Customers Bank announces record earnings

Looking back at 2021, Customer Bancorp Inc. had a very good year.

The West Reading-based bank said in its annual statement, released after the close of trading Monday, that it had a record net income of $300.1 million, or $8.91 per diluted share, a 153% increase over the year..

For the fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 31, Customers said it had net income of $98.6 million, or $2.87 per share.

Quarterly core earnings was $100.1 million, or $2.92 per diluted share, resulting in record fiscal year core earnings of $343.6 million, or $10.20 per diluted share.

“2021 was a remarkable year for our company and we could not be prouder of our team members who executed superbly to achieve all of our exceptional  accomplishments,” Customers Bancorp Chairman and CEO Jay Sidhu said in a statement. “We made over $300 million in net income after taxes, provided our shareholders with approximately $73 million in BMTX stock upon divestiture of BankMobile, helped save over an estimated 1 million American jobs by supporting about 350,000 small  businesses across the country through PPP program funding of over $10 billion.”

Customers funded about 256,000 Paycheck Protection Program loans totaling $5.2 billion in 2021, bringing total PPP loans funded to approximately 358,000 and $10.3 billion. The bank earned about $350 million of deferred origination fees from the SBA through the PPP loans. Through 2021, the bank recognized about $260 million of these fees in earnings and it expects most of the remaining $90 million to be recognized over the next two-to-three quarters.

Another highlight of the quarter was the launch of the Customer Bank Instant Token (CBIT) on the TassatPayTM payments platform in October. Sidhu said the the bank received $1.5 million in non-interest bearing demand deposits before the launch and added $400 million of demand deposits in the quarter.

“We not only developed and implemented this new technology partnership in record time, but did so following a very thorough strategic initiative process,” he said.  “Following a successful soft launch, we are pleased to report a full launch of CBIT in January 2022. We believe our technology, compliance and customer service and support  systems are among the best in the country.”

Other highlights for the quarter included:

Commercial and industrial loan growth was $742.3 million, or 29%, multifamily loan growth was $99.1 million, or 7%, and consumer loan growth was $207.5 million, or 11% from the third quarter.

Net interest margin was 4.14% for the quarter and 3.70% for the year. Net interest margin, excluding the impact of PPP loans, was 3.12% for the quarter and 3.16% for the full year

Total deposits increased $5.5 billion, or 48.3% year-over-year, which included a $6.2 billion, or 130.9%, increase in demand deposits.

Sidhu expects the growth to continue.

“Looking ahead, we have sustainable core growth and are very optimistic about the prospects of our company,” Sidhu said. “We expect strong core above average low-double-digit growth in loans and deposits, improving profitability, and an efficiency ratio in the low 40s through a combination of  revenue growth and prudent expense management over the next two to three years. The best in-class tech agility of Customers Bancorp allowed us to be a major participant in the PPP  program, significantly improving our capital ratios.”

Source: Berkshire mont