FinWise Bancorp Reports First Quarter 2025 Results

– Loan Originations of $1.3 Billion –

– Net Income of $3.2 Million –

– Diluted Earnings Per Share of $0.23 –

MURRAY, Utah, April 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FinWise Bancorp (NASDAQ: FINW) (“FinWise” or the “Company”), parent company of FinWise Bank (the “Bank”), today announced results for the quarter ended March 31, 2025.

First Quarter 2025 Highlights

• Loan originations totaled $1.3 billion, compared to $1.3 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, and $1.1 billion for the first quarter of the prior year
• Net interest income was $14.3 million, compared to $15.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, and $14.0 million for the first quarter of the prior year
• Net income was $3.2 million, compared to $2.8 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, and $3.3 million for the first quarter of the prior year
• Diluted earnings per share (“EPS”) were $0.23 for the quarter, compared to $0.20 for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, and $0.25 for the first quarter of the prior year
• Efficiency ratio¹ was 64.8%, compared to 64.2% for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, and 61.0% for the first quarter of the prior year
• Nonperforming loan balances were $29.9 million as of March 31, 2025, compared to $36.5 million as of December 31, 2024, and $26.0 million as of March 31, 2024. Nonperforming loan balances guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) were $15.1 million, $19.2 million, and $14.8 million as of March 31, 2025, December 31, 2024, and March 31, 2024, respectively

“Our business model remained resilient in the first quarter, even amidst a more uncertain macro environment,” said Kent Landvatter, Chairman and CEO of FinWise. “We posted solid loan originations and encouraging credit quality metrics, as both non-performing loan balances and net charge-offs declined sequentially. Furthermore, we continued to migrate our loan portfolio to a lower risk profile while still growing profitably and increasing tangible book value. Subsequent to the end of the first quarter, we also announced a new strategic program agreement where FinWise will provide both lending and our Credit Enhanced Balance Sheet product. While we will continue to closely monitor the economic environment, we remain excited about the outlook for our business and will maintain our focus on executing our business strategy to continue to position the Company for long-term growth and shareholder value creation.”

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_{¹ See “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP to GAAP Financial Measures” for a reconciliation of this non-GAAP measure.}

Selected Financial and Other Data

^{(1)   This measure is not a measure recognized under United States generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, and is therefore considered to be a non-GAAP financial measure. See “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP to GAAP Financial Measures” for a reconciliation of this measure to its most comparable GAAP measure. The efficiency ratio is defined as total non-interest expense divided by the sum of net interest income and non-interest income. The Company believes this measure is important as an indicator of productivity because it shows the amount of revenue generated for each dollar spent.}

^{(2)   Tangible shareholders’ equity to tangible assets is considered a non-GAAP financial measure. Tangible shareholders’ equity is defined as total shareholders’ equity less goodwill and other intangible assets. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is total shareholder’s equity to total assets. The Company had no goodwill or other intangible assets at the end of any period indicated. The Company has not considered loan servicing rights or loan trailing fee assets as intangible assets for purposes of this calculation. As a result, tangible shareholders’ equity is the same as total shareholders’ equity at the end of each of the periods indicated.}

Net Interest Income

Net interest income was $14.3 million for the first quarter of 2025, compared to $15.5 million for the prior quarter and $14.0 million for the prior year period. The decrease from the prior quarter was primarily due to a decrease in yields and a seasonal decline in origination volume on the three highest yielding programs in the held-for-sale portfolio of $0.5 million, a decrease in yield offset in part by an increase in volume on the remaining held-for-sale portfolio of $0.3 million, and a decrease in yields offset in part by the increase in volume of the held-for-investment portfolio as variable rate loans were repriced to reflect the decrease in the prime rate of $0.5 million. The increase from the prior year period was primarily due to an increase in average interest-earning assets of $143.7 million, partially offset by lower yields on interest-earning assets and an increase in the average interest-bearing liabilities of $119.6 million.

Loan originations totaled $1.3 billion for the first quarter of 2025, compared to $1.3 billion for the prior quarter and $1.1 billion for the prior year period.

