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HBT Financial , Inc. Announces First Quarter 2021 Financial Results April 26 , 2021 First Quarter Highlights • Net income of $ 15.2 million , or $ 0.55 per diluted share ; return on average assets ( ROAA ) of 1.64 % ; return on average stockholders ' equity ( ROAE ) of 17.01 % ; and return on average tangible common equity ( ROATCE ) ( 1 ) of 18.33 % • Adjusted net income ( 1 ) of $ 14.0 million ; or $ 0.51 per diluted share , adjusted ROAA ( 1 ) of 1.51 % ; adjusted ROAE ( 1 ) of 15.65 % ; and adjusted ROATCE ( 1 ) of 16.88 % ( 1 ) See " Reconciliation of Non - GAAP Financial Measures " below for reconciliation of non - GAAP financial measures to their most comparable GAAP financial measures . BLOOMINGTON , III . , April 26 , 2021 ( GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- HBT Financial , Inc. ( NASDAQ : HBT ) ( the “ Company ” or “ HBT Financial ” ) , the holding company for Heartland Bank and Trust Company , today reported net income of $ 15.2 million , or $ 0.55 diluted earnings per share , for the first quarter of 2021. This compares to net income of $ 12.6 million , or $ 0.46 diluted earnings per share , for the fourth quarter of 2020 , and net income of $ 6.2 million , or $ 0.23 diluted earnings per share , for the first quarter of 2020 . Fred L. Drake , Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of HBT Financial , said , " We delivered strong results for the first quarter of 2021 , as our continued healthy asset quality , consistent sources of non - interest income , and disciplined expense control combined to produce a high level of profitability . We remain focused on operating a highly efficient institution . We are executing on expense management initiatives to ensure that we continue to deliver strong performance in a challenging environment for revenue growth . With the vaccine rollout in Illinois progressing and expectations for economic activity to increase across the remainder of the year , we are optimistic that we will have more opportunities to deploy our excess liquidity as loan demand in our markets improves . " Adjusted Net Income In addition to reporting GAAP results , the Company believes adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per share , which adjust for the additional C Corp equivalent tax expense for periods prior to October 11 , 2019 , net earnings ( losses ) from closed or sold operations , charges related to termination of certain employee benefit plans , realized gains ( losses ) on sales of securities , and mortgage servicing rights ( " MSR ” ) fair value adjustments , provide investors with additional insight into its operational performance . The Company reported adjusted net income of $ 14.0 million , or $ 0.51 adjusted diluted earnings per share , for the first quarter of 2021. This compares to adjusted net income of $ 12.4 million , or $ 0.45 adjusted diluted earnings per share , for the fourth quarter of 2020 , and adjusted net income of $ 8.4 million , or $ 0.30 adjusted diluted earnings per share , for the first quarter of 2020 ( see " Reconciliation of Non - GAAP Financial Measures " tables ) . Net Interest Income and Net Interest Margin Net interest income for the first quarter of 2021 was $ 29.1 million , nearly unchanged from $ 29.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2020. The slight decrease was primarily attributable to lower yields on earning assets which was almost entirely offset by an increase in average balances . Relative to the first quarter of 2020 , net interest income decreased $ 1.5 million , or 5.0 % . The decline was primarily attributable to lower yields on average interest - earning assets . Net interest margin for the first quarter of 2021 was 3.25 % , compared to 3.31 % for the fourth quarter of 2020. The decrease was primarily attributable to increases in the average balances of lower yielding securities and deposits with banks , as a result of funds received from the forgiveness of Paycheck Protection Program ( PPP ) loans and federal economic stimulus received by retail customers . The contribution of acquired loan discount accretion to net interest margin remained low at 1 basis point during the first quarter of 2021 and 2 basis points during the fourth quarter of 2020 . Relative to the first quarter of 2020 , net interest margin decreased from 4.03 % . The decrease was due primarily to the decline in the average yield on earning assets . The contribution of acquired loan discount accretion to net interest margin was 5 basis points during the first quarter of 2020 . Noninterest Income Noninterest income for the first quarter of 2021 was $ 10.8 million , a decrease of 2.6 % from $ 11.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2020. The decrease was primarily attributable to a $ 0.9 million decrease in gains on sale of mortgage loans as a result of less refinancing activity and normal seasonality . Additionally , wealth management fees decreased $ 0.3 million , following strong results during the fourth quarter of 2020 , and service charges on deposit accounts decreased $ 0.2 million as a result of lower overdraft incidences . Mostly offsetting these decreases was a positive $ 1.7 million mortgage servicing rights ( " MSR " ) fair value adjustment included in the first quarter 2021 results , compared to a positive $ 0.4 million MSR fair value adjustment included in the fourth quarter 2020 results . Relative to the first quarter of 2020 , noninterest income increased 105.8 % from $ 5.3 million , primarily due to the first quarter of 2020 results including a negative $ 2.2 million MSR fair value adjustment . The $ 1.7 million increase in noninterest income , net of MSR fair value adjustments , from the first quarter of 2020 was primarily due to a $ 1.6 million increase in gains on sale of mortgage loans as a result of the strong mortgage refinance environment that started in the second quarter of 2020 . Noninterest Expense Noninterest expense for the first quarter of 2021 was $ 22.5 million , nearly unchanged from $ 22.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2020. Decreases in marketing and data processing expenses were mostly offset by increases in occupancy and employee benefits expenses . Additionally , nonrecurring