(By Balaseshan) Bank of Commerce Holdings (NASDAQ: BOCH) reported a 25% drop in quarterly earnings due to higher provision for loan and lease losses. Net interest income was up due to lower interest expense despite a decline in interest income.
Earnings from continuing operations for the fourth quarter were $1.38 million or $0.08 per share, down from $1.83 million or $0.11 per share in the same period last year.
Net interest income rose 3% to $8.75 million, primarily driven by increased volume. Non-interest income jumped 286% to $2.71 million.
Net interest margin on a fully tax-equivalent basis decreased 3 basis points to 3.95% for the three months ended December 31, 2012 from last year, primarily resulted from a 36 basis-point drop in yield on earning assets.
Provision for loan and lease losses for the fourth quarter were $4.6 million, compared to $1.8 million for the fourth quarter 2011, and $1.9 million for the previous quarter.
As of December 31, 2012, the company had total consolidated assets of $979.5 million, total net portfolio loans of $588.1 million, allowance for loan and lease losses of $11.1 million, total deposits of $701.2 million, and stockholders' equity of $110.3 million.
The company's net loan portfolio declined 1% $588.1 million at December 31, 2012 from last quarter.
Nonperforming loans totaled $38.6 million as of December 31, 2012, as compared to $25.6 million at September 30, 2012. Nonperforming assets totaled $41.6 million as of December 31, 2012, compared with $28.7 million as of September 30, 2012.
BOCH is trading up 0.20% at $4.94 on Thursday. The stock has been trading between $3.78 and $5.24 for the past 52 weeks.