Wintrust Financial Corp. in Lake Forest, Ill., said Monday that first-quarter earnings fell 34% from a year earlier, to $9.7 million.
Earnings per share fell 30%, to 40 cents, or 12 cents below the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.
The $9.7 billion-asset Wintrust attributed the drop to a compressed margin, an impairment charge, and an increased loan-loss provision.
By late Monday, Wintrust's shares had dropped 6.9% from Friday's close, to $32.50.
Net interest income fell 4%, to $61.7 million. And even though noninterest income rose nearly 25%, to $24.6 million, it was offset by a $2.8 million noncash other-than-temporary impairment charge on corporate investments and investments in equity funds, the company said.
The provision for loan losses climbed 28% from the fourth quarter, to $8.6 million. Nonperforming assets climbed 17% from the fourth quarter and nearly tripled from a year earlier, to $91.4 million. Wintrust said the nonperformers were concentrated mainly in commercial and consumer loans.
