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Fulton Financial Corp. has promoted an insider to replace R. Scott Smith Jr., who announced plans to retire from the Lancaster, Pa., company at the end of this year.
March 20
Fulton Financial (FULT) in Lancaster, Pa., said Tuesday that its first-quarter earnings climbed nearly 13% from the same period last year, to $38.1 million, as strong refinancing activity, improved asset quality and sharply lower funding costs more than offset sluggish commercial loan growth.
Earnings per share rose nearly 12%, to 19 cents, in line with estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
Fulton is a multi-bank holding company with $16.5 billion of assets and roughly 265 branches in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Virginia. In a news release after markets closed Tuesday, Chairman and Chief Executive R. Scott Smith Jr. said that Fulton's first-quarter performance represented "a strong start for the year."
Total interest income fell 5% year over year, but its net interest income rose 9% thanks to a 22% drop in its funding costs and a 26% decline in its provision for loan losses. The company's fee income increased 14%, to $51.7 million, largely due to a surge in refinancing activity that helped to nearly double its income from mortgage banking.
Fulton's shares closed up 1.4% Tuesday, to $10.42.