First BanCorp earns $14.8M in third quarter ’15
The financial institution’s loan portfolio grew by $39 million and total deposits, excluding brokered deposits, increased by $275 million. (Credit: © Mauricio Pascual)
First BanCorp., parent company of FirstBank Puerto Rico, on Monday reported net income of $14.8 million for the third quarter of 2015, or $0.07 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $34.1 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2015 and net income of $23.2 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2014.
For the third quarter of 2015, the pre-tax income was $19.2 million compared to a pre-tax loss of $43.9 million for the second quarter of 2015 and pre-tax income of $23.3 million for the third quarter of 2014.
As previously reported, the pre-tax loss for the second quarter of 2015 included a $48.7 million pre-tax loss on a bulk sale of assets, mostly comprised of non-performing and adversely classified commercial loans, including transaction expenses, a $12.9 million pre-tax other-than-temporary impairment on Puerto Rico government securities, and pre-tax costs of $2.6 million related to the conversion of loan and deposit accounts acquired from the former Doral Bank to the First Bank systems completed in the second quarter.
“This was a stable quarter of economic activity. We achieved improvement in our franchise metrics with slight growth in our loan and core deposit portfolios, as well as reduction of the non-performing portfolio,” said First BanCorp President Aurelio Alemán.
“We generated $14.8 million of net income for the quarter, and $50.5 million of pre-tax pre-provision earnings which continue to support our growing capital base; tangible book value is now $7.50 per share. The bottom line results were impacted by macro-driven decisions related to government exposure, which increased provisioning needs,” he added.
The financial institution’s loan portfolio grew by $39 million and total deposits, excluding brokered deposits, increased by $275 million. Excluding government, core deposits increased $26.4 million.
Both Florida and the eastern Caribbean contributed to the bank’s loan portfolio growth, he said.
“We made a concerted effort to reduce expenses this quarter, which declined to $93.3 million from higher levels in the second quarter. Our team is focused on improving core metrics while we continue to operate in a challenged environment,” Alemán added.
“We remain vigilant on the Puerto Rico fiscal situation and potential short term events that could further impact our industry performance,” he said.
