PROVIDENCE – Citizens Financial Group Inc. posted net income of $439 million in the 2019 first quarter, an increase of 13.1% from the same 2018 period. Earnings per diluted share totaled 92 cents in the first three months of the year compared with 78 cents a year earlier.
Total interest and non-interest revenue for the parent organization of Citizens Bank and the largest Rhode Island-based bank holding company grew 17.6% over the year to $2 billion.
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Company Chairman and CEO Bruce Van Saun, in prepared remarks, said that “We are pleased to start 2019 with a solid first-quarter result.”
In addition he noted that “During the quarter we closed on the acquisitions of wealth management and M&A advisory firms, we began the rollout of our new cash management platform, and we launched four more fintech partnerships. We continue to balance well our need to deliver improving near-term results with the imperative of adhering to a thoughtful long-term strategy.”
The bank saw total assets grow 5.1% over the year to $161.3 billion compared with $153.5 billion in the first quarter of 2019, driven by a 5.6% increase in loans and leases to $117.6 billion.
Commercial loans and leases grew 8.6% year over year to $57.7 billion, while retail loans, which include residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, as well as education and automobile loans, saw a 2.8% increase over the year to $59.9 billion.
The bank reported nonperforming loans and leases totaled $780 million, a year-over-year decline from 0.78% of loans to 0.66% by the end of the quarter.
At the same time, the bank attracted 7.1% more of deposits to a total off $123.9 billion at the end of March.
Key performance metrics were as follows:
- Net interest margin increased to 3.23% from 3.19%
- Return on average common equity grew to 8.62% from 7.83%
- Return on average assets increased to 1.11% from 1.04%
- Efficiency ratio fell to 59% from 60.43%
Finally, Citizens’ board of directors declared a second-quarter common stock dividend of 32 cents per share, payable to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 1. The dividend has grown 45% from a year ago.
Mark S. Murphy is PBN’s editor. He can be reached at editor@PBN.com.
