First Niagara Financial Q1 Profit Down

(RTTNews) - First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. (FNFG) reported the first quarter of 2015 GAAP net income available to common shareholders of $43.8 million, or $0.12 per share, down from $52.7 million or $0.15 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.13 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Excluding certain non-operating restructuring items incurred during the first quarter of 2015, operating net income available to common shareholders was $54.7 million, or $0.15 per share, compared to $61.0 million, or $0.17 per diluted share in the year-ago quarter.

Net interest income for the quarter declined to $262.94 million from $270.75 million last year. Total noninterest income was $82.24 million, up from $76.72 million in the prior year.

First Niagara Financial Group announced that the Company's Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share on outstanding FNFG common stock. The Company's Board of Directors also declared a quarterly preferred stock dividend of $0.539063 per share on its fixed-to-floating rate perpetual non-cumulative preferred stock, Series B.

Both dividends will be payable on May 15, 2015 to shareholders of record on May 5, 2015.