Powered by double-digit gains in both interest and fee income, WSFS Financial in Wilmington, Del., reported a profit of $14.4 million in the fourth quarter, up 9.3% from the fourth quarter of 2014.
Excluding expenses related to its recent acquisition of Alliance Bancorp and other one-time costs, the $5.6 billion-asset WSFS said it earned $16.7 million in the quarter.
Net loans increased nearly 19% year over year, to $3.8 billion. The company said that roughly half that growth was organic and the other half came from its acquisition of Alliance, of Broomall, Pa. That deal closed in October. WSFS' net interest margin expanded by 39 basis points, to 4.14%, on improved loan yields.
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Kevin Thompson, who had been selected for the post in November, notified the $6 billion-asset company that he will remain at Zions Bancorp. in Salt Lake City to be near members of his immediate family who were involved an accident shortly after he accepted the WSFS post.
January 27 -
The $5.4 billion-asset WSFS said in a press release Monday that it will pay $101 million, or $21.75 a share, in cash and stock for the $651 million-asset parent of Penn Liberty Bank.
November 23 -
WSFS Bank has teamed up with ZenBanx, a fintech startup founded by a pioneer of direct banking, Arkadi Kuhlmann. WSFS will be the first in the U.S. to power a mobile account that lets users park money in up to five currencies and send remittances. The partnership is the latest example of a traditional bank trying to inject innovation into its culture.
June 3
Fee income rose roughly 15% year over year to $23 million, aided by double-digit increases in revenue from wealth management and at CashConnect, a subsidiary that services and supplies cash for nonbank automated teller machines.
The across-the-board gains helped WSFS hit its goal of achieving a return on assets of 1.2% by the end of 2015. Its reported ROA for the quarter was 1.04%, but stripping out the one-time costs, the core ROA was 1.24%, the company said.
WSFS has more than 60 branches in Delaware and Pennsylvania.
