Codorus Valley Bancorp (CVLY) 10-K2019 FY Annual report

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

☒Annual Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019

or

☐ Transition Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the transition period from _____________ to _____________.

Commission file Number 0-15536

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:(717) 747-1519

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. ☐ Yes   ☒ No

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15 (d) of the Act. ☐ Yes   ☒ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. ☒ Yes☐ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. ☐ Yes ☒ No

The aggregate market value of Codorus Valley Bancorp, Inc.’s voting stock held by non-affiliates was approximately $209,224,729 as of June 30, 2019.

As of February 26, 2020, Codorus Valley Bancorp, Inc. had 9,762,682 shares of common stock outstanding, par value $2.50 per share.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Part III incorporates certain information by reference to the registrant’s Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held May 19, 2020.

Codorus Valley Bancorp, Inc.

Form 10-K Index

PART I

Item 1: Business

Codorus Valley Bancorp, Inc. (“Codorus Valley” or the “Corporation”) is a Pennsylvania business corporation, incorporated on October 7, 1986. On March 2, 1987, Codorus Valley became a bank holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended. PeoplesBank, A Codorus Valley Company (“PeoplesBank”) is its wholly owned bank subsidiary. The Corporation’s business consists primarily of managing PeoplesBank, and its principal source of income is dividends received from PeoplesBank. The Corporation also wholly-owns one non-bank subsidiary, SYC Realty Co., Inc., a subsidiary for holding certain foreclosed assets pending liquidation. On December 31, 2019, Codorus Valley had total consolidated assets of $1.89 billion, total deposits and other liabilities of $1.70 billion, and total shareholders’ equity of $191,168,000.

Bank Subsidiary

PeoplesBank, organized in 1934, is a Pennsylvania chartered bank that offers a full range of consumer, business, wealth management, and mortgage services at financial centers located in communities throughout South Central Pennsylvania and Central Maryland. In addition to the twenty-five full service financial centers there are twelve financial centers located primarily within retirement communities that provide a full suite of services on a limited basis. It was announced in late 2019 that five of the financial centers located within retirement communities would be closing by late April 2020. PeoplesBank, with origins dating back to 1864, is focused on acquiring and nurturing financial relationships with small and mid-sized businesses. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures the deposits of PeoplesBank to the maximum extent provided by law.On December 31, 2019, PeoplesBank had total gross loans of $1.51 billion, excluding loans held for sale, and total deposits of $1.59 billion. PeoplesBank had the second largest share of deposits in York County, Pennsylvania, with deposits totaling 15.6 percent of the market as of June 30, 2019, the latest available measurement date.

PeoplesBank is not dependent on deposits of, or exposed to a loan concentration to, a single client, or a small group of clients. Therefore, the loss of a single client, or a small client group, would not have a material adverse effect on the financial condition of PeoplesBank.At December 31, 2019, the largest indebtedness of a single PeoplesBank client was approximately $22,550,000 or 1.5 percent of the total loan portfolio, which was within PeoplesBank’s regulatory lending limit of $32,173,000.

Most of the Corporation’s business is with clients located within South Central Pennsylvania, principally York and Lancaster Counties and North Central Maryland, principally Harford County, Baltimore County and Baltimore City. Although this market area may pose a concentration risk geographically, we believe that the diverse local economies and our detailed knowledge of the client base lessens this risk. At December 31, 2019, the Corporation had three industry concentrations that exceeded 10 percent of the total loan portfolio: residential real estate investor represented 16.5 percent of the portfolio; commercial real estate investor represented 13.8 percent of the portfolio; and builder and developer represented 10.6 percent of the portfolio. At December 31, 2018, the Corporation had three industry concentrations that exceeded 10 percent of the total loan portfolio: residential real estate investor represented 15.6 percent of the portfolio; commercial real estate investor represented 14.2 percent of the portfolio; and builder and developer represented 10.4 percent of the portfolio. Loans to borrowers within these industries are usually collateralized by real estate.

Nonbank Subsidiaries of PeoplesBank

PeoplesBank had five wholly-owned nonbank subsidiaries as of December 31, 2019, that were consolidated for financial reporting purposes.

Codorus Valley Financial Advisors, Inc. d/b/a PeoplesWealth Advisors, a subsidiary that sells non-deposit investment products, began operations in January 2000, and previously operated as SYC Insurance Services, Inc. until the change to the current name in December 2005.

SYC Settlement Services, Inc. is a subsidiary that has provided real estate settlement services since January 1999 and is in the process of being dissolved. A final tax return is expected to be filed as of December 31, 2019.

Periodically, PeoplesBank creates nonbank subsidiaries for the purpose of temporarily holding certain foreclosed assets pending liquidation. On December 31, 2019, one of three of these foreclosed asset subsidiaries was active.

Nonbank Subsidiaries of Codorus Valley Bancorp, Inc.

In 2006, Codorus Valley formed CVB Statutory Trust No. 2, a wholly-owned special purpose subsidiary whose sole purpose was to facilitate a pooled trust preferred debt issuance of $7,217,000. In 2004, Codorus Valley formed CVB Statutory Trust No. 1 to facilitate a pooled trust preferred debt issuance of $3,093,000. The Corporation owns 100 percent of the common stock of these nonbank subsidiaries, which are not consolidated for financial reporting purposes. These obligations are reported as junior subordinated debt on the Corporation’s balance sheet.

In 1991, SYC Realty Co., Inc. was incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Codorus Valley, and originally commenced operations in October 1995. Codorus Valley created this nonbank subsidiary primarily for the purpose of holding certain foreclosed properties obtained by PeoplesBank pending liquidation of those properties. SYC Realty was inactive during the entire reporting period of 2019.

Employees

At year-end 2019, PeoplesBank employed 327 full-time employees and 36 part-time employees, which equated to approximately 350 full-time equivalent employees. Employees are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and PeoplesBank considers its relations with employees to be satisfactory.

Segment Reporting

Management has determined that it operates in only one segment, community banking. The Corporation’s non-banking activities are not significant to the consolidated financial statements.

Competition

The banking industry in PeoplesBank’s service area, South Central Pennsylvania (principally, York and Lancaster Counties), and North Central Maryland (principally, Baltimore County, Baltimore City and Harford County), is highly competitive. PeoplesBank competes through service and price, and by leveraging its hometown image. It competes with commercial banks and other financial service providers, such as thrifts, credit unions, consumer finance companies, investment firms and mortgage companies. Some financial service providers operating in PeoplesBank’s service area operate on a national and regional scale and possess resources that are greater than PeoplesBank’s.

Supervision and Regulation

The Corporation is subject to extensive regulation under federal and Pennsylvania banking laws, regulations and policies, including prescribed standards relating to capital, earnings, dividends, the repurchase or redemption of shares, loans or extensions of credit to affiliates and insiders, internal controls, information systems, internal audit processes, loan documentation, credit underwriting, asset growth, impaired assets, and loan-to-value ratios. The bank regulatory framework is intended primarily for the protection of depositors, federal deposit insurance funds and the banking systems as a whole, and not for the protection of security holders.

The following summary sets forth certain of the material elements of the regulatory framework applicable to bank holding companies and their bank subsidiaries and provides certain specific information about Codorus Valley and PeoplesBank. It does not describe all of the provisions of the statutes, regulations and policies that are identified. To the extent that the following information describes statutory and regulatory provisions, it is qualified in its entirety by express reference to each of the particular statutory and regulatory provisions. A change in applicable statutes, regulations or regulatory policy may have a material effect on the business of the Corporation.

Bank Holding Company Regulations

Codorus Valley is registered as a bank holding company, and is subject to regulation by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Federal Reserve”), under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended. The Bank Holding Company Act requires bank holding companies to file periodic reports with, and subjects them to examination by, the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve has issued regulations under the Bank Holding Company Act that require a bank holding company to serve as a source of financial and managerial strength to its subsidiary banks. As a result, the Federal Reserve may require Codorus Valley to use its resources to provide adequate capital funds to PeoplesBank during periods of financial stress or adversity.

The Bank Holding Company Act prohibits Codorus Valley from acquiring direct or indirect control of more than 5 percent of the outstanding voting stock of any bank, or substantially all of the assets of any bank, or merging with another bank holding company, without the prior approval of the Federal Reserve. The Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities must also approve certain similar transactions. Pennsylvania law permits Pennsylvania bank holding companies to control an unlimited number of banks.

The Bank Holding Company Act restricts Codorus Valley to activities that the Federal Reserve has found to be closely related to banking, and which are expected to produce benefits for the public that will outweigh any potentially adverse effects. Therefore, the Bank Holding Company Act prohibits Codorus Valley from engaging in most nonbanking businesses, or acquiring ownership or control of more than 5 percent of the outstanding voting stock of any company engaged in a nonbanking business, unless the Federal Reserve has determined that the nonbanking business is closely related to banking. Under the Bank Holding Company Act, the Federal Reserve may require a bank holding company to end a nonbanking business if it constitutes a serious risk to the financial soundness and stability of any bank subsidiary of the bank holding company.

The Federal Reserve Act imposes restrictions on a subsidiary bank of a bank holding company, such as PeoplesBank. The restrictions affect extensions of credit to the bank holding company and its subsidiaries, investments in the stock or other securities of the bank holding company and its subsidiaries, and taking such stock or securities as collateral for loans.

The Federal Reserve Act and Federal Reserve regulations also place limitations and reporting requirements on extensions of credit by a bank to the principal shareholders of its parent holding company, among others, and to related interests of such principal shareholders. In addition, such legislation and regulation may affect the terms upon which any person becoming a principal shareholder of a holding company may obtain credit from banks with which the subsidiary bank maintains a correspondent relationship.

PeoplesBank and the banking industry, in general, are affected by the monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. Treasury and government agencies, including the Federal Reserve. Through open market securities transactions, and changes in its federal funds and discount rates and reserve requirements, the Federal Reserve exerts considerable influence over the cost and availability of funds for lending and investment.

Regulation of PeoplesBank

PeoplesBank is a Pennsylvania chartered bank that is not a member of the Federal Reserve System, and its deposits are insured (up to applicable limits) by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”). Accordingly, PeoplesBank’s primary federal regulator is the FDIC, and PeoplesBank is subject to the extensive regulation and examination by the FDIC and the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities.

State and federal banking laws and regulations govern such things as: the scope of a bank’s business; permissible investments; the reserves against deposits a bank must maintain; the types and terms of loans a bank may make and the collateral it may take; the activities of a bank with respect to mergers and consolidations; the establishment of branches; and the sale of non-deposit investment products by the bank and its subsidiaries.

As the primary federal regulator of PeoplesBank, the FDIC regularly examines banks in such areas as capital, asset quality, management, earnings, liquidity and sensitivity to market risk and other aspects of operations and requires that PeoplesBank furnish annual and quarterly reports. Examinations by the FDIC are designed for the protection of PeoplesBank’s depositors rather than Codorus Valley’s shareholders. The FDIC provides deposit insurance to banks, which covers all deposit accounts. The standard maximum insurance amount is $250,000 per depositor.

Effective January 1, 2012, PeoplesBank became subject to FDIC regulation 363.3(b), which requires depository institutions with total assets of $1 billion or more to engage an independent public accountant to examine, attest to, and report on the assertion of management concerning the institution’s internal control structure and procedures for financial reporting.

The Pennsylvania Insurance Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) control and supervise the licensing and activities of employees engaged in the sale of non-deposit investment products.

