First Place Financial Corp. of Warren, Ohio, said Wednesday that earnings in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended June 30, rose 25% from a year earlier, to $5.6 million.
Diluted earnings per share rose 10%, to 33 cents, or 3 cents below the average of analysts' estimates as reported by Thomson Financial. Related Links
For the full fiscal year, First Place's earnings rose 11%, to $25.6 million. Diluted earnings per share fell 4%, to $1.49, also 3 cents below the average estimate.
The $3.2 billion-asset company attributed the decrease in earnings per share to the fact that it increased the number of shares outstanding by 2.3 million in connection with its purchase of the $341 million-asset Northern Savings and Loan Co. of Elyria in June of last year.
For the quarter, after a provision for loan losses, First Place's net interest income grew 4%, to $18.7 million. For the full fiscal year, it grew 10%, to $79.6 million.
The provision for loan losses increased 37% for the quarter, to $3.2 million, and 25% for the year, to $7.4 million.
Noninterest income rose 23% for the quarter, to $9.1 million, and 11% for the year, to $32.3 million. Noninterest expenses climbed 3% for the quarter, to $19.4 million, and 9% for the year, to $74.2 million.
First Place said expenses rose because of the Northern acquisition and the purchase of seven Flint branches late last year from Republic Bancorp Inc., which later sold itself to Citizens Banking Corp. in Flint.
