Timberland Bancorp's 3rd Fiscal Quarter Net Income Increases 10% Year-Over-Year.

HOQUIAM, Wash: Timberland Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSBK) ("Timberland" or "the Company"), the holding company for Timberland Bank (the "Bank"), today reported net income of $6.31 million, or $0.77 per diluted common share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2023. This compares to net income of $5.74 million, or $0.69 per diluted common share for the comparable quarter one year ago and $6.66 million, or $0.80 per diluted common share, for the preceding quarter.

For the first nine months of fiscal 2023, Timberland's net income increased 24% to $20.48 million, or $2.47 per diluted common share, compared to $16.55 million, or $1.97 per diluted common share for the first nine months of fiscal 2022.

"Timberland's third fiscal quarter produced strong financial results, with net income and EPS increasing 10% and 12%, respectively, compared to the year ago quarter," stated Dean Brydon, Chief Executive Officer. "Strong quarterly loan portfolio growth of 4% in conjunction with a higher interest rate environment compared to a year ago contributed to our solid quarterly and year-to-date results. As a result of the Company's strong earnings and capital position, Timberland's Board of Directors announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.23 per share, payable on August 25, 2023, to shareholders of record on August 11, 2023. This represents the 43rd consecutive quarter Timberland will have paid a cash dividend. In addition, the Company also announced the adoption of a new stock repurchase program. Under the new repurchase program, Timberland may repurchase up to 5% of the outstanding shares, or 404,708 shares. The new stock repurchase program replaces our existing stock repurchase program, which had 74,212 shares available to be repurchased."

"Asset quality metrics remain excellent, with quarter end non-performing assets at 9 basis points of total assets," Brydon continued. "Loan origination volumes remained steady and net loans receivable grew by $50 million during the quarter. Due primarily to loan portfolio growth, a $610,000 provision for loan losses was made for the quarter. At the same time, both on-balance sheet and off-balance sheet liquidity remained strong with only $15 million in borrowings at June 30, 2023 and additional secured borrowing line capacity of $691 million available through the Federal Home Loan Bank ("FHLB") and the Federal Reserve."

"Net interest margin remained strong at 3.94% for the quarter, just 5 basis points lower than the prior quarter's margin and 83 basis points higher compared to the year ago quarter," said Jonathan Fischer, President and Chief Operating Officer. "Deposit growth and pricing was competitive during the quarter, and we have not been immune to the effects of the Federal Reserve's tightening monetary policy. As anticipated, funding costs increased during the quarter as we continue to increase short-term deposit rates to retain rate sensitive customer deposits. We added $38 million in brokered deposits and saw a slight increase in total deposits during the quarter."

Earnings and Balance Sheet Highlights (at or for the periods ended June 30, 2023, compared to June 30, 2022, or March 31, 2023):

Earnings Highlights:

Earnings per diluted common share ("EPS")...