WATERBURY, Conn. – Webster Financial Corp., New England’s largest independent bank and the parent of Webster Bank N.A., today reported a wider-than-expected net loss of $11.3 million in the first quarter of this year, compared with a year-ago profit of $24.4 million.

From January through March, Webster (NYSE: WBS) recorded total revenue of $245.87 million, a decline of 12.1 percent from the year-ago period’s $279.85 million. Losses per diluted share in the quarter amounted to 41 cents, compared with a profit of 47 cents in the same quarter a year ago.

The loss was significantly above market expectations. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected the company to report a quarterly loss of 22 cents per share, according to RTT News.

In a sign of concern about deteriorating economic conditions, Webster set aside $66 million to cover loan losses, representing 2.3 percent of total loans outstanding and far above the $15.8 million in credit loss provisions that Webster had set aside in the same quarter a year ago.

After setting aside $100 million in anticipation of bad loans at the end of the fourth quarter of 2008, the bank said it wrote off $30.1 million worth of loans over the last three months, lower than the $52.8 million in charge-offs it recorded on Dec. 31.

“While the underlying performance of our business is encouraging, our first-quarter results reflect our cautious approach in the face of a weakening economy,” said James C. Smith, Webster chairman and chief executive officer. “As in the previous quarter, we made sizable provisions for loan losses.”

The amount of Webster’s total nonperforming assets grew yet again, rising to $316.2 million by March 31 – an increase of $83.6 million, or 36 percent, from $232.6 million on Dec. 31. More than two-thirds of the increase was due to deterioration in the bank’s commercial loan portfolio. A year ago, the bank’s nonperforming assets stood at $139.7 million.

Webster said the nonperforming assets were 2.87 percent of total loans and other real estate owned, up from 2.15 percent at the end of last year.

The bank’s net interest margin continued to decline, shrinking to 2.99 percent in the first quarter from 3.20 percent in the preceding quarter and 3.27 percent in the year-ago period.

CEO Smith noted that Webster enjoyed what he termed “record growth” in total deposits across business lines, with total deposits rising to $12.69 billion in the quarter from $11.88 billion on Dec. 31 and $12.14 billion a year ago.

Webster’s total loans at the end of the quarter stood lower, at $12.1 billion, compared with $12.2 billion on Dec. 31 and $12.6 billion a year ago. The bank said it had increased residential mortgage and commercial real estate loans during the quarter but reduced consumer and consumer loans.

The company declared a quarterly dividend of 1 cent per common share, the same as in the last quarter, when the company slashed its divided from 29 cents to a penny.

After plunging by nearly 20 percent in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Webster Financial’s stock gained but still was down by about 6.5 percent, to $5.30 per share, at 1:52 p.m. The stock closed at $5.67 per share on Monday.

Webster Financial Corp. (NYSE: WBS) is the holding company for Webster Bank N.A., a financial services company with more than 180 branches, including 10 branches in Rhode Island. Additional information is available at www.WebsterOnline.com.