Federal Deposit Insurance and Premiums

PeoplesBank pays deposit insurance premiums to the FDIC based on a risk-based assessment formula established by the FDIC for Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) member institutions. Institutions are classified into one of four risk categories and pay premiums according to perceived risk to the FDIC’s DIF. PeoplesBank has consistently been a risk category I institution, the least risky category. Institutions in risk categories II, III and IV are assessed premiums at progressively higher rates.

In February 2011, the FDIC announced its final rule pertaining to, among other things, changes in the computation of risk-based insurance premiums as mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The final rule, which took effect April 1, 2011, changed the assessment base from domestic deposits to average assets minus average tangible equity, i.e., Tier 1 capital, and lowered assessment rates. For insured member institutions below $10 billion in total assets, the four risk categories framework mentioned earlier continues to apply. For the least risky category I institutions, such as PeoplesBank, the assessment rate range of 7 to 24 basis points on domestic deposits decreased to 2.5 to 9 basis points on total average assets minus average tangible equity. The final rule eliminated risk categories for large institutions with total assets of $10 billion or more. Instead, their assessment rates are now calculated using a scorecard that combines regulatory ratings and certain forward financial measures to assess the risk a large institution poses to the DIF.

On April 26, 2016, the FDIC adopted a rule amending small institution pricing for deposit insurance, which is effective the quarter after the Reserve Ratio reaches 1.15 percent. The reserve ratio reached 1.15 percent effective June 30, 2016, so the lower rates became effective July 1, 2016. The initial base assessment rates for all insured institutions were reduced from 5 to 35 basis points to 3 to 30 basis points. Total base assessment rates after possible adjustments were reduced from 2.5 to 45 basis points to 1.5 to 40 basis points. For insured institutions under $10 billion in total assets, the new pricing system eliminates all risk categories and uses the Financial Ratios Method to determine assessment rates. CAMELS composite ratings are used to set minimum and maximum assessment rates for an institution. In addition, the new pricing system revises the Financial Ratios Method so that it is based on a statistical method eliminating the probability of failure over three years; and updates the financial measures used in the financial Ratios Method so the measures are consistent with the statistical method. Generally, the change in the assessment methodology by the FDIC lowered deposit insurance premiums for community banks like PeoplesBank.

On January 24, 2019, the FDIC provided preliminary notification of small bank assessment credits. On September 30, 2018, the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) reserve ratio reached 1.36 percent. Because the reserve ratio exceeded 1.35 percent, small banks were awarded assessment credits for the portion of their assessments that contributed to the growth in the reserve ratio from 1.15 percent to 1.35 percent, to be applied when the reserve ratio is at least 1.38 percent. The DIF reserve ratio as of June 30, 2019 was 1.40 percent. Because the reserve ratio exceeded the 1.38 percent, small bank assessment credits were applied beginning with the invoice payment for the second quarter assessment period of 2019. The small bank assessment credits issued to the Corporation were fully utilized as of December 31, 2019.

Dividend Restrictions

The Corporation is a legal entity separate and distinct from PeoplesBank. Declaration and payment of cash dividends by the Corporation depends upon cash dividend payments to the Corporation by PeoplesBank, which is the Corporation’s primary source of revenue and cash flow. Accordingly, the right of the Corporation, and consequently the right of our creditors and shareholders, to participate in any distribution of the assets or earnings of any subsidiary is necessarily subject to the prior claims of creditors of the subsidiary, except to the extent that claims of the Corporation in its capacity as a creditor may be recognized.

As a Pennsylvania chartered bank, PeoplesBank is subject to regulatory restrictions on the payment and amounts of dividends under the Pennsylvania Banking Code of 1965, as amended. Further, the ability of banking subsidiaries to pay dividends is also subject to their profitability, financial condition, capital expenditures and other cash flow requirements.

The payment of dividends by PeoplesBank and the Corporation may also be affected by other factors, such as the requirement to maintain adequate capital above regulatory guidelines. The federal banking agencies have indicated that paying dividends that deplete a depository institution’s capital base to an inadequate level would be an unsafe and unsound banking practice. Under the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991, a depository institution may not pay any dividend if payment would cause it to become undercapitalized or if it is already undercapitalized. Moreover, the federal agencies have issued policy statements that provide that bank holding companies and insured banks should generally only pay dividends out of current operating earnings. Federal banking regulators have the authority to prohibit banks and bank holding companies from paying a dividend if the regulators deem such payment to be an unsafe and unsound practice. More information about dividend restrictions and capital requirements can be found in Note 9 – Regulatory Matters, to the consolidated financial statements.

Other Laws and Regulations Affecting the Corporation and PeoplesBank

May 2018 Banking Reform Legislation On May 24, 2018, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (the “Regulatory Relief Act”), amended certain provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, as well as certain other statutes administered by the federal banking agencies Some of the key provisions of the Regulatory Relief Act as it relates to community banks and bank holding companies include: (i) designating mortgages held in portfolio and “qualified mortgages” for banks with less than $10 billion in assets, subject to certain documentation and product limitations; (ii) exempting banks with less than $10 billion in assets (and total trading assets and trading liabilities of 5% or less of total assets) from Volcker Rule requirements relating to proprietary trading; (iii) simplifying capital calculations for banks with less than $10 billion in assets by requiring federal banking agencies to establish a community bank leverage ratio of tangible equity to average consolidated assets of not less than 8% or more than 10%, and provide that banks that maintain tangible equity in excess of such ratio will be deemed to be in compliance with risk-based capital and leverage requirements; (iv) assisting smaller banks with obtaining stable funding by providing an exception for reciprocal deposits from FDIC restrictions on acceptance of brokered deposits; (v) raising the eligibility for use of short-form Call Reports from $1 billion to $5 billion in assets; (vi) clarifying definitions pertaining to high volatility commercial real estate loans (HVCRE), which requires higher capital allocations, so that only loans with increased risk are subject to higher risk weightings; and (vii) changing the eligibility for use of the small bank holding company policy statement from institutions with under $1 billion in assets to institutions with under $3 billion in assets.

Section 201 of the Regulatory Relief Act directed the federal banking agencies to develop a community bank leverage ratio (“CBLR”) of not less than 8% and not more than 10% for qualifying community banks and bank holding companies with total consolidated assets of less than $10 billion. Qualifying community banking organizations that exceed the CBLR level established by the agencies, and that elect to be covered by the CBLR framework, will be considered to have met: (i) the generally applicable leverage and risk-based capital requirements under the banking agencies’ capital rules; (ii) the capital ratio requirements necessary to be considered “well capitalized” under the banking agencies’ prompt corrective action framework in the case of insured depository institutions; and (iii) any other applicable capital or leverage requirements.

On September 17, 2019, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board, and the FDIC adopted a rule to implement the provisions of Section 201 of the Regulatory Relief Act. Under the rule, a qualifying community banking organization would be defined as a deposit institution or depository institution holding company with less than $10 billion in assets and specified limited amounts of off-balance sheet exposures, trading assets and liabilities, mortgage servicing assets, and certain temporary difference deferred tax assets. A qualifying community banking organization would be permitted to elect the CBLR framework if its CBLR is greater than 9%. The rule also addresses opting in and opting out of the CBLR framework by a community banking organization, the treatment of a community banking organization that falls below the CBLR requirements, and the effect of various CBLR levels for purposes of the prompt corrective action categories applicable to insured depository institutions. Advanced approaches banking organizations (generally, institutions with $250 billion or more in consolidated assets) are not eligible to use the CBLR framework.

The Company continues to analyze the changes implemented by the Regulatory Relief Act, including the CBLR framework included in the recently adopted rule. The Company does not believe, however, that such changes will materially impact the Company’s business, operations, or financial results.

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act)In July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act was enacted to improve accountability and transparency in the financial system, to attempt to end “too big to fail” pertaining to large, troubled financial institutions, to protect the American taxpayer by ending governmental bailouts, to protect consumers from abusive financial services practices, and for other purposes. The Dodd-Frank Act is broad and complex legislation that puts in place a sweeping new financial services regime that will have significant regulatory and legal consequences for banks now and for years to come. The effects of the Dodd-Frank Act on the financial services industry will depend, in large part, upon the extent to which regulators exercise the authority granted to them under the Dodd-Frank Act and the approaches taken in implementing regulations. Additional uncertainty regarding the effect of the Dodd-Frank Act exists due to the potential for additional legislative changes to the Dodd-Frank Act. The Corporation, like all financial institutions, has been and will continue to be impacted by the Dodd-Frank Act in the areas of corporate governance, deposit insurance assessments, capital requirements, risk management, stress testing, and regulation under consumer protection laws.

Among other things, the Dodd-Frank Act:

Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOA”) was signed into law in July 2002 and applies to all companies, both U.S. and non-U.S, that file periodic reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The stated goals of the SOA were to increase corporate responsibility, to provide for enhanced penalties for accounting and auditing improprieties at publicly traded companies and to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures pursuant to the securities laws. The SEC is responsible for establishing rules to implement various provisions of the SOA. The SOA includes specific disclosure requirements and corporate governance rules, requires the SEC and securities exchanges to adopt extensive additional disclosure, corporate governance and other related rules and mandates further studies of certain issues by the SEC. The SOA represents significant regulation of the accounting profession and corporate governance practices, such as the relationship between a board of directors and management and between a board of directors and its committees.Section 404 of the SOA requires publicly held companies to document, test and certify that their internal control systems over financial reporting are effective.

Effective December 31, 2014, the Corporation is subject to the independent attestation requirement under Section 404 of the SOA. PeoplesBank remains subject to independent auditor attestation under FDIC regulation 363.3(b), which is a similar independent attestation requirement to Section 404 of the SOA.

USA Patriot Act of 2001In October of 2001, the USA Patriot Act of 2001 was enacted to strengthen U.S. law enforcement’s and the intelligence communities’ abilities to work cohesively to combat terrorism on a variety of fronts. The Patriot Act contains sweeping anti-money laundering and financial transparency laws and imposes various regulations on financial institutions, including standards for verifying client identification at account opening, and rules to promote cooperation among financial institutions, regulators and law enforcement entities in identifying parties that may be involved in terrorism or money laundering.

Future Laws and Regulations

Periodically, various federal and state legislation is proposed that could result in additional regulation of, and restrictions on, the business of Codorus Valley and PeoplesBank. It cannot be predicted whether such legislation will be adopted or, if adopted, how such legislation would affect the business of Codorus Valley and its subsidiaries. As a consequence of the extensive regulation of commercial banking activities in the United States, Codorus Valley’s and PeoplesBank’s business is particularly susceptible to being affected by federal legislation and regulations. The general cost of compliance with numerous federal and state laws and regulations has had, and in the future may have, a negative impact on Codorus Valley’s results of operations.

Other Information

This Annual Report on Form 10-K is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Copies of this document, the Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, amendments to those reports and other filings by Codorus Valley with the SEC may be obtained electronically at PeoplesBank’s website atwww.peoplesbanknet.com (select “Your Life” or “Your Business”, then select “Investor Relations”, then select “Filings”, then select “Documents”), or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Copies can also be obtained without charge by writing to: Treasurer, Codorus Valley Bancorp, Inc., 105 Leader Heights Road, York, PA 17403.

Where we have included web addresses in this report, such as the Corporation’s web address, we have included these web addresses as inactive text references only. Except as specifically incorporated by reference into this report, information on those websites is not part hereof.

