Two acquisitions last year helped boost first-quarter earnings at the $2.8 billion-asset First Community Bancorp of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
Because of the increase in interest-earning assets under its roof, First Community's net income rose 37% from a year earlier, to $10.3 million.
In March of last year, First Community paid $40 million for First Community Financial Corp., a Phoenix asset-based lender and factoring company. A month later First Community Bancorp bought the $178 million-asset Harbor National Bank in Newport Beach, Calif., for $35.5 million in cash.
First Community's earnings were also helped by an 80-basis-point increase in its net interest margin, to 5.97%. Since January 2001, First Community has bought 10 banks and merged them into two subsidiaries, Pacific Western National Bank and First National Bank.
