WESTERLY – Washington Trust Bancorp Inc. on Monday reported record-breaking profit of $13.2 million, or 76 cents per diluted share, in the second quarter, compared with $11.1 million, or 64 cents per diluted share, a year earlier.
The parent company of The Washington Trust Co., based in Westerly, reported total interest, dividend and noninterest income for the quarter ended June 30 totaled $54 million, representing a 12.2 percent increase from the same year-earlier period.
“Washington Trust’s momentum continued into the second quarter of 2017, as we achieved record earnings,” said Joseph J. MarcAurele, chairman and CEO, in prepared remarks.
The bank realized strong year-over-year growth in total interest and dividend income, which increased 15.4 percent to $37.2 million.
Commercial and consumer loans for the quarter fell 2 percent to $1.7 billion and 2.9 percent to $333.6 million, respectively. The decrease, however, was offset by robust growth in residential real estate loans, which increased 16.2 percent to $1.2 billion. Total loans for the company grew 3.9 percent to $3.2 billion compared with the second quarter of 2016.
Interest income also realized a boost from taxable interest on securities, which nearly doubled to $4.8 million.
At the same time, interest-related expenses grew 33.9 percent to $7.2 million, fueled largely by federal home loan bank advance expenses, which increased 51.7 percent to $3.5 million.
Meanwhile, total noninterest income came to $16.8 million, representing a 5.6 percent increase compared with a year earlier. The growth was helped by a boost from loan-related derivative income, which more than doubled to $1.1 million.
That was slightly offset, however, by a decrease in income from bank-owned life insurance, which was cut nearly in half to $542,000.
Wealth-management revenue, meanwhile, grew 4.9 percent to $9.9 million. The bank continued to realize growth in its wealth management business, as assets under management increased 8.4 percent to $6.4 billion.
Total noninterest expenses grew 1.1 percent to $26.3 million.
Total assets grew 11.7 percent to $4.3 billion. Total deposits grew 8.3 percent to $3 billion.
The bank maintained a strong position as it relates to credit and asset quality. Risk-based capital ratio totaled 12.8 percent, which exceeds the regulatory minimum levels to be considered well-capitalized.
Allowance for loan losses as a percentage of total loans declined to 0.83 percent compared with 0.84 percent a year earlier. Nonperforming assets to total assets grew 1 basis point to 0.49 percent.
Total nonperforming assets overall increased 14.8 percent to $21.5 million. Total past-due loans increased 23.3 percent to $21.1 million.
Allowance for loan losses grew 3.2 percent to $26.7 million. Net loan charge-offs totaled $484,000, representing a 36.4 percent decline compared to a year earlier.
Net interest margin fell slightly to 2.97 percent compared with 3.05 percent in 2016.
The Washington Trust board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of 38 cents per share, which – along with strong second-quarter results – were seen as positive signs to MarcAurele.
“As a result of our consistent performance, strong capital position and attractive dividend yield, we continue to be recognized as one of the region’s high-performing financial institutions,” he said.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the quarterly profit.
Eli Sherman is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Sherman@PBN.com, or follow him on Twitter @Eli_Sherman.
