Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ: WTFC) reported Q1 EPS of $1.40, $0.12 better than the analyst estimate of $1.28. Revenue for the quarter came in at $310.76 million versus the consensus estimate of $301.44 million.

Highlights of the First Quarter of 2018 *:

• Total assets increased by $541 million from the prior quarter and now total $28.5 billion.
• Total loans increased by $421 million from the prior quarter.
• Net interest margin increased primarily as a result of higher earning asset yields due to rising interest rates in the market. This increase as well as $586 million of growth in average earning assets since the fourth quarter of 2017 drove a $6.0 million increase in net interest income over the prior quarter.
• Return on average assets increased to 1.20% from 1.00% in the prior quarter. Return on average common equity increased to 11.29% from 9.39% in the prior quarter.
• Decrease in effective tax rate to 24.14% from 28.19% in the fourth quarter of 2017, which was impacted by the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on December 22, 2017 ("Tax Reform") and $2.6 million of excess tax benefits related to income taxes attributed to share-based compensation.
• Allowance for loan losses as a percentage of total non-performing loans remained strong at 156%.
• Net charge-offs increased to $6.7 million from $3.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. Annualized net charge-offs as a percentage of average total loans remained at historically low levels at 12 basis points for the current quarter.
• Losses from the sale and negative fair value adjustments realized on other real estate owned increased by $2.7 million during the quarter as a result of our continued monitoring and workout efforts.
• Mortgage banking revenue increased to $31.0 million, which was positively impacted by a $4.1 million positive fair value adjustment related to mortgage servicing rights assets compared to a $46,000 positive fair value adjustment in the fourth quarter of 2017. The previously announced acquisition of iFreedom Direct Corporation DBA Veterans First Mortgage ("Veterans First") was completed, which positively impacted mortgage banking revenue by $5.9 million from approximately half a quarter of origination activity during the period after the pipeline was initially established, offset by $5.9 million in expenses from nearly the entire quarter. Additionally, associated with the Veterans First acquisition, $13.8 million of mortgage servicing rights assets were acquired.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Wintrust Financial (WTFC) click here.