BASIS OF PRESENTATION

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

This report is filed for Lakeland Financial Corporation (the "Company"), which has two wholly owned subsidiaries, Lake City Bank (the "Bank") and LCB Risk Management, a captive insurance company. Also included in this report are results for the Bank’s wholly owned subsidiary, LCB Investments II, Inc. ("LCB Investments"), which manages the Bank’s investment securities portfolio. LCB Investments owns LCB Funding, Inc. ("LCB Funding"), a real estate investment trust. All significant inter-company balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

The unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") for interim financial information and with the instructions for Form 10-Q. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements and are unaudited. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (all of which are normal and recurring in nature) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any subsequent reporting periods, including the year ending December 31, 2023. The Company’s 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K should be read in conjunction with these statements.

Adoption of New Accounting Standards

On March 31, 2022, the FASB issued ASU 2022-02, "Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (ASC 326): Troubled Debt Restructurings (TDRs) and Vintage Disclosures." The update amends ASC 326 to eliminate the accounting guidance for TDRs by creditors, while enhancing disclosure requirements for certain loan refinancing and restructuring activities by creditors when a borrower is experiencing financial difficulty. Specifically, rather than applying TDR recognition and measurement guidance, creditors will determine whether a modification results in a new loan or continuation of an existing loan. These amendments are intended to enhance existing disclosure requirements and introduce new requirements related to certain modifications of receivables made to borrowers experiencing financial difficulty. Additionally, the amendments to ASC 326 require that an entity disclose current-period gross write-offs by year of origination within the vintage disclosures, which requires that an entity disclose the amortized cost basis of financing receivables by credit quality indicator and and class of financing receivable by year of origination. The update is available for entities that have adopted the amendments in update 2016-13 for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2022. The Company elected to early adopt the provisions of the ASU related to the discontinuance of TDR reporting, with retrospective application of modification reporting effective starting January 1, 2022. The Company adopted the provisions related to reporting of current-period gross write-offs within the vintage disclosures effective January 1, 2023. The adoption of the provisions contained within ASU 2022-02 did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

On March 28, 2022, the FASB issued ASU 2022-01, "Derivatives and Hedging (ASC 815): Fair Value Hedging - Portfolio Layer Method." ASC 815 previously permitted only prepayable financial assets and one or more beneficial interests secured by a portfolio of prepayable financial instruments to be included in a last-of-layer closed portfolio. The amendment in this update allows nonrepayable financial assets to also be included in a closed portfolio hedged using the portfolio layer method. That expanded scope allows an entity to apply the same portfolio hedging method to both prepayable and nonprepayable financial assets, thereby allowing consistent accounting for similar hedges. The update became effective for public business entities for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2022. The Company adopted ASU 2022-01 on January 1, 2023, which did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

On March 12, 2020, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2020-04, "Reference Rate Reform (ASC 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting." ASC 848 contains optional expedients and exceptions for applying generally accepted accounting principles to contract modifications and hedging relationships, subject to meeting certain criteria, that reference LIBOR or another reference rate expected to be discontinued. The Company has formed a cross-functional project team to lead the transition from LIBOR to a planned adoption of reference rates which could include Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR"), amongst others. The Company has identified certain loans that renewed prior to 2021 and obtained updated reference rate language at the time of the renewal. Additionally, management is utilizing the timeline guidance published by the Alternative Reference Rates Committee to develop and achieve internal milestones during this transitional period. The Company's policy is to adhere to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association 2020 IBOR Fallbacks Protocol that was released on October 23, 2020.

The Company discontinued the use of new LIBOR-based loans by December 31, 2021, according to regulatory guidelines. The Company transitioned LIBOR-based loans to an alternative reference rate before June 30, 2023. On December 22, 2022, the FASB issued ASU 2022-06, "Reference Rate Reform (ASC 848): Deferral of the Sunset Date of Topic 848",

which definitively provided a sunset date of December 31, 2024 for the relief guidance allowed under Topic 848. The ASU was effective immediately upon issuance. The Company adopted the LIBOR transition relief allowed under this standard, and it did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

Newly Issued But Not Yet Effective Accounting Standards

On March 28, 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-02, "Investments-Equity Method and Joint Ventures (ASC 323): Accounting for Investments in Tax Credit Structures Using the Proportional Amortization Method." ASU 2014-01, "Investments-Equity Method and Joint Ventures (ASC 323): Accounting for Investments in Qualified Affordable Housing Projects", previously introduced the option to apply the proportional amortization method to account for investments made primarily for the purpose of receiving income tax credits and other income tax benefits when certain requirements are met; however, this guidance limited the proportional amortization method to investments in low-income-housing tax credit (LIHTC) structures. The proportional amortization method results in the cost of the investment being amortized in proportion to the income tax credits and other income tax benefits received, with the amortization of the investment and the income tax credits being presented net in the income statement as a component of net income tax expense (benefit). Equity investments in other tax credit structures are typically accounted for using the equity method, which results in investment income, gains and losses, and tax credits being presented gross on the income statement in their respective line items.

