NEWARK, Ohio, Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Park National Corporation (Park) (NYSE American: PRK) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2019 (three and twelve months ended December 31, 2019). Park’s board of directors authorized a special cash dividend of $0.20 per common share, and increased the quarterly cash dividend to $1.02 per common share. Both dividends are payable on March 10, 2020 to common shareholders of record as of February 21, 2020.
“Our performance in 2019 aligned well with our expectations,” said Park President Matthew Miller. “Corporate results reflect our investments into new areas, and the financial tables included in our public filing detail acquisition-related costs from the past two years. Our community banking operations generated steady results, increasing loans and deposits for local families and businesses.”Park’s net income for the fourth quarter of 2019 was $23.9 million, an 8.9 percent decrease from $26.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2018. Fourth quarter 2019 net income per diluted common share was $1.45, compared to $1.67 in the fourth quarter of 2018. Park’s net income for full year of 2019 was $102.7 million, a 7.0 percent decrease from $110.4 million for the same period of 2018. Net income per diluted common share was $6.29 for 2019, compared to $7.07 for 2018.Park’s community-banking subsidiary, The Park National Bank, reported net income of $113.6 million for the full year of 2019, a 3.7 percent increase compared to $109.5 million for the same period of 2018.“Our growing team of community bankers continues to deliver an extraordinary experience for those they serve, and we could not be more grateful for their dedication and excellence,” said Park Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David Trautman. “This year holds great promise as we focus on serving customers and prospects more, all together under our unified brand and stronger than ever.” Headquartered in Newark, Ohio, Park National Corporation had $8.6 billion in total assets (as of December 31, 2019). Park’s banking operations are conducted through Park subsidiary The Park National Bank and its divisions, which include Fairfield National Bank Division, Richland Bank Division, Century National Bank Division, First-Knox National Bank Division, United Bank, N.A. Division, Second National Bank Division, Security National Bank Division, Unity National Bank Division, The Park National Bank of Southwest Ohio & Northern Kentucky Division, NewDominion Bank Division and Carolina Alliance Bank Division. Park also includes Scope Leasing, Inc. (d.b.a. Scope Aircraft Finance), Guardian Financial Services Company (d.b.a. Guardian Finance Company) and SE Property Holdings, LLC.Complete financial tables are listed below.SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
Park cautions that any forward-looking statements contained in this News Release or made by management of Park are provided to assist in the understanding of anticipated future financial performance. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations or forecasts of future events and are not guarantees of future performance.  The forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties.  Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements.  Risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially include, without limitation: Park’s ability to execute our business plan successfully and within the expected timeframe as well as Park’s ability to manage strategic initiatives; general economic and financial market conditions, specifically in the real estate markets and the credit markets, either nationally or in the states in which Park and our subsidiaries do business, may experience a slowing or reversal of the current economic expansion in addition to continuing residual effects of prior recessionary conditions and an uneven spread of positive impacts of recovery on the economy and our counterparties, resulting in adverse impacts on the demand for loan, deposit and other financial services, delinquencies, defaults and counterparties’ inability to meet credit and other obligations and the possible impairment of collectability of loans; changes in interest rates and prices as well as disruption in the liquidity and functioning of U.S. financial markets may adversely impact prepayment penalty income, mortgage banking income, income from fiduciary activities, the value of securities, loans, deposits and other financial instruments and the interest rate sensitivity of our consolidated balance sheet as well as reduce interest margins and impact loan demand; changes in consumer spending, borrowing and saving habits, whether due to changes in retail distribution strategies, consumer preferences and behavior, changes in business and economic conditions, legislative and regulatory initiatives, or other factors may be different than anticipated; changes in unemployment may be different than anticipated; changes in customers’, suppliers’, and other counterparties’ performance and creditworthiness may be different than anticipated; the adequacy of our internal controls and risk management program in the event of changes in the market, economic, operational, asset/liability repricing, legal, compliance, strategic, cybersecurity, liquidity, credit and interest rate risks associated with Park’s business; disruption in the liquidity and other functioning of U.S. financial markets; our liquidity requirements could be adversely affected by changes to regulations governing bank and bank holding company capital and liquidity standards as well as by changes in our assets and liabilities; competitive pressures among financial services organizations could increase significantly, including product and pricing pressures (which could in turn impact our credit spreads), customer acquisition and retention, changes to third-party relationships and revenues, changes in the manner of providing services, customer acquisition and retention pressures, and our ability to attract, develop and retain qualified banking professionals; customers could pursue alternatives to bank deposits, causing us to lose a relatively inexpensive source of funding; uncertainty regarding the nature, timing, cost and effect of changes in banking regulations or other regulatory or legislative requirements affecting the respective businesses of Park and our subsidiaries, including major reform of the regulatory oversight structure of the financial services industry and changes in laws and regulations concerning taxes, FDIC insurance