Wauwatosa-based Waterstone Financial Inc. today reported 2016 fourth quarter net income of $6.4 million, or 23 cents per diluted share, up from $3.1 million, or 11 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2015.
The company operates 11 WaterStone Bank branches in the Milwaukee area and a loan production office in Minneapolis. The company’s Waterstone Mortgage division has 22 offices nationwide.
Net interest income was $12 million, up from $9.4 million in the same period a year ago.
Noninterest income was $31.2 million, up from $22.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2015.
The Community Banking segment performed well in the fourth quarter, with $6.4 million in pre-tax income, up 140.5 percent from $2.6 million in pre-tax income in the fourth quarter of 2015. Total loans increased 5.6 percent, to $1.2 billion as of Dec. 31. Deposits were up 6.3 percent year-over-year, to $949.4 million.
For the full year, Waterstone reported net income of $25.5 million, or 93 cents per diluted share, up from $16.6 million, or 56 cents per share, in 2015.
The company’s total interest income for 2016 was $63.7 million, up from $62 million in the previous year.
Total noninterest income was $126.4 million, up from $104.5 million in 2015.
Waterstone Financial has $1.8 billion in assets, flat from the end of 2015.
“We capped off a record annual performance during 2016 with a 128 percent increase in consolidated quarterly pre-tax earnings relative to the prior year,” said Douglas Gordon, chief executive officer of Waterstone Financial. “This marked the 10th consecutive comparable quarter of pre-tax earnings growth. The Community Banking segment benefited from strong loan and deposit growth, growth in net interest margin driven by the refinancing of maturing wholesale borrowings and reduced expenses driven by continued improvement in asset quality. The Mortgage Banking segment hit a milestone of $2.5 billion of loan originations this year and continued to expand its national presence by opening 11 new branch locations. The strong performance achieved by both segments resulted in an annual increase in consolidated pre-tax earnings of 62.7 percent.”
