Wauwatosa-based Waterstone Financial Inc., the parent company of WaterStone Bank, reported higher profit in the fourth quarter, driven by increased non-interest income, which usually is made up of deposit and transaction, insufficient funds, annual, monthly, inactivity and other fees charged to bank customers.
Fourth quarter net income was $3.1 million, or 11 cents per share, up from $2.3 million, or 8 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2014. Net interest income was $9.4 million, down from $10.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. Non-interest income totaled $22.9 million, up from $20.4 million in the same period a year ago.
Full-year net income was $16.6 million, or 56 cents per diluted share, up from $12.7 million, or 38 cents per share, in 2014. Net interest income was $38.8 million, down from $41.3 million in 2014. Non-interest income was $104.5 million, up from $84.6 million in the prior year.
The company’s mortgage banking subsidiary, Waterstone Mortgage Corp., increased its loans originated for sale on the secondary market to $2 billion in 2015, up 19.6 percent from $1.7 billion in 2014.
Waterstone’s return on average assets performance ratio was 0.94 percent at the end of 2015, up from 0.71 percent at the end of 2014.
Waterstone had $1.8 million in total assets as of Dec. 31, flat from the end of 2014. The bank has 11 Milwaukee area branches, a loan production office in Minneapolis, Minn., and mortgage banking offices in 18 states.
“We executed on our 2015 strategic plan by generating record pre-tax earnings; successfully opening two new bank branches in Greenfield and Fox Point; changing the mix of our assets and liabilities by growing commercial real estate loans, business banking loans and transaction deposits; launching our Investment Management division; reducing our non-performing assets; and, making progress on our capital initiatives, repurchasing approximately 5.6 million shares of Waterstone stock at less than book value on average,” said Douglas Gordon, chief executive officer of Waterstone Financial. “We also expanded the reach of our mortgage subsidiary by opening locations in additional states while generating a record level of loan originations during the year.”
