Springs Valley Bank & Trust delivers robust Q3 results

SVB&T Corporation, parent company of Springs Valley Bank & Trust Company, reports third quarter 2025 earnings of $2.59 million, or $2.35 per share, representing a 50.64% increase over the same period last year.

The Jasper, Indiana-based company announced the results Nov. 10, showing an average return on assets of 1.64%, compared with 1.11% in the third quarter of 2024. Book value per share increases 9.49% to $64.35 as of Sept. 30, 2025, from $58.77 a year earlier.

Net interest income before provision expense for the third quarter reaches $5.35 million compared to $4.34 million for the same period in 2024. Interest income increases $371,000 compared to the prior-year third quarter, primarily due to higher loan interest rates resulting from the elevated rate environment and asset repricing.

Interest expense decreases $636,000 compared to the same prior-year quarter, largely due to lower deposit rates resulting from the Federal Reserve’s federal funds rate reductions in the latter half of 2024 and 2025. Provision expense increases by $116,000 compared to the prior year’s third quarter.

Noninterest income decreases approximately $36,000 to $2.59 million from $2.62 million. The slightly lower income can be attributed to reduced revenue from Financial Services annuity sales and servicing fees on sold loans compared to the prior-year third quarter.

Noninterest income generation remains a strategic focus for SVB&T by growing the Financial Advisory Group, increasing sold loan income, expanding electronic banking services, and pursuing other avenues to reduce margin dependence.

Noninterest expense increases $95,000 to $5.10 million from $5 million, attributable to increases in general operating expenses. These expense increases are somewhat mitigated by lower health insurance expenditures, driven by reduced claims so far in 2025.

Quarter-over-quarter earnings increase approximately $451,000, or 21.07%. The earnings increase is largely driven by increased net interest income, Financial Advisory Group income, and servicing income on sold loans.

SVB&T Corporation stock closes at $47.50 per share on the OTCQX exchange on Sept. 30, 2025. In May 2025, the corporation’s Board of Directors reauthorizes a share repurchase program through June 1, 2027. Under the program, the corporation is authorized to repurchase, from time to time as the corporation deems appropriate, shares of SVB&T Corporation’s common stock with an aggregate purchase price of up to $1 million. As of the end of the third quarter of 2025, 2,100 shares have been repurchased under the newly reapproved plan, with an average purchase price of $47.03.

Total assets decrease by $2.58 million to $635.23 million on Sept. 30, 2025, compared to $637.81 million on Dec. 31, 2024. Total loans before allowance decrease $2.08 million to $477.32 million on Sept. 30, 2025, from $479.40 million on Dec. 31, 2024.

The decrease in loans in 2025 is primarily due to payoffs and paydowns on commercial real estate loans in early 2025. Springs Valley experiences relatively healthy loan demand in 2025; however, the bank is strategically preserving liquidity for high-quality credits and managing loan growth to alleviate some of the pressure on the funding side of the balance sheet, as the cost of funds remains elevated.

Allowance as a percent of total loans is 1.42% as of Sept. 30, 2025, compared to 1.41% as of Dec. 31, 2024. Total deposits decrease $6.05 million to $557.03 million on Sept. 30, 2025, from $563.08 million on Dec. 31, 2024.

Noninterest-bearing deposits decrease by approximately $302,000, while interest-bearing deposits decrease by approximately $5.75 million. Core deposit growth remains a strategic focus for Springs Valley, as it is a critical component in generating sustainable, long-term profitability for the institution.

Year-to-date earnings for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2025, are $6.83 million or $6.21 per share, a 41.78% increase over the same prior year period earnings on a per share basis. This year-to-date performance translates to a return on average assets of 1.43%, compared to the same prior-year period’s return on average assets of 1.05%.

Net interest income before provision expense for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2025, is $15.17 million compared to $12.47 million for the same period in 2024, an increase of $2.70 million. Interest income increases approximately $1.50 million compared to the same prior-year period, largely due to higher loan interest rates resulting from the elevated rate environment and asset repricing.

Interest expense decreases by $1.20 million over the same period, largely due to lower deposit rates resulting from the Federal Reserve’s federal funds rate reductions in the latter half of 2024 and 2025. Year-to-date provision expense increases by $153,000, compared to the same prior year period.

Noninterest income decreases $165,000 to $7.59 million year-to-date September 2025 from $7.76 million for the same period in 2024. The largest contributing factors to the unfavorable variance are decreased servicing income on sold loans due to a fair value adjustment on the bank’s mortgage servicing asset and decreased income from gain on sale of other real estate owned, as a sizeable gain is recognized in the second quarter of 2024.

Growing noninterest income to reduce margin dependence remains a strategic focus for Springs Valley Bank & Trust. Noninterest expense increases $61,000 to $14.66 million year-to-date September 2025 from $14.60 million for the same period in 2024.

This expense increase is largely driven by general operating expenses, the largest of which are increased salaries, legal expenses, and core processing expenditures.

President and CEO J. Craig Buse commented, “2025 is trending to be one of the best years in terms of earnings and profitability in the bank’s history. Margin expansion has been a substantive tailwind driving net interest income higher with both yields on assets rising while cost of funds are decreasing due to a combination of the rate environment and the repricing structure of our assets.”

“We have seen net interest margin expansion of roughly 58 basis points when comparing the 2025 third quarter net interest margin to the third quarter net interest margin of 2024,” Buse said. “The bank continues to focus on quality in the credit portfolio, bolstering liquidity, and low cost core deposit growth.”

“Overall, our strategic focus has not changed,” he said. “Springs Valley continues to focus on relationship-oriented community banking to provide year-over-year financial performance for all stakeholders.”