GASTONIA, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AB&T Financial Corporation (OTC Pink: ABTO), the parent company of Alliance Bank & Trust Company, today reported its fourth quarter and year-end 2019 results. For the quarter ended December 31, 2019, net income available to common shareholders was $226,000 or $0.007 per basic and diluted share, compared to net income available to common shareholders of $331,000 or $0.011 per basic and diluted share for the quarter ended December 31, 2018. This $105,000 decrease in earnings was largely attributable to a decrease in our negative provision for income taxes to recapture net operating loss carryforwards related to the prior year tax benefit of $170,000 in 2018 compared to an income tax expense of $70,000 for the same period in 2019.
Earnings for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019 remained steady, increasing by $1,000 to $1,023,000 compared to net income available to common shareholders of $1,022,000 for the calendar year 2018. Fully diluted and basic earnings per share for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 were $0.033 and $0.032 respectively. The net income available to common shareholders for 2019 includes a provision for income taxes of approximately $312,000 compared to our negative provision for income taxes to recapture net operating loss carryforwards related to the prior year tax benefit of $170,000 in 2018. This represents a year over year negative tax impact of $482,000. Our net interest margin increased 38 basis points for the year ended December 31, 2019 to 4.35% compared to 3.97% for the year ended December 31, 2018.
Total assets at December 31, 2019 were $157.4 million, an increase of $14.1 million or 9.8% over the $143.3 million at December 31, 2018. Loans totaled $106.2 million at December 31, 2019 compared to $97.9 million at December 31, 2018, an increase of $8.3 million or 8.5%. Total deposits increased to $143.4 million on December 31, 2019, from $131.2 million as of December 31, 2018. Demand deposit accounts increased from $47.8 million to $54.9 million at December 31, 2019, an increase of $7.1 million or 14.9% as compared to December 31, 2018.
Non-performing assets decreased to $1.1 million at December 31, 2019 from $1.9 million at December 31, 2018. This decrease was driven primarily by principal pay-downs on non-accrual loans. In addition, other real estate owned remained at zero at December 31, 2019.
Dan Boyd, President and CEO, commented, “We are pleased to report another excellent year of profitability for the Company which was driven by good growth in the loan portfolio coupled with continued improvement in the net interest margin.”
Alliance Bank & Trust Company, which opened in Gastonia, North Carolina in 2004, operates four North Carolina banking offices, in Gastonia (2), Kings Mountain and Shelby.
AB&T Financial Corporation is the parent company of Alliance Bank & Trust Company, which operates 4 community-oriented branches in Gaston and Cleveland Counties in North Carolina that offer a full array of banking services. Additional information on Alliance Bank & Trust’s locations and the products and services offered are available at http://www.alliancebanknc.com/.
Information in this news release contains forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including without limitation as a result of the effects of future economic conditions, governmental fiscal and monetary policies, legislative and regulatory changes, the risks of changes in interest rates, and the effects of competition. AB&T Financial Corporation does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements in this news release.