ALERUS FINANCIAL CORP

CEO Comments

President and Chief Executive Officer Katie O'Neill Lorenson said,"Our third quarter results demonstrate the continued momentum of the Alerus franchise, with strong revenue growth across our diversified business model and strategic organic growth in our banking franchise. Net interest income increased 8.3% from the prior year, while noninterest income grew 16.7%, reflecting the complementary strength of our banking, retirement and benefit services, and wealth advisory businesses.

That growth was driven by the continued transformation of our banking franchise toward commercial and business banking. Commercial and business lending grew 36.5% from a year ago and now represents 37.1% of our loan portfolio, up from 27.7% a year ago. In the third quarter, total loans increased $150.5 million, or 3.7%, and deposits increased $111.2 million, or 2.7%, with noninterest income representing 42.4% of total revenue.

We also maintained favorable credit quality, with nonperforming assets and criticized loans continuing to improve and net recoveries during the quarter. Our strong capital position and 10.9% year-over-year growth in tangible book value per share give us the capacity to keep investing in organic growth while returning capital to shareholders, with $37.2 million returned through dividends and share repurchases in the first nine months of the year.

Most importantly, I want to thank our team members. Their talent, collaboration, and focus on helping clients achieve their goals turn our strategy into results, and we are confident in our continued ability to create sustainable value for clients, communities, team members, and shareholders."