First Financial Bancorp (FFBC) Tops Q2 EPS by 5c

First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ: FFBC) reported Q2 EPS of $0.57, $0.05 better than the analyst estimate of $0.52.

Archie Brown, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are very pleased with our performance in the second quarter, which reflects our emerging potential as a combined company. After taking into account adjustments(1) for merger related items, our 111th consecutive quarter of profitability was highlighted by strong earnings, in addition to top quartile return on assets and return on tangible common equity."

Second quarter 2018 highlights include:

• After adjustments(1) for merger related items:
  • Net income of $0.57 per diluted common share
  • 1.60% return on average assets
  • 20.94% return on average tangible common equity
• Net interest income of $124.0 million
  • Net interest margin increased 30 basis points from the linked quarter to 4.10% on a GAAP basis; 4.15% on a fully tax equivalent basis(1)
• Noninterest expenses of $102.8 million, or $78.8 million as adjusted(1)
  • Efficiency ratio of 67.50% for the second quarter; 51.66% as adjusted(1)
• Stable credit performance with provision expense of $3.7 million; annualized net charge-offs of 18 basis points as a percentage of average loans

Archie Brown further commented, "The second quarter was also highlighted by margin expansion, improved adjusted efficiency and stable credit quality. Loan growth fell short of our initial expectations as a result of lower loan originations combined with higher prepayment activity, however we anticipate our loan growth trends will gradually improve in the second half of this year."

Mr. Brown concluded, "We believe we are well positioned to capitalize on the earnings momentum generated during the second quarter and close the year on a strong note. With the majority of merger-related activity behind us, our focus is on maximizing remaining synergies and implementing strategic roduce top quartile returns, while continuing to deliver the value and service that our clients, communities and shareholders have come to expect."

For earnings history and earnings-related data on First Financial Bancorp (FFBC) click here.

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