TriCo Bancshares Announces Quarterly Results

TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) (the "Company"), parent company of Tri Counties Bank (the "Bank”), today announced earnings of $6,549,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2011. This compares with earnings of $3,126,000 the Company reported for the quarter ended December 31, 2010. Diluted earnings per share for the quarter ended December 31, 2011 were $0.41 compared to diluted earnings per share of $0.20 for the quarter ended December 31, 2010. Diluted earnings per share for the year ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 were $1.16 and $0.37, respectively, on earnings of $18,590,000 and $6,005,000, respectively.

Total assets of the Company increased $365,808,000 (16.7%) to $2,555,597,000 at December 31, 2011 from $2,189,789,000 at December 31, 2010. Total loans of the Company increased $131,461,000 (9.3%) to $1,551,032,000 at December 31, 2011 from $1,419,571,000 at December 31, 2010. Total deposits of the Company increased $338,363,000 (18.3%) to $2,190,536,000 at December 31, 2011 from $1,852,173,000 at December 31, 2010.

The following is a summary of the components of Company’s consolidated net income for the periods indicated:

Included in the Company’s results for the three and twelve month periods ended December 31, 2011 is the acquisition by Tri Counties Bank of the banking operations of Citizens Bank of Northern California ("Citizens”), Nevada City, California from the FDIC under a whole bank purchase and assumption agreement without loss sharing on September 23, 2011. The assets acquired and liabilities assumed in the Citizens acquisition have been accounted for under the acquisition method of accounting (formerly the purchase method).

As a result of the Citizens acquisition on September 23, 2011, the Company recorded a before-tax bargain purchase gain of $7,575,000 ($4,390,000 after-tax) representing the excess of the estimated fair value of the assets acquired over the estimated fair value of the liabilities assumed. The before-tax bargain purchase gain is recorded in noninterest income and the related tax effect ($3,185,000) is recorded in tax expense for the three month period ended September 30, 2011 and the year ended December 31, 2011.

A summary of the net assets received in the Citizens acquisition, at their estimated fair values on September 23, 2011, is presented below:

A summary of the estimated fair value adjustments resulting in the bargain purchase gain in the Citizens acquisition are presented below:

The operations of Citizens from September 23, 2011 to December 31, 2011 added approximately $6,171,000 and $54,000 to interest income and interest expense, respectively, $1,462,000 to provision for loan losses, $8,029,000 to noninterest income, and $1,865,000 to noninterest expense. Included in the $6,171,000 of Citizens related interest income recorded from September 23, 2011 to December 31, 2011, is $3,146,000 of interest income from fair value discount accretion. The recognition of interest income from the acquired Citizens loans, and in particular the fair value discount accretion portion, may fluctuate greatly depending on changes in actual and expected future cash flows of such loans. Loans acquired through the Citizens acquisition are classified as Purchased Not Credit Impaired (PNCI), Purchased Credit Impaired – cash basis (PCI – cash basis), or Purchased Credit Impaired – other (PCI – other). Loans not acquired in an acquisition or otherwise "purchased” are classified as "originated”. Further details regarding interest income from loans, including fair value discount accretion, may be found under the heading "Supplemental Loan Interest Income Data” in the Consolidated Financial Data table at the end of this announcement.

The following table shows the components of net interest income and net interest margin on a fully tax-equivalent (FTE) basis for the periods indicated:

The increase in net interest income and the increase in net interest margin (FTE) from 4.39% during the three months ended December 31, 2010 to 4.71% in the current quarter is primarily due to the operations of Citizens since their acquisition on September 23, 2011. Absent the contributions from the Citizens acquisition, loan demand continues to be weak and investments continue to be unattractive given their low market yields and interest rate risk profile.

The Company recorded a provision for loan loss of $5,429,000 during the three months ended December 31, 2011 compared to $8,144,000 during the three months ended December 31, 2010. Nonperforming originated loans were $75,775,000 and $75,987,000 at December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively. Loan charge-offs, net of recoveries, were $4,815,000 during the three months ended December 31, 2011 compared to $4,342,000 during the year-ago period.

Noninterest income increased $608,000 to $10,489,000 during the three months ended December 31, 2011 when compared to the three months ended December 31, 2010. The following table presents the key components of noninterest income for the periods indicated:

Noninterest expense increased $2,606,000 to $22,076,000 during the three months ended December 31, 2011 when compared to the three months ended December 31, 2010. The operations of Citizens from September 23, 2011 to December 31, 2011 added $751,000 to salaries expense and $1,114,000 to other noninterest expense. Included in the $1,114,000 of Citizens related other noninterest expense were $296,000 of provision for foreclosed assets expense and $271,000 of information systems expense including system conversion expense as the Company has begun work to convert the Citizens systems to the Company’s systems. The following table presents the key components of the Company’s noninterest expense for the periods indicated:

In addition to the historical information contained herein, this press release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The reader of this press release should understand that all such forward-looking statements are subject to various uncertainties and risks that could affect their outcome. The Company’s actual results could differ materially from those suggested by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, variances in the actual versus projected growth in assets, return on assets, interest rate fluctuations, economic conditions in the Company's primary market area, demand for loans, regulatory and accounting changes, loan losses, expenses, rates charged on loans and earned on securities investments, rates paid on deposits, competition effects, fee and other noninterest income earned as well as other factors detailed in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission which are incorporated herein by reference, including the Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010. These reports and this entire press release should be read to put such forward-looking statements in context and to gain a more complete understanding of the uncertainties and risks involved in the Company's business. Any forward-looking statement may turn out to be wrong and cannot be guaranteed. The Company does not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

TriCo Bancshares and Tri Counties Bank are headquartered in Chico, California. Tri Counties Bank has a 36-year history in the banking industry. It operates 41 traditional branch locations and 27 in-store branch locations in 23 California counties. Tri Counties Bank offers financial services and provides a diversified line of products and services to consumers and businesses, which include demand, savings and time deposits, consumer finance, online banking, mortgage lending, and commercial banking throughout its market area. It operates a network of 76 ATMs and a 24-hour, seven days-a-week telephone customer service center. Brokerage services are provided by the Bank’s investment services affiliate, Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. For further information please visit the Tri Counties Bank web site at http://www.tricountiesbank.com.