Wheeling, W.Va.-based WesBanco Inc. ($8.40 billion as of June 30), which is inthe process of acquiringNew Albany, Ind.-based Your CommunityBankshares Inc. ($1.55 billion as of March 31), is aiming topostpone the effect of crossing the $10 billion threshold, company executivessaid during a July 20 conference call to discuss second-quarter results.
"[W]e are focused on carefully maintaining the size ofour balance sheet in order to delay the financial impact of crossing $10billion in assets as we reduce the size of our securities portfolio during thesecond quarter," President and CEO Todd Clossin said, according to atranscript.
He said the company would expect to go over back half of2017 or early 2018 whether through organic growth or an acquisition. He saidthat the thought would be to stay under until then through deleveraging andbalance sheet re-mix strategies.
The CEO said that the company's proposed with Your Community isstill anticipated to be completed in the late third quarter or early fourthquarter.
Executive Vice President and CFO Robert Young said thecompany continues to expect a competitive loan environment impacted by anextended lower for longer interest rate scenario with a flatter yield curve. Hesaid this will continue to impact the company's net interest margin as existingloans reprice and new loans are booked.
"In addition, the continued execution of our balancesheet re-mix strategy, as we delay the financial impact of crossing the $10billion threshold, will also have somewhat of an impact in the near-term,although reducing the size of our investment portfolio is part of ourlonger-term strategy," Young said. "We are now only modeling for onerate increase in December of this year as compared to two previously and justone increase during 2017 at this time."
WesBanco reportedsecond-quarter net income of $22.1 million, or 58 cents per share, compared to$21.6 million, or 56 cents per share, for the same period in 2015. Excludingafter-tax merger-related expenses, net income for the second quarter was $22.6million, or 59 cents per share, compared to $22.4 million, or 58 cents pershare, in the year-ago period.