The amendments in this update permit reporting entities to elect to account for certain tax equity investments, regardless of the tax credit program from which the income tax credits are received, using the proportional amortization method if certain conditions are met. Under the proportional amortization method, an entity amortizes the initial cost of the investment in proportion to the income tax benefits in the income statement as a component of income tax expense (benefit). To qualify for the proportional amortization method, all of the following conditions must be met: (1) It is probable that the income tax credits allocated to the tax equity investor will be available; (2) The tax equity investor does not have the ability to exercise significant influence over the operating and financial policies of the underlying project; (3) Substantially all of the projected benefits are from income tax credits and other income tax benefits. Projected benefits included income tax credits, other income tax benefits, and other non-income tax -related benefits. The projected benefits are determined on a discounted basis, using a discount rate that is consistent with the cash flow assumptions used by the tax equity investor in making its decision to invest in the project; (4) The tax equity investor's projected yield based solely on the cash flows from the income tax credits and other income tax benefits is positive; and (5) The tax equity investor is a limited liability investor in the limited liability entity for both legal and tax purposes, and the tax equity investor's liability is limited to its capital investment. An accounting policy election is allowed to apply the proportional amortization method on a tax-credit-program-by-tax-credit-program basis rather than electing to apply the proportional amortization method at the reporting entity level or to individual investments. The amendments in this update require specific disclosures that must be applied to all investments that generate income tax credits and other income tax benefits from a tax credit program for which the entity has elected to apply the proportional amortization method. The amendments require that a reporting entity disclose certain information in annual and interim reporting periods that enable investors to understanding the following information about its investments that generate income tax credits and other income tax benefits from a tax credit program including: (1) The nature of its tax equity investments; and (2) The effect of its tax equity investments and related income tax credits and other income tax benefits on its financial position and results of operations.

For public business entities, the amendments in this update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 31, 2023, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted in any interim period. If early adoption is elected, the provisions shall be adopted as of the beginning of the fiscal year that includes the interim period of adoption. The amendments in this update must be applied on either a modified retrospective or a retrospective basis. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this standard for its LIHTC investments and the impact to noninterest income, income tax expense, and beginning retained earnings within the consolidated financial statements.

On October 9, 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-06, "Disclosure Improvements: Codification Amendments in Response to the SEC's Disclosure Update and Simplification Initiative", which modified the disclosure or presentation requirements of a variety of Topics in the Codification and was intended to both clarify or improve such requirements and align the requirements with the SEC's regulations. The amendments to Topics of Codification provided in this Update apply to all reporting entities within the scope of the affected Topics unless otherwise indicated by the Update. Given the variety of Topics amended, a broad range of entities may be affected by one or more of the amendments provided in the Update. The Company evaluated the amendments provided in the Update and believes certain of the disclosure improvements are applicable to the Company's interim or annual disclosures. Subtopic 230-10, as amended, requires disclosure within the accounting policy in annual periods of where cash flows associated with derivative instruments and their related gains and losses are presented within the statement of cash flows. Subtopic 260-10, as amended, requires disclosure of the methods used in the diluted earnings-per-share computation for each dilutive security and clarifies that certain disclosures should be made during interim

periods. Subtopic 470-10, as amended, requires disclosure of amounts and terms of unused lines of credit and unfunded commitments and the weighted-average interest rate on short-term borrowings outstanding as of the date of each balance sheet presented. The effective date for each amendment for entities subject to the SEC's existing disclosure requirements is the effective date of the removal of the related disclosure from Regulation S-X or Regulation S-K, with early adoption prohibited. The amendments in the Update are to be applied prospectively. The Company will apply prospectively the provisions provided in the amendments as such provisions become effective, and does not believe the application of these modified disclosure requirements will have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

Reclassification

Certain amounts appearing in the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for prior periods have been reclassified to conform with the current presentation. The reclassifications had no effect on net income or stockholders' equity as previously reported.