Net interest margin for the first quarter of 2025 was 8.27%, compared to 10.00% for the prior quarter and 10.12% for the prior year period. The decrease in net interest margin from the prior quarter and prior year period is attributable to the seasonal decline in originations of the three highest yielding held-for-sale programs, the repricing of our variable rate loan portfolio as interest rates have declined, and the Company’s strategy to reduce the average credit risk in the loan portfolio by increasing its investment in higher quality but lower yielding loans offset by a reduction in the costs of funds.

Provision for Credit Losses

The Company’s provision for credit losses was $3.3 million for the first quarter of 2025, compared to $3.9 million for the prior quarter and $3.2 million for the prior year period. The decrease in the provision for credit losses from the prior quarter was mainly due to lower net charge-offs of $1.0 million predominately in the non-SP loan portfolio offset in part by increased reserves for the held-for-investment loan portfolio growth, net of changes in modeling assumptions of $0.5 million. The increase in the provision for credit losses from the prior year period was primarily due to growth in the loans held-for-investment portfolio.

Non-interest Income

The increase in non-interest income from the prior quarter was due to an increase in other miscellaneous income resulting from a charge in the prior quarter of $0.9 million to remove unamortized premiums upon calling $160.0 million of callable certificates of deposits, growth in the Company’s operating lease portfolio, and an increased distribution received from BFG during the quarter. The Company also benefited from a favorable change in the fair value of our investment in BFG.

The increase in non-interest income from the prior year period was primarily due to an increase in Strategic Program fees primarily due to higher originations, a favorable change in the fair value of our investment in BFG, and an increase in other miscellaneous income. The increase in other miscellaneous income from the prior year period was the result of increased revenue from growth in the Company’s operating lease portfolio and increased distributions received from BFG.

Non-interest Expense

The increase in non-interest expense from the prior quarter resulted from increases in salaries and employee benefits and professional services. The salaries and employee benefits increase pertained mainly to an increase in federal employer payroll taxes of $0.4 million while the increase in professional services resulted from the reversal of over-accruals during the fourth quarter of 2024. The increase in non-interest expense from the prior year period was primarily due to an increase in salaries and employee benefits due mainly to increasing headcount and stock based compensation expense and other operating expenses driven by increased spending to support the growth in the Company’s business infrastructure.

Reflecting the decreased net interest income and increase in operating expenses, the Company’s efficiency ratio was 64.8% for the first quarter of 2025, compared to 64.2% for the prior quarter and 61.0% for the prior year period. The Company anticipates the efficiency ratio will level off then begin to decline as revenues are realized in future periods from the credit enhanced loan, BIN sponsorship and payments initiatives developed during 2023 and 2024.

Tax Rate

The Company’s effective tax rate was 28.1% for the first quarter of 2025, compared to 24.3% for the prior quarter and 26.5% for the prior year period. The increases from the prior quarter and prior year period were due primarily to estimated permanent differences related to officer compensation.

Net Income

Net income was $3.2 million for the first quarter of 2025, compared to $2.8 million for the prior quarter and $3.3 million for the prior year period. The changes in net income for the three months ended March 31, 2025 compared to the prior quarter and prior year period are the result of the factors discussed above.

Balance Sheet

The Company’s total assets were $804.1 million as of March 31, 2025, an increase from $746.0 million as of December 31, 2024 and $610.8 million as of March 31, 2024. The increase in total assets from December 31, 2024 was primarily due to continued growth in the Company’s loans held-for-investment, net, and loans held-for-sale portfolios of $24.6 million and $27.2 million, respectively, as well as an increase of $12.6 million in interest-bearing cash deposits. The increase in total assets compared to March 31, 2024 was primarily due to increases in the Company’s loans held-for-investment, net, and loans held-for-sale portfolios of $95.3 million and $63.8 million, respectively, as well as an increase in investment securities available-for-sale of $30.1 million. The increased loan balances are consistent with our strategy to grow the loan portfolio with higher quality lower risk assets.

The following table shows the gross loans held-for-investment (“HFI”) balances as of the dates indicated: