Horizon Bancorp has set new quarterly and annual earnings records.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, Horizon posted a net income of $3.5 million or 68 cents per diluted share, a 23-percent increase over the year-ago period and the highest quarterly net income in the company’s history, Horizon said in a statement released on Wednesday.

For the year, Horizon posted a net income of $12.8 million or $2.27 per diluted share, a 22-increase over 2010, the highest annual net income in the company’s history, and the 12 consecutive year of record annual earnings.

“Achieving record assets and net income and concurrently growing loans and deposits and reducing Horizon’s loan loss provision in a recessionary economy was a gratifying accomplishment,” Horizon President and CEO Craig Dwight said. “Horizon’s balanced business model proved its value in 2011.”

“A key goal in 2011 was to build core deposits to help maintain a low cost of funding,” Dwight noted. “We ended 2011 with $1.01 billion in total deposits compared with 985.5 million in 2010, and we accomplished this growth even as we reduced higher-priced time deposits.”

Horizon will open new full-service branches in Valparaiso and Portage, Michigan, in the first quarter of 2012.

“There are opportunities to expand in our existing markets and enter new markets in which community banks are under-represented,” Dwight said. “Additionally, our strong capital position and success generating loan and deposit growth supports our ability to consider community bank or branch acquisitions in the highly competitive and fragmented Indiana and Southwest Michigan markets.”

•Commercial loans increased in 2011 by $22.4 million and mortgage warehouse loans by $84.6 million. Residential mortgage loans decreased by $5.3 million and consumer loans by $1.3 million. “We are particularly encouraged by an increase in commercial lending, which we believe indicates our ability to build and win banking relationships with small businesses, which is a significant focus,” Dwight said.

•The provision for loan losses in the fourth quarter was $838,000, around $726,000 less than in the third-quarter and $1.8 million less than in the year-ago period, reflecting a decrease in non-performing loans. “The continued decline in our need to reserve for loan losses and a 44-percent decline in loans 30 to 89 days delinquent at year-end 2011 as compared with 2010 demonstrated Horizon’s ability to effectively manage risk and a general improvement in borrower’s economic circumstances,” Dwight said.

•Real-estate and consumer non-performing loans totaled $1.5 million and $2.0 million at year’s end, compared to $1.5 million and $1.9 million respectively on Sept. 30. These loans are not considered “troubled debt restructures” while going through bankruptcy, a process which can take six to 18 months. “The company’s experience with loans in bankruptcy has demonstrated that some debtors continue to make payments during the bankruptcy process, many reaffirm their obligation to Horizon when they come out of bankruptcy, and some loans are discharged or restructured by the court,” Horizon said.

Horizon Bancorp is a locally owned, independent, commercial bank holding company serving Northern Indiana and Southwest Michigan. Its common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol HBNC.

Posted 1/20/2012