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Oriental Bank reports $136.4M in 1Q22 revenue, up 7% Y-O-Y

OFG Bancorp, the financial holding company for Oriental Bank, reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022, that showed core revenues of $136.4 million compared to $127.7 million in the same year-ago quarter, representing a 7% year-over-year increase.

The current results also reflect a slight drop when compared to the $141 million reported for the fourth quarter of 2021.

Net Interest Income was $105.2 million compared to $104.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 and $98.2 million in the first quarter of 2021.

In a call with local members of the media, OFG CEO José Rafael Fernández said the financial institution had a “solid quarter in terms of loans, both auto and consumer, and especially commercial loans to small and mid-sized businesses in Puerto Rico.”

New loan originations for the quarter were $623.2 million compared to $632.7 million in the fourth quarter of 202 and $527.6 million in the same period a year ago, which included $126.3 million of U.S. Small Business Administration-backed PPP loans.

“That really confirms that Puerto Rico’s economy is on solid growth ground certainly benefited by the stimulus funds that we have been receiving over the last two years and we’re also starting to see some of the reconstruction funds coming to Puerto Rico, albeit not as quickly,” he said.

The financial institution’s total assets reached $10.2 billion in the first quarter of 2022, up $300 million, fueled by deposits, Fernández said.

The quarterly report shows that customer deposits totaled $8.97 billion compared to $8.59 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021 and $8.72 billion in the comparable first quarter of 2021. Core deposits grew $375.1 million from the fourth quarter of last year, reflecting increases in commercial and retail accounts.

“That had to do to a certain extent with the Child Tax Credit which benefited Puerto Rico in terms of the funds we’re receiving because the amount has now been matched with the US mainland,” he said, of the recurrent benefit that had an effect on deposits and “on Puerto Rico’s economic activity.”

As for the collateral effects of the war between Russia and Ukraine, Fernández said they are already being felt locally because Puerto Rico’s economy is “highly dependent on petroleum, especially in the energy sector, as well as transportation, because we don’t have an effective mass transportation system, and the reliance on gasoline and diesel to generate electricity, and their rising costs, creates a difficult situation.”

“But the good news is that we’re benefitting from a series of economic stimuli and reconstruction funds, so what could happen is that the economy will slow down but shouldn’t go into a recession. We should have a stable economy with a 2% or 3% annual growth, as our economists have said,” Fernández noted.

Author Details
Author Details
Business reporter with 30 years of experience writing for weekly and daily newspapers, as well as trade publications in Puerto Rico. My list of former employers includes Caribbean Business, The San Juan Star, and the Puerto Rico Daily Sun, among others. My areas of expertise include telecommunications, technology, retail, agriculture, tourism, banking and most other segments of Puerto Rico’s economy.
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