Allowance for Loan Losses

The allowance for loan losses is that amount management believes is adequate to absorb probable incurred credit losses in the loan portfolio based on management’s evaluation of various factors including overall growth in the loan portfolio, an analysis of individual loans, prior and current loss experience, and current economic conditions. A provision for loan losses is charged to operations based on management’s periodic evaluation of these and other pertinent factors as discussed within Note 1 of these Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

Management updates historical losses annually in the fourth quarter, or more frequently as deemed appropriate.

With the inclusion of 2013 net charge-off information, management concluded that it was no longer appropriate to calculate the historical loss average with an even allocation across the five-year period. Rather than apply a 20% allocation to each year in the calculation of the historical annualized loss factor, management determined that it was appropriate to more heavily weight those years with higher losses in the historical loss calculation, given the continued uncertainty in the current economic environment. Specifically, rather than applying equal percentages to each year in the historical loss calculation, management applied more weight to the 2009 through 2011 period compared to the 2012 and 2013 periods.

With the inclusion of 2014 net charge-off information in the fourth quarter of 2014, management extended the historical loss period to six years. Due to the same factors that management considered in 2013, management applied more weight to the 2009 through 2011 periods compared to the 2012 through 2014 periods.

The activity in the allowance for loan losses for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013, and 2012 is summarized in the following tables.



	Year ended December 31, 2014
(In thousands)	Commercial, financial and agricultural			Commercial real estate			Construction real estate			Residential real estate			Consumer			Leases			Total
Allowance for credit losses:
Beginning balance	$	14,218		$	15,899		$	6,855		$	14,251		$	8,245		$	—		$	59,468
Charge-offs	3,779			8,003			1,316			3,944			7,738			—			24,780
Recoveries	(1,003		)	(7,759		)	(12,572		)	(2,985		)	(2,671		)	(7		)	(26,997		)
Net charge-offs (recoveries)	2,776			244			(11,256		)	959			5,067			(7		)	(2,217		)
(Recovery) Provision	$	(723	)	(6,847		)	(9,459		)	1,480			8,223			(7		)	(7,333		)
Ending balance	$	10,719		$	8,808		$	8,652		$	14,772		$	11,401		—			$	54,352



	Year ended December 31, 2013
(In thousands)	Commercial, financial and agricultural			Commercial real estate			Construction real estate			Residential real estate			Consumer			Leases			Total
Allowance for credit losses:
Beginning balance	$	15,635		$	11,736		$	6,841		$	14,759		$	6,566		$	—		$	55,537
Charge-offs	6,160			1,832			1,791			3,207			6,163			—			19,153
Recoveries	(1,314		)	(726		)	(9,378		)	(6,000		)	(2,249		)	(2		)	(19,669		)
Net charge-offs (recoveries)	4,846			1,106			(7,587		)	(2,793		)	3,914			(2		)	(516		)
Provision (Recovery)	3,429			5,269			(7,573		)	(3,301		)	5,593			(2		)	3,415
Ending balance	$	14,218		$	15,899		$	6,855		$	14,251		$	8,245		—			$	59,468



	Year ended December 31, 2012
(In thousands)	Commercial, financial and agricultural			Commercial real estate			Construction real estate			Residential real estate			Consumer			Leases		Total
Allowance for credit losses:
Beginning balance	$	16,950		$	15,539		$	14,433		$	15,692		$	5,830		$	—	$	68,444
Charge-offs	26,847			10,454			9,985			8,607			5,375			—		61,268
Recoveries	(1,066		)	(783		)	(2,979		)	(5,559		)	(2,555		)	—		(12,942		)
Net charge-offs	25,781			9,671			7,006			3,048			2,820			—		48,326
Provision (Recovery)	24,466			5,868			(586		)	2,115			3,556			—		35,419
Ending balance	$	15,635		$	11,736		$	6,841		$	14,759		$	6,566		—		$	55,537

Loans collectively evaluated for impairment in the following tables include all performing loans at December 31, 2014 and 2013, as well as nonperforming loans internally classified as consumer loans. Nonperforming consumer loans are not typically individually evaluated for impairment, but receive a portion of the statistical allocation of the allowance for loan losses. Loans individually evaluated for impairment include all impaired loans internally classified as commercial loans at December 31, 2014 and 2013, which are evaluated for impairment in accordance with GAAP (see Note 1 of these Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements).

