(By Balaseshan) Access National Corp. (NASDAQ: ANCX), parent company for Access National Bank, reported a 90.9% jump in quarterly earnings mainly attributable to activity in its mortgage division. Earnings exceeded Street's expectations, and the company lifted quarterly dividend.
Earnings for the fourth quarter were $6.3 million or $0.60 per share, up from $3.3 million or $0.32 per share last year.
Net interest income for the latest quarter was $7.97 million, while total non-interest income was $16.24 million.
Analysts, on average, polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a profit of $0.37 per share on revenue of $7.98 million for the fourth quarter.
Annualized return on average assets was 2.97% for the fourth quarter, up from 1.61% last year. Annualized return on average equity grew to 26.80% from 15.87%.
Total assets rose to $863.9 million from $809.8 million at December 31, 2011, mainly attributable to a 8% growth in net loans held for investment as well as a 17% growth in loans held for sale.
The growth in loans held for investment was driven by a 13.3% growth in commercial and industrial loans to the bank's target market. The asset growth was funded by a 4% growth in total deposits as well as short-term borrowings from the Federal Home Loan Bank.
Total deposits at December 31, 2012 increased $26.5 million from last year. Non-interest-bearing deposits increased 44.1% as a result of management's continued focus on expanding business banking relationships.
Non-performing assets (NPAs) fell to $2.7 million or 0.32% of total assets at December 31, 2012 from $3.6 million or 0.43% of assets at September 30, 2012.
The company's board of directors declared a cash dividend of $0.09 per share for holders of record as of February 11 and payable on February 25, based on record earnings, strong capital and favorable outlook. This dividend represents a 1 cent increase from the prior quarter.
ANCX is trading up 1.18% at $14.53 on Tuesday. The stock has been trading between $8.85 and $14.99 for the past 52 weeks.