Item 1A: Risk Factors

Before investing in our common stock, you should carefully consider the risks described below, in addition to the other information contained in this report and in our other filings with the SEC. Unless the context otherwise requires, references to “we,” “us,” “our,” “Codorus Valley Bancorp, Inc.,” “Codorus Valley” or the “Corporation” refer to Codorus Valley Bancorp, Inc. and its direct or indirect owned subsidiaries, and references to the “Bank” refer to PeoplesBank, a Codorus Valley Company, the wholly-owned banking subsidiary of the Corporation.

The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones facing the Corporation. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are not aware of or focused on, or that we currently deem immaterial, may also impact our business and results of operations. If any of these known or unknown risks or uncertainties actually occurs, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. If this were to happen, the market price of our common stock could decline significantly, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

Weakness in the economy may materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our results of operations are materially affected by conditions in the economy generally, which continue to be uncertain and include uneven economic growth, accompanied by low interest rates. Dramatic declines in the housing market following the 2008 financial crisis, with falling home prices and increasing foreclosures and unemployment, resulted in significant write-downs of asset values by financial institutions. While conditions have improved, a return to a recessionary or excessive inflationary economy could result in financial stress on our borrowers that would adversely affect consumer confidence, a reduction in general business activity and increased market volatility. The resulting economic pressure on consumers and businesses and the lack of confidence in the financial markets could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and stock price. Our ability to properly assess the creditworthiness of our clients and to estimate the losses inherent in our credit exposure would be made more complex by these difficult market and economic conditions. Accordingly, if market conditions worsen, we may experience increases in foreclosures, delinquencies, write-offs and client bankruptcies, as well as more restricted access to funds.

Deterioration in our local and regional economy or real estate market may adversely affect our business.

Substantially all of our business is with clients located within South Central Pennsylvania, principally York and Lancaster Counties and North Central Maryland, principally Harford County, Baltimore County and Baltimore City. As a result of this geographic concentration, our results depend largely on economic conditions in these and surrounding areas. Deterioration in economic conditions in these markets could:

Generally, we make loans to small and mid-sized businesses whose success depends on the regional economy. These businesses generally have fewer financial resources in terms of capital or borrowing capacity than larger entities. Adverse economic and business conditions in our market area could reduce our growth rate, affect our borrowers’ ability to repay their loans and, consequently, adversely affect our financial condition and performance. For example, we place substantial reliance on real estate as collateral for our loan portfolio. A sharp downturn in real estate values in our market area could leave many of our loans inadequately collateralized. If we are required to liquidate the collateral securing a loan to satisfy the debt during a period of reduced real estate values, our earnings could be adversely affected.

If our allowance for loan and lease losses is not sufficient to cover actual loan and lease losses, our earnings would decrease.

We are exposed to the risk that our borrowers may default on their obligations. To absorb probable, incurred loan and lease losses that we may realize, we recognize an allowance for loan and lease losses based on, among other things, national and regional economic conditions, historical loss experience, and delinquency trends. However, we cannot estimate loan and lease losses with certainty, and we cannot assure you that charge-offs in future periods will not exceed the allowance for loan and lease losses. If charge-offs exceed our allowance, our earnings would decrease. In addition, regulatory agencies, as an integral part of their examination process, review our allowance for loan and lease losses and may require additions to the allowance based on their judgment about information available to them at the time of their examination. Factors that require an increase in our allowance for loan and lease losses, such as a prolonged economic downturn or continued weakening in general economic conditions such as inflation, recession, unemployment or other factors beyond our control, could reduce our earnings.

Our exposure to credit risk, which is heightened by our focus on commercial lending, could adversely affect our earnings and financial condition.

There are certain risks inherent in making loans. These risks include interest rate changes over the time period in which loans may be repaid, risks resulting from changes in the economy, risks inherent in dealing with borrowers and, in the case of a loan backed by collateral, risks resulting from uncertainties about the future value of the collateral if a disposition is necessary.

Commercial loans, including commercial real estate, are generally viewed as having a higher credit risk than residential real estate or consumer loans because they usually involve larger loan balances to a single borrower and are more susceptible to a risk of default during an economic downturn. Our consolidated commercial lending operations include commercial, financial and agricultural lending, real estate construction lending, and commercial mortgage lending. Construction financing typically involves a higher degree of credit risk than commercial mortgage lending. Risk of loss on a construction loan depends largely on the accuracy of the initial estimate of the property’s value at completion of construction compared to the estimated cost (including interest) of construction. If the estimated property value proves to be inaccurate, the loan may be inadequately collateralized.

Because our loan portfolio contains a significant number of commercial real estate, commercial and industrial loans, and construction loans, the deterioration of these loans may cause a significant increase in nonperforming loans. An increase in nonperforming loans could cause an increase in loan related legal fees and expenses, loan charge-offs and a corresponding increase in the provision for loan losses, which could adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.

We depend primarily on net interest income for our earnings, and changes in interest rates could adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.

Our ability to make a profit, like that of most financial institutions, substantially depends upon our net interest income, which is the difference between the interest income earned on interest earning assets, such as loans and investment securities, and the interest expense paid on interest-bearing liabilities, such as deposits and borrowings. Changes in interest rates can increase or reduce net interest income and net income.

Different types of assets and liabilities may react differently, and at different times, to changes in market interest rates. When interest-bearing liabilities mature or reprice more quickly than interest-earning assets in a period, an increase in market rates of interest could reduce net interest income. When interest-earning assets mature or reprice more quickly than interest-bearing liabilities, falling interest rates could reduce net interest income. Changes in market interest rates are affected by many factors beyond our control, including inflation, unemployment, money supply, international events, and events in the United States and other financial markets.

We attempt to manage risk from changes in market interest rates, in part, by controlling the mix of interest rate sensitive assets and interest rate sensitive liabilities. However, interest rate risk management techniques are not exact and a rapid increase or decrease in interest rates could adversely affect our financial performance. In the event that one or more of these factors were to result in a decrease in our net interest income, we do not have significant sources of fee income to make up for decreases in net interest income.

The planned phasing out of LIBOR as a financial benchmark presents risks to the financial instruments originated or held by the Corporation.

The London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) is the reference rate used for many of the Corporation’s transactions, including variable and adjustable rate loans and borrowings. However, a reduced volume of interbank unsecured term borrowing, coupled with recent legal and regulatory proceedings related to rate manipulation by certain financial institutions, has led to international reconsideration of LIBOR as a financial benchmark. The United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), which regulates the process for establishing LIBOR, announced in July 2017 that the sustainability of LIBOR cannot be guaranteed. Accordingly, the FCA intends to stop persuading, or compelling, banks to submit rates for the calculation of LIBOR after 2021.

Regulators, industry groups and certain communities (e.g., the Alternative Reference Rates Committee) have, among other things, published recommended fallback language LIBOR-linked financial instruments, identified recommended alternatives for certain LIBOR rates (e.g., the Secured Overnight Financing Rate as the recommended alternative to U.S. Dollar LIBOR), and proposed implementations of the recommended alternatives in floating rate instruments. At this time, it is not possible to predict whether these recommendations and proposals will be broadly accepted, whether they will continue to evolve, and what the effect of their implantation may be on the markets for floating rate financial instruments. The uncertainty surrounding potential reforms, including the use of alternative reference rates and changes to the methods and processes used to calculate rates, may have an adverse effect on the trading market for LIBOR-based securities, loan yields, and the amount received and paid on derivative contracts and other financial instruments. In addition, the implementation of LIBOR reform proposals may result in increased compliance and operational costs.

We operate in a highly regulated environment and may be adversely affected by changes in laws and regulations.

The banking industry is heavily regulated, and such regulations are intended primarily for the protection of depositors and the federal deposit insurance fund, not shareholders. As a bank holding company, we are subject to regulation by the Federal Reserve. Our bank subsidiary is also regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, and is subject to regulation by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities and recently, by regulations promulgated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as to consumer financial services and products. These regulations affect lending practices, capital structure, investment practices, dividend policy, and growth. In addition, we have non-bank operating subsidiaries from which we derive income. One of these non-bank subsidiaries, Codorus Valley Financial Advisors, Inc. d/b/a PeoplesWealth Advisors, engages in providing investment management and insurance brokerage services, industries that are also heavily regulated on both a state and federal level. In addition, newly enacted and amended laws, regulations, and regulatory practices affecting the financial service industry may result in higher capital requirements, higher insurance premiums and limit the manner in which we may conduct our business. Such changes may adversely affect us, including our ability to offer new products and services, obtain financing, attract deposits, make loans and leases and achieve satisfactory spreads, and may also result in the imposition of additional costs on us. As a public corporation, we are also subject to the corporate governance standards set forth in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as any applicable rules or regulations promulgated by the SEC and The NASDAQ Global Market.

Compliance with such current and potential regulation and scrutiny may significantly increase our costs, impede the efficiency of our internal business processes, affect retention of key personnel, require us to increase our regulatory capital, require us to invest significant management attention and resources and limit our ability to pursue business opportunities in an efficient manner.

Additional requirements imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act could increase our costs of operations.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or the Dodd-Frank Act, has significantly changed the current bank regulatory structure and affected the lending, deposit, investment, trading and operating activities of financial institutions and their holding companies. The Dodd-Frank Act requires various federal agencies to adopt a broad range of new rules and regulations, and to prepare numerous studies and reports for Congress. The federal agencies are given significant discretion in drafting the implementing rules and regulations, and consequently, some of the details and impact of the Dodd-Frank Act may not yet be known. Our operating and compliance costs have materially increased and it is expected that the legislation and implementing regulations will continue to increase our operating and compliance costs.

The Dodd-Frank Act created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, as an independent bureau of the Federal Reserve with broad powers to supervise and enforce consumer protection laws. In addition, the CFPB has rule-making authority for a wide range of consumer protection laws that apply to all banks and savings institutions, including the authority to prohibit “unfair, deceptive or abusive” acts and practices. The CFPB’s qualified mortgage rule, or “QM Rule,” became effective on January 10, 2014. The QM Rule is designed to clarify how lenders can manage the potential legal liability under the Dodd-Frank Act, which would hold lenders accountable for insuring a borrower’s ability to repay a mortgage. Loans that meet the definition of “qualified mortgage” will be presumed to have complied with the new ability-to-repay standard. The QM Rule and similar rules could limit the Bank’s ability to make certain types of loans or loans to certain borrowers, or could make it more expensive and time-consuming to make these loans, which could limit the Bank’s growth or profitability.

The Dodd-Frank Act requires publicly traded companies to give stockholders a non-binding vote on executive compensation and so-called “golden parachute” payments. It also provides that the listing standards of the national securities exchanges shall require listed companies to implement and disclose “clawback” policies mandating the recovery of incentive compensation paid to executive officers in connection with accounting restatements. The Dodd-Frank Act also directs the Federal Reserve to promulgate rules prohibiting excessive compensation paid to bank holding company executives. Compliance with these rules will likely increase our overall regulatory compliance costs and may have an adverse effect on our ability to recruit and retain executive officers for the Company and the Bank. 

We recently became subject to more stringent capital requirements.

