Heritage Financial Announces First Quarter 2026 Results and Declares Regular Cash Dividend of $0.24 Per Share

First Quarter 2026 Highlights

• Net income was $18.9 million, or $0.48 per diluted share, compared to $22.2 million, or $0.65 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2025.
• Excluding merger-related costs, net income was $0.59 per adjusted diluted share⁽¹⁾, compared to $0.66 per adjusted diluted share⁽¹⁾ in the fourth quarter of 2025.
• Net interest margin increased to 3.96%, an increase of 24 basis points from 3.72% for the fourth quarter of 2025.
• Yield on loans increased to 5.73%, an increase of 19 basis points from 5.54% for the fourth quarter of 2025.
• Cost of interest bearing deposits decreased to 1.71%, from 1.83% for the fourth quarter of 2025.
• Declared a regular cash dividend of $0.24 per share on April 22, 2026.
• Completed the acquisition of Olympic Bancorp, Inc. ("Olympic") on January 31, 2026.

OLYMPIA, Wash., April 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Heritage Financial Corporation (Nasdaq GS: HFWA) (the "Company," "we," or "us"), the parent company of Heritage Bank (the "Bank"), today reported net income of $18.9 million for the first quarter of 2026, compared to $22.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2025 and $13.9 million for the first quarter of 2025. Diluted earnings per share were $0.48 for the first quarter of 2026, compared to $0.65 for the fourth quarter of 2025 and $0.40 for the first quarter of 2025. Adjusted diluted earnings per share⁽¹⁾ were $0.59 for the first quarter of 2026, compared to $0.66 for the fourth quarter of 2025 and $0.49 for the first quarter of 2025.

Bryan McDonald, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, "We successfully closed our strategic acquisition of Olympic Bancorp during the first quarter. This acquisition provides us with a stronger market position in the Puget Sound region, and has contributed to our improved profitability and net interest margin in the quarter. We are on track to complete the system conversion by the end of the third quarter 2026 at which time we will begin to recognize further cost savings, which aligns with our original timeline."

"We are pleased with our operating results for the first quarter and remain focused on maintaining our strong banking organization with sustainable growth and prudent risk management which allows us to generate strong capital returns for our shareholders."

Financial Highlights

The following table provides financial highlights as of the dates and for the periods indicated:

Acquisition of Olympic Bancorp, Inc. (the "Merger")

On January 31, 2026, the Company completed the acquisition of Olympic, the holding company for Kitsap Bank. As of the acquisition date, Olympic was merged with and into Heritage and Kitsap Bank was merged with and into Heritage Bank.

Pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, each issued and outstanding share of Olympic capital stock was exchanged for 45.0 shares of Heritage common stock, with cash paid in lieu of fractional shares. After the Merger was completed, based on the number of issued and outstanding shares of Olympic capital stock on January 30, 2026 (the trading day immediately preceding the completion of the Merger), 7,167,600 shares of Heritage common stock were issued as Merger consideration. Based on the closing price of Heritage common stock on Nasdaq as of January 30, 2026 of $25.81, the Merger consideration that an Olympic shareholder was entitled to receive for each share of Olympic capital stock owned had a value of $1,161.45 with an aggregate transaction value of approximately $185.0 million.

Acquisition Accounting

The Merger was accounted for using the acquisition method. Accordingly, Heritage's cost to acquire Olympic was allocated to the assets (including identifiable intangible assets) and the liabilities at their respective estimated fair values as of the acquisition date. The excess of the purchase price over the fair value of the net assets acquired was allocated to goodwill.

Heritage adopted Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Update 2025-08 as of January 1, 2026. Under the updated guidance, the acquired financial assets were classified as either Purchased Credit Deteriorated ("PCD"), loans that have experienced more than insignificant credit deterioration since origination, or Purchased Seasoned Loans ("PSLs"). Per ASC 326-20-30-16, all loans that are acquired as part of a business combination accounted for using the acquisition method in accordance with Subtopic 805-20 that do not meet the definition of a PCD loan are determined to be PSLs. Under both classifications, the gross-up approach is applied whereby the estimated allowance for credit loss as of the acquisition date is added back to the fair value to determine the gross amortized cost basis.

