DUNMORE, Pa., March 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- First National Community Bancorp, Inc. (OTCQB: FNCB), the parent company of Dunmore-based First National Community Bank, announced today that it has filed its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012.  Company results for the fourth quarter of 2012 include a net loss of $5.1 million, or ($0.30) per basic and diluted share, compared to a net profit of $436,000, or $0.03 per basic and diluted share, for the prior year fourth quarter.  Total interest income was $8.9 million compared to $9.7 million for the fourth quarter 2011, and total interest expense for the fourth quarter 2012 was $2.1 million, down 25% from $2.8 million in the prior year quarter.  The Company's fourth quarter 2012 provision for loan and lease losses was $689,000 compared to a credit of $1.5 million for the fourth quarter 2011.  Non-interest expense was $10.8 million, down $337,000, or 3%, from $11.1 million in the prior year fourth quarter, reflecting the Company's focus on reducing non-interest expenses. Fourth quarter 2012 legal expense of approximately $1 million remained elevated above the Company's estimated ongoing cost going forward. These costs are expected to remain above projected normal operating levels until certain legal matters are resolved.

2012 Summary Highlights:

• The Company returned to current SEC reporting status
• The Bank's total risk-based capital at December 31, 2012 was $78.4 million, or 11.79% of risk-weighted assets
• Non-performing loans decreased 51%, or $10.2 million, from December 31, 2011
• The non-performing loans to total loans ratio at year-end decreased by 131 basis points to 1.62%, compared to December 31, 2011
• Other real estate owned ("OREO") was down 43% compared to December 31, 2011
• The Company's liquidation of higher-risk investments, primarily trust preferred debt securities, led to a reduction of credit exposure in its investment securities portfolio.

"We continued to positively reduce the amount of risk and leverage on our balance sheet in 2012. Although this process came at a cost to current earnings, we believe that these measures position our organization for improved financial performance and operating results in 2013 and beyond. Our asset quality metrics showed improvement, reflecting our heightened efforts to work-out nonperforming loans and to dispose of other real estate owned.  Our year-end ratio for non-performing loans as a percentage of total loans declined to 1.62%, which was 77 basis points better than the average for all commercial banks between $100 million and $1 billion in total assets, as per the FDIC statistics on depository institutions report at December 31, 2012," said Steven R. Tokach, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We also utilized our excess liquidity to reduce our Federal Home Loan Bank borrowings which positively impacted our funding cost. This initiative helped to drive our 2012 net interest margin up 18 basis points compared to 2011, and improved our net interest margin for the fourth quarter by 32 basis points compared to the prior year quarter. These accomplishments were realized in a less-than-ideal banking economy characterized by persistently low interest rates, margin compression and intense competition for quality lending opportunities.  Even as the environment poses challenges to our industry, we continue to focus on the customer, as reflected in our recent announcement to relocate our downtown Wilkes-Barre branch to an even more convenient location to better serve business and personal banking customers in the area. In addition, the Bank launched several electronic banking enhancements, including mobile remote deposit and other additions to our menu of online banking products. We believe that this reflects our focus on maintaining the strong competitive position that FNCB has historically enjoyed in Northeastern Pennsylvania."

Summary Results for 2012

The Company's net loss for 2012 was $13.7 million, or $(0.83) per basic and diluted share, compared to a loss of $335,000, or $(0.02) per basic and diluted share, for 2011.

Total interest income for 2012 was $37.0 million, down $5.9 million, or 13.7%, from $42.9 million in 2011, primarily a result of lower average investment securities, loan balances and lower yields.  Total interest expense of $9.2 million was down $4.6 million, or 34%, from $13.8 million in 2011, reflecting a decrease in the average balance of interest-bearing liabilities and a 31 basis-point decline in the average rate paid on interest-bearing liabilities.  As a result, net interest income for 2012 was $27.8 million, down $1.3 million from $29.1 million in the prior year.  The 2012 provision for loan and lease losses was $4.1 million, up $3.6 million, from $0.5 million in 2011, primarily resulting from one large commercial charge-off totaling $3.2 million that occurred during the third quarter.

