WAUWATOSA, WI – 04/24/2018 – Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: WSBF), holding company for WaterStone Bank, reported net income of $7.0 million, or $0.25 per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 compared to $6.6 million, or $0.24 per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.

"We accomplished a record first quarter net income led by a 23.9% increase in earnings of our Community Banking segment," said Douglas Gordon, CEO of Waterstone Financial, Inc. "The positive impact of continued strong loan growth and an increase in net interest margin were compounded by a reduction of the federal income tax rate, which lead to our first quarter success. The Mortgage Banking segment faced continued margin compression into the first quarter of 2018, as competition remains strong within the industry to maintain market share. As a result of our strong earnings and ample capital, we were able to declare dividends totaling $0.62 per share to our shareholders during the first quarter and provide liquidity to shareholders through stock repurchase activity."

Highlights of the Quarter Ended March 31, 2018

Waterstone Financial, Inc. (Consolidated)

• Consolidated net income of Waterstone Financial, Inc. totaled $7.0 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2018, compared to $6.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.
• Consolidated return on average assets totaled 1.57% for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 compared to 1.54% for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.
• The effective income tax rate amounted to 23.2% for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 compared to 34.2% for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 primarily as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reducing the federal rate from 35% to 21%.\
• Dividends declared totaled $0.62 per share during the quarter ended March 31, 2018.
• Repurchased a total 192,800 shares on the open market during the quarter ended March 31, 2018 at an average price of $17.13 per share.

Community Banking Segment

• Pre-tax income of the segment totaled $7.5 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2018, which represents a 9.2% increase compared to $6.8 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.
• Continued improvement in the overall risk profile of our loan portfolio resulted in a negative provision for loan losses of $900,000 for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 compared to a negative provision of $1.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.
• Net interest income of the segment totaled $13.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2018, which represents a 13.9% increase compared to $11.7 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2017. The increase in net interest income, which was driven by loan growth along with a decrease in borrowing costs, drove our net interest margin to 3.18% for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 compared to 2.97% for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.
• Average loans held for investment totaled $1.30 billion during the quarter ended March 31, 2018, which represents an increase of $110.8 million, or 9.3% over the comparable quarter in the prior year.
• Total loans held for investment increased $22.9 million, or 1.8%, to $1.31 billion at March 31, 2018 compared to $1.29 billion at December 31, 2017.
• Total deposits increased $6.8 million, or 0.7%, to $974.2 million at March 31, 2018 compared to $967.4 million at December 31, 2017.
• Driven by margin expansion and continued cost control efforts, the efficiency ratio for the community banking segment improved to 53.9% for the quarter ended March 31, 2018, compared to 55.7% for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.
• Nonperforming assets as percentage of total assets decreased to 0.54% as of March 31, 2018, compared to 0.59% at December 31, 2017 and 0.76% at March 31, 2017.

Mortgage Banking Segment

• Pre-tax income of the segment totaled $1.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2018, which represents a 48.4% decrease compared to $3.1 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.
• Loan originations increased $21.2 million, or 4.3%, to $516.0 million during the quarter ended March 31, 2018, compared to $494.9 million during the quarter ended March 31, 2017. Origination volume relative to purchase activity accounted for 85% of originations for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 compared to 86% of total originations for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.
• Gross margins on loans sold decreased approximately 6% during the quarter ended March 31, 2018, compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2017.

About Waterstone Financial, Inc. 
Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: WSBF) is the savings and loan holding company for WaterStone Bank. WaterStone Bank was established in 1921 and offers a full suite of personal and business banking products. The Bank has branches in Wauwatosa, Brookfield, Fox Point/North Shore, Franklin/Hales Corners, Germantown/Menomonee Falls, Greenfield, Oak Creek, Oconomowoc/Lake Country, Pewaukee, Waukesha/Brookfield, and West Allis, Wisconsin and a commercial lending office in Minneapolis, Minnesota. WaterStone Bank is the parent company to Waterstone Mortgage, which offers mortgage banking offices in 23 states. For more information about WaterStone Bank, go to https://www.wsbonline.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding expected financial and operating activities and results that are preceded by, followed by, or that include words such as "may," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates" or "believes." Such statements are subject to important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. These factors include (i) exposure to the deterioration in the commercial and residential real estate markets which could result in increased charge-offs and increases in the allowance for loan losses, (ii) various other factors, including changes in economic conditions affecting borrowers, new information regarding outstanding loans and identification of additional problem loans, which could require an increase in the allowance for loan losses, (iii) Waterstone’s ability to maintain required levels of capital and other current and future regulatory requirements, (iv) the impact of recent and future legislative initiatives on the financial markets, and (v) those factors referenced in Item 1A. Risk Factors in Waterstone’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and as may be described from time to time in Waterstone’s subsequent SEC filings, which factors are incorporated herein by reference. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect only Waterstone’s belief as of the date of this press release.

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