People’s United Financial saw its profits rise 3.6 percent in the fourth quarter, fueled mainly by interest earned on its newly enlarged loan portfolio, following its $759 million acquisition of Hartford-based rival United Bank.
People’s United, the parent of Bridgeport-based regional lender People’s United Bank, reported profits of $134 million, or 31 cents per diluted share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to $129.4 million, or 35 cents per share, in the final quarter of 2018.
The largest driver of that increase was higher net interest income, which grew by $50.1 million, or nearly 12 percent. Those gains were concentrated in the bank’s commercial real estate and commercial-industrial loans.
People’s United’s total loan portfolio has grown from $35.24 billion in the fourth quarter of last year (the first People’s United earnings report to include its $544 million Farmington Bank acquisition) to $43.6 billion as of year-end 2019. Most of that growth is due to the United Bank acquisition, but People’s United said it also posted $344 million in organic loan growth between the third and fourth quarters.
Meanwhile, non-interest income, like service charges and fees, was up $35.5 million from a year ago. People’s United also reported a net gain of $7.6 million on the sale of branches.
