Washington Trust first-quarter profit grows 7.7% to $11.8M

Washington Trust Bancorp Inc. reported first-quarter profit growing 7.7 percent to $11.8 million, or 68 cents per diluted share. Joseph J. MarcAurele (left), chairman and CEO of Washington Trust Bancorp Inc., stands with Ned Handy, president and COO. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
Washington Trust Bancorp reported first-quarter profit growth of 7.7 percent, as the Westerly-based bank posted net income of $11.8 million, or 68 cents per diluted share. Joseph J. MarcAurele (left), chairman and CEO of Washington Trust, stands with Ned Handy, president and COO. / PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

WESTERLY – Washington Trust Bancorp Inc. on Monday reported first-quarter profit of $11.8 million, or 68 cents per diluted share, a 7.7 percent increase over the same period a year earlier, when the parent of The Washington Trust Co. posted net income of $10.9 million, or 64 cents per diluted share.

At the same time the Westerly-based bank reported total interest and dividend income, and noninterest income of $50.2 million, an increase of 5.4 percent compared with the first quarter of 2015.

“Washington Trust posted solid first-quarter results with very good contributions from our core business lines,” said Joseph J. MarcAurele, chairman and CEO, in a statement. “We continue to benefit from a solid level of business activity and production throughout our core market area.”

The bank realized an 8.2 percent boost in total interest and dividend income, which totaled $25.7 million. The growth was fueled largely by a near doubling of taxable interest on securities as Washington Trust continues to increase the value of securities available for sale, rising 78.8 percent to $769.4 million compared with a year earlier. The result was a 98.7 percent increase in taxable interest on securities, to $4.7 million compared with $2.4 million a year earlier.

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Total interest and dividend income growth was offset slightly by a 0.8 percent decrease in total noninterest income, which fell to $14.5 million. Wealth management revenue nonetheless grew 3.3 percent to $9.5 million. The bank currently holds $6.2 billion in assets under administration, representing a 6.2 percent increase from a year earlier.

Total loans grew 5.8 percent to $3.2 billion thanks to a 12.6 percent increase in residential real estate loans, which grew to $1.1 billion. Commercial loan growth was slightly offset by a decline in consumer lending. All told, total assets grew 14.3 percent to $4.4 billion.

Total deposits grew 8.2 percent to $3.1 billion.

The bank’s net interest margin fell to 2.87 percent compared with 3.24 percent a year earlier. return on average assets fell to 1.08 percent from 1.16 percent in the first quarter of 2016. Return on average equity grew to 11.87 percent compared with 11.5 percent a year earlier.

Total nonperforming assets increase 25.5 percent to $23.5 million as the percentage of nonperforming assets to total assets increased to 0.54 percent from 0.49 percent at the end of the 2016 first quarter. Still, the provision for loan losses in the 2017 first quarter was $400,000, a decline from $500,000 a year earlier.

 

 

 

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