Meeting the expectation of analysts, New York Community Bancorp (NYSE: NYCB) announced today it earned $0.26 per share in the first quarter, narrowly behind the $0.27 per share earnings recognized in both the first and fourth quarters of 2013.
New York Community Bancorp recognized a significant gain in its net interest income after the provision for loan losses, rising 12.5%, or $33 million to $299 million. This was the result of $15 million recovery seen on its provision, versus an expense of $4.5 million in the first quarter of 2013. In addition, it also saw a rise of $9 million -- or 3% -- in its net interest income.
Its non-interest income was cut in half from $75.5 million to $37.2 million as a result of a number of significant items. Its mortgage banking income fell by 45%, or 11.5 million to $14.6 million. In addition, New York Community Bancorp recognized a nearly $12 million expense at the FDIC , versus a gain of $3.6 million in the first quarter of last year.
In total, the earnings were in effect identical between the first quarter of 2013 and 2014, as total net income at New York Community Bancorp fell by $3.4 million to $115 million. However, its income before taxes was up by $4.6 million to $190 million due to a number of significant items occurring on the company's income statement.
"While several factors contributed to the strength of our performance, the growth of our loan portfolio was perhaps the most overt," noted the CEO of New York Community Bancorp, Joseph Ficalora, in the earnings release.
The bank went on to highlight the loans it holds for investment grew to nearly $31 billion, $1 billion ahead of where they stood at the end of the 2013. This represented an annualized growth of nearly 14%. In addition it also recognized significant growth in deposits, which grew by $1.1 billion -- or 4.3% -- thanks to a campaign which was launched during the beginning of the year.
In total, the return on average assets was down slightly from 1.19% in the first quarter of 2013 to 1.05% in the most recent quarter. It also saw its return on average equity drop from 8.4% to 8%.
"Reflecting the strength of our earnings and our capital position, the Board of Directors last night declared our 41st consecutive quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share," said Ficalora to conclude the announcement.
