Driven by strong growth in both interest and fee income, Territorial Bancorp Inc. in Honolulu reported a 6% increase in its fourth-quarter earnings, to $3.4 million.
In a news release Thursday, the $1.5 billion-asset company also said that income for 2011 was up 16%, to $12.8 million. Fourth-quarter earnings per share totaled 33 cents, in line with consensus analysts’ estimates.
Territorial’s fourth-quarter interest income climbed 9%, to $13.1 million, largely because interest earned on investment securities increased more than 13%, to $6.7 million. The company’s noninterest income totaled $1.6 million, a 70% rise from a year earlier because of gains on the sale of securities and loans.
The bank focused on originating quality residential mortgage loans and increasing its net interest margin during the year, Allan Kitagawa, its chairman and chief executive, said in a news release. Loans receivable grew 7%, to $688.1 million, because of an increase in residential mortgage loan originations. The net interest margin on average interest earning assets totaled 3.58%, up 16 basis points from a year earlier.
