BASIS OF PRESENTATION

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

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 one wholly owned subsidiary, Lake City Bank (the "Bank"). 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 months ended March 31, 2024 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any subsequent reporting periods, including the year ending December 31, 2024. The Company’s 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K should be read in conjunction with these statements.

Adoption of New Accounting Standards

On March 28, 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-02, "Investments - Equity Method and Join 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 were effective for fiscal years beginning after December 31, 2023, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The amendments in this update must be applied on either a modified retrospective or a retrospective basis. The Company chose the modified retrospective approach and recorded a day one adjustment of ($532,000), net of tax, to beginning retained earnings on January 1, 2024, which did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

Newly Issued But Not Yet Effective Accounting Standards

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. If by June 30, 2027, the SEC has not removed the applicable requirement from Regulation S-X or Regulation S-K, the pending content of the related amendment in the Update will be removed from the Codification and will not become effective.

On November 27, 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-07, "Segment Reporting (ASC 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures", intended to improve reportable segment disclosure requirements, primarily through enhanced disclosures about significant segment expenses. Provisions in the amendment include: (1) Requirement that a public entity disclose, on an annual and interim basis, significant segment expenses that are regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker ("CODM") and included within each reported measure of segment profit or loss (collectively referred to as the "significant expense principle"); (2) Requirement that a public entity disclose, on an annual and interim basis, an amount for other segment items by reportable segment and a description of its composition. The other segment items category is the difference between segment revenue less the segment expenses disclosed under the significant expense principle and each reported measure of segment profit or loss; (3) Requirement that a public entity provide all annual disclosures about a reportable segment's profit or loss and assets currently required by ASC 280 in interim periods; (4) Clarification that if the CODM uses more than one measure of a segment's profit or loss in assessing segment performance and deciding how to allocation resources, a public entity may report one or more of those additional measures of segment profit. However, at least one of the reported segment profit or loss measures (or the single reported measure, if only one is disclosed) should be the measure that is the most consistent with the measurement principles used in measuring the corresponding amounts in the public entity's consolidated financial statements; (5) Requirement that a public entity disclose the title and position of the CODM and explanation of how the CODM uses the reported measure(s) of segment profit or loss in assessing segment performance and deciding how to allocate resources; and (6) Requirement that a public entity that has a single reportable segment provide all the disclosures by the amendments in the Update and all existing segment disclosures in ASC 280.

The amendments in the update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, with early adoption permitted. For public business entities, amendments in the Update should be applied retrospectively to all periods presented in the financial statements, and upon transition to the segment expense categories and amounts disclosed in the prior periods should be based on the significant segment expense categories identified and disclosed in the period of adoption. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this standard on its disclosures, however does not expect adoption of the update to have a material impact of the consolidated financial statements.

On December 14, 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, "Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures", to address investor requests for greater transparency in regards to income tax information through improvements to income tax disclosures primarily related to the rate reconciliation and income taxes paid information. The amendments are designed to enhance transparency surrounding income tax disclosures by requiring (1) Consistent categories and greater disaggregation of information in the rate reconciliation and (2) Income taxes paid disaggregation by taxing jurisdiction, which will allow investors to better assess, in their capital allocation decisions, how an entity's operations and related tax risks and tax planning and operational opportunities affect its income tax rate and prospects for future cash flows. Other amendments in this

Update are designed to improve the effectiveness and comparability of disclosures by (1) adding disclosures of pretax income (loss) and income tax expense (benefit) to be consistent with the SEC's Regulation S-X 210.4-08(h), Rules of General Application-General Notes to Financial Statements: Income Tax Expense, and (2) Removing disclosures that are no longer considered cost beneficial or relevant.

The amendments in this Update are effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 31, 2024. Early adoption is permitted for annual financial statements that have not yet been issued or made available for issuance. The amendments in this Update should be applied on a prospective basis, however retrospective application is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this update on its disclosures, however does not expect the adoption of this update to 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.