Chemical Financial Corp. of Midland, Mich., announced Monday that its fourth-quarter earnings rose 5.9%, to $14.4 million. Diluted earnings per share were 54 cents, 5.6% more than a year earlier.
For the year the $3.8 billion-asset company posted net income of $56.7 million, up 1.8%. Diluted earnings per share rose 1%, to $2.25 cents.
The company missed analysts' expectations of 57 cents for the quarter but beat their full-year estimate by a penny.
Chemical attributed the earnings increase to higher net interest income and a lower effective federal income tax rate. Net interest income for the quarter was up 6.9%, to $37.3 million. Noninterest income rose 3.2%, to $9.7 million.
For the year net interest income rose 5.7%, to $147.6 million, and noninterest income rose 14%, to $19.3 million.