The composition of the allowance for loan losses at December 31, 2014 and 2013 was as follows:



	December 31, 2014
(In thousands)	Commercial, financial, and agricultural			Commercial real estate			Construction real estate			Residential real estate			Consumer			Leases			Total
Allowance for loan losses:
Ending allowance balance attributed to loans
Individually evaluated for impairment	$	981		$	262		$	1,812		$	605		$	—		$	—		$	3,660
Collectively evaluated for impairment	9,738			8,546			6,840			14,167			11,401			—			50,692
Total ending allowance balance	$	10,719		$	8,808		$	8,652		$	14,772		$	11,401		$	—		$	54,352
Loan Balance:
Loans individually evaluated for impairment	$	19,103		$	21,978		$	7,690		$	24,905		$	—		$	—		$	73,676
Loans collectively evaluated for impairment	837,432			1,047,659			148,114			1,826,470			893,160			3,171			4,756,006
Total ending loan balance	$	856,535		$	1,069,637		$	155,804		$	1,851,375		$	893,160		$	3,171		$	4,829,682
Allowance for loan losses as a percentage of loan balance:
Loans individually evaluated for impairment	5.14		%	1.19		%	23.56		%	2.43		%	—		%	—		%	4.97		%
Loans collectively evaluated for impairment	1.16		%	0.82		%	4.62		%	0.78		%	1.28		%	—		%	1.07		%
Total	1.25		%	0.82		%	5.55		%	0.80		%	1.28		%	—		%	1.13		%
Recorded Investment:
Loans individually evaluated for impairment	$	19,106		$	21,989		$	7,687		$	24,930		$	—		$	—		$	73,712
Loans collectively evaluated for impairment	840,647			1,051,194			148,512			1,829,931			896,127			3,188			4,769,599
Total ending recorded investment	$	859,753		$	1,073,183		$	156,199		$	1,854,861		$	896,127		$	3,188		$	4,843,311



	December 31, 2013
(In thousands)	Commercial, financial, and agricultural			Commercial real estate			Construction real estate			Residential real estate			Consumer			Leases			Total
Allowance for loan losses:
Ending allowance balance attributed to loans
Individually evaluated for impairment	$	3,268		$	5,496		$	1,132		$	555		$	—		$	—		$	10,451
Collectively evaluated for impairment	10,950			10,403			5,723			13,696			8,245			—			49,017
Total ending allowance balance	$	14,218		$	15,899		$	6,855		$	14,251		$	8,245		$	—		$	59,468
Loan Balance:
Loans individually evaluated for impairment	$	20,724		$	41,816		$	15,559		$	33,406		$	799		$	—		$	112,304
Loans collectively evaluated for impairment	804,708			1,070,457			140,557			1,766,141			722,934			3,404			4,508,201
Total ending loan balance	$	825,432		$	1,112,273		$	156,116		$	1,799,547		$	723,733		$	3,404		$	4,620,505
Allowance for loan losses as a percentage of loan balance:
Loans individually evaluated for impairment	15.77		%	13.14		%	7.28		%	1.66		%	—		%	—		%	9.31		%
Loans collectively evaluated for impairment	1.36		%	0.97		%	4.07		%	0.78		%	1.14		%	—		%	1.09		%
Total	1.72		%	1.43		%	4.39		%	0.79		%	1.14		%	—		%	1.29		%
Recorded Investment:
Loans individually evaluated for impairment	$	20,727		$	41,822		$	15,559		$	33,408		$	799		$	—		$	112,315
Loans collectively evaluated for impairment	807,784			1,074,216			140,944			1,769,604			725,709			3,427			4,521,684
Total recorded investment	$	828,511		$	1,116,038		$	156,503		$	1,803,012		$	726,508		$	3,427		$	4,633,999