The Dodd-Frank Act required the federal banking agencies to establish minimum leverage and risk-based capital requirements for insured banks and their holding companies. The federal banking agencies issued a joint final rule, or the Final Capital Rule, that implements the Basel III capital standards and establishes the minimum capital levels required under the Dodd-Frank Act. Certain capital requirements mandated by the Final Capital Rule became effective January 1, 2015. The Final Capital Rule establishes a minimum common equity Tier I capital ratio of 6.5 percent of risk-weighted assets for a “well capitalized” institution and increases the minimum Tier I capital ratio for a “well capitalized” institution from 6 percent to 8 percent. Additionally, the Final Capital Rule requires an institution to maintain a 2.5 percent common equity Tier I capital conservation buffer over the 6.5 percent minimum risk-based capital requirement for “adequately capitalized” institutions, or face restrictions on the ability to pay dividends, discretionary bonuses, and engage in share repurchases. For bank holding companies under $15 billion in assets as of December 31, 2009, the Final Capital Rule permanently grandfathers trust preferred securities issued before May 19, 2010, subject to a limit of 25 percent of Tier I capital. The Final Capital Rule increases the required capital for certain categories of assets, including high-volatility construction real estate loans and certain exposures related to securitizations; however, the Final Capital Rule retains the current capital treatment of residential mortgages. Implementation of these standards, or any other new regulations, may adversely affect our ability to pay dividends, or require us to reduce business levels or raise capital, including in ways that may adversely affect our results of operations or financial condition.

The soundness of other financial services institutions may adversely affect our credit risk.

Our ability to engage in funding transactions could be adversely affected by the actions and failure of other financial institutions. Financial services institutions are interrelated as a result of trading, clearing, counterparty, or other relationships. We have exposure to many different industries and counterparties, and we routinely execute transactions with counterparties in the financial services industry, including brokers and dealers, commercial banks, investment banks, mutual funds, and other institutional clients. As a result, defaults by, or even questions or rumors about, one or more financial services institutions, or the financial services industry generally, have led to market-wide liquidity problems and could lead to losses or defaults by us or other institutions. Many of these transactions expose us to operational and credit risk in the event of default of our counterparty or client. In addition, our credit risk may be exacerbated when the collateral held by us cannot be realized upon or is liquidated at prices not sufficient to recover the full amount of the loan or derivative exposure due us. Losses related to these credit risks could materially and adversely affect our results of operations or earnings.

We are required to make a number of judgments in applying accounting policies and different estimates and assumptions in the application of these policies could result in a decrease in capital and/or other material changes to our reports of financial condition and results of operations.

Material estimates that are particularly susceptible to significant change relate to the determination of the allowance for loan losses and reserve for unfunded lending commitments, the effectiveness of derivatives and other hedging activities, and the fair value of certain financial instruments (securities, derivatives, and privately held investments), income tax assets or liabilities (including deferred tax assets and any related valuation allowance), and share-based compensation. While we have identified those accounting policies that are considered critical and have procedures in place to facilitate the associated judgments, different assumptions in the application of these policies could result in a decrease to net income and, possibly, capital and may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

From time to time, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, and the SEC change the financial accounting and reporting guidance that governs the preparation of our financial statements. These changes are beyond our control, can be difficult to predict, and could materially impact how we report our financial condition and results of operations. We could be required to apply new or revised guidance retrospectively, which may result in the revision of prior financial statements by material amounts. The implementation of new or revised guidance could result in material adverse effects to our reported capital.

We may elect or need to seek additional capital in the future, but that capital may not be available when needed.

We are required by federal and state regulatory authorities to maintain adequate levels of capital to support our operations. In the future, we may elect or need to raise additional capital. Our ability to raise additional capital, if needed, will depend on conditions in the capital markets at that time, which are outside our control, and on our financial performance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you of our ability to raise additional capital if needed on acceptable terms. If we cannot raise additional capital when needed, our ability to expand our operations through internal growth or acquisitions could be materially impaired.

Risks associated with system failures, interruptions, or breaches of security could negatively affect our earnings. Information technology systems are critical to our business.

We use various technology systems to manage our client relationships, general ledger, securities investments, deposits, and loans. Business disruptions can occur due to forces beyond our control such as severe weather, power or telecommunications loss, accidents, cyberattacks, terrorism, health emergencies, the spread of infectious diseases or pandemics. We have established policies and procedures to prevent or limit the impact of system failures, interruptions, and security breaches (including privacy breaches and cyber-attacks), but such events may still occur or may not be adequately addressed if they do occur. In addition, any compromise of our systems could deter clients from using our products and services. Although we take protective measures, the security of our computer systems, software, and networks may be vulnerable to breaches, unauthorized access, misuse, computer viruses, or other malicious code and cyber-attacks that could have an impact on information security.

In addition, we outsource a significant amount of our data processing to certain third-party providers. If these third-party providers encounter difficulties, or if we have difficulty communicating with them, our ability to adequately process and account for transactions could be affected, and our business operations could be adversely affected. While we have selected these third party vendors carefully, we do not control their actions. Any problems caused by these third parties, including as a result of their not providing us their services for any reason or their performing their services poorly, could adversely affect our ability to deliver products and services to our clients or otherwise conduct our business efficiently and effectively. Replacing these third party vendors could also entail significant delay and expense. Threats to information security also exist in the processing of client information through various other vendors and their personnel.

There have been increasing efforts on the part of third parties, including through cyber-attacks, to breach data security at financial institutions or with respect to financial transactions. There have been several recent instances involving financial services and consumer-based companies reporting the unauthorized disclosure of client or customer information or the destruction or theft of corporate data. In addition, because the techniques used to cause such security breaches change frequently, often are not recognized until launched against a target and may originate from less regulated and remote areas around the world, we may be unable to proactively address these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. The ability of our clients to bank remotely, including online and through mobile devices, requires secure transmission of confidential information and increases the risk of data security breaches.

The occurrence of any system failures, interruption, or breach of security could damage our reputation and result in a loss of clients and business thereby subjecting us to additional regulatory scrutiny, or could expose us to litigation and possible financial liability. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our controls and procedures may fail or could be circumvented.

Management regularly reviews and updates our internal controls, disclosure controls and procedures, and corporate governance policies and procedures in order to ensure accurate financial control and reporting. Any system of controls, no matter how well designed and operated, can only provide reasonable, not absolute assurance that the objectives of the system are met. Any failure or circumvention of our controls and/or procedures could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operation and financial condition.

We may incur fines, penalties and other negative consequences from regulatory violations, possibly even inadvertent or unintentional violations.

We maintain systems and procedures designed to ensure that we comply with applicable laws and regulations. However, some legal/regulatory frameworks provide for the imposition of fines or penalties for noncompliance even though the noncompliance was inadvertent or unintentional and even though there was in place at the time systems and procedures designed to ensure compliance. For example, we are subject to regulations issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, that prohibit financial institutions from participating in the transfer of property belonging to the governments of certain foreign countries and designated nationals of those countries. OFAC may impose penalties for inadvertent or unintentional violations even if reasonable processes are in place to prevent the violations. There may be other negative consequences resulting from a finding of noncompliance, including restrictions on certain activities. Such a finding may also damage our reputation as described below and could restrict the ability of institutional investment managers to invest in our securities.

The inability to hire or retain key personnel could adversely affect our business.

Our success is dependent upon our ability to attract and retain highly skilled individuals. We face intense competition from various other financial institutions, as well as from non-bank providers of financial services, such as credit unions, brokerage firms, insurance agencies, consumer finance companies and government organizations, for the attraction and retention of key personnel, specifically those who generate and maintain our client relationships and serve in other key operation positions in the areas of finance, credit oversight and administration, and wealth management. These competitors may offer greater compensation and benefits, which could result in the loss of potential and/or existing substantial client relationships and may adversely affect our ability to compete effectively. The unexpected loss of services of one or more of these or other key personnel could have a material adverse impact on our business because of their skills, knowledge of the markets in which we operate, years of industry experience and the difficulty of promptly finding qualified replacement personnel.

Damage to our reputation could significantly harm our business, including our competitive position and business prospects.

We are dependent on our reputation within our market area, as a trusted and responsible financial corporation, for all aspects of our relationships with clients, employees, vendors, third-party service providers, and others, with whom we conduct business or potential future business. Our ability to attract and retain clients and employees could be adversely affected if our reputation is damaged. Our actual or perceived failure to address various issues could give rise to reputational risk that could cause harm to us and our business prospects. These issues also include, but are not limited to, legal and regulatory requirements; properly maintaining client and employee personal information; record keeping; money-laundering; sales and trading practices; ethical issues; appropriately addressing potential conflicts of interest; and the proper identification of the legal, reputational, credit, liquidity and market risks inherent in our products. Failure to appropriately address any of these issues could also give rise to additional regulatory restrictions and legal risks, which could, among other consequences, increase the size and number of litigation claims and damages asserted or subject us to enforcement actions, fines and penalties and incur related costs and expenses.

We continually encounter technological change, and we may have fewer resources than our competitors to continue to invest in technological improvements, which could reduce our ability to effectively compete.

Our future success depends, in part, on our ability to effectively embrace technological efficiencies to better serve clients and reduce costs. Many of our competitors have substantially greater resources to invest in technological improvements. There can be no assurance that we will be able to effectively implement new technology-driven products and services, which could reduce our ability to effectively compete. Failure to keep pace with technological change could potentially have an adverse effect on our business operations and financial condition.

Competition from other financial institutions in originating loans, attracting deposits and providing various financial services may adversely affect our profitability.

Our banking subsidiary faces substantial competition in originating loans, both commercial and consumer. This competition comes principally from other banks, savings institutions, mortgage banking companies, and other lenders. Many of our competitors enjoy advantages over us, including greater financial resources and higher lending limits, a wider geographic presence, more accessible branch office locations, the ability to offer a wider array of services or more favorable pricing alternatives, as well as lower origination and operating costs. This competition could reduce our net income by decreasing the number and size of loans that our banking subsidiary originates and the interest rates it may charge on these loans.

In attracting business and consumer deposits, our bank subsidiary faces substantial competition from other insured depository institutions such as banks, savings institutions and credit unions, as well as institutions offering uninsured investment alternatives, including money market funds. Many of our competitors enjoy advantages over us, including greater financial resources, more aggressive marketing campaigns and better brand recognition and more branch locations. These competitors may offer higher interest rates than we do, which could decrease the deposits that we attract or require us to increase our rates to retain existing deposits or attract new deposits. Increased deposit competition could adversely affect our ability to generate the funds necessary for lending operations. As a result, we may need to seek other sources of funds that may be more expensive to obtain and could increase our cost of funds.

Our banking and non-banking subsidiaries also compete with non-bank providers of financial services, such as brokerage firms, consumer finance companies, credit unions, insurance companies and governmental organizations which may offer more favorable terms. Some of our non-bank competitors are not subject to the same extensive regulations that govern our banking operations. As a result, such non-bank competitors may have advantages over our banking and non-banking subsidiaries in providing certain products and services. This competition may reduce or limit our margins on banking and non-banking services, reduce our market share, and adversely affect our earnings and financial condition.

We may not be able to successfully maintain and manage our growth.

We continue to execute on our acquisition and organic branching initiatives, which are intended to develop our branch infrastructure in a manner more consistent with the expansion of lending markets and to fill in and grow our branch footprint. As we continue to grow through our acquisitions, branching and other strategic initiatives, we cannot be certain as to our ability to manage increased levels of assets and liabilities. We may be required to make additional investments in equipment and personnel to manage higher asset levels and loans balances, which may adversely impact our efficiency ratio, earnings and shareholder returns.

The financial impact and difficulties in integrating future acquisitions could adversely affect our business.

