Heritage Financial Group, Inc., the holding company for HeritageBank of the South, today announced unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2011. Key aspects of the Company's results for the third quarter of 2011 include:

-- Net income of $1.7 million or $0.21 per diluted share compared with a net loss of $443,000 or $0.05 per diluted share in the year-earlier quarter;

-- Excluding special items in the current and year-earlier quarter, net income for the third quarter was $568,000 or $0.07 per diluted share versus net income of $448,000 or $0.05 per diluted share in the third quarter of 2010 (see reconciliation of non-GAAP items);

-- Organic loan growth, excluding loans acquired in FDIC-assisted acquisitions, of $3.9 million or 1% on a linked-quarter basis;

-- Loans acquired through FDIC-assisted acquisitions increased $56.3 million or 10% on a linked-quarter basis, driven primarily by the First Southern National Bank (First Southern) FDIC-assisted acquisition;

-- Core non-time deposit growth of $19.4 million, excluding deposits associated with the First Southern acquisition;

-- An increase in the allowance for loan losses to 1.65% of period-end loans, excluding loans acquired in FDIC-assisted acquisitions, from 1.58% of loans, excluding loans acquired in FDIC-assisted acquisitions, at June 30, 2011;

-- An increase in annualized net charge-offs to 0.73% for the third quarter of 2011 from 0.26% on a linked-quarter basis; and

-- A decline in non-performing assets (NPAs), excluding loans acquired in FDIC-assisted acquisitions, to 0.89% from 1.17% on a linked-quarter basis.

Commenting on the results, Leonard Dorminey, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "During the third quarter of 2011, we continued our expansion efforts with our third FDIC-assisted transaction. The First Southern acquisition moves us to number three in market share in Statesboro, further improving our foothold in Southeast Georgia and continuing our successful capital deployment. We continue to look for further opportunities for strategic expansion.

"Despite the increase in provision expense for the quarter, we continue to see improvement in the credit quality of our non-FDIC-assisted loan portfolio, as evidenced by the decline in non-performing assets, excluding assets acquired in FDIC-assisted acquisitions," Dorminey continued. "We also are pleased with the progress we are making in our FDIC-acquired portfolios."