Staff Report
Published Oct. 16, 2012

Mount Pleasant-based Southcoast Financial Corp. reported net income of $844,000, or 16 cents per share, for the end of the third quarter in filings with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Monday.

The company said this compares to a net loss of $2.97 million, or 56 cents per share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30 of last year.

For the first three quarters of 2012, Southcoast Financial listed $2.59 million net income, or 49 cents per basic share. The company compared those numbers to an unaudited net loss of $11.67 million, or $2.21 per basic share, for the first nine months of 2011.

The additional provision for loan losses and the deferred tax write-down in 2011 are the main reasons for the fluctuation in the earnings for the quarters, the company said.

“The 2012 results were benefited by the reduction in our loan loss provision and expenses associated with other real estate owned, both of which were the result of lower nonperforming assets as compared to the same period of 2011, and increases in the net interest margin and core earnings,” Chairman and CEO L. Wayne Pearson said in a statement. “While we continue to work diligently on our nonperforming assets, we also continue to focus on improving our profitable core business and maintaining strong capital levels.”

The loss during the first three quarters of 2011 included a $6.62 million provision for loan losses and $4.39 million of income tax expense on a write-down of the company’s deferred tax asset, the filing said. The provision for loan losses for 2012’s first three quarters was $880,000 without any deferred tax write-down.

The bank had total assets of $442 million as of Sept. 30 compared to $427.5 million as of Dec. 31, 2011, an increase of 3.4%. Deposits in the third quarter increased 3.1% to $325.8 million.

“We continue to be encouraged by the future direction of our company given our capital strength, the reduction in nonperforming assets and our continued improvement in the net interest margin,” Pearson said.

Southcoast Financial Corp. is the holding company of Southcoast Community Bank. The bank, which opened in 1998, has nine branches in the Charleston area.