Fair values on the acquisition date are preliminary and represent management's best estimates based on available information and facts and circumstances in existence on the acquisition date. Fair values are subject to refinement for up to one year after the closing date of the acquisition as additional information regarding the closing date fair values becomes available.

The following table provides the estimated fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the Merger date of January 31, 2026:

Total Assets

The Company's total assets increased $1.53 billion, or 22.0%, to $8.50 billion at March 31, 2026 from $6.97 billion at December 31, 2025 primarily as a result of the Merger. Assets acquired, including goodwill, from the Merger totaled $1.59 billion at the closing date of January 31, 2026.

Investment Securities

Total investment securities increased $387.8 million, or 30.3%, to $1.67 billion at March 31, 2026, from $1.28 billion at December 31, 2025. The increase was primarily due to the Merger, with acquired balances of $312.0 million. The Company repositioned a portion of the portfolio acquired in the Merger during the first quarter of 2026, with sales of $193.5 million and purchases of $315.9 million. Purchases exceeded sales in the repositioning due to the investment of excess cash acquired in the Merger, which was a result of the sale of securities by Olympic during the month preceding the Merger. Investment maturities and repayments totaled $44.5 million during the first quarter of 2026.

The following table summarizes the composition of the Company's investment securities portfolio at the dates indicated:

Loans Receivable

Loans receivable increased $939.0 million, or 19.6%, during the first quarter of 2026 due primarily to loans acquired in the Merger. New loans funded during the first quarter of 2026 were $97.0 million, which was lower than new loans funded during the fourth quarter of 2025 of $173.1 million and in line with new loans funded during the first quarter of 2025 of $95.8 million. Loan prepayments were similar to the prior quarter at $72.5 million, compared to $77.2 million during the fourth quarter of 2025. Loan payoffs decreased to $46.5 million, compared to $74.5 million in the prior quarter.

The following table summarizes the composition of acquired loans at the Merger date of January 31, 2026:

The following table summarizes the Company's loans receivable at the dates indicated:

Deposits

Total deposits increased $1.33 billion, or 22.4%, to $7.25 billion at March 31, 2026 from $5.92 billion at December 31, 2025 due primarily to deposits acquired in the Merger.

The following table summarizes the composition of acquired deposits at the Merger date of January 31, 2026:

Total deposits, excluding the $1.39 billion of deposits acquired in the Merger, decreased $60.7 million during the first quarter of 2026 due primarily to the maturity of brokered certificates of deposit of $29 million.

The following table summarizes the Company's total deposits at the dates indicated:

Borrowings

Total borrowings were $20.0 million at March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025. All outstanding borrowings at March 31, 2026 were with the Federal Home Loan Bank ("FHLB") and mature within one year.

Stockholders' Equity

Total stockholders' equity increased $194.2 million, or 21.1%, to $1.12 billion at March 31, 2026, compared to $921.5 million at December 31, 2025. The increase was due primarily to the common stock issued for the Merger.

The following table summarizes changes in stockholders' equity for the Company for the period indicated:

The Company and Bank continued to maintain capital levels in excess of the applicable regulatory requirements to be categorized as "well-capitalized" at March 31, 2026.

The following table summarizes the capital ratios for the Company at the dates indicated:

Allowance for Credit Losses and Provision for Credit Losses

The allowance for credit losses ("ACL") on loans as a percentage of loans receivable was 1.06% at March 31, 2026 compared to 1.10% at December 31, 2025. The decrease in the ACL as a percentage of loans was due primarily to the addition of the loan portfolio acquired in the Merger, which had a lower weighted average life of loans contributing to a lower ACL. On January 31, 2026, the Company recorded an initial ACL of $9.3 million for the PSL and PCD loans under ASU 2025-08 as part of the acquisition of Olympic. The ACL on loans as a percentage of loans receivable for the acquired portfolio as of the acquisition date was 0.98%.

