Webster Financial Corp. of Waterbury, Conn., reported Tuesday that its fourth-quarter net income fell 61%.
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It pointed to a one-time balance-sheet restructuring that resulted in a $50 million pretax charge.
During the quarter Webster sold $750 million of securities and used the proceeds to pay off a similar amount of high-cost debt. The transaction resulted in $4.1 million of securities losses and prepayment penalties of $45.8 million.
For the year the $17 billion-asset company earned $154 million, down 5.5%. Revenue rose 6%, to $688 million.
Webster's balance sheet deleveraging helped its net interest margin immediately. The margin widened to 3.25% in the fourth quarter from 3.06% in the July-September reporting period.
