Columbia in Wash. Posts Higher 2Q Profit on West Coast Bancorp Purchase

Columbia Banking System (COLB) in Tacoma, Wash., reported higher quarterly earnings.

The $7.1 billion-asset company's earnings rose 23% from a year earlier, to $14.6 million, or 28 cents a share.

Net interest income rose 34% from a year earlier, to $80 million, partially reflecting Columbia's April acquisition of West Coast Bancorp., of Lake Oswego, Ore. The purchase added roughly $2.2 billion in assets. The net interest margin contracted by 69 basis points from a year earlier, to 5.19%.

Noninterest expense rose 62% from the second quarter of 2012, to $64.5 million. Columbia recorded $9.2 million of costs related to the West Coast acquisition.

Noninterest income fell 42% from a year earlier, to $6.8 million, as a change in its Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. loss-sharing asset cut into revenue by $13 million. Service charges and other fees rose $6.1 million from a year earlier, largely due to the acquisition of West Coast.

The loan-loss provision fell 47% from a year earlier, to $2 million, and net chargeoffs fell 63%, to $1.4 million.