During the first quarter of 2026, the Company recorded a $0.8 million reversal of provision for credit losses on loans, compared to a $0.9 million reversal of provision during the fourth quarter of 2025. During the first quarter of 2026, the Company recorded a $210,000 reversal provision for credit losses on unfunded commitments compared to a $95,000 provision during the fourth quarter of 2025. The reversal of provision for credit losses on unfunded commitments during the first quarter of 2026 was due primarily to an increase in utilization rates.

The following table provides detail on the changes in the ACL on loans and the ACL on unfunded commitments ("ACL on Unfunded"), and the related (reversal of) provision for credit losses for the periods indicated:

Credit Quality

Classified loans (loans rated substandard or worse) increased $4.5 million from the prior quarter and was due primarily to the addition of classified loans acquired from Olympic of $11.4 million, offset by loan payoffs. The percentage of classified loans to loans receivable decreased to 2.1% at March 31, 2026, compared to 2.4% at December 31, 2025 due to an increase in total loans as a result of the Merger during the first quarter of 2026.

The following table illustrates total loans by risk rating and their respective percentage of total loans at the dates indicated:

Nonaccrual loans decreased by $6.0 million during the first quarter of 2026 due primarily to principal payoffs of one $5.8 million residential construction loan, one $1.5 million CRE non-owner occupied loan, and one $0.5 million CRE owner-occupied loan, offset partially by the migration of three commercial and industrial loans totaling $2.6 million, one $0.5 million CRE owner-occupied loan, and one $0.2 million residential construction loan. Olympic did not have any nonaccrual loans as of the acquisition date of January 31, 2026.

The following table illustrates changes in nonaccrual loans during the periods indicated:

Liquidity

Total liquidity sources available at March 31, 2026 were $3.20 billion. This included on- and off-balance sheet liquidity. The Company has access to FHLB advances and the Federal Reserve Bank ("FRB") Discount Window. The Company's available liquidity sources at March 31, 2026 represented a coverage ratio of 44.2% of total deposits and 113.0% of estimated uninsured deposits.

The following table summarizes the Company's available liquidity as of the dates indicated:

Net Interest Income and Net Interest Margin

Net interest income increased $10.9 million, or 18.6%, during the first quarter of 2026 compared to the fourth quarter of 2025 due to an $11.8 million increase in total interest income, offset partially by an increase in interest expense of $1.0 million. The increase in net interest income was primarily due to an increase in average interest earning assets, which grew substantially as a result of the Merger.

Net interest margin increased 24 basis points to 3.96% during the first quarter of 2026, from 3.72% during the fourth quarter of 2025. The increase in net interest margin was due primarily to the increase in net interest income as discussed above with the primary contributor being increases in both the average loan balance and loan yield as a result of the Merger.

The yield on interest earning assets increased 16 basis points to 5.19% for the first quarter of 2026, compared to 5.03% for the fourth quarter of 2025. The yield on loans receivable increased 19 basis points to 5.73% during the first quarter of 2026, compared to 5.54% during the fourth quarter of 2025. The increase was due primarily to the incremental accretion on purchased loans which contributed 12 basis points to loan yield and interest income recognized on nonaccrual loans which contributed six basis points to loan yield. The incremental accretion and the impact to loan yield will change during any period based on the volume of prepayments, but is expected to decrease over time as the balance of the purchased loans decreases.

The cost of interest bearing deposits decreased 12 basis points to 1.71% for the first quarter of 2026, from 1.83% for the fourth quarter of 2025. This decrease was primarily due to the deposits acquired from Olympic, which had a lower cost of deposits.

