WHAT IS
SAFE AND SOUND?
Capital acts as a cushion against losses and as protection for depositors during times of financial trouble for the bank. Therefore, a bank's level of capital is an essential measurement of an institution's financial fortitude. When looking at safety and soundness, more capital is preferred.
National Bank of Petersburg received a score of 10 out of a possible 30 points on our test to measure the adequacy of a bank's capital, coming in below the national average of 13.13.
A bank's Tier 1 capital ratio is a widely followed measure of this buffer. National Bank of Petersburg's Tier 1 capital ratio was 17.28 percent, above the 6 percent level considered adequate by regulators, but lower than the national average of 25.65 percent. The higher the capital ratio, the better the bank will be able to weather financial headwinds.
Overall, National Bank of Petersburg held equity amounting to 9.59 percent of its assets, which was lower than the national average of 12.03 percent.
In this test, Bankrate tries to determine the effect of problem assets, such as unpaid loans, on the bank's reserves set aside to cover loan losses, as well as overall capitalization.
A bank with lots of these kinds of assets may eventually be forced to use capital to cover losses, cutting down on its equity buffer. Many of those assets are also likely to be in non-accrual status and thus aren't earning interest for the bank, pushing down earnings and elevating the chances of a failure in the future.
National Bank of Petersburg scored 40 out of a possible 40 points on Bankrate's test of asset quality, better than the national average of 37.49.
A handy indicator of asset quality is the percentage of problem assets a bank holds compared to its total assets. As of December 31, 2017, 0.44 percent of National Bank of Petersburg's loans were noncurrent, meaning they were more than 90 days past due or were in non-accrual status. That's below the national average of 1.01 percent.
Banks maintain a reserve known as an "allowance for loan and lease losses" to deal with troubled assets . Comparing the size of that reserve to the total amount of problematic loans can be a useful indicator when evaluating a bank's ability to manage problem assets. Unfortunately, the FDIC did not provide information on National Bank of Petersburg's loan loss allowance in its most recent filings.
How profitable a bank is affects its long-term survivability. A bank can retain its earnings, boosting its capital cushion, or use them to address problematic loans, likely making the bank better prepared to withstand economic shocks. Banks that are losing money, however, have less ability to do those things.
National Bank of Petersburg exceeded the national average on Bankrate's earnings test, achieving a score of 20 out of a possible 30.
Return on equity, calculated by dividing net income (essentially, profit) by total equity, is one key measure of a bank's earnings. National Bank of Petersburg's most recent annualized quarterly return on equity was 9.83 percent, above the national average of 8.10 percent.
For the twelve months ended December 31, 2017, the bank recorded net income of $1.4 million on total equity of $13.9 million. The bank reported an annualized return on average assets, or ROA, of 0.98 percent, below the 1 percent deemed satisfactory in accordance with industry standards and below the average for U.S. banks of 1.00 percent.
Bankrate.com's Safe & Sound Ratings provide a star rating system to evaluate the current financial status of financial institutions. The information gathered about banks, credit unions and thrifts is updated as set forth in the Terms of Use of Safe & Sound Ratings and Reports. The Safe & Sound Ratings information is grouped by categories of banks, thrifts and credit unions.
Bankrate.com evaluates the financial condition of institutions and assigns a one- to five-star rating for each with five stars representing the highest rating. Institutions with satisfactory performance will generally receive a rating of three or more stars. The majority of institutions fall into the three- to four-star range. An institution with an "NR" rating may be too new to rate or may have limited the publicly available information in their regulatory filings. The "NR" is not an indication of financial strength or weakness. The Safe & Sound rating is believed to be reliable, but the information is not guaranteed. In addition, events since the information was collected may have altered the institution's financial condition.