FirstMerit Q4 Net Profit Climbs - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - FirstMerit Corp. (FMER) Tuesday reported that its fourth-quarter net income increased to $57.17 million from last year's $38.22 million. Meanwhile, earnings per share declined to $0.33 from $0.35 a year ago.

The latest quarter results included $6.0 million of pre-tax merger related costs.

On average, 11 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.36 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net interest income on a fully tax-equivalent basis was $202.15 million, compared to $119.1 million last year. Net interest margin was 3.89 percent, higher than last year's 3.58 percent.

Noninterest income, excluding gains and losses on securities transactions, was $72.4 million, an increase of 22.28 percent from last year.

Average originated loans grew 18.3 percent to $10 billion and average deposits climbed 68.3 percent to $19.5 billion.