First BanCorp Q3 Profit Climbs

(RTTNews) - First BanCorp. (FBP), a bank holding company, on Monday reported a rise in its profit for the third quarter of the current fiscal, with growth in net interest income. Excluding items, the company beat the Street view.

The North-California-headquartered financial firm reported a net income of $75.7 million or $0.36 per diluted share for the September quarter, compared to $28.61 million or $0.13 per share recorded for the same period of last year.

Excluding items, First BanCorp posted its income at $77.5 million or $0.37 per share. Two analysts, on average, polled by Thomson-Reuters were estimating the firm to report a gain of $0.30. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

The lender posted a net interest income of $184.74 million for the three-month period, against $148.69 million, reported for the same period last year. Also, interest expense was recorded at $15.42 million, versus last year's $21.70 million.

It also generated a non-interest income of $29.94 million for the thirteen-week period, compared to $29.93 million reported last year. Non-interest expenses amounted to $114.0 million, higher than $107.50 million posted in 2020.

The company's allowance for credit losses on loans and finance leases was recorded at $288.36 million for the period, while it was $384.71 million posted for the last year's quarter.

At NYSE, First BanCorp. had closed at $14.07 per share on Friday, a rise of 2.48 percent, compared to its previous close.