Customers Bancorp released its earnings statement for the fourth quarter of 2023 and the full year, following the close of trading on Thursday.
The West Reading-based bank said it had net income of $58.2 million or $1.79 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2023, which ended Dec. 31. That result was an increase from the same period in 2022 when the bank reported $25.6 million or 77 cents per diluted share.
Core earnings for the quarter were $61.6 million, or $1.90 per diluted share, compared with 39.4 million for the same period in 2022, or $1.19 per diluted share.
The quarterly results surpassed Wall Street expectations, according to The Associated Press. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.76 per share.
For the full year of 2023, Customers reported net income of $235.4 million or $7.32 per diluted share. That result was an increase over 2022 when the bank reported net income of 218.4 million, or $6.51 per diluted share. Core earnings for 2023 were $248.2 million, or $7.72 per diluted share.
“While the banking industry has stabilized following the challenges in early 2023, higher interest rates and less liquidity in the banking system remain headwinds for all banks,” Customers Bancorp Chairman and CEO Jay Sidhu said in a statement.
Total deposits decreased by $275.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to the same quarter of 2022.
However, the bank reported core deposit growth during the fourth quarter.
“We again demonstrated the sustainability of our differentiated deposit franchise by growing core deposits by $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter which funded in part the repayment of maturing wholesale CDs of $743 million and the planned outflow of student-related deposit accounts serviced by BMTX totaling approximately $637 million,” Sidhu said.
This was the third consecutive quarter of approximately $1 billion in core deposit growth, according to Sam Sidhu, vice chairman, president and CEO of Customers Bank, representing $3.1 billion in core deposit growth.
Jay Sidhu said Customers Bancorp’s continued execution of its strategic priorities has positioned the company “favorably for success” in 2024 from a capital, credit, liquidity, interest rate risk and earnings perspective.
“We are extremely proud of the progress we made in 2023 and are confident in our risk management capabilities and ability to provide excellent service to our clients in all operating environments. We are excited and optimistic about the opportunities in 2024 and beyond,” he said.
Source: Berkshire mont