The efficient and effective integration of any businesses we acquire into our organization is critical to the financial success of an acquisition transaction. Any future acquisitions involve numerous risks, including difficulties in integrating the culture, operations, technologies and personnel of the acquired companies, the diversion of management’s attention from other business concerns and the potential loss of clients. Failure to successfully integrate the operations of any future acquisitions could also harm our business, results of operations and cash flows.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock

The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly, and this may make it difficult for you to resell shares of common stock owned by you at times or at prices you find attractive.

The market price of our common stock on the NASDAQ Global Market constantly changes. We expect that the market price of our common stock will continue to fluctuate and there can be no assurance about the market prices for our common stock.

Stock price volatility may make it difficult for you to resell your common stock when you want and at prices you find attractive. Our stock price may fluctuate significantly as a result of a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. These factors include, among others:

General market fluctuations, industry factors and general economic and political conditions and events, such as economic slowdowns or recessions, interest rate changes or credit loss trends, could also cause our stock price to decrease regardless of operating results as evidenced by the current volatility and disruption of capital and credit markets.

The trading volume of our common stock may not provide adequate liquidity for investors and is less than that of other financial services companies.

Our common stock is listed under the symbol “CVLY” on the NASDAQ Global Market. The average daily trading volume for shares of our common stock is less than larger financial institutions. As a result, sales of our common stock may place significant downward pressure on the market price of our common stock. Furthermore, it may be difficult for holders to resell their shares at prices they find attractive, or at all.

We may issue additional common stock or other equity securities in the future which could dilute the ownership interest of existing shareholders.

In order to maintain our capital at desired or regulatory-required levels or to replace existing capital, we may be required to issue additional shares of common stock, or securities convertible into, exchangeable for or representing rights to acquire shares of common stock. Generally, we are not restricted from issuing such additional shares. We may sell any shares that we issue at prices below the current market price of our common stock, and the sale of these shares may significantly dilute shareholder ownership. We could also issue additional shares in connection with acquisitions of other financial institutions or in connection with our equity compensation plans. Additional equity offerings may dilute the holdings of our existing shareholders or reduce the market price of our common stock, or both.

Offerings of debt and/or preferred equity securities may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

We may attempt to increase our capital resources or, if our or our subsidiary bank’s capital ratios fall below the required minimums, we could be forced to raise additional capital by making additional offerings of debt or preferred equity securities, including medium-term notes, trust preferred securities, senior or subordinated notes and preferred stock. Upon liquidation, holders of our debt securities and shares of preferred stock and lenders with respect to other borrowings are likely to receive distributions of our available assets prior to the holders of our common stock. Additional equity offerings may dilute the holdings of our existing shareholders or reduce the market price of our common stock, or both. Holders of our common stock are not entitled to preemptive rights or other protections against dilution.

Our board of directors is authorized to issue one or more classes or series of preferred stock from time to time without any action on the part of the shareholders. Our board of directors also has the power, without shareholder approval, to set the terms of any such classes or series of preferred stock that may be issued, including voting rights, dividend rights, and preferences over our common stock with respect to dividends or upon our dissolution, winding up and liquidation and other terms. If we issue preferred stock in the future that has a preference over our common stock with respect to the payment of dividends or upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, or if we issue preferred stock with voting rights that dilute the voting power of our common stock, the rights of holders of our common stock or the market price of our common stock could be adversely affected.

Our common stock is subordinate to our existing and future indebtedness and preferred stock, and effectively subordinated to all the indebtedness and other non-common equity claims against our subsidiaries.

Shares of our common stock are equity interests in us and do not constitute indebtedness. As such, shares of our common stock rank junior to all of our indebtedness and to other non-equity claims against us and our assets available to satisfy claims against us, including in our liquidation. Additionally, holders of our common stock could be subject to the prior dividend and liquidation rights of holders of our preferred stock. Furthermore, our right to participate in a distribution of assets upon any of our subsidiaries’ liquidation or reorganization is subject to the prior claims of that subsidiary’s creditors.

We may attempt to increase our capital resources or, if our or the Bank’s capital ratios fall below the required minimums, we could be forced to raise additional capital by making additional offerings of debt or preferred equity securities, including medium-term notes, trust-preferred securities, senior or subordinated notes and preferred stock. Upon liquidation, holders of our debt securities and shares of preferred stock and lenders with respect to other borrowings are likely to receive distributions of our available assets prior to the holders of our common stock.

We are currently authorized to issue up to 30,000,000 shares of common stock of which 9,755,976 shares were outstanding as of December 31, 2019, and up to 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, none of which were outstanding as of December 31, 2019. Our board of directors has authority, without action or vote of the shareholders of common stock, to issue all or part of the authorized but unissued shares. Authorized but unissued shares of our common stock or preferred stock could be issued on terms or in circumstances that could dilute the interests of other shareholders.

Regulatory and contractual restrictions may limit or prevent us from paying dividends or repurchasing, or we may choose not to pay dividends on or repurchase, our common stock.

The Company is an entity separate and distinct from its principal subsidiary, PeoplesBank, and we derive substantially all of our revenue in the form of dividends from that subsidiary. Accordingly, we are and will be dependent upon dividends from PeoplesBank to pay the principal of and interest on our indebtedness, to satisfy our other cash needs and to pay dividends on our common and preferred stock. The Bank’s ability to pay dividends is subject to its ability to earn net income and to meet certain regulatory requirements. In the event PeoplesBank is unable to pay dividends to us, we may not be able to pay dividends on our common or preferred stock. Also, our right to participate in a distribution of assets upon a subsidiary’s liquidation or reorganization is subject to the prior claims of the subsidiary’s creditors, including those of its depositors.

As described below in the next risk factor, the terms of our outstanding junior subordinated debt securities prohibit us from paying dividends on or repurchasing our common stock at any time when we have elected to defer the payment of interest on such debt securities or certain events of default under the terms of those debt securities have occurred and are continuing. These restrictions could have a negative effect on the value of our common stock. Moreover, holders of our common stock are entitled to receive dividends only when, as and if declared by our board of directors.

Although we have historically paid cash dividends on our common stock, we are not required to do so and our board of directors could reduce, suspend or eliminate our common stock cash dividend in the future. No determination has been made by our board of directors regarding whether or what amount of dividends will be paid in future quarters. Additionally, there can be no assurance that regulatory approval will be granted by the Federal Reserve Board to pay dividends. Future payment of cash dividends, if any, will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will be dependent upon our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and such other factors as the board may deem relevant and will be subject to applicable federal and state laws that impose restrictions on our and our bank subsidiary’s ability to pay dividends, as well as guidance issued from time to time by regulatory authorities.

Under guidance issued by the Federal Reserve, as a bank holding company we are to consult the Federal Reserve before declaring dividends and are to strongly consider eliminating, deferring, or reducing dividends we pay to our shareholders if (1) our net income available to shareholders for the past four quarters, net of dividends previously paid during that period, is not sufficient to fully fund the dividends, (2) our prospective rate of earnings retention is not consistent with our capital needs and overall current and prospective financial condition, or (3) we will not meet, or are in danger of not meeting, our minimum regulatory capital adequacy ratios.

If we defer payments of interest on our outstanding junior subordinated debt securities or if certain defaults relating to those debt securities occur, we will be prohibited from declaring or paying dividends or distributions on, and from making liquidation payments with respect to, our common stock.

As of December 31, 2019, we had $10,310,000 outstanding aggregate principal amount of junior subordinated debt securities issued in connection with the sale of trust preferred securities by certain of our subsidiaries that are statutory business trusts. We have also guaranteed those trust preferred securities. There are currently two separate series of these junior subordinated debt securities outstanding, each series having been issued under a separate indenture and with a separate guarantee. Each of these indentures, together with the related guarantee, prohibits us, subject to limited exceptions, from declaring or paying any dividends or distributions on, or redeeming, repurchasing, acquiring or making any liquidation payments with respect to, any of our capital stock at any time when (i) there shall have occurred and be continuing an event of default under the indenture or any event, act or condition that with notice or lapse of time or both would constitute an event of default under the indenture; or (ii) we are in default with respect to payment of any obligations under the related guarantee; or (iii) we have deferred payment of interest on the junior subordinated debt securities outstanding under that indenture. In that regard, we are entitled, at our option but subject to certain conditions, to defer payments of interest on the junior subordinated debt securities of each series from time to time for up to five years.

Events of default under each indenture generally consist of our failure to pay interest on the junior subordinated debt securities outstanding under that indenture under certain circumstances, our failure to pay any principal of or premium on such junior subordinated debt securities when due, our failure to comply with certain covenants under the indenture, and certain events of bankruptcy, insolvency or liquidation relating to us or the Bank.

As a result of these provisions, if we were to elect to defer payments of interest on any series of junior subordinated debt securities, or if any of the other events described in clause (i) or (ii) of the first paragraph of this risk factor were to occur, we would be prohibited from declaring or paying any dividends on our common stock, from redeeming, repurchasing or otherwise acquiring any of our common stock, and from making any payments to holders of our common stock in the event of our liquidation, which would likely have a material adverse effect on the market value of our common stock. Moreover, without notice to or consent from the holders of our common stock, we may issue additional series of junior subordinated debt securities in the future with terms similar to those of our existing junior subordinated debt securities or enter into other financing agreements that limit our ability to purchase or to pay dividends or distributions on our capital stock, including our common stock.

Our common stock is not insured by any governmental entity.

Our common stock is not a deposit account or other obligation of any bank and, therefore, is not insured against loss by the FDIC, any other deposit insurance fund, any other governmental entity or by any other public or private entity. Investment in our common stock is inherently risky for the reasons described in this “Risk Factors” section and elsewhere in this document and our other filings with the SEC, and is subject to the same market forces that affect the price of common stock in any company. As a result, if you acquire our common stock, you may lose some or all of your investment.

Anti-takeover provisions and restrictions on ownership could negatively impact our shareholders.

Provisions of federal and Pennsylvania law and our amended and restated articles of incorporation and bylaws could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire control of us or have the effect of discouraging a third party from attempting to acquire control of us. These provisions could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us even if an acquisition might be in the best interest of our shareholders. In addition, the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended, or the BHCA, requires any bank holding company to obtain the approval of the Federal Reserve prior to acquiring more than 5 percent of our outstanding common stock. Any person other than a bank holding company is required to obtain prior approval of the Federal Reserve to acquire 10 percent or more of our outstanding common stock under the Change in Bank Control Act. Any holder of 25 percent or more of our outstanding common stock, other than an individual, is subject to regulation as a bank holding company under the BHCA.

Our articles of incorporation and bylaws contain certain provisions that may have the effect of deterring or discouraging an attempt to take control of the Company. Among other things, these provisions:

Item 1B: Unresolved Staff Comments

Not applicable.

Item 2: Properties

Codorus Valley owns the Codorus Valley Corporate Center (“Corporate Center”), located at 105 Leader Heights Road, York, PA 17403, subject to a first lien held by ACNB Bank. The first lien held by ACNB Bank supports a $3,000,000 line of credit. No draws have been made on the line and on December 31, 2019, the balance was zero. This facility serves as the corporate headquarters and is approximately 40,000 square feet, a portion of which is leased to third-parties. The Corporate Center is adjacent to PeoplesBank’s Data Operations Center and the Leader Heights financial center and is approximately one half mile from PeoplesBank’s Administrative Services Centers.

PeoplesBank owns and leases properties in York, Cumberland and Lancaster Counties, Pennsylvania and Baltimore and Harford Counties and Baltimore City in Maryland as shown below.

