Higher interest income and wider margins lifted BNC Bancorp (BNCN) in the first quarter.
Earnings at the $2.9 billion-asset company in High Point, N.C., more than doubled from a year earlier, to $3.8 million, or 14 cents per share.
Net interest income rose 38.6% from the first quarter of 2012, to $25.8 million. The net interest margin expanded 40 basis points year over year, to 4.2%.
Noninterest income increased 6.8% from a year earlier, to $6.8 million; noninterest expense rose 29.7%, to $23.1 million.
BNC's loan portfolio grew 17.6% from a year earlier, to $2 billion. Chargeoffs rose 31.6% year over year, to $7.5 million.
"While 2012 was a year of strategic growth and diversification, in 2013 we have further enhanced our focus on integration, operating efficiency and earnings," W. Swope Montgomery, Jr., BNC's chief executive, said in a press release.
Last year, BNC bought First Trust Bank in Charlotte and KeySource Financial in Durham, as well as Carolina Federal Savings bank from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. BNC also bought a branch in Cary, N.C., and another in Highville, N.C., from the Bank of Hampton Roads.
Montgomery, who is expected to retire from BNC this June, added that the company intends to pursue acquisitions "that provide depth in our key markets."
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