The Hingham Institution for Savings posted double-digit increases in its first quarter profits, recording $5.3 million in net income compared with $4.5 million in the same time last year.

“We are pleased to report that our current quarterly earnings per share represent an 18 percent increase over the same period in 2015 and a 15 percent return on average equity,” Robert H. Gaughen Jr., president and chairman of the board of directors, said in a statement. “At Hingham, we take our role as stewards of the owners’ capital seriously. We remain focused on careful capital allocation, conservative underwriting and disciplined cost control – strategies that have served our owners well in fair weather and foul.”

Net loans increased to $1.45 billion, 16 percent higher than $1.25 billion a year ago. Total assets increased 18 percent year-over-year to $1.85 billion, largely driven by growth in the bank’s loan portfolio and cash holdings at the Federal Reserve.

Deposits increased 12 percent year-over-year to $1.3 billion.

In the first quarter, the bank’s return on average equity was 15.03 percent and the return on average assets was 1.19 percent, compared with 14.52 percent and 1.15 percent for the same period in 2015.

Nonperforming assets represented 0.19 percent of total assets at March 31, compared with 0.10 percent at Dec. 31 and 0.17 percent a year ago. Nonperforming loans made up 0.22 percent of the bank’s total loan portfolio at the end of the first quarter, compared with 0.13 percent at year-end 2015 and 0.16 percent a year ago. As of March 31, the bank owned just one piece of foreclosed residential real estate valued at $168,000.

The bank’s efficiency ratio improved to 34.38 percent in the first quarter, compared with 38.26 percent last year. Non-interest expense as a percentage of average assets declined to 1.09 percent in the first quarter from 1.23 percent for the same period last year.