net interest income, a decrease of $100,000, or 16.7%, in provision for loan losses and a decrease of $35,000, or 0.6%, in non-interest expense.  As was the case for the quarter, the increase in the provision for income taxes for the six months ended December 31, 2017 over the same prior year period was primarily due to the $642,000 re-measurement charge of the Company's net deferred tax asset as a result of the Tax Act signed into law on December 22, 2017. The increase in net interest income for the six month period was primarily due to a $1.0 million, or 12.5%, increase in total interest income, partially offset by a $412,000, or 31.8%, increase in interest expense on borrowings and deposits. The Company's average interest rate spread was 3.53% for the six months ended December 31, 2017 compared to 3.71% for the six months ended December 31, 2016. The Company's net interest margin was 3.75% for the six months ended December 31, 2017 compared to 3.85% for the six months ended December 31, 2016.  The decrease in the average interest rate spread is attributable primarily to an increase of 20 basis points in average rate on interest bearing liabilities. The decrease in net interest margin was primarily the result of an increase in rates on interest bearing liabilities for the six months ended December 31, 2017 compared to the prior year six month period.