A rein on expenses and a pickup in lending and fees propelled People's United Financial (PBCT) in the third quarter.
Earnings at the Bridgeport, Conn., company rose 20.8%, to $62.2 million, compared with a year earlier, it reported Thursday.
People's United recorded chargeoffs of $9.4 million, down 29.9% from a year earlier, as credit quality improved. Net loan chargeoffs as a percentage of average loans were 0.18% in the third quarter, down from 0.27% a year ago.
Its efficiency ratio improved to 61.4%, from 62.4% a year earlier.
Both commercial and residential lending increased during the quarter at the $28.5 billion-asset company. Commercial loans rose 9.7%, to $7.9 billion, compared with a year earlier, although commercial real estate loans fell 1.4%, to $7 billion. Residential mortgage lending increased 8.6%, to roughly $3.9 million, from the third quarter last year.
"Our third quarter financial results reflect another quarter of solid operating metrics in a challenging economic environment, supported by significant loan growth, ongoing strength in our fee income businesses and meaningful cost control, all of which contributed to an improvement in our efficiency ratio," Jack Barnes, People's United CEO, said in a news release.
Net interest income was $234.8 million, down 1.2% from a year earlier. Noninterest income fell 3.9%, to $81.4 million, although it grew 7.5% since June. Noninterest expense fell 9.9% from a year earlier, to $208.9 million. People's United incurred costs in integrating 57 branches it
Net interest margin shrank 18 basis points, to 3.89%, from a year earlier, amid declining yield on assets, it said.