Net interest margin increased 52 basis points to 3.96% during the first quarter of 2026, compared to 3.44% for the same period in the prior year. Net interest income increased $15.5 million, or 28.9%, during the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period in the prior year. The increase was due primarily to an increase in average interest earning assets, which increased substantially as a result of the Merger.

The following table provides net interest income information for the periods indicated:

The following table presents the net interest margin and loan yield and the effect of the incremental accretion on purchased loans on these ratios for the periods indicated:

Noninterest Income

Noninterest income increased $712,000 to $8.7 million during the first quarter of 2026 from $8.0 million during the fourth quarter of 2025. The increase was due primarily to increases in service charges and other fees, card revenue and other income due to income from the acquired deposit portfolio, offset partially by a decrease in interest rate swap fees due to decreased swap activity.

Noninterest income increased $4.8 million during the first quarter of 2026 from the same period in 2025 due primarily to a $3.9 million loss recognized in the first quarter of 2025 resulting from the sale of investment securities as part of the strategic repositioning of the Company's balance sheet, and due to increases in service charges and other fees, card revenue, and BOLI income due to income from the acquired deposit portfolio and acquired BOLI.

The following table presents the key components of noninterest income and the change for the periods indicated:

Noninterest Expense

Noninterest expense increased $15.1 million, or 36.3%, to $56.6 million during the first quarter of 2026, compared to $41.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2025. The increases were primarily due to expenses from the Merger, including increases related to compensation and employee benefits due to increased headcount, severance expense, occupancy and equipment expense primarily due to additional rent expense, and additional data processing expense due to an increase in transactional accounts and balances. Noninterest expense also increased due to an increase in the amortization of intangible assets of $1.8 million, relating to the Merger. Professional fees increased due primarily to Merger-related costs recognized in the first quarter of 2026. Total Merger-related costs, which consisted of severance expense, professional fees, core conversion costs, and contract termination costs incurred in the first quarter of 2026 were $5.2 million compared to $385,000 in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Noninterest expense increased $15.2 million, or 36.7%, during the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025 due primarily to an increase in expenses related to the Merger.

The following table presents the key components of noninterest expense and the change for the periods indicated:

Income Tax Expense

The effective income tax rate increased due to lower impact of favorable permanent tax items such as tax-exempt investments, investments in bank owned life insurance and tax credits.

Income tax expense and the effective income tax rate increased in the first quarter of 2026, compared to same period in 2025 due primarily to higher pre-tax income during the first quarter of 2026 and lower impact of favorable permanent tax items such as tax-exempt investments, investments in bank owned life insurance and tax credits. 

The following table presents the income tax expense and related metrics and the change for the periods indicated:

Dividends

On April 22, 2026, the Company's Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.24 per share. The dividend is payable on May 20, 2026 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 6, 2026.

Earnings Conference Call

The Company will hold a telephone conference call to discuss first quarter of 2026 earnings on Thursday, April 23, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time. To access the call, please dial (800) 715-9871 -- access code 74100 a few minutes prior to 10:00 a.m. Pacific time. The call will be available for replay through May 7, 2026 by dialing (609) 800-9909 -- access code 74100#.

