0001769663falsePioneer Bancorp, Inc./MD00017696632022-11-092022-11-09

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 or 15(D) OF

THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

​ Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): November 9, 2022

Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

Maryland

    

001-38991

    

83-4274253

(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)

(Commission File Number)

(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

652 Albany Shaker Road, Albany New York

12211

(Address of principal executive offices)

(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (518) 730-3025

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instructions A.2. below):

Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class

Trading Symbol

Name of each exchange on which registered

Common Stock, par value $0.01

PBFS

The Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC

​Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.

Item 2.02 – Results of Operations and Financial Condition

On November 9, 2022, Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. issued an earnings release announcing its financial results at or for the three months ended September 30, 2022. A copy of the earnings release is included as Exhibit 99.1 to this report.

The information in the preceding paragraph, as well as Exhibit 99.1 referenced therein, shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or otherwise subject to the liability of that Section, and shall not be incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or the Exchange Act.

Item 9.01 – Financial Statements and Exhibits

Exhibit No.

Description

99.1

Earnings Release of Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. dated November 9, 2022

104

Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as inline XBRL).

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

PIONEER BANCORP, INC.

(registrant)

November 9, 2022

/s/ Thomas L. Amell

Thomas L. Amell

President and Chief Executive Officer

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Exhibit 99.1

652 Albany Shaker Road, Albany, NY 12211News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2023 Results
Net Income of $5.2 Million and Total Assets Top $2 Billion

Albany, N.Y. – November 9, 2022 – Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. (“Pioneer”) (NASDAQ: PBFS), the parent company of Pioneer Bank (the “Bank”) today reported the results for the quarter ended September 30, 2022, which is the first quarter of Pioneer’s fiscal year ended June 30, 2023.  Net income for the three months ended September 30, 2022 was $5.2 million, or $0.21 per basic and diluted share, as compared to $1.4 million, or $0.05 per basic and diluted share for the three months ended September 30, 2021.

Total consolidated assets for Pioneer were $2.07 billion at September 30, 2022, primarily consisting of $1.02 billion of net loans, $513.9 million of securities available for sale and $402.9 million of cash and cash equivalents. Consolidated deposits totaled $1.78 billion at September 30, 2022, consisting of retail, commercial and municipal customer relationships.

First Quarter of 2023 (Quarter Ended September 30, 2022) Highlights

Net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2022 was $5.2 million, or $0.21 per basic and diluted share.
Total assets top $2 billion at September 30, 2022 for the first time in Pioneer’s history.
Net interest margin increased 81 basis points to 3.23% for the quarter ended September 30, 2022 from the quarter ended September 30, 2021.
Net interest income increased $4.4 million, or 43.4%, to $14.7 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2022 from the quarter ended September 30, 2021.
Net loans receivable increased $37.1 million, or 3.8%, to $1.02 billion at September 30, 2022 from $982.6 million at June 30, 2022.

Thomas Amell, President and CEO stated “First quarter results were solid and up from the corresponding quarter in the prior year.  Pioneer is well positioned to benefit from the rising interest rate environment as can be seen from the growth in our net interest income and our net interest margin expansion during the quarter.  We continue to execute on our strategy of becoming “More Than a Bank” and understand that the future of financial services relies heavily on fulfilling our customers’ needs by providing an unparalleled level of personal service and a comprehensive approach to their finances.”

Selected highlights at and for the three months ended September 30, 2022 are as follows:

Net Interest Income and Margin

Net interest income increased $4.4 million, or 43.4%, to $14.7 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 compared to $10.2 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021. The increase was a result of a 79 basis points increase in the net interest rate spread to 3.15% for the three months ended September 30, 2022 from 2.36% for


the three months ended September 30, 2021. Net interest margin increased 81 basis points to 3.23% for the three months ended September 30, 2022 from 2.42% for the three months ended September 30, 2021. Net interest-earning assets increased by $87.8 million to $745.9 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 from $658.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021.

Interest and dividend income increased $4.6 million, or 43.1%, to $15.2 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022, from $10.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021 due to increases in interest income on loans, securities and interest-earning deposits with banks. The increase was the result of an 83 basis points increase in the average yield on interest-earning assets to 3.34% for the three months ended September 30, 2022, from 2.51% for the three months ended September 30, 2021. The increase in the average yield on interest-earning assets was driven by a significant increase in variable rate loan yields and yields on interest-earning deposits with banks due to rising market interest rates, as well as due to market related increases in interest rates on new loans and securities.  Average interest-earning assets also increased by $132.7 million from $1.69 billion for the three months ended September 30, 2021 to $1.83 billion for the three months ended September 30, 2022.

Interest expense increased $137,000, or 36.0%, to $518,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2022 from $381,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2021 as a result of an increase in interest expense on borrowings and other, as well as, on deposits. The increase was primarily due to a four basis points increase in the average cost of interest-bearing liabilities to 0.19% for the three months ended September 30, 2022 from 0.15% for the three months ended September 30, 2021, as well as, a $44.9 million increase in the average balance of interest-bearing liabilities.

