Primis Financial Corp. outlined a $7 million pretax earnings improvement expected next year from fully converting its core bank to a real-time digital platform, with a $0.22 per diluted share impact. CEO Dennis Zember said the conversion all but guarantees another 1.5 years of outsized operating leverage, while CFO Matthew Switzer noted $6.1 million of identified improvements should largely be in place by early 2027, with quarterly amortization of capitalized platform costs ending in the third quarter of that year. The company reported second-quarter net earnings of $9.4 million, or $0.38 per share, up from $7.3 million in the prior quarter, and a net interest margin of 3.45%, which management expects to remain roughly flat. A $5.3 million specific reserve addition on a large nonaccrual office CRE loan drove the quarter's $5.5 million provision, and the total specific reserve on that credit now exceeds $11 million.
Primis Financial CorpCompany projects $7M pretax earnings lift from core conversion, with $0.22 per share impact.