Executive Summary

Q4 2024 delivered steady profitability with GAAP and core EPS of $0.72, ROA 1.09%, NIM 3.17%, and efficiency ratio improving to 59.84% as operating leverage improved while credit costs remained minimal .
Commercial loan momentum continued (total loans +8% annualized; commercial +14% annualized), mix shifted toward CRE and C&I; nonaccruals remained low at 0.22% of loans and ACL/loans held at 0.91% .
Total revenue was $38.46M with NII at $29.07M; wealth management fees rose 9% YoY; dividend held at $0.30/share (3.92% yield on 12/31/24 price) .
Against Wall Street, BHB posted an EPS and revenue beat vs Zacks consensus; S&P Global consensus was unavailable at time of analysis due to access limits. EPS $0.72 vs $0.69 and revenue $38.46M vs $38.30M per Zacks methodology, indicating a modest beat on both lines .

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well
- Margin defense: NIM expanded sequentially to 3.17% (3.15% in Q3; 3.09% in Q2) as lower borrowing balances/costs offset deposit cost pressure .
- Core fee growth: Wealth management fee income +9.1% YoY to $3.7M; AUM (non-brokerage) +13.2% YoY to $2.8B; wealth + brokerage manage $3.3B with 130 new clients added in 2024 .
- Credit quality: Nonaccruals/loans at 0.22%, net charge-offs minimal (0.02% annualized), ACL/loans 0.91%—all indicating benign credit costs .
- Management tone: CEO emphasized consistent execution, balance between growth and earnings, and strategic push to accelerate C&I with senior hires to diversify commercial portfolio in 2025 .
What Went Wrong
- Deposit mix/cost: Interest-bearing deposit costs rose 36 bps YoY to 2.41% as mix continued shifting toward money market/time deposits; non-interest DDA declined QoQ by $29.3M .
- Securities/CECL on AFS: Recorded $1.17M provision and $603K interest charge-off on two AFS corporate securities with unrealized credit losses; fair value adjustments on securities increased sequentially .
- Other expenses: “Other” line rose $719K YoY (lower split-dollar BOLI value, higher card costs and charitable contributions), partially offset by recapture in unfunded commitments .

Financial Results

Metric	Q2 2024	Q3 2024	Q4 2024
Total Revenue ($M)	$37.39	$38.61	$38.46
Net Interest Income ($M)	$27.76	$28.96	$29.07
Diluted EPS ($)	$0.67	$0.80	$0.72
Net Interest Margin (%)	3.09	3.15	3.17
Efficiency Ratio (%)	62.96	62.09	59.84
Return on Assets (%)	1.04	1.20	1.09

KPIs and Balance Sheet

Loans ($B): Q2 $3.064 | Q3 $3.082 | Q4 $3.147 .
Deposits ($B): Q2 $3.140 | Q3 $3.261 | Q4 $3.268 .
Loans/Deposits (%): Q2 98 | Q3 95 | Q4 96 .
Nonaccruals/Loans (%): Q2 0.20 | Q3 0.23 | Q4 0.22 .
ACL/Loans (%): Q2 0.94 | Q3 0.94 | Q4 0.91 .
Book Value/Share ($): Q2 28.81 | Q3 30.12 | Q4 30.00 .
Tangible BV/Share ($): Q2 20.68 | Q3 22.02 | Q4 21.93 .
Wealth Mgmt Fees ($M): Q2 4.19 | Q3 4.13 | Q4 3.71 .
Money Market ($M): Q3 380.6 | Q4 405.8 (QoQ +26% annualized) .
Time Deposits ($M): Q3 817.4 | Q4 830.3 (QoQ +6% annualized) .

Actual vs Street (Q4 2024)

Metric	Actual	Consensus	Direction
EPS (Diluted)	$0.72	$0.69	Beat
Revenue ($M)	$38.46	$38.30	Beat

Note: S&P Global consensus was unavailable due to access limits at time of analysis; consensus above reflects Zacks methodology .

Guidance Changes

Metric	Period	Previous Guidance	Current Guidance	Change
Dividend per share	Q4 2024 payout on 3/20/25	$0.30 (Q3’24)	$0.30 (Q4’24)	Maintained
Formal financial guidance (revenue, margins, opex, tax, segment)	FY/Q1 2025	Not provided	Not provided	—

No formal quantitative guidance provided in Q4 materials; company reiterated balance between growth and earnings and highlighted a 2025 initiative to accelerate C&I lending (strategic, not numeric guidance) .