Asset Quality and Loan Loss Provision

Provision for loan losses was $120,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2022, as compared to $250,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2021. The decrease in provision was primarily due to improved credit quality and lower net charge-offs.

Net charge-offs decreased to $75,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2022, compared to $438,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2021.

Nonperforming assets decreased to $12.1 million, or 0.58% of total assets, at September 30, 2022, compared to $20.6 million, or 1.05% of total assets, at September 30, 2021. The allowance for loan losses was $22.6 million, or 2.17% of total loans outstanding, at September 30, 2022 and $23.1 million, or 2.15% of total loans outstanding, at September 30, 2021.

Noninterest Income and Noninterest Expense

Noninterest income increased $605,000, or 18.9%, to $3.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 from $3.2 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021. The increase was primarily due to an increase in bank-owned life insurance income of $460,000 and an increase in insurance and wealth management services of $173,000. The increase in bank-owned life insurance income was due to a gain recognized from a death benefit. The increase in insurance and wealth management revenue was primarily due to the recent wealth management acquisitions.

Noninterest expense increased $454,000, or 4.0%, to $11.9 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 as compared to $11.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021. The increase in non-interest expense was primarily due to an increase in salaries and employee benefits expense of $367,000. Salaries and employee benefits expense primarily increased due to compensation expense from annual merit increases.

Income Taxes

Income tax expense increased $843,000 to $1.3 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 from $414,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2021, due to an increase in income before income taxes. Our effective tax rate was 19.4% for the three months ended September 30, 2022 compared to 23.4% for the three months ended

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September 30, 2021. The decrease in our effective tax rate was primarily due to the increase in tax-exempt income for the three months ended September 30, 2022 as compared to the prior year period.

Balance Sheet Summary

Total assets increased $105.4 million, or 5.4%, to $2.07 billion at September 30, 2022 from $1.96 billion at June 30, 2022. The increase was due primarily to an increase of $37.1 million, or 3.8%, in net loans receivable, an increase of $32.1 million, or 6.7% in securities available for sale and an increase of $26.8 million, or 7.1% in cash and cash equivalents.

Net loans receivable of $1.02 billion at September 30, 2022 increased $37.1 million, or 3.8%, from $982.6 million at June 30, 2022. By loan category, one-to four-family residential real estate loans increased by $32.3 million, or 12.0%, to $302.6 million at September 30, 2022 from $270.3 million at June 30, 2022, commercial real estate loans increased $6.5 million, or 1.4%, to $460.0 million at September 30, 2022 from $453.5 million at June 30, 2022, commercial construction loans increased by $5.1 million, or 7.1%, to $76.2 million at September 30, 2022 from $71.1 million at June 30, 2022 and home equity loans and lines of credit increased by $755,000, or 0.9%, to $82.0 million at September 30, 2022 from $81.2 million at June 30, 2022. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in commercial and industrial loans of $5.7 million, or 5.5%, to $97.5 million at September 30, 2022 from $103.2 million at June 30, 2022 and a decrease in consumer loans by $2.2 million, or 10.0%, to $20.1 million at September 30, 2022 from $22.3 million at June 30, 2022.

The increase in one-to four-family residential real estate loans and commercial real estate loans were both related to loan funding outpacing loan payoffs. The increase in commercial construction loans was related to the funding of loan commitments which outpaced payoffs and conversion of loans to permanent financing. The decrease in commercial and industrial loans was primarily related to reduced line of credit utilization during the three months ended September 30, 2022, as well as, forgiveness of PPP loans which declined $1.6 million from $1.8 million at June 30, 2022 to $191,000 at September 30, 2022. The decrease in consumer loans was primarily related to reduced line of credit utilization during the three months ended September 30, 2022.

Securities available-for-sale increased $32.1 million, or 6.7%, to $513.9 million at September 30, 2022 from $481.8 million at June 30, 2022. The increase was primarily due to purchases of U.S Government and agency obligations during the three months ended September 30, 2022.

Deposits increased $98.7 million, or 5.9%, to $1.78 billion at September 30, 2022 from $1.68 billion at June 30, 2022. The increase in deposits was primarily related to an increase in non-interest bearing demand accounts of $114.8 million, or 19.3%, to $708.3 million at September 30, 2022 from $593.5 million at June 30, 2022 and an increase in demand accounts of $40.1 million, or 21.9%, to $222.9 million at September 30, 2022 from $182.8 million at June 30, 2022. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in money market accounts of $42.5 million, or 8.5%, to $454.7 million at September 30, 2022 from $497.2 million at June 30, 2022, a decrease in savings accounts of $2.3 million, or 0.7%, to $324.0 million at September 30, 2022 from $326.3 million at June 30, 2022 and a decrease in certificates of deposit of $11.4 million, or 14.2%, to $69.2 million at September 30, 2022 from $80.6 million at June 30, 2022.

The increase in non-interest-bearing demand accounts and interest-bearing demand accounts was primarily related to growth in municipal deposits due to seasonality. The decrease in money market accounts was principally related to outflows in municipal depositor accounts. The decrease in certificates of deposit was primarily due to the maturity of various accounts.

