First US Bancshares Inc 2024年度报告

First US Bancshares, Inc.Letter to Shareholders2024 Annual Report Dear Shareholder: We are pleased to provide you with the Annual Report of First US Bancshares, Inc. (the“Company” or “FUSB”) for the year ended December 31, 2024. The Company took another significantstep forward in 2024, and there are a number of notable accomplishments that we are excited to reportto you. However, before we do that, it seems fitting to pause for a moment and let you, the shareholder,know how much we appreciate your continued support of our institution. There is no doubt that thereare ups and downs when it comes to the management and oversight of a community bank like ours.The decisions that our directors and management team make are important to the future of theinstitution, and although we won’t always get every decision right, you should know that we arerelentlessly focused on making the right decisions with the information that we have at hand. We donot take this responsibility lightly to both care for and enhance your investment. So, on behalf of thedirectors, management team and employees of FUSB, thank you for the trust that you have placed in usto steward your investment. We believe that the future is indeed bright for our institution, and we aregrateful for your support and partnership along the way. 2024 Financial Highlights The Company realized healthy and consistent earnings in 2024, posting diluted earnings per shareof $1.33 that matched 2023 levels. Total shareholders’ equity increased by 8.9% and the Company’sbanking subsidiary, First US Bank (the “Bank”), ended 2024 with a well-capitalized Tier 1 leverageratio of 9.50%. Due to the consistency of earnings and strength of capital levels, in the fourth quarter of2024,the Company’s Board of Directors(the“Board”)increased the quarterly dividend toshareholders by 40% to $0.07 per share. Furthermore, in accordance with Board-approved plans,management continued to repurchase shares of FUSB stock throughout 2024, ending with 146,500shares purchased for the year at a weighted average purchase price of $11.22 per share. Both theincreased dividend and the share repurchases serve to enhance total shareholder return, as do priceincreases for FUSB stock. Comparing year-end closing share prices, growth in the Company’s stockprice totaled 22.1% for 2024, representing a second consecutive year of double-digit returns. The Company ended 2024 with $1.1 billion in total assets, or growth of 2.6%, for the year. Amidan uncertain and volatile interest rate environment, loan growth was challenging in 2024. While theCompany netted modest loan growth of $1.2 million, or 0.2%, for the year, it is worth noting that 2024capped off five years of healthy loan growth that, coupled with expense reduction, has driven earningsimprovement over the time frame. Comparing December 31, 2024 to December 31, 2019, theCompany’s loans to deposit ratio increased to 84.6% from 80.6%, and the Company’s total loans grewat a compounded annual growth rate of 8.4%. While we saw an uptick in nonperforming assets duringthe latter part of the year, the increase was largely isolated to two loans, one that foreclosed during theyear and another that moved to nonaccrual status and was individually evaluated for purposes ofdetermining the Company’s allowance for credit losses as of December 31, 2024. Despite these limitedsituations, the overall credit quality of the portfolio taken in its entirety remains strong. Net charge-offsas a percentage of average loans totaled only 0.14% in 2024, the same ratio as 2023. Deposit growth proved to be more robust than loan growth in 2024, with a total increase of$22.4 million in deposits during the year. Core deposits, which exclude time deposits in excess of$250 thousand and all brokered deposits, increased by 2.2% during the year, bringing the Company’sfive year compounded annual growth rate on deposits to 5.7%, comparing December 31, 2024 toDecember 31, 2019. It is worth noting here that a portion of the deposit growth experienced in 2024 came from the Bank’s Knoxville banking center that reopened at a new location in June. The location,which provides a fresh new look for our team in a significantly more favorable area of the Beardenneighborhood, is off to a great start in attracting new business in our Tennessee market. As mentioned above, in addition to solid loan growth over the past several years, one of the keysto the Company’s ability to realize consistent improved earnings in recent years has been significantreduction in non-interest expense achieved primarily through efficiency initiatives that were launchedin 2021. In 2024, this theme continued as non-interest expense decreased to $28.4 million, compared to$29.1million in 2023,a decrease of 2.7%year-over-year.Even more remarkable,however,non-interest expense in 2024 was $5.9 million, or 17.3%, lower than non-interest expense levels in2020prior to implementation of the efficiency initiatives.Expressed over a five