Press Release

WARSAW — Lakeland Financial Corporation, parent company of Lake City Bank, recently reported record first quarter net income of $24.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023, which represents an increase of $636,000, or 3%, compared with net income of $23.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022.

Diluted earnings per share of $0.94 was also a record for the first quarter and increased 2% compared to $0.92 for the first quarter of 2022. On a linked quarter basis, net income decreased 7%, or $1.7 million, form the fourth quarter of 2022 net income of $26 million, or $1.01 diluted earnings per share.

Pretax pre-provision earnings, which is a non-GAAP financial measure, were $32.4 million for the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 13%, or $3.8 million, from $28.6 million from the first quarter of 2022. On a linked quarter basis, pretax pre-provision earnings decreased 19%, or $7.5 million, from $39.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2022.

“The continued strength of our balance sheet highlights another strong quarter for the Lake City Bank team,” said David M. Findlay, president and CEO. “Healthy organic loan growth accompanied by a robust capital position contributed to a good start to 2023. We also did a terrific job maintaining our core deposit franchise and delivering on our relationship-driven community banking model.”

Quarterly Financial Performances

First Quarter 2023 versus First Quarter 2022 highlights:

• Return on average equity of 16.81%, compared to 14.04%
• Return on average assets of 1.54%, compared to 1.44%
• Loan growth of $401.2 million, or 9%
• Investments as a percent of total assets decreased to 19% from 23%
• Deposit contraction of $302.9 million, or 5%
• Net interest margin expanded by 61 basis points from 2.93% to 3.54%
• Noninterest expense increased $2.5 million, or 9%
• Provision expense of $4.4 million, compared to $471,000
• Watch list loans as a percentage of total loans of 3.68% compared to 5.03%
• Total risk-based capital ratio of 15.21%, compared to 15.16%
• Tangible capital ratio of 9.34%, compared to 9.22%

First Quarter 2023 versus Fourth Quarter 2022 highlights:

• Return on average equity of 16.81%, compared to 19.16%
• Return on average assets of 1.54%, compared to 1.63%
• Loan growth of $44.5 million, or 1%
• Investments as a percent of total assets decreased to 19% from 20%
• Deposit growth of $57.1 million, or 1%
• Net interest margin contraction of 35 basis points from 3.89% to 3.54%
• Noninterest expense increased $2 million, or 7%
• Provision expense of $4.4 million, compared to $9 million
• Watch list loans as a percentage of total loans of 3.68% compared to 3.42%
• Total risk-based capital ratio of 15.21%, compared to 15.07%
• Tangible capital ratio of 9.34%, compared to 8.79%