Bank of the James Financial Group Announces Third Quarter of 2026 and First Nine Months of 2026 Financial Results and Declaration of Cash Dividend; Increases Quarterly Cash Dividend by 50%

LYNCHBURG, Va., Oct. 30, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bank of the James Financial Group, Inc. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: BOTJ), the parent company of Bank of the James (the “Bank”), a full-service commercial and retail bank, and Pettyjohn, Wood & White, Inc. (“PWW”), an SEC-registered investment advisor, today announced unaudited results of operations for the three-month and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2026. The Bank serves Region 2000 (the greater Lynchburg metropolitan statistical area) and the Blacksburg, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Nellysford, Roanoke, and Wytheville, Virginia markets.

Third Quarter 2026 and Year-to-Date 2026 Highlights * Net income for the third quarter of 2026 was $3.32 million, an increase of $570,000 from $2.75 million in the third quarter of 2025. Earnings per share were $0.73 compared with $0.61 per share one year earlier. Net income for the first nine months of 2026 was $9.34 million, an increase of $3.04 million from $6.30 million in the first nine months of 2025. Earnings per share were $2.05 compared with $1.39 per share one year earlier. The year-over-year increases reflect higher net interest income and growth in noninterest income. * Total assets were $1.065 billion at September 30, 2026, compared with $1.039 billion at December 31, 2025, and $1.020 billion at September 30, 2025. * Net interest income after provision for (recovery of) credit losses increased approximately 18% to $9.69 million in the third quarter of 2026 from $8.21 million in the third quarter of 2025, and increased 11.80% to $27.47 million in the first nine months of 2026 from $24.57 million in the first nine months of 2025. The Company recorded a total provision for credit losses of $35,000 for the third quarter and $239,000 for the first nine months of 2026. The provision for credit losses on loans was $26,000 and $344,000, respectively. * Net interest margin (tax-equivalent) was 3.81% for the third quarter of 2026 compared with 3.44% for the third quarter of 2025, and 3.70% for the first nine months of 2026 compared with 3.37% for the first nine months of 2025. * Interest expense decreased 8.90% to $3.16 million in the third quarter of 2026 from $3.47 million in the third quarter of 2025, and decreased 10.26% to $9.31 million in the first nine months of 2026 from $10.37 million in the first nine months of 2025, reflecting lower deposit costs and, for the nine-month comparison only, the retirement of approximately $10 million in capital notes in the second quarter of 2025. * Noninterest income increased 0.24% to $4.18 million in the third quarter of 2026 from $4.17 million in the third quarter of 2025, and increased 9.47% to $12.62 million in the first nine months of 2026 from $11.53 million in the first nine months of 2025. * Noninterest expense increased 5.85% to $9.70 million in the third quarter of 2026 from $9.16 million in the third quarter of 2025, and decreased 0.24% to $28.37 million in the first nine months of 2026 from $28.44 million in the first nine months of 2025. * Wealth management fees from PWW increased 10.43% to $1.50 million in the third quarter of 2026 from $1.36 million in the third quarter of 2025, and increased 11.90% to $4.38 million in the first nine months of 2026 from $3.92 million in the first nine months of 2025. * The efficiency ratio (noninterest expense divided by the sum of net interest income and noninterest income) improved to 69.76% in the third quarter of 2026 from 73.46% in the third quarter of 2025, and to 70.35% in the first nine months of 2026 from 79.45% in the first nine months of 2025. * Loans, net of the allowance for credit losses, were $694.03 million at September 30, 2026, compared with $686.08 million at June 30, 2026, $661.36 million at December 31, 2025, and $653.29 million at September 30, 2025. * Total deposits were $963.60 million at September 30, 2026, compared with $937.13 million at December 31, 2025, and $919.80 million at September 30, 2025. * Nonperforming loans were $548,000 at September 30, 2026, down from $1.09 million at June 30, 2026, and from $1.70 million at December 31, 2025. The allowance for credit losses was $6.55 million at September 30, 2026, compared with $6.45 million at December 31, 2025, and represented 1,195.99% coverage of nonperforming loans, compared with 378.52% at December 31, 2025. The decrease in nonperforming loans was due primarily to the return of selected non-accrual relationships to accrual status. * Stockholders’ equity decreased to $78.45 million at September 30, 2026, from $80.05 million at December 31, 2025, a decrease of 2.00%. Book value per share decreased to $17.27 from $17.62. Retained earnings increased $7.97 million, as year-to-date net income of $9.34 million was partially offset by dividends paid. This was more than offset by a $9.57 million increase in accumulated other comprehensive loss (AOCI), net of tax, to $24.51 million from $14.94 million at December 31, 2025, reflecting unrealized losses on the Company’s available-for-sale securities portfolio resulting from the increase in market interest rates since December 31, 2025, particularly during the third quarter. * On October 27, 2026, the Company’s board of directors approved a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per common share to stockholders of record as of November 20, 2026, to be paid on December 4, 2026. This is an increase of $0.05 per common share, or 50%, from the dividend declared in July 2026. Commentary from Executive Management