⁽¹⁾The other properties located in Pennsylvania consists of a maintenance facility for storage of maintenance equipment, a 3-building complex purchased in 2019 for future back office operations expansion and the leased building for the new Lancaster City Connection Center scheduled to open in 2020.

⁽²⁾The other properties located in Maryland consist of a facility formerly used as an administrative office for Madison Federal Savings Bank, acquired as a result of the merger completed on January 16, 2015 and a Loan Production Office.

Item 3: Legal Proceedings

In the opinion of management, there are no legal proceedings pending against Codorus Valley or any of its subsidiaries which are expected to have a material impact upon the financial position and/or operating results of the Corporation. Management is not aware of any adverse proceedings known or contemplated by governmental authorities.

Item 4: Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

PART II

Item 5: Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Market Information

Codorus Valley Bancorp, Inc. stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol CVLY. Codorus Valley had approximately 2,787 holders of record as of February 26, 2020. The closing price per share of Codorus Valley’s common stock on February 26, 2020, was $21.10. The following table sets forth high and low sales prices and dividends paid per common share for Codorus Valley as reported by NASDAQ during the periods indicated. All amounts reflect the impact of the common stock dividends distributed by the Corporation.

Dividend Policy

Codorus Valley has a long history of paying quarterly cash dividends on its common stock. Codorus Valley presently expects to pay future cash dividends; however, the payment of such dividends will depend primarily upon the earnings of its subsidiary, PeoplesBank. Management anticipates that substantially all of the funds available for the payment of cash dividends by Codorus Valley will be derived from dividends paid to it by PeoplesBank. The payment of cash dividends is also subject to restrictions on dividends and capital requirements as reported in Note 9-Regulatory Matters in the notes to the consolidated financial statements.

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

The following table provides information about options outstanding and securities available for future issuance under the Corporation’s 2001 Employee Stock Bonus Plan, 2007 Long Term Incentive Plan, 2007 Employee Stock Purchase Plan and 2017 Long Term Incentive Plan, as adjusted for stock dividends distributed.

(1) Includes 163,118 shares available for issuance under the 2007 Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

(2) Shares available for issuance under the 2001 Employee Stock Bonus Plan that provides for shares of common stock to employees as performance-based compensation.  For a description of this plan, see Note 12 - Stock-Based Compensation, to the consolidated financial statements.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

The Corporation has a Share Repurchase Program (the “Program”), authorized in 2018, which permits the purchase of up to a maximum of 4.9 percent of the outstanding shares of the Corporation’s common stock at a price per share no greater than 150 percent of the latest quarterly published book value. The Corporation’s Board of Directors, under the Program, approved the repurchase of shares of its common stock in an aggregate amount of up to $5 million.

For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Corporation did not acquire any of its common stock under the current repurchase program. Details for repurchases under the current repurchase program for the year ended December 31, 2019 are as follows:

Performance Graph

The following five-year performance graph compares the cumulative total shareholders return (including reinvestment of dividends) on Codorus Valley Bancorp, Inc.’s common stock to the S&P 500 Index and the ABA Community Bank NASDAQ Index. The stock performance graph assumes that $100 was invested on December 31, 2014, and the cumulative return is measured as of each subsequent fiscal year end.

⁽¹⁾The ABA Community Bank Index is a market capitalization-weighted index, including banks and thrifts or their holding companies listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market as selected by the American Bankers Association (ABA).

Item 6: Selected financial data

(1) The following tables provides the reconciliation of tangible book value, which is a non-GAAP Financial Measure, for the dates indicated:

Item 7: Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Management’s discussion and analysis of the significant changes in the results of operations, capital resources and liquidity presented in the accompanying consolidated financial statements for Codorus Valley Bancorp, Inc. (“Codorus Valley” or the “Corporation”), a bank holding company, and its wholly owned subsidiary, PeoplesBank, A Codorus Valley Company (“PeoplesBank”), are provided below. Codorus Valley’s consolidated financial condition and results of operations consist almost entirely of PeoplesBank’s financial condition and results of operations. Current performance does not guarantee and may not be indicative of similar performance in the future.

Forward-looking Statements

Management of the Corporation has made forward-looking statements in this Form 10-K. These forward-looking statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include information concerning possible or assumed future results of operations of the Corporation and its subsidiaries. When words such as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” or similar expressions are used in this Form 10-K, management is making forward-looking statements.

Note that many factors, some of which are discussed elsewhere in this report and in the documents that are incorporated by reference, could affect the future financial results of the Corporation and its subsidiaries, both individually and collectively, and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements contained or incorporated by reference in this Form 10-K. These factors include, but are not limited to, the following:

The Corporation undertakes no obligation to publicly revise or update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date of this report.

Critical Accounting Estimates

Disclosure of Codorus Valley’s significant accounting policies is included in Note 1 in the notes to the consolidated financial statements included in this Form 10-K. Some of these policies require management to make significant judgments, estimates and assumptions that have a material impact on the carrying value of certain assets and liabilities. Management makes significant estimates in determining the allowance for loan losses, valuation of foreclosed real estate, and evaluation of other-than-temporary impairment losses of securities.

Management considers a variety of factors in establishing allowance for loan losses such as current economic conditions, diversification of the loan portfolio, delinquency statistics, results of internal loan reviews, financial and managerial strength of borrowers, adequacy of collateral, (if collateral dependent, or present value of future cash flows) and other relevant factors. There is also the potential for adjustment to the allowance for loan losses as a result of regulatory examinations.

Foreclosed real estate is initially recorded at fair value minus estimated costs to sell at the date of foreclosure, establishing a new cost basis. Appraisals are generally used to determine fair value. After foreclosure, management reviews valuations at least quarterly and adjusts the asset to the lower of cost or fair value minus estimated costs to sell. Estimates related to the value of collateral can have a significant impact on whether or not management continues to accrue income on delinquent and impaired loans and on the amounts at which foreclosed real estate is recorded on the statement of financial condition.

The Corporation records its available-for-sale securities portfolio at fair value. Fair values for these securities are determined based on methodologies in accordance with FASB Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 820. Fair values for debt securities are volatile and may be influenced by any number of factors, including market interest rates, prepayment speeds, discount rates, credit ratings and yield curves. Fair values for debt securities are based on quoted market prices, where available. If quoted market prices are not available, fair values are based on the quoted prices of similar instruments or an estimate of fair value by using a range of fair value estimates in the market place as a result of the illiquid market specific to the type of security. When the fair value of a debt security is below its amortized cost and depending on the length of time the condition exists and the extent the fair value is below amortized cost, additional analysis is performed to determine whether an other-than-temporary impairment condition exists. Debt securities are analyzed quarterly for possible other-than-temporary impairment. The analysis considers whether the Corporation has the intent to sell its debt securities prior to market recovery or maturity and whether it is more likely than not that the Corporation will be required to sell its debt securities prior to market recovery or maturity. Often, information available to conduct these assessments is limited and rapidly changing, making estimates of fair value subject to judgment. If actual information or conditions are different than estimated, the extent of the impairment of the debt security may be different than previously estimated, which could have a material effect on the Corporation’s results of operations and financial condition.

Management discussed the development and selection of critical accounting estimates and related Management Discussion and Analysis disclosures with the Audit Committee. There were no material changes made to the critical accounting estimates during the periods presented within this report. Additional information is contained in Management’s Discussion and Analysis regarding critical accounting estimates, including the provision and allowance for loan losses located on pages 39 and 54 of this report.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Executive Summary

The Corporation’s net income available to common shareholders (earnings) was $18,647,000 for the full year 2019, compared to $19,542,000 of earnings in 2018, a decrease of $895,000 or 5 percent. The lower net income was primarily the result of higher noninterest expense in 2019 as compared to 2018. Personnel costs increased in 2019 due to executive level positions being vacant in the first half of 2018. In addition, a write down on foreclosed real estate during the fourth quarter 2019 resulted in increased noninterest expense for the year 2019.

On December 31, 2019, total assets were approximately $1.89 billion, representing a 4 percent increase compared to December 31, 2018. The growth for 2019 occurred primarily in the commercial loan portfolio and cash and cash equivalents which was funded primarily by an increase in deposits and offset by a reduction in long-term debt.

The Corporation’s capital level remained sound as evidenced by capital ratios that exceed current regulatory requirements for well capitalized institutions.

The closing price for the Corporation’s common stock (NASDAQ: CVLY) was $23.03 per share on December 31, 2019, compared to $20.24 per share on December 31, 2018, as adjusted. Cash dividends paid on common shares for the year 2019 totaled $0.608 per share, as adjusted for stock dividends, representing an increase of $0.044 or 8 percent above the cash dividends of $0.564, as adjusted, paid for the year 2018. Also, the Corporation distributed a 5 percent common stock dividend on December 10, 2019. TheSelected Financial Data schedule, located on page 29 of this report, provides a summary of operations and performance metrics for the past five years in a comparative format.

Year Ended December 31, 2019 vs. Year Ended December 31, 2018

The full year 2019 net income available to shareholders of $18,647,000 represents a decrease of $895,000 compared to the full year 2018 earnings of $19,542,000. Earnings per share were $1.89 basic and $1.88 diluted for 2019 compared to $1.98 basic and $1.96 diluted for 2018. The decrease in net income and earnings per share for the year was primarily the result of higher noninterest expense in 2019 as compared to 2018. Personnel costs increased in 2019 due to executive level positions being vacant in the first half of 2018. In addition, a write down on foreclosed real estate during the fourth quarter 2019 resulted in increased noninterest expense for the year 2019.

Net interest income, which totaled $63,939,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019, represented an increase of $19,000 or less than 1 percent above net interest income of $63,920,000 for 2018. The slight change in net interest income was primarily due to an increase in the volume and rate on commercial loans, offset by a corresponding increase in the rate on interest bearing deposits.

The loan loss provision for 2019 was $2,450,000, a decrease of $250,000 compared to a provision of $2,700,000 for 2018. The decreased loan loss provision was the result of a decrease of $718,000 in the unallocated portion of the loan loss provision, offset by modest net loan growth and a minimal increase in total nonperforming assets compared to 2018. The allowance for loan losses as a percentage of total period-end loans was 1.40 percent and 1.29 percent as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The provision for loan losses for both periods supported adequate allowance for loan loss coverage considering several factors, including the size, composition, and risks to the loan portfolio, the level of specific reserves, and realized net charge-offs.

Noninterest income, excluding gains on sales of investment securities, for the year ended December 31, 2019, totaled $13,921,000 representing an increase of $607,000 or 5 percent compared to noninterest income of $13,314,000 for 2018. Specific noninterest income increases included trust and investment services fees, income from mutual fund, annuity and insurance sales, service charges on deposits, income from bank owned life insurance and other income. Loss on sales of investment securities totaled $9,000 for 2019 compared to no gain or less on sales of investment securities for 2018.

Noninterest expense for the year ended December 31, 2019, totaled $51,729,000 representing an increase of $1,919,000 or 4 percent compared to $49,810,000 for 2018. Higher costs associated with personnel, occupancy, furniture and equipment, marketing, external data processing, other expense and foreclosed real estate, accounted for the majority of the increase. The primary driver of the aforementioned increase in noninterest expense was higher personnel costs due to lower executive level vacancy rates and a write down on foreclosed real estate during the fourth quarter 2019.

