Univest Financial Corporation (“Univest” or the “Corporation”) (NASDAQ: UVSP), parent company of Univest Bank and Trust Co. (the “Bank”) and its insurance, investments and equipment financing subsidiaries, announced net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 of $22.4 million, or $0.77 diluted earnings per share, compared to net income of $20.3 million, or $0.69 diluted earnings per share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2024.
Dividend
On April 23, 2025, Univest declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.22 per share to be paid on May 21, 2025 to shareholders of record as of May 7, 2025, which represents an increase of $0.01 per share, or 4.8%. Univest had last increased its dividend by $0.01 per share in May 2022.
One-Time Items
The financial results for the quarter included tax-free bank owned life insurance (“BOLI”) death benefits claims of $1.0 million, which represented $0.04 diluted earnings per share.
Loans
Gross loans and leases increased $6.5 million, or 0.1% (0.4% annualized), from December 31, 2024. Gross loans and leases increased $254.0 million, or 3.9%, from March 31, 2024, primarily due to increases in commercial, commercial real estate, residential mortgage loans and home equity loans, partially offset by decreases in construction loans and lease financings.
Deposits, Borrowings and Liquidity
Total deposits decreased $100.8 million, or 1.5% (6.0% annualized), from December 31, 2024, primarily due to seasonal declines in public funds deposits and decreases in commercial and consumer deposits, partially offset by an increase in brokered deposits. Total deposits increased $253.1 million, or 4.0%, from March 31, 2024, due to increases in consumer, commercial, and public funds deposits, partially offset by a decrease in brokered deposits. Noninterest-bearing deposits totaled $1.4 billion and represented 21.5% of total deposits at March 31, 2025, compared to $1.4 billion representing 20.9% of total deposits at December 31, 2024. Unprotected deposits, which excludes insured, internal, and collateralized deposit accounts, totaled $1.5 billion at March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024. This represented 21.9% of total deposits at March 31, 2025, compared to 22.0% at December 31, 2024.
Total borrowings decreased $57.0 million, or 14.8%, from December 31, 2024, primarily due to maturities of long-term FHLB advances totaling $50.0 million. These borrowings were replaced with brokered deposits during the quarter.
As of March 31, 2025, the Corporation and its subsidiaries reported cash and cash equivalents totaling $169.1 million and had committed borrowing capacity of $3.7 billion, of which $2.3 billion was available. The Corporation and its subsidiaries also maintained uncommitted funding sources from correspondent banks of $468.0 million at March 31, 2025. Future availability under these uncommitted funding sources is subject to the prerogatives of the granting banks and may be withdrawn at will.
Net Interest Income and Margin
Net interest income of $56.8 million for the first quarter of 2025 increased $5.3 million, or 10.3%, from the first quarter of 2024 and $1.3 million, or 2.4%, from the fourth quarter of 2024. The increase in net interest income for the first quarter of 2025 compared to the first quarter of 2024 was driven by higher average balances of loans and increased yields on interest earning assets, as well as a reduction in our overall cost of funds. The increase in net interest income for the first quarter of 2025 compared to the fourth quarter of 2024 was primarily driven by lower average balances of interest-bearing liabilities and related costs outpacing decreases in income from interest-earning deposits with other banks.
Net interest margin, on a tax-equivalent basis, was 3.09% for the first quarter of 2025, compared to 2.88% for the first and fourth quarters of 2024. Excess liquidity reduced net interest margin by approximately three basis points for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 compared to approximately 14 basis points for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 and approximately three basis points for the quarter ended March 31, 2024. Excluding the impact of excess liquidity, the net interest margin, on a tax-equivalent basis, would have been 3.12% for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 compared to 3.02% for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 and 2.91% for the quarter ended March 31, 2024.
Noninterest Income
Noninterest income for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 was $22.4 million, a decrease of $3.2 million, or 12.4%, from the comparable period in the prior year.
Other service fee income decreased $3.7 million, or 57.8%, for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 compared to the comparable period in the prior year, primarily due to a $3.4 million net gain from the sale of mortgage servicing rights associated with $591.1 million of serviced loans in the first quarter of 2024. Additionally, net servicing fees on sold mortgage loans decreased by $177 thousand, primarily attributable to the previously mentioned sale of mortgage servicing rights.
Other income decreased $780 thousand, or 76.1%, for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 compared to the comparable period in the prior year, primarily due to decreases in other real estate owned income, fees on risk participation agreements for interest rate swaps and gains on sale of Small Business Administration loans.
Net gain on mortgage banking activities decreased $292 thousand, or 31.1%, for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 compared to the comparable period in the prior year, primarily due to decreased salable volume.
Insurance commission and fee income decreased $312 thousand, or 4.3%, for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 compared to the comparable period in the prior year, primarily due to a decrease in contingent income of $700 thousand, which was $1.6 million and $2.3 million, for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. Contingent income is largely recognized in the first quarter of the year. The decrease was partially offset by an increase of $404 thousand in revenue for commercial lines.
BOLI income increased $1.1 million, or 132.7%, for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 compared to the comparable period in the prior year, primarily due to the previously discussed death benefits claims.
Investment advisory commission and fee income increased $419 thousand, or 8.1%, for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 compared to the comparable period in the prior year, primarily due to new customer relationships and appreciation of assets under management and supervision.
Service charges on deposit accounts increased $323 thousand, or 17.3%, for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 compared to the comparable period in the prior year, primarily due to an increase in treasury management income.
Noninterest Expense
Noninterest expense for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 was $49.3 million, a decrease of $746 thousand, or 1.5%, from the comparable period in the prior year.
Salaries, benefits and commissions decreased $512 thousand, or 1.6%, for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 compared to the comparable period in the prior year, primarily due to an increase in compensation capitalized and a decrease in medical claims expense, partially offset by an increase in incentive compensation due to increased profitability.
Tax Provision
The effective income tax rate was 18.7% and 20.5% for the quarters ended March 31, 2025 and March 31, 2024, respectively. The discrete tax effect of vested equity compensation awards favorably impacted the first quarter of 2025 by 71 basis points and unfavorably impacted the first quarter of 2024 by 74 basis points. Additionally, the effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2025 was favorably impacted by 76 basis points from the proceeds of BOLI death benefits. Excluding the discrete impact of vested equity compensation awards and BOLI death benefits, the effective tax rate was 20.2% for the three months ended March 31, 2025 compared to 19.8% for the three months ended March 31, 2024.
Asset Quality and Provision for Credit Losses
Nonperforming assets totaled $34.0 million at March 31, 2025, $33.2 million at December 31, 2024, and $40.0 million at March 31, 2024.
Net loan and lease charge-offs were $1.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025 compared to $767 thousand and $1.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and March 31, 2024, respectively.
The provision for credit losses was $2.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025 compared to $2.4 million and $1.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and March 31, 2024, respectively. The allowance for credit losses on loans and leases as a percentage of loans and leases held for investment was 1.28% at March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, and 1.30% at March 31, 2024.
Share Repurchases
During the quarter ended March 31, 2025, the Corporation repurchased 221,760 shares of common stock at an average price of $29.22 per share. Including brokerage fees and excise tax, the average price per share was $29.54. As of March 31, 2025, 1,178,394 shares are available for repurchase under the Share Repurchase Plan.
Conference Call
Univest will host a conference call to discuss first quarter 2025 results on Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. EST. The general public can access the call by dialing 1-833-470-1428; using Access Code 021974. A replay of the conference call will be available through May 1, 2025 by dialing 1-866-813-9403; using Access Code 718470.