About Heritage Financial Corporation

Heritage Financial Corporation (the "Company") is an Olympia, Washington-based bank holding company for Heritage Bank, a full-service commercial bank and its sole wholly-owned banking subsidiary. Heritage Bank has a network of branches and loan production offices in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Heritage Bank does business under the Whidbey Island Bank name on Whidbey Island, Washington and the Kitsap Bank name at certain branches acquired through the Merger. The Company's stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "HFWA." More information about the Company can be found on its website at www.hf-wa.com and more information about Heritage Bank can be found on its website at www.heritagebanknw.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The Company intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements often include words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "forecasts," "intends," "plans," "targets," "potentially," "probably," "projects," "outlook" or similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as "may," "will," "should," "would," and "could," as well as the negative of such words. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts but instead represent management's current expectations and forecasts regarding future events, many of which are inherently uncertain and outside of our control. Actual results may differ, possibly materially, from those currently expected or projected in these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results anticipated or implied by forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following: potential adverse impacts to economic conditions nationally or in our local market areas, other markets where we have lending relationships, or other aspects of our business operations or financial markets, including, without limitation, as a result of credit quality deterioration, pronounced and sustained reductions in real estate market values, employment levels, labor shortages and a potential recession or slowed economic growth; changes in the interest rate environment, which could adversely affect our revenues and expenses, the value of assets and obligations, and the availability and cost of capital and liquidity; the level and impact of inflation and the current and future monetary policies of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and executive orders in response thereto; previous and potential future disruptions, security breaches, insider fraud, cybersecurity incidents or other adverse events, failures or interruptions in, or attacks on, our information technology systems or on the third-party vendors who perform critical processing functions for our business, including sophisticated attacks using artificial intelligence and similar tools; legislative or regulatory changes that adversely affect our business, including changes in banking, securities, and tax laws, in regulatory policies and principles, or the interpretation and prioritization of such rules and regulations; effects on the U.S. economy resulting from actions taken by the federal government, including the threat or implementation of tariffs, immigration enforcement and changes in foreign policy;  the effects of acts of war or terrorism, foreign relations, military conflicts, including the wars in Iran and Ukraine and the military conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East, and other external events on our business and the businesses of our clients; credit and interest rate risks associated with our business, including our customers' borrowing, repayment, and deposit practices; fluctuations in deposits and the concentration of large deposits from certain customers, who have deposit balances above current FDIC insurance limits; liquidity issues, including our ability to borrow funds or raise additional capital, if necessary; fluctuations in the value of our investment securities; credit risks and risks from concentrations (including by type of geographic area, collateral and industry) within our loan portfolio; the effectiveness of our risk management framework; rapid technological changes implemented by us and other parties, including third-party vendors, which may be more difficult to implement or more expensive than anticipated or which may have unforeseen consequences to us and our customers, including the development and implementation of tools incorporating artificial intelligence; increased competition in the financial services industry from non-banks such as credit unions and financial technology companies, including digital asset service providers; our ability to adapt successfully to technological changes to compete effectively in the marketplace, including as a result of competition from other commercial banks, mortgage banking firms, credit unions, securities brokerage firms, insurance companies, and financial technology companies; our ability to implement our organic and acquisition growth strategies, including the recent acquisition of Olympic, and our ability to successfully integrate Olympic's customers and operations following the acquisition; effects of critical accounting policies and judgments, including the use of estimates in determining fair value of certain of our assets, which estimates may prove to be incorrect and result in significant declines in valuation; the commencement, costs, effects and outcome of litigation and other legal proceedings and regulatory actions against us or to which we may become subject, including in connection with prior acquisitions; potential impairment to the goodwill we recorded in connection with our past acquisitions, including as a result of the recent acquisition of Olympic; loss of, or inability to attract, key personnel; our ability to successfully integrate any assets, liabilities, customers, systems, and management personnel we may acquire, including as a result of the recent acquisition of Olympic, into our operations and our ability to realize related revenue synergies and cost savings within expected time frames or at all, and any goodwill charges related thereto and costs or difficulties relating to integration matters, including but not limited to customer and employee retention, which might be greater than expected; the effects of climate change, severe weather events, natural disasters, pandemics, epidemics and other public health crises; the impact of bank failures or adverse developments at other banks and related negative publicity about the banking industry in general on investor and depositor sentiment regarding the stability and liquidity of banks; our success at managing and responding to the risks involved in the foregoing items; and other factors described in our latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") which are available on our website at www.hf-wa.com and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Moreover, any of the forward-looking statements that we make in this press release or the documents we file with or furnish to the SEC are based only on information then actually known to us and upon management's beliefs and assumptions at the time they are made which may turn out to be wrong because of inaccurate assumptions we might make, because of the factors described above or because of other factors that we cannot foresee. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake and specifically disclaim any obligation to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements.