Cullen/Frost Q4 Earnings Beat View

(RTTNews) - Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (CFR), the holding company for Frost Bank, Wednesday reported a slight increase in earnings for the fourth quarter, that beat the consensus estimate.

Earnings for the fourth quarter were $60.55 million, or $0.99 per share, compared with $60.19 million, or $0.97 per share, a year ago. On average, 17 analysts polled by Thomson-Reuters has estimated the company's earnings to be $0.97 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Net interest income increased to $159.21 million from $154.4 million a year ago. Net interest margin, however, declined to 3.39 percent from 3.48 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. Non-interest income rose to $78.54 million from $75.89 million a year ago.

The company recorded loans of $9.516 billion at the end of 31 December, compared with $9.224 billion a year earlier. Deposits totaled $20.689 billion compared with $19.497 billion a year ago.