Cascade Financial (CASB)

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CASB~~~On October 21st, Cascade announced that it had successfully completed a series of balance sheet restructuring transactions which will immediately put Cascade in an improved financial position including increased capital ratios and increased net interest margin.

The transactions included the restructuring of Cascade's securities portfolio, prepayment and/or modification of Cascade's Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) advances, and the purchase of interest rate caps designed to protect both the net interest margin and shareholders' equity from potential future rising interest rates.

"Our team has remained focused on reducing nonperforming assets, strengthening our performing loan portfolio, growing our depositor base and increasing on-balance sheet liquidity.

Our operating results improved compared to the previous quarter; however, we continue to be hampered by the elevated provision for loan losses and charge-offs," stated Carol K. Nelson, President and CEO. "We made improvements in credit quality metrics for the second consecutive quarter with a 6.3% reduction in nonperforming assets and a decline in the real estate construction portfolio of 54.2% in the past year.

Additionally, stronger deposit growth and a reduction in the real estate construction loan portfolio over the past few quarters led to increased on-balance sheet liquidity which provided us the opportunity to pursue these balance sheet restructuring transactions.

We were able to monetize gains in our securities portfolio to offset the cost of prepaying the FHLB borrowings. The end result will shrink the balance sheet, improve our capital ratios, reduce interest expense and improve our net interest margin.

These restructuring transactions, which commenced late in the third quarter and were completed early in the fourth quarter, are part of Cascade's overall business plan to strengthen its financial condition going forward."

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