Improved credit quality and lower expenses helped offset declines in fees at Eastern Virginia Bankshares as the Tappahannock company returned to the black in 2011.
The $1.1 billion-asset company said Tuesday that it earned $217,000 in the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of $8.1 million a year earlier. For the full year, the company earned $281,000, compared with a loss of $12.3 million.
Eastern Virginia's fourth-quarter provision for loan losses plunged 71.7%, to $3.7 million, from a year earlier. Nonperforming assets declined almost 4% to $37.8 million.
The company's noninterest expense in the fourth quarter declined 25%, to $7.1 million, mostly from lower costs for salaries and employee benefits. Eastern Virginia froze its pension plan with no additional contributions for grandfathered participants.
Fourth-quarter noninterest income totaled $2.8 million, down 59% from a year earlier, as declines in overdraft fees led to a 23% drop in service-charge fees on deposit accounts to drop 22.6%. Net interest income slid 3%, to $8.4 million because of declining loan balances and weak loan demand.