The provision for income taxes for 2019 totaled $5,025,000 which was $157,000 or 3 percent below the provision for income taxes for 2018 of $5,182,000. The decrease was due to lower income before taxes for 2019 compared to 2018.

On December 31, 2019, total assets were $1.89 billion, representing a 4 percent increase compared to total assets of $1.81 billion as of December 31, 2018. Asset growth for 2019 occurred primarily in the commercial loan portfolio and cash and cash equivalents which was funded primarily by an increase in deposits and offset by a reduction in long-term debt.

The growth in core deposits included a $9,302,000 increase in the average balance of noninterest bearing deposits for 2019 compared to 2018. Growing core deposits remains a particular focus of the Corporation because the rates paid for such deposits are low, transactional activity on these deposits are a source of fee income, and a core deposit relationship provides the opportunity to cross-sell other financial products and services. The Corporation excludes time deposits in its definition of core deposits.

Cash dividends paid on common shares for the year 2019 totaled $0.608 per share, as adjusted for stock dividends, representing an increase of $0.044 or 8 percent above the cash dividends of $0.564, as adjusted, paid for the year 2018.

The Corporation distributed a 5 percent common stock dividend on December 10, 2019, the same common stock dividend percentage that was distributed in December 2018.

The Corporation’s capital level remained sound as evidenced by capital ratios that exceed current regulatory requirements for well capitalized institutions. Table 9 - Capital Ratios, following, shows that both the Corporation and PeoplesBank were well capitalized for all periods presented.

Year Ended December 31, 2018 vs. Year Ended December 31, 2017

The full year 2018 net income available to common shareholders of $19,542,000 represents an increase of $7,538,000 compared to the full year 2017 earnings of $12,004,000. Earnings per share were $1.98 basic and $1.96 diluted for 2018 compared to $1.22 basic and $1.21 diluted for 2017. The increase in net income and earnings per share for the year was partially the result of a $2,755,000 reduction in the net deferred tax asset value at December 31, 2017 due to the new corporate tax rate of 21 percent enacted on December 22, 2017 as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that became effective January 1, 2018.

Net interest income, which totaled $63,920,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018, represented an increase of $4,373,000 or 7 percent above net interest income of $59,547,000 for 2017. The growth in net interest income reflects the increased volume of interest-earning assets, primarily commercial loans; however, the additional interest income from this new loan volume was partially offset by increased costs associated with the growth in core deposits and an increase in volume and rates paid for time deposits and an increase in rates paid for long-term borrowings.

The loan loss provision for 2018 totaled $2,700,000, a decrease of $1,475,000 compared to the loan loss provision of $4,175,000 for 2017. The change in provision for 2018 was primarily due to specific loan loss reserves assigned during 2018 compared to a larger amount of aggregate net charge-offs and specific loan loss reserves in the prior year. The allowance for loan losses as a percentage of total period-end loans was 1.29 percent and 1.19 percent as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The provision for loan losses for both period supported adequate allowance for loan loss coverage considering several factors, including the size, composition and risks to the loan portfolio, the level of specific reserves, and realized net charge-offs.

Noninterest income, excluding gains on sales of investment securities, for the year ended December 31, 2018, totaled $13,314,000 representing an increase of $1,871,000 or 16 percent compared to noninterest income of $11,443,000 for 2017. Specific noninterest income increases included trust and investment service fees, income from mutual fund, annuity and insurance sales, service charges on deposits, gains on sales of loans held for sale and other income. There were no gains on sales of investment securities for 2018 compared to $79,000 in 2017.

Noninterest expense for the year ended December 31, 2018, totaled $49,810,000 representing an increase of $4,824,000 or 11 percent compared to $44,986,000 for 2017. Higher costs associated with personnel, professional and legal, debit card processing, external data processing, charitable contributions and foreclosed real estate, accounted for the majority of the increase. The primary driver of the aforementioned increase in noninterest expense was the expansion of our business and consumer banking in and support services for our Maryland and Pennsylvania markets. The increase was partially offset by a decrease in telecommunications expense.

The provision for income taxes for 2018 totaled $5,182,000 which was $4,772,000 or 48 percent below the provision for income taxes for 2017 of $9,904,000. The decrease was due to a $2,755,000 reduction in the net deferred tax asset value at December 31, 2017 due to the new corporate tax rate of 21 percent enacted on December 22, 2017 as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that became effective January 1, 2018 and an overall higher tax rate in 2017, offset by a $2,816,000 increase in pre-tax net income.

On December 31, 2018, total assets were $1.81 billion, representing a 6 percent increase compared to total assets of $1.71 billion as December 31, 2017. Asset growth for 2018 occurred primarily in the commercial loan portfolio and was funded primarily by an increase in deposits.

The growth in core deposits included a $31,419,000 increase in the average balance of noninterest bearing deposits for 2018 as compared to 2017. Growing core deposits remains a particular focus of the Corporation because the rates paid for such deposits are low, transactional activity on these deposits are a source of fee income, and a core deposit relationship provides the opportunity to cross-sell other financial products and services. The Corporation excludes time deposits in its definition of core deposits.

Cash dividends paid on common shares for the year 2018 totaled $0.564 per share, as adjusted for stock dividends, representing an increase of $0.096 or 21 percent above the cash dividends of $0.468, as adjusted, paid for the year 2017.

The Corporation distributed a 5 percent common stock dividend on December 11, 2018, the same common stock dividend percentage that was distributed in December 2017.

The Corporation’s capital level remained sound as evidenced by capital ratios that exceed current regulatory requirements for well capitalized institutions. Table 9 - Capital Ratios, following, shows that both the Corporation and PeoplesBank were well capitalized for all periods presented.

INCOME STATEMENT ANALYSIS

Net Interest Income

The Corporation’s principal source of revenue is net interest income, which is the difference between (i) interest income on earning assets, primarily loans and investment securities, and (ii) interest expense incurred on deposits and borrowed funds. Fluctuations in net interest income are caused by changes in both interest rates, and the volume and composition of interest rate sensitive assets and liabilities. Unless otherwise noted, this section discusses interest income and interest expense amounts as reported in the Consolidated Statements of Income, which are not presented on a tax equivalent basis.

Net interest income for the year ended December 31, 2019, was $63,939,000, an increase of $19,000 or less than 1 percent above the full year 2018 net interest income. The increase was supported by a 5 percent increase in the average volume of interest-earning assets, primarily commercial loans. The additional interest income from the increased loan volume was partially offset by the costs associated with the growth in core deposits and an increase in volume and rates paid for interest bearing demand deposits, time deposits and long-term borrowings. The net interest margin, which reflects net interest income on a tax-equivalent basis as a percentage of average interest-earning assets, was 3.66 percent for 2019, compared to 3.84 percent for 2018.

Interest income for the full year 2019 totaled $85,317,000, an increase of $4,996,000 or 6 percent above 2018. The increase in total interest income was driven by a growth in the average volume and rate of loans which was partially offset by a decrease in the average volume of tax-exempt investment securities and tax-exempt loans. Interest earning assets averaged $1.75 billion and yielded 4.88 percent (tax equivalent basis) for 2019, compared to $1.67 billion and a tax-equivalent yield of 4.82 percent, respectively, for 2018.

Interest expense for the full year 2019 totaled $21,378,000, an increase of $4,977,000 or 30 percent above 2018. The increase in total interest expense was primarily driven by an increase in rate in core deposits (the Corporation defines core deposits as demand, savings, and money market deposits), time deposits and long-term borrowings. Interest expense on deposits increased $5,156,000 or 38 percent for 2019 compared to 2018 and was primarily attributed to the increases in rates paid on interest bearing core deposits and time deposits. The average volume of interest bearing core deposits was $762,723,000 for the full year 2019, a $34,440,000 or 5 percent increase above the average volume for 2018. Interest expense on long-term debt decreased $162,000 or 6 percent for 2019. The average rate paid on long-term borrowings in 2019 of 2.48 percent, reflected a 16 percent increase from the average rate paid of 2.14 percent in 2018. Long-term debt is primarily comprised of advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, with intermediate term bullet maturities that supplement deposit funding and provide a partial funding hedge against rising market interest rates.

Tables 1 and 2, following, are presented on a tax-equivalent basis to make it easier to compare taxable and tax-exempt assets. Interest on tax-exempt assets (which include securities issued by, or loans made to, state and local governments) is adjusted based upon a 21 percent federal income tax rate in 2019 and 2018 compared to a 35 percent rate for 2017.

Changes which are due to both volume and rate are allocated in proportion to their relationship to the amount of changeattributed directly to volume or rate.  

Provision for Loan Losses

The provision for loan losses is an expense charged to earnings to cover estimated losses attributable to uncollectable loans. The provision reflects management’s judgment of an appropriate level for the allowance for loan losses. The Risk Management section of this report, including Table 10 – Nonperforming Assets, Table 11 – Analysis of Allowance for Loan Losses, and Table 12 – Allocation of Allowance for Loan Losses, provides detailed information about the allowance for loan losses, the loan loss provision, and credit risk.

For the year 2019, the provision for loan losses was $2,450,000, which was $250,000 or 9 percent lower, compared to a provision of $2,700,000 in 2018. The decreased provision for loan losses was the result of a decrease of $718,000 in the unallocated portion of the loan loss provision, offset by modest net loan growth and a minimal increase in total nonperforming assets compared to prior years. The provision for both periods supported adequate allowance for loan loss coverage, including the Corporation’s growth in commercial loans, and the Corporation’s analysis of the adequacy of the allowance based upon the size, composition, and risks to the loan portfolio, the level of specific reserves, and realized net charge-offs.

Noninterest Income

The following table presents the components of total noninterest income for each of the past three years.

For the year 2019, the overall $598,000 or 4 percent increase in total noninterest income, compared to the year 2018, was primarily the result of increases across all categories with the exception of net gain on sales of loans held for sale and loss on sales of securities. The discussion that follows addresses changes in selected categories of noninterest income.

Trust and investment services fees—The upward trend in trust and investment services fee income over the three year period presented was due to growth in trust assets under management from both new accounts, and appreciation in the market value of managed accounts, upon which some fees are based.

Income from mutual fund, annuity and insurance sales— Income from mutual fund, annuity and insurance sales increased due to higher volume of assets under management over the last three year period. The non-deposit investment products are sold by PeoplesBank’s subsidiaries Codorus Valley Financial Advisors, Inc. d/b/a PeoplesWealth Advisors.

Service charges on deposit accounts—For the year 2019, the $113,000 or 2 percent increase in service charge income compared to the year 2018 was due to an increase in the volume of demand deposit accounts subject to fees and debit card transactions. For the year 2018, service charge income increased $568,000 or 14 percent as compared to the year 2017.

Income from bank owned life insurance (BOLI)—For the year 2019, the $280,000 or 29 percent increase in income from BOLI compared to 2018 was primarily due to additional investments totaling $6,836,000 during 2019. For the year 2018, the $56,000 or 5 percent decrease in income from BOLI compared to 2017 was primarily due to a lower return on investments.

Other income—For the year 2019, the $315,000 or 19 percent increase in other income compared to the year 2018 was primarily due to an increase in credit card merchant fees, loan servicing fees and letter of credit fees. For the year 2018, the $543,000 or 49 percent increase in other income compared to the year 2017 was also primarily due to an increase in credit card merchant fees, loan servicing fees and letter of credit fees.

