iStock illustration
Hingham Institution for Savings saw first-quarter earnings decline 27 percent as the bank reported net income of $11.86 million, or $5.54 per share basic and $5.38 per share diluted, compared to $16.35 million, or $7.65 per share basic and $7.45 per share diluted, in the first quarter of 2021.
The Hingham-based bank said in its first-quarter earnings statement that its annualized return on average equity was 13.1 percent compared to 21.72 percent in the first quarter of 2021. The bank had an annualized return on average assets of 1.37 percent compared to 2.32 percent in the same quarter last year.
Hingham Institution for Savings said its board of directors increased the regular cash dividend to $0.57 per share, up 4 percent from the previous quarter.
Total deposits, including wholesale deposits, were $2.39 billion at the end of the first quarter, up 5 percent from March 31, 2021.
Net loans increased to $3.17 billion in the first quarter, up 27 percent from the same quarter last year. The bank said growth was concentrated in its commercial real estate portfolio.
Total assets were $3.64 billion in the first quarter, up 28 percent year-over-year.
After a year when Hingham Institution for Savings saw its quarterly net interest margin consistently rise year-over-year, the bank saw a decrease in the first quarter. The net interest margin for the first quarter decreased year-over-year by 24 basis points to 3.3 percent. The bank said the drop was driven by a declining yield on interest-earning assets, primarily from a lower yield on loans. The decline was partially offset by a lower cost of interest-bearing liabilities. The bank also saw a decline from the fourth quarter, which had a 3.46 percent net interest margin.
The bank’s already low-efficiency ratio was 21.82 percent in the first quarter compared to 22.02 percent in the first quarter of 2021. Operating expenses as a percentage of average assets were 0.72 percent in the first quarter compared to 0.77 percent in the same quarter last year. The bank said it remained focused on “reducing waste through an ongoing process of continuous improvement and standard work that supports operational leverage.”
“Returns on equity and assets were adequate in the first quarter of 2022,” Chairman Robert H. Gaughen Jr. said in the statement. “We remain focused on careful capital allocation, defensive underwriting and disciplined cost control – the building blocks for compounding shareholder capital through all stages of the economic cycle. These remain constant, regardless of the macroeconomic environment in which we operate.”
