BankUnited (NYSE: BKU) reported Q1 EPS of $0.53, $0.08 better than the analyst estimate of $0.45.

John Kanas, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are obviously pleased with this quarter’s results. We are particularly encouraged by the sustained, balanced growth across all of our lending platforms.”

Performance Highlights

• New loans grew by $1.1 billion during the first quarter of 2014 to $8.6 billion.
• Total deposits increased by $591 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 to $11.1 billion.
• The net interest margin, calculated on a tax-equivalent basis, was 5.05% for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 compared to 5.93% for the quarter ended March 31, 2013 and 5.24% for the immediately preceding quarter ended December 31, 2013. The net interest margin continues to be impacted by the origination of new loans at current market yields lower than those on the covered loan portfolio.
• The cost of deposits continues to trend downward. The cost of deposits was 0.60% for the first quarter of 2014 as compared to 0.70% for the first quarter of 2013. Excluding the impact of hedge accounting and accretion of fair value adjustments, the cost of deposits was 0.55% for the quarter ended March 31, 2014.
• Earnings for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 benefited from a net gain on the sale of covered commercial and consumer loans and commercial other real estate owned (“OREO”) with an aggregate carrying value of $84 million. Better than previously projected pricing resulted in a net favorable pre-tax impact on quarterly earnings of $11.2 million, inclusive of the impact of FDIC loss sharing and direct expenses of the sale. Loss sharing under the terms of BankUnited, N.A.’s Commercial Shared-Loss Agreement with the FDIC will terminate on May 21, 2014.
• Book value and tangible book value per common share grew to $19.47 and $18.80, respectively, at March 31, 2014.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on BankUnited (BKU) click here.