The Waterbury parent of Webster Bank announced today a first-quarter loss of $11.3 million before payment of preferred dividends.
Factoring in those dividends, Webster Financial Corp. lost $21.6 million, or 41 cents a share, in the three months ended March 31. That compares to a net profit of $24.4 million, or 47 cents a share, the same period last year.
Despite the most recent quarterly loss, Webster said its board of directors kept its quarterly common-stock dividend at a penny a share, payable May 18 to shareholders of record on May 4.
Webster received a $400 million federal capital infusion as part of the U.S. Treasury’s bank bailout program.
“While the underlying performance of our business is encouraging, our first quarter results reflect our cautious approach in the face of a weakening economy,” Webster Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James C. Smith said, “As in the previous quarter, we made sizeable provisions for loan losses.
Webster charged off $66 million in credit losses in the three months ended March 31.
Smith said the bank saw record deposit growth, up $810 million for the quarter. Webster also expanded its lending in the period, extending $762 million in new credit to businesses and consumers during the quarter, he said.
