United Bank Reports Record Earnings And Increases Dividend To Close Out 2019
United Bankshares Inc. finished 2019 with another strong earnings report.
Earnings for Q4 2019 were $63.3M, or $0.62 per diluted share as compared to earnings of $64M or $0.62 per diluted share for Q4 2018. Earnings for the year of 2019 were a record $260.1M, or $2.55 per diluted share as compared to earnings of $256.3M or $2.45 per diluted share for the year of 2018.
During Q4 2019, United announced that it entered into a definitive merger agreement with Carolina Financial Corp. Under the merger agreement, United will acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Carolina Financial Corp. in exchange for common shares of United. The combined organization will be approximately $25B in assets with more than 200 locations in some of the most desirable banking markets in the nation.
United recently filed a Form S-4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the proposed merger. It expects the merger to close during the second quarter of 2020, making United one of the 35 largest banks in the U.S. based on market capitalization.
“2019 was another great year for United Bankshares,” United’s chairman of the board and CEO Richard M. Adams, said. “We earned record net income of $260M and record diluted earnings per share of $2.55, announced the intent to acquire Carolina Financial Corp., our 32nd acquisition of the current administration, and increased dividends to our shareholders for the 46th consecutive year, a record only one other major banking company in the USA has been able to achieve.”
Q4 of 2019 results produced an annualized return on average assets of 1.3%, an annualized return on average equity of 7.4%, and an annualized return on average tangible equity of 13.4%. For the year of 2019, United’s return on average assets was 1.3%, while the return on average equity was 7.8% and the return on average tangible equity was 14.3%.
United’s annualized returns on average assets, average equity and average tangible equity were 1.%, 7.8% and 14.5%, respectively, for Q4 2018 while the returns on average assets, average equity and average tangible equity were 1.4%, 7.8% and 14.7%, respectively, for the year of 2018.
As of Dec. 31, United had consolidated assets of approximately $19.7B.
United is the parent company of United Bank, the largest community bank headquartered in the D.C. Metro region. United Bank comprises 138 full-service banking offices and 15 George Mason Mortgage LLC locations located throughout Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. United’s stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "UBSI."
This feature was produced in collaboration between the Bisnow Branded Content Studio and United Bank. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.
