Increased mortgage banking revenue helped lift first-quarter profit at Umpqua Holdings (UMPQ) of Portland, Ore.
Umpqua said late Wednesday that its earnings rose almost 89% from a year earlier, to $25.3 million. The $11.5 billion-asset company reported earnings per share of 23 cents, which beat the average analyst's estimate by a nickel, according to Thomson Reuters.
Umpqua recorded $13.1 million in mortgage banking revenue in the first quarter on closed loan volume of $403 million. Noninterest income rose 26% from a year earlier, to $27.2 million; net interest income fell 2%, to $102.4 million.
The company's noncovered loans rose 5%, to $5.9 billion, from a year earlier as residential real estate climbed 21%, to $587.4 million. Covered loans fell 20% from a year earlier, to $593.2 million.
Umpqua said in a press release that it has aggressively charged down impaired assets to disposition values. Nonperforming assets fell 35% from a year earlier, to $133.1 million. The provision for noncovered loan losses fell 79% from a year earlier, to $3.2 million.