Net gain on sales of loans held for sale—For the year 2019, the $505,000 or 30 percent decrease in net gain on sales of loans held for sale compared to the year 2018 was primarily due to a decrease in volume of loans selling the guaranteed portion of secondary-market qualified loans originated through programs with the Small Business Administration. Previously, there had been an upward trend in net gains from the sale of loans held for sale primarily due to a favorable trend in sales of fixed-rate residential mortgage loans and selling the guaranteed portion of secondary-market qualified loans originated through programs with the Small Business Administration.

Net (loss) gain on sales of securities—For the year 2019, the Corporation realized $9,000 in losses on sales of securities compared to $0 in 2018 and gains of $79,000 for the year 2017. Securities sold included those where market pricing for certain instruments provided a favorable total return upon the sales and reinvestment of proceeds, versus holding the respective securities to maturity. In addition, sales provided cash to meet short-term liquidity needs.

Noninterest Expense

The following table presents the components of total noninterest expense for each of the past three years.

Total noninterest expense for the year 2019 increased $1,919,000 or 4 percent above the year 2018, reflecting the overall expansion of our business and consumer banking and support services for our Maryland and Pennsylvania markets. The discussion that follows addresses changes in selected noninterest expenses.

Personnel—The upward trend in personnel expense was due largely to an increase in wage and benefit costs resulting from planned staff additions to support our expanded business and consumer banking services in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The increase for the year 2019 compared to the year 2018 of $814,000 or 3 percent, was lower than previous comparable periods due to a high vacancy rate for executive level positions in 2018.

Occupancy of premises, net— Occupancy of premises expense is comprised of rent, depreciation, maintenance, insurance, real estate taxes and utilities. The level of expense can vary annually based upon franchise expansion, repairs and maintenance, and normal business growth.

Furniture and equipment—The upward trend in furniture and equipment expense was in alignment with the increased personnel expense, as additional furniture, computer hardware and software (and related depreciation and maintenance expenses) were incurred to support business expansion and staff growth.

Postage, stationary and supplies—The level of postage, stationary and supplies can vary based on growth in loan and deposit customers, franchise expansion, postage rate changes, and marketing promotions.

Professional and legal—The level of professional and legal expense can fluctuate annually based on the varying needs for legal, accounting and consulting services, which is driven in part by the level of routine lawsuits in the ordinary course of business and the number and complexity of corporate initiatives.

Marketing— The overall upward trend in marketing expense reflects an increased operating budget to support normal business growth, and corporate initiatives such as branding, product advertising and internal promotions. For the year 2019, the $196,000 or 12 percent increase in marketing compared to the year 2018 was primarily due to market research to support a brand refresh initiative in 2020.

FDIC insurance—FDIC insurance fluctuations are a result of growth in assets and changes in financial ratios and other factors which are used to calculate the assessment multiplier. For the year 2019, the $229,000 or 33 percent decrease was primarily the result of assessment credits issued by the FDIC.

Debit card processing—For the year 2019, the $44,000 or 3 percent decrease in debit card processing expense was primarily due to a change in vendor which reduced the costs per transaction. Prior year showed an upward trend, reflecting a continual increase in debit card transaction volume, due primarily to the increased number of demand deposit accounts and debit cards.

Charitable donations—The level of charitable donations can fluctuate annually due to the timing of payment and the availability of the state tax credits. Some donations to nonprofit organizations qualify for related state tax credits that typically range from 50 to 90 percent of the amount donated, effectively lowering the cost of the donation. PeoplesBank uses state tax credits from donations to reduce its Pennsylvania bank shares tax expense which is included in other expenses as well as Maryland corporate income tax. In 2018 the Corporation established a charitable foundation, accounting for $560,000 of the increase as compared to 2017. In 2019 the donation to the charitable foundation was lower, resulting in a $474,000 decrease in charitable donation expense.

Telecommunications— Although network capacity, the number of facilities, and personnel continue to increase, telecommunication decreased 20 percent in 2019, as compared to 2018 and decreased 23 percent, as compared to 2017, as the result of a contract re-negotiation.

External data processing—The upward trend in external data processing from 2017 to 2019 reflects increased reliance on outsourcing transaction processing to specialized vendors, which is typically performed on their hosted and secure websites, thereby increasing the Corporation’s data processing efficiency. Additional expenditures related to expansion in the electronic banking services offered to our client base, and charges for higher transaction volume from normal business growth.

Foreclosed real estate including provision for (recovery of) losses—For the year 2019, the $710,000 increase was primarily the result of a write down on foreclosed real estate during the fourth quarter 2019. For the year 2017, there was a recovery of a prior year provision.

Other expense—Other expense, comprised of many underlying expenses, increased $423,000 or 11 percent in 2019 as compared to 2018 reflecting increased expenses associated with miscellaneous loan expenses and impaired loans. In 2018, other expense decreased $299,000 or 8 percent as compared to 2017 reflecting reduced costs associated with miscellaneous loan expenses and impaired loans.

Provision for Income Taxes

The provision for income taxes for 2019 totaled $5,025,000, which was $157,000 or 3 percent below the provision for income taxes for 2018 of $5,182,000. The decrease was due to lower net income before taxes in 2019 compared to 2018. For 2019 and 2018, the Corporation’s incremental statutory federal income tax rate was 21 percent; however, the Corporation’s effective income tax rate was approximately 21.3 percent for 2019, compared to 21.0 percent for 2018. The effective tax rate differs from the statutory tax rate due to the impact and volume of tax-exempt income, including income from bank owned life insurance and certain municipal securities and loans and the new corporate tax rate.

BALANCE SHEET REVIEW

Interest Bearing Deposits with Banks

Interest bearing deposits with banks totaled $110,742,000 on December 31, 2019, compared to $69,103,000 on December 31, 2018. The balance increased as a result of the strong growth in deposits offset by loan growth, principally commercial loans and a reduction in long-term debt.

Investment Securities (Available-for-Sale)

The Corporation’s entire investment securities portfolio is classified available-for-sale, and is comprised of interest-earning debt securities (see Table 5 below). Investment securities serve as an important source of liquidity, and provide stable interest income revenue supplementary to the larger loan portfolio. The securities also serve as collateral for public and trust deposits, securities sold under agreements to repurchase, and to support borrowing capacity. The investment securities portfolio is managed to comply with the Corporation’s Investment Securities Policy, and accounted for in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 320. Decisions to purchase or sell securities are based on an assessment of current economic and financial conditions, including the interest rate environment, the demand for loans, liquidity and income requirements.

The following table shows the amortized cost and fair value, by type of debt security, for three year-end periods:

At December 31, 2019, the fair value of securities, available-for-sale, totaled $159,675,000, an increase compared to the fair value of the investment securities portfolio balance of $149,593,000 at December 31, 2018.

Securities available-for-sale are generally comprised of high quality debt instruments. On January 1, 2013, Section 939(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act became effective changing the definition of investment grade by removing reliance on credit ratings by national statistical rating organizations. Investment credit assessment, under the revised definition, requires an active review by the Corporation (i.e., pre-purchase and post-purchase credit risk analysis) of the underlying obligor to determine that the obligor has an adequate capacity to meet its financial commitments, and more specifically, that the risk of default is low, and that full and timely repayment of principal and interest is expected. Obligations of the U.S. government and U.S. government sponsored enterprises are not subject to the due diligence requirement. However, the Corporation’s municipal securities, and any corporate securities that may be acquired in the future, are subject to the new requirement.

As shown in Table 5, above, the Corporation holds investments in the obligations of states and municipalities. Municipalities have many options for meeting their debt obligations, including decreasing costs and service levels, imposing taxes and fees and selling assets. In many cases, municipal debt issues are insured or, in the case of school districts of selected states, backed by specific reserves, which provide additional layers of protection to the investor. Access to the credit market and a good credit rating are high priorities enabling a municipality to meet its current and future funding needs at a reasonable interest cost. For these reasons, defaults on municipal bonds are unusual. The majority of municipal bonds in the Corporation’s portfolio are general obligation bonds, which can draw upon multiple sources of revenue, including taxes, for payment. Only a few bonds are revenue bonds, which are dependent upon a single revenue stream for payment, but such bonds are for critical services such as water and sewer. Many of the municipal holdings are also insured or backed by specific school district loss reserves. Based on the results of an independent credit review of the Bank’s entire municipal bond portfolio as performed in 2019, and recent bond ratings by national statistical rating organizations, we believe that the municipal investments held by PeoplesBank are investment grade.

The table below shows that the available-for-sale securities portfolio had an overall yield of 2.64 percent on December 31, 2019:

The portfolio yield as of December 31, 2019, reflected in the table above, is higher than the 2.58 percent securities portfolio yield as of December 31, 2018. Generally, higher yielding securities, as compared to the yields in maturing and called securities, were purchased in 2019. Purchases included the reinvestment of cash flows from maturities, calls and principal repayments on mortgage-backed bonds, during a year of increasing market investment interest rates. More information about investment securities is provided in Note 3-Securities, to the consolidated financial statements.

Restricted Investment in Bank Stocks

At December 31, 2019, the Corporation held approximately $4,551,000 in restricted common stock, compared to $5,922,000 at year-end 2018. Investment in restricted stock is a condition of obtaining credit from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh (FHLBP) and the Atlantic Community Bankers Bank, which is a subsidiary of Atlantic Community Bancshares, Inc. (ACBI). Accordingly, changes in the level of restricted stock are the result of member capital requirements and borrowing levels from the FHLBP as described within the Long-term Debt section of this report. Of the total investment as of December 31, 2019, approximately $4,476,000 consisted of stock issued by the FHLBP, with the remainder being restricted stock issued by ACBI. Information about restricted investment in bank stocks, including impairment considerations, is provided in Note 1–Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to the consolidated financial statements.

Loans Held for Sale

On December 31, 2019, loans held for sale were approximately $11,803,000, which consists of $5,065,000 residential mortgage loans and $6,738,000 of Small Business Administration (SBA) loans compared to $4,127,000 at year-end 2018, which consists of $516,000 residential mortgage loans and $3,611,000 of Small Business Administration (SBA) loans. For both years, PeoplesBank’s mortgage banking production focused on originating and selling secondary-market qualifying residential mortgage loans.

Loans

On December 31, 2019, total loans, net of deferred fees, totaled approximately $1.51 billion, compared to $1.49 billion at year end 2018, an increase of $19,455,000 or 1 percent above total loans as of year-end 2018. The increase consisted of increased commercial loans of $4,797,000 or 0.4 percent and increased consumer loans of $14,658,000 or 7 percent which reflected continued loan demand in our markets, and our continued ability to expand existing relationships with creditworthy borrowers, and acquire new loan business, based on our reputation for client service and competitive prices and terms.

The average yield (tax-equivalent basis) earned on total loans was 5.30 percent for the full year 2019, as compared to 5.17 percent for the year 2018. Slowly rising market interest rates and strong competition in our markets resulted in continuing pricing pressures on new loan and refinancing activities. The composition of the Corporation’s loan portfolio, by industry class, at December 31, 2019 and 2018 is provided in Note 4–Loans in the notes to the consolidated financial statements.

The following table presents the general composition of total loans for five year-end periods:

The table below shows at December 31, 2019, the commercial loan portfolio was comprised of approximately $807,721,000 or 63 percent in fixed rate loans, and $476,886,000 or 37 percent in floating rate loans. This compares to $832,146,000 or 65 percent in fixed rate loans, and $447,664,000 or 35 percent in floating rate loans, for the year ended December 31, 2018. Floating rate loans reprice periodically with changes in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Prime Rate, or LIBOR.