LCNB Corp: Form 10-Q for the period ended Sep 30, 2024

Critical Accounting Estimates

The accounting policies of LCNB conform to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and require management to make estimates and develop assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and related footnotes. These estimates and assumptions are based on information available to management as of the date of the financial statements. Actual results could differ significantly from management’s estimates. As this information changes, management’s estimates and assumptions used to prepare LCNB’s financial statements and related disclosures may also change. The most significant accounting policies followed by LCNB are presented in Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in LCNB's 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC. Based on the valuation techniques used and the sensitivity of financial statement amounts to the methods, assumptions, and estimates underlying those amounts, management has identified the items described below to be the accounting areas that require the most subjective or complex judgments and, as such, could be most subject to revision as new information becomes available.

Business Combinations. Assets acquired, including identified intangible assets such as core deposit intangibles, and liabilities assumed as a result of a merger or acquisition transaction are recorded at their estimated fair values. The difference between the consideration paid and the net fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed is recorded as goodwill. Management engages third-party specialists to assist in the development of fair value estimates. Significant estimates and assumptions used to value acquired assets and liabilities assumed include, but are not limited to, projected cash flows, future growth rates, repayment rates, default rates and losses assuming default, discount rates, and realizable collateral values. The allowance for credit losses for PCD loans is recognized within acquisition accounting. The allowance for credit losses for non-PCD assets is recognized as provision for credit losses in the same reporting period as the merger or acquisition. Fair value adjustments are amortized or accreted into the income statement over the estimated lives of the acquired assets and assumed liabilities. The purchase date valuations and any subsequent adjustments determine the amount of goodwill recognized in connection with the merger or acquisition.

Preliminary estimates of fair values may be adjusted for a period of time no greater than one year subsequent to the merger or acquisition date if new information is obtained about facts and circumstances that existed as of the merger or acquisition date that, if known, would have affected the measurement of the amounts recognized as of that date. Adjustments recorded during this period are recognized in the current reporting period.

Allowance for Credit Losses. The allowance is maintained at a level LCNB management believes is adequate to absorb estimated credit losses identified and inherent in the loan portfolio. The allowance is established through a provision for credit losses charged as an expense. Loans are charged against the allowance for credit losses when management believes that the collectability of the principal is unlikely. Subsequent recoveries, if any, are credited to the allowance. The allowance is an amount that management believes will be adequate to absorb estimated losses over the contractual terms in the loan portfolio based on evaluations of the collectability of loans and prior loan loss experience. The evaluations take into consideration such factors as changes in the nature and volume of the loan portfolio, overall portfolio quality, review of specific problem loans, and current and forecasted economic conditions that may affect the borrowers' ability to pay. This evaluation is inherently subjective as it requires estimates that are susceptible to significant revision as more information becomes available.

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. This ASU (as subsequently amended by ASU 2018-19) significantly changed how entities measure credit losses for most financial assets and certain other instruments that are not measured at fair value through net income. This standard replaced the “incurred loss” approach with an “expected loss” model. Referred to as the CECL model, this standard applies to financial assets subject to credit losses and measured at amortized cost and certain off-balance sheet credit exposures. The standard also expanded disclosure requirements regarding an entity’s assumptions, models, and methods for estimating the allowance. In addition, entities need to disclose the amortized cost balance for each class of financial asset by credit quality indicator, disaggregated by the year of origination.

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Market risk for LCNB is primarily due to interest rate risk. LCNB attempts to mitigate this risk through asset/liability management strategies designed to decrease the vulnerability of its earnings to material and prolonged changes in interest rates. LCNB does not use derivatives such as interest rate swaps, caps, or floors to hedge this risk. LCNB has not entered into any market risk instruments for trading purposes.

The Bank's Asset and Liability Management Committee primarily uses a combination of Interest Rate Sensitivity Analysis ("IRSA") and Economic Value of Equity ("EVE") analysis for measuring and managing interest rate risk. IRSA is used to estimate the effect on net interest income ("NII") during a one-year period of instantaneous and sustained movements in interest rates, also called interest rate shocks, of 100, 200, and 300 basis points. The base projection uses a current interest rate scenario. As shown below, the September 30, 2024 IRSA indicates that an increase in interest rates or a decrease in interest rates of 100 basis points will have a negative effect on NII and a decrease in interest rates of 200 or 300 basis points will have a positive effect on NII. The changes in NII for all rate assumptions are within LCNB's acceptable ranges.

(Dollars in thousands)

The IRSA shows the effect on NII during a one-year period only. A more long-range model is the EVE analysis, which shows, accounting for the same rate shocks, the estimated present value of future cash inflows from interest-earning assets less the present value of future cash outflows for interest-bearing liabilities for the same rate shocks. As shown below, the September 30, 2024 EVE analysis indicates that an increase in interest rates will have a negative effect on the EVE and a decrease in interest rates will have a positive effect on the EVE. The changes in the EVE for all upward rate shocks are within LCNB's acceptable ranges. The changes in the EVE for the down 200 and 300 basis point rate shocks are outside LCNB's acceptable ranges as shown below. Management has determined the downward shifts would be acceptable, despite being outside of acceptable ranges, due to the positive nature of the results with respect to cash flows.

(Dollars in thousands)

The IRSA and EVE simulations discussed above are not projections of future income or equity and should not be relied on as being indicative of future operating results. Assumptions used, including the nature and timing of interest rate levels, yield curve conditions, prepayments on loans and securities, deposit decay rates, pricing decisions on loans and deposits, and reinvestment or replacement of asset and liability cash flows, are inherently uncertain and, as a result, the models cannot precisely measure future NII or equity. Furthermore, the models do not reflect actions that borrowers, depositors, and management may take in response to changing economic conditions and interest rate levels.

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a) Disclosure controls and procedures. The Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer have carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of LCNB's disclosure controls and procedures that ensure that information relating to LCNB required to be disclosed by LCNB in the reports that it files or submits under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission's rules and forms and that such information is accumulated and communicated to LCNB's management, including its principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate, in order to allow timely decisions to be made regarding required disclosures. Based upon this evaluation, these officers have concluded that, as of September 30, 2024, LCNB's disclosure controls and procedures were effective.

b) Changes in internal control over financial reporting. During the period covered by this report, there were no changes in LCNB's internal control over financial reporting that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, LCNB's internal control over financial reporting.

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Readers should carefully consider the risk factors previously disclosed in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors in LCNB's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.