Sierra Bancorp Reports Operating Results (10-Q)

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Nov 09, 2009
Sierra Bancorp (BSRR, Financial) filed Quarterly Report for the period ended 2009-09-30.

Sierra Bancorp is the bank holding company for the Bank of the Sierra. The Bank of the Sierra is the largest independent bank headquartered in the South Valley, and operates branch offices as well as real estate centers, agricultural credit centers and a bank card center. Sierra Bancorp has a market cap of $72.6 million; its shares were traded at around $7.5 with a P/E ratio of 20.27 and P/S ratio of 0.77. The dividend yield of Sierra Bancorp stocks is 5.33%. Sierra Bancorp had an annual average earning growth of 26.1% over the past 5 years.

Highlight of Business Operations:

Net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 was $106,000, compared with $5.8 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2008. Basic and diluted earnings per share for the third quarter of 2009 were both $0.01, compared to $0.60 basic earnings per share and $0.59 diluted earnings per share for the third quarter of 2008. The Companys annualized return on average equity was 0.35% and annualized return on average assets was 0.03% for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, compared to a return on equity of 21.96% and return on assets of 1.77% for the quarter ended September 30, 2008. The primary drivers behind the variance in net income are as follows:

Net income for the first nine months of 2009 was $5.4 million, a drop of $9.9 million relative to net income for the first nine months of 2008. Basic and diluted earnings per share were both $0.54 for the first nine months of 2009, compared to $1.60 basic earnings per share and $1.56 diluted earnings per share for the first nine months of 2008. The Company realized an annualized return on average equity of 6.39% for the first nine months of 2009 and 19.87% for the first nine months of 2008, and a return on assets for the same periods of 0.55% and 1.60%, respectively. The principal reasons for the net income variance for the comparative year-to-date periods include the following:

The Companys total assets were $1.307 billion at September 30, 2009, a $19 million decline relative to total assets of $1.326 billion at December 31, 2008. The most significant characteristics of, and changes in, the Companys balance sheet during the first nine months of 2009 are outlined below:

For the third quarter, net interest income was down by $752,000, or 5%, to $14.3 million in 2009 from $15.1 million in 2008. For the year-to-date comparison, net interest income dropped by $510,000, or 1%, to $42.7 million in 2009 from $43.2 million in 2008. The level of net interest income depends on several factors in combination, including growth in earning assets, yields on earning assets, the cost of interest-bearing liabilities, the relative volumes of earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities, and the mix of products which comprise the Companys earning assets, deposits, and other interest-bearing liabilities. Net interest income can also be impacted by the reversal of interest for loans placed on non-accrual, and by the recovery of interest on loans that have been on non-accrual and are either sold or returned to accrual status.

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