premium levels, pensions, bankruptcy, consumer protection, rent regulation and housing, financial accounting and reporting, environmental protection, insurance, bank products and services, bank capital and liquidity standards, fiduciary standards, securities and other aspects of the financial services industry, specifically the reforms provided for in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) and the Basel III regulatory capital reforms, as well as regulations already adopted and which may be adopted in the future by the relevant regulatory agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Federal Reserve Board, to implement the Dodd-Frank Act’s provisions, and the Basel III regulatory capital reforms; the effects of easing restrictions on participants in the financial services industry; the effect of changes in accounting policies and practices, as may be adopted by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”), the SEC, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and other regulatory agencies, including the extent to which the new current expected credit loss accounting standard issued by the FASB in June 2016 and effective for Park as of January 1, 2020, which will require banks to record, at the time of origination, credit losses expected throughout the life of the asset portfolio on loans and held-to-maturity securities, as opposed to the current practice of recording losses which it is probable that a loss event has occurred, may adversely affect Park’s reported financial condition or results of operations; Park’s assumptions and estimates used in applying critical accounting policies and modeling, which may prove unreliable, inaccurate or not predictive of actual results; significant changes in the tax laws, which may adversely affect the fair values of net deferred tax assets and obligations of state and political subdivisions held in Park’s investment securities portfolio; the impact of our ability to anticipate and respond to technological changes on our ability to respond to customer needs and meet competitive demands; operational issues stemming from and/or capital spending necessitated by the potential need to adapt to industry changes in information technology systems on which Park and our subsidiaries are highly dependent; the ability to secure confidential information and deliver products and services through the use of computer systems and telecommunications networks; a failure in or breach of our operational or security systems or infrastructure, or those of our third-party vendors and other service providers, resulting in failures or disruptions in customer account management, general ledger, deposit, loan, or other systems, including as a result of cyber attacks; the existence or exacerbation of general geopolitical instability and uncertainty; the effect of trade policies (including the impact of potential or imposed tariffs, a U.S. withdrawal from or significant renegotiation of trade agreements, trade wars and other changes in trade regulations and changes in the relationship of the U.S. and its global trading partners), monetary and other fiscal policies (including the impact of money supply and interest rate policies to the Federal Reserve Board) and other governmental policies of the U.S. federal government; the impact on financial markets and the economy of any changes in the credit ratings of the U.S. Treasury obligations and other U.S. government – backed debt, as well as issues surrounding the levels of U.S., European and Asian government debt and concerns regarding the creditworthiness of certain sovereign governments, supranationals and financial institutions in Europe and Asia; the uncertainty surrounding the actions to be taken to implement the referendum by United Kingdom voters to exit the European Union; our litigation and regulatory compliance exposure, including the costs and effects of any adverse developments in legal proceedings or other claims and the costs and effects of unfavorable resolution of regulatory and other governmental examinations or other inquiries; continued availability of earnings and excess capital sufficient for the lawful and prudent declaration of dividends; the impact on Park’s business, personnel, facilities or systems of losses related to acts of fraud, scams and schemes of third parties; the impact of widespread natural and other disasters, pandemics, dislocations, civil unrest, terrorist activities or international hostilities on the economy and financial markets generally and on us or our counterparties specifically; the effect of healthcare laws in the U.S. and potential changes for such laws which may increase our healthcare and other costs and negatively impact our operations and financial results; Park’s ability to integrate recent acquisitions (including CAB Financial Corporation (“CAB”)) as well as to identify, make or integrate any future suitable strategic acquisitions, which may be unsuccessful, or may be more difficult, time-consuming or costly than expected; risk and uncertainties associated with Park’s entry into new geographic markets with its recent acquisitions, including expected revenue synergies and cost savings from recent acquisitions not being fully realized or realized within the expected time frame; revenues following the merger of Park and CAB may be lower than expected; customer and employee relationships and business operations may be disrupted by the merger of Park and CAB; Park issued equity securities in the acquisitions of NewDominion Bank and CAB and may issue equity securities in connection with future acquisitions, which could cause ownership and economic dilution to Park’s current shareholders; the discontinuation of the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and other reference rates which may result in increased expenses and litigation, and adversely impact the effectiveness of hedging strategies; and other risk factors relating to the banking industry as detailed from time to time in Park’s reports filed with the SEC including those described in “Item 1A. Risk Factors” of Part I of Park’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018. Park does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to publicly release the results of any revisions that may be made to update any forward-looking statement to reflect the events or circumstances after the date on which the forward-looking statement was made, or reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except to the extent required by law.









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