F.N.B. reports strong Q4 results

Staff report

Hermitage, pa.

First National Bank of Pennsylvania on Wednesday reported a fourth- quarter profit of $29 million, or 21 cents per share.

The results were an improvement from the same time a year earlier, when the bank grossed $23.7 million in profit during the fourth quarter of 2011.

For all of 2012, the bank reported a year-end profit of $110.4 million, or 79 cents per share. FNB witnessed its business strengthen in the latter half of last year as it announced a number of mergers and acquisitions, entering new markets and hiring in various departments.

Fourth-quarter profit was driven largely by growth in average total loans, which increased at an annualized rate of 6 percent, or $119.6 million. Net-interest margin, or the profit the bank took on interest from its loans, reached 3.66 percent.

Of those loans, commercial lending grew by 8.4 percent or $88.7 million, while consumer loans were up by 11.7 percent or $72.6 million.

At the same time, customer relationships grew, and transactional deposits increased by 11.9 percent.

Net charge-offs, or loan losses, were $7.6 million, but nonperforming loans as a percentage of total originated loans improved by 9 basis points to only 1.60 percent.