By Susan A. Baird
PBN Web Editor
PROVIDENCE – Bancorp Rhode Island Inc. (Nasdaq: BARI), the parent of Bank Rhode Island, today posted a first-quarter profit of $2.33 million, an increase of 6.8 percent from the year-ago period’s $2.18 million. Diluted earnings per common share rose to 50 cents, a 13.6-percent increase from the year-ago 44 cents.
“Our first-quarter results reflect the successful ongoing execution of our strategic plan,” BankRI President and CEO Merrill W. Sherman said in a statement this morning.
“Despite the Fed reducing interest rates by 200 basis points in the first quarter [READ MORE], our disciplined deposit pricing enabled us to grow our deposit base while maintaining our net interest margin,” she said.
“We also are pleased with our commercial loan activity. We booked approximately the same amount of new commitments this quarter as in the first quarter of 2007, but portfolio growth was offset by an increase in prepayments.”
Total interest and dividend income fell 2.7 percent to $20.53 million from the 2007 first quarter’s $21.10 million, the company said. But non-interest income grew 13.31 percent to $2.9 million. And net interest income rose 0.7 percent year-over-year to $10.3 million as interest expenses declined.
Total assets grew to $1.49 billion on March 31, an increase of 0.9 percent from the $1.48 billion at the end of the preceding and year-ago quarters. The company credited its commercial loan portfolio, which grew to $576.95 million – an increase of 0.5 percent from the fourth quarter’s $573.67 million and 8.4 percent from the year-ago period’s $532.5 million – reflecting what Sherman last year described as “the continued conversion of our balance sheet to a more commercial profile.” (READ MORE)
The company increased its loan-loss provision to $285,000 for the first quarter from $210,000 in the preceding quarter and $100,000 in the year-ago period. Nonperforming assets increased to $8.6 million, or 0.58 percent of total assets at March 31, from $4.1 million, or 0.28 percent of assets at year’s end. Net charge-offs for the first quarter amounted to $311,000.
BankRI’s net interest margin – 2.97 percent for the first quarter – was “relatively unchanged from 2.98 percent for the fourth quarter of 2007 and identical to that in the first quarter of 2007,” the company noted.
Among liabilities, total deposits grew to $1.04 billion on March 31 from $1.01 billion at the beginning of the quarter and $1.03 billion a year ago, as growth in money-market, savings and certificate of deposit accounts more than offset a decline in NOW accounts.
Two key performance measures – return on assets and return on equity – both showed improvement. BankRI’s return on assets in the quarter just ended was 0.64 percent, an increase from the 2007 first quarter’s 0.61 percent, though down slightly from the 2007 fourth quarter’s 0.65 percent. Its return on equity rose to 8.23 percent from the fourth quarter’s 8.21 percent and from the year-ago ROE of 7.79 percent.
The company’s board of directors has approved a regular quarterly dividend of 16 cents per share – a 6.7-percent increase from the year-ago 15 cents - payable June 4 to shareholders of record on May 14.
Bancorp Rhode Island Inc. (Nasdaq: BARI), based in Providence, is the parent of Bank Rhode Island, a state-chartered, FDIC-insured institution with 16 branches in Providence, Kent and Washington counties. Additional information about BankRI and its parent company is available at bankri.com.