Shareholders’ equity decreased $918,000, or 0.4%, to $241.7 million at September 30, 2022 from $242.6 million at June 30, 2022 primarily as a result of an increase in unrealized holding losses on securities available for sale of $6.3 million due to the increase in interest rates, largely offset by net income of $5.2 million for the three month period ended September 30, 2022.

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About Pioneer

Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBFS), is a $2.1 billion bank holding company whose wholly owned subsidiary is Pioneer Bank. The Bank is a New York State chartered savings bank whose wholly owned subsidiaries are Pioneer Commercial Bank, Anchor Agency, Inc. and Pioneer Financial Services, Inc.  Pioneer provides diversified financial services through the Bank and its subsidiaries, with 22 offices in the Capital Region of New York State, and offers a broad array of deposit, lending, and other financial services to individuals, businesses, and municipalities. For more information on Pioneer, please visit www.pioneerny.com.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Certain of the matters discussed in this communication constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, both as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are generally identified by use of the words “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project” or similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs, such as “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” or “may.” These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements made by Mr. Thomas Amell. Pioneer’s ability to predict results or the actual effect of future plans or strategies is inherently uncertain. No assurance can be given that the future results covered by forward-looking statements will be achieved. These statements are based on the current expectations of our management, and it is important to note that our actual results could be materially different from those projected in such forward-looking statements. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, including those discussed in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022, under the heading “Risk Factors” and other filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this communication, unless noted otherwise. Except as required under the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the SEC, Pioneer does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to the forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this communication or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

For additional information contact:

Patrick Hughes

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

(518) 730-3025

[email protected]

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Pioneer Bancorp, Inc.

Selected Financial Data (unaudited)

September 30, 

    

June 30, 

2022

2022

(In thousands)

Selected Financial Condition Data:

Total assets

2,069,590

1,964,229

Cash and cash equivalents

402,869

376,060

Securities available for sale

513,870

481,790

Securities held to maturity

23,849

23,952

Equity securities

2,000

2,039

Federal Home Loan Bank stock

1,126

1,091

Loans, net of allowance for loan losses

1,019,636

982,566

Bank-owned life insurance

16,483

17,165

Premises and equipment, net

43,322

38,018

Deposits

1,779,022

1,680,283

Shareholders' equity

241,709

242,627

At or For the three months

Ended September 30,

    

2022

    

2021

(In thousands except for per share amounts)

Selected Operating Data:

Interest income

$

15,192

$

10,616

Interest expense

 

518

 

381

Net interest income

 

14,674

10,235

Provision for loan losses

 

120

250

Net interest income after provision for loan losses

14,554

9,985

Noninterest income

 

3,805

3,200

Noninterest expense

 

11,868

11,414

Income before taxes

 

6,491

1,771

Income tax expense

 

1,257

414

Net income

 

$

5,234

$

1,357

Basic and diluted earnings per share

 

$

0.21

$

0.05

Weighted average shares outstanding

 

25,143,924

25,093,008

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At or For the Three Months Ended

September 30,

    

2022

    

2021

    

Performance Ratios:

 

  

 

  

 

Return on average assets

 

1.05

%  

0.29

%  

Return on average equity

 

8.49

%  

2.26

%  

Interest rate spread (1)

 

3.15

%  

2.36

%  

Net interest margin (2)

 

3.23

%  

2.42

%  

Non-interest expenses to average assets

 

2.39

%  

2.47

%  

Efficiency ratio (3)

 

64.22

%  

84.96

%  

Average interest-earning assets to average interest-bearing liabilities

 

169.03

%  

163.54

%  

Capital Ratios (4):

 

  

 

  

 

Average equity to average assets

 

12.42

%  

13.00

%  

Total capital to risk weighted assets

 

18.95

%  

18.31

%  

Tier 1 capital to risk weighted assets

 

17.69

%  

17.04

%  

Common equity tier 1 capital to risk weighted assets

 

17.69

%  

17.04

%  

Tier 1 capital to average assets

 

9.74

%  

9.78

%  

Asset Quality Ratios:

 

  

 

  

 

Allowance for loan losses as a percentage of total loans

 

2.17

%  

2.15

%  

Allowance for loan losses as a percentage of non-performing loans

 

187.10

%  

117.27

%  

Net charge-offs to average outstanding loans during the period

 

0.01

%  

0.16

%  

Non-performing loans as a percentage of total loans

 

1.16

%  

1.84

%  

Non-performing loans as a percentage of total assets

 

0.58

%  

1.00

%  

Total non-performing assets as a percentage of total assets

 

0.58

%  

1.05

%  

Other:

 

  

 

  

 

Number of offices

 

22

 

22

 

Number of full-time equivalent employees

 

259

 

241

 


(1)Represents the difference between the weighted average yield on average interest-earning assets and the weighted average cost of interest-bearing liabilities for the periods presented.
(2)Represents net interest income as a percentage of average interest-earning assets.
(3)Represents non-interest expenses divided by the sum of net interest income and non-interest income.
(4)Capital Ratios are for Pioneer Bank.

The above information is preliminary and based on Pioneer’s data available at the time of presentation.

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