Old National Bancorp (ONB) in Evansville, Ind., reported a small rise in fourth-quarter earnings, as higher expenses offset a rise in interest income.
The $9.4 billion-asset company reported Monday a 4% increase in quarterly net income, to $23 million, compared to the fourth quarter of 2011. The 23 cent per-share profit was identical to the company's earnings in the year-prior period, and was in line with the expectations of analysts polled by Bloomberg.
Acquisitions pushed up Old National's fourth-quarter interest income. The company's net interest income rose 10%, to $84.3 million. Of that total, $19 million was due to accounting benefits from its acquisitions in the last several years of
Old National's net interest margin widened by 14 basis points, to 4.34%. The bank's provision for loan losses more than doubled, to $2.2 million, and its provision for taxes rose by 23%, to $14.6 million. Chargeoffs declined nearly fourfold, to $2.2 million from $8.5 million.
Old National's noninterest income rose 2%, to $46.9 million. Its expenses rose 11%, to $99.4 million, due to costs associated with integrating acquisitions, the company said.
In recent years Old National has tried to balance expansion with controlling costs. It followed this summer's announcement of a plan to