First Republic Bank Q1 Profit Climbs, Tops Estimates On Revenue Strength

(RTTNews) - First Republic Bank (FRC) reported Thursday that its first-quarter net income available to common shareholders climbed to $132.41 million from last year's $102.02 million. Earnings per share were $0.88, 23.9% higher than $0.71 last year.

On average, 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.80 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues were $519.6 million, up 22.8%, driven by strong performance across all lines of business.

Net interest income grew 21.9 percent to $424.3 million for the quarter and noninterest income increased 27.1 percent to $95.3 million.

Core net interest margin was 3.14%, compared to 3.02% for the prior quarter.

Jim Herbert, Chairman and CEO said, "Earnings, loans, deposits and wealth management assets all grew nicely. Credit quality and capital levels remain very strong."

Further, the Bank announced an increase in its quarterly cash dividend for the first quarter to $0.16 per share of common stock, which is payable on May 12 to shareholders of record as of April 28.