Total non-interest income was $4.3 million for 2012, down $8.6 million, or 66.7%, from $12.9 million for the prior year period.  The reduction was primarily the result of a net loss on the sale of investment securities of $1.7 million in 2012 compared to a net gain of $5.1 million on the sale of investment securities in 2011, as well as smaller gains on the sale of other real estate owned of $305,000 in 2012 compared to $2.5 million in 2011.

Total non-interest expense for 2012 was $41.7 million, down from $41.8 million in 2011, primarily resulting from a $1.7 million decrease in OREO expense and a $1.0 million decrease in professional fees, and partially offset by increases in legal expenses of $1.5 million.  Professional fees are expected to decline to normalized levels in 2013 reflecting the Company's recent return to current SEC reporting status. Legal fees are expected to remain at a heightened level until certain litigation matters are resolved.

Continued Improvement in Asset Quality

FNCB's asset quality ratios continued to improve through the end of 2012, reflecting heightened work-out efforts on nonperforming loans, as well as the disposal of foreclosed properties and all of the trust preferred debt securities previously held in our portfolio. Total non-performing loans at December 31, 2012 were $9.7 million, down $10.2 million, or 51%, from December 31, 2011, and down $3.7 million, or 27%, from September 30, 2012.  The ratio of non-performing loans to total loans was 1.62% at December 31, 2012, an improvement of 131 basis points from 2.93% at December 31, 2011, and an improvement of 49 basis points compared to 2.11% at September 30, 2012.

Financial Condition

The Company's total assets at December 31, 2012 year end were $968.3 million, a decrease of $134.4 million compared to December 31, 2011.  Total deposits were $854.6 million, a decrease of $102.5 million from December 31, 2011. Total borrowed funds declined by $29.7 million to $53.9 million compared to December 31, 2011.  FNCB's capital ratios for the Bank at December 31, 2012 were as follows: total risk-based capital ratio of 11.79%, Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 10.52%, and Tier 1 leverage ratio of 7.20%. 

Availability of Filings

A copy of the Company's Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2012 will be provided upon request from: Shareholder Relations, First National Community Bancorp, Inc., 102 East Drinker Street, Dunmore, PA 18512 or by calling (570) 348-6419. The 2012 Form 10-K is also available on the Investor Relations page of the Company's website, www.fncb.com, and on the SEC website at:

http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html

About First National Community Bank:
First National Community Bancorp, Inc. is the bank holding company of First National Community Bank, which provides personal, small business and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses throughout Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe and Wayne Counties in Northeastern Pennsylvania.  The institution was established as a National Banking Association in 1910 as The First National Bank of Dunmore, and has been operating under its current name since 1988. The Company's common stock trades on the OTCQB under the symbol FNCB.

Additional product, Company and investor information is available at FNCB's web site, please visit www.fncb.com.

This release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results and trends could differ materially from those set forth in such statements due to various risks, uncertainties and other factors (some of which are beyond the Company's control). The words "may," "could," "should," "would," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results and experience to differ include, but are not limited to, the following: the strength of the United States economy in general and the strength of the local economies in the Company's markets; the effects of, and changes in trade, monetary and fiscal policies and laws, including interest rate policies of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; inflation, interest rate, market and monetary fluctuations; the timely development of and acceptance of new products and services; the impact of the Company's ability to comply with its regulatory agreements and orders; the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls; the ability of the Company to attract additional capital investment; the impact of changes in financial services' laws and regulations (including laws concerning taxes, banking, securities and insurance); technological changes; changes in consumer spending and saving habits; the nature, extent, and timing of governmental actions and reforms, and the success of the Company at managing the risks involved in the foregoing and other risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not undertake to update any forward looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this release.

SOURCE First National Community Bancorp, Inc.