Earnings Call Themes & Trends

Transcript was not available in our document corpus; below themes reflect consistent management commentary across quarterly releases.

Topic	Q2 2024 (Prior-2)	Q3 2024 (Prior-1)	Q4 2024 (Current)	Trend
Net interest margin	NIM 3.09%; defending NIM vs peers; lower borrowing costs	NIM 3.15%; deposit mix costs up, borrowing costs down	NIM 3.17%; cost-of-funds pressure offset by lower borrowing balances/costs	Gradual improvement
Deposit mix/costs	Shift to CDs; non-maturity down; time deposits up	Core deposit influx typical for summer; non-maturity up QoQ; overall costs higher YoY	Money market +26% annualized QoQ; time +6% annualized; cost of deposits +36 bps YoY	Elevated costs; mix optimization
Commercial loan strategy	Commercial +14% annualized; CRE/C&I growth	CRE +10% annualized; C&I down on payoffs; focus on higher-yielding commercial	Total commercial +14% annualized; plan to accelerate C&I in 2025 with senior hires	Sustained CRE; pivot to C&I in 2025
Wealth management	Fees +10% YoY; AUM +12%	Fees +17% YoY; AUM +20%	Fees +9% YoY; Non-brokerage AUM +13.2%; total wealth+brokerage $3.3B	Durable growth
Credit quality	Nonaccruals 0.20%; NCOs minimal	Nonaccruals 0.23%; benign losses	Nonaccruals 0.22%; NCOs 0.02% ann.; ACL/loans 0.91%	Stable/benign
Borrowings/liquidity	FHLB up QoQ to fund loans	FHLB down $120.5M; BTFP $45M	FHLB up to $242.7M; BTFP fully repaid; borrowing cost down to 4.20%	Opportunistic funding

Management Commentary

“Our team has set forth and delivered another year of execution on our definitive strategy of balancing growth with earnings… We were honored in December by Newsweek as one of ‘America’s Best Regional Banks’ for the second consecutive year.”
“As we enter 2025, we remain committed to this critical lending segment [CRE] for continued growth and embark on a strategic initiative to accelerate the growth in our Commercial & Industrial (C&I) Lending segment… With more than 35 years of experience each, [new hires] bring extensive C&I expertise and market presence…”
“We also added to our Treasury Management team… growing both fee income and attracting new deposit customers… Our Wealth Management team… manages $3.3 billion in assets with over 130 new clients added in 2024 alone.”

Q&A Highlights

Earnings call transcript for Q4 2024 was not available in our corpus and could not be located via our filings database search; therefore, no Q&A insights to report. We relied on the press release for management’s strategic commentary [ListDocuments returned none for “earnings-call-transcript”].

Estimates Context

S&P Global consensus estimates were unavailable at time of analysis due to request-limit access constraints.
Alternative source (Zacks) indicates a modest beat: EPS $0.72 vs $0.69; revenue $38.46M vs $38.30M. This supports a modest positive revision bias if NIM resilience and fee trends persist .

Key Takeaways for Investors

Margin resilience with sequential NIM expansion to 3.17% while efficiency ratio improved to 59.84%—signals operating discipline even as deposit costs remain elevated .
Commercial growth engine remains intact—total loans +8% annualized in Q4, led by commercial +14% annualized; 2025 pivot to accelerate C&I should diversify yield/mix over time .
Credit is benign (nonaccruals 0.22%; NCOs de minimis; ACL/loans 0.91%), limiting downside risk from credit costs near-term .
Securities/AFS credit reserve emerged ($1.17M provision, $603K interest charge-off) on two corporates; manageable but worth monitoring if macro weakens .
Deposit mix remains a swing factor—ongoing migration to MM/time boosted costs (IB deposit cost +36 bps YoY); funding actions (FHLB, BTFP payoff) lowered borrowing cost to 4.20% .
Dividend maintained at $0.30; tangible book per share at $21.93 provides valuation support; book value stable QoQ .
Near-term trading setup: modest beat, improving efficiency/NIM and clean credit are positives; watch for 2025 C&I build-out progress and deposit beta moderation as key catalysts for multiple expansion .

Appendix: Additional Items

Other relevant press releases during/after Q4: None within Dec 1, 2024 – Feb 28, 2025 in our corpus. Note: KBRA commentary on BHB’s proposed acquisition (Mar 13, 2025) exists but falls outside Q4 scope .

BAR HARBOR BANKSHARES (BHB)·Q4 2024 Earnings Summary