Cascade Bancorp Inc. of Bend, Ore., said Thursday that its fourth-quarter earnings rose 50% year over year, to $6.8 million.
Earnings per share rose 49%, to 39 cents, and full-year earnings 40.2%, to $22.4 million.
The $1.3 billion-asset Cascade credited strong loan growth and improved credit quality.
It had $1.05 billion of loans at Dec. 31, up 22% from a year earlier, and net chargeoffs were just 0.02% of total loans, versus 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2004.
Though deposits rose 25.2%, to $1.1 billion, Cascade's cost of funds rose 13 basis points because of higher interest rates.
That led to a slight decrease in its net interest margin but, at 5.66%, it is still among the best in the industry.
Cascade announced last month that it is buying F&M Holding Co. in Boise, Idaho, for $147 million. It would be Cascade's first acquisition outside of its home state.
