City Holding (CHCO) in Charleston, W.Va., said Tuesday that it its first-quarter earnings rose 73% from the same period last year, to $13.8 million, as the company accelerated workouts of problem loans it
The $3.4 billion bank reported year-over-year earnings per share of 86 cents, up 70.6% year over year.
During the quarter credit metrics continued to improve as the ratio of nonperforming loans declined to 1.19% of the total, from 1.38% in the same quarter of 2013 and slightly lower than 1.20% reported in the last quarter of 2013.
These credit quality improvements reflect a
Acquired past due loans represent nearly 47% of total volume of past due loans, down 68.7% from the same quarter of 2013 as more than 90% these loans are now current.
Compared to the last quarter of 2013, the volume of past due loans at March 31, 2014 decreased 43.6%, to $11 million. As a result, the provision for loan losses also declined to $1.4 million in the first quarter of 2014, down 26.3% compared to the fourth quarter of 2013, and 17.6% from a year ago.
The bank's loan portfolio increased 4.5% to $2.6 billion from a year ago. Noninterest income held steady at $14.3 million.