(By Balaseshan) PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ: PACW) reported a 43.3% jump in quarterly earnings on higher interest income and lower expenses as well as a rise in net interest margin. Results exceeded Street's expectations.
Earnings for the fourth quarter were $19.89 million or $0.54 per share, up from $13.88 million or $0.38 per share last year.
Revenue declined marginally by 0.5% to $71.66 million, while adjusted revenue increased 10.2% to $76.44 million.
Analysts, on average, polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a profit of $0.49 per share on revenue of $75.50 million for the fourth quarter.
Net interest income rose to $69.60 million from $63.77 million, primarily on a decrease in interest expense and higher interest income. Net interest margin grew to 5.49% from 5.00%.
Non-interest income fell to $2.06 million from $8.25 million, due to lower FDIC loss sharing income offset in part by higher gains on sales of leases and securities.
Allowance for credit losses at the end of December 31, 2012 were $72.12 million, down from $93.78 million in the previous year period.
Base efficiency ratio for the fourth quarter rose marginally to 60.7% from 60.4%, while adjusted efficiency ratio fell to 55.7% from 59.0%.
At December 31, 2012, gross non-covered loans and leases totaled $3.0 billion and the covered loan portfolio was $517.3 million. Total deposits decreased $78.2 million during the fourth quarter to $4.7 billion at December 31, 2012.
PACW is trading up 0.31% at $26.19 on Wednesday. The stock has been trading between $20.42 and $26.90 for the past 52 weeks.