First Northwest Bancorp reports Q2 EPS 16c vs 20c last year

Book value per common share was $17.19 at June 30, 2024, compared to $17.00 at March 31, 2024, and $16.56 at June 30, 2023. “In spite of challenging times for the entire industry as a result of the rate environment, First Northwest executed on a balance sheet restructure strategy. The restructure included a sale-leaseback transaction for six of our branches, a restructure of our bank-owned life insurance policies, two securities loss sale transactions, two balance sheet hedges against fixed rate loans and municipal bonds and the sale of our Visa B shares,” commented Matthew P. Deines, President and CEO. “As a result, we reached an inflection point for the net interest margin in the second quarter after declines for the preceding five quarters. We also reduced wholesale funding reliance in the current quarter, and today are announcing significant expense reduction through a reduction in force which we expect will positively impact earnings in the second half of 2024 and into 2025. We still have substantial work to do in order to produce stronger earnings. However, we believe we have laid the groundwork for improved earnings moving forward as lower yielding assets reprice, payoff and paydown in line with contractual commitments.”