Webster Financial Corp. posted flat first-quarter net income despite a strong year-over-year uptick in the Waterbury regional lender’s commercial- and residential-loan portfolio.
For three months ended March 31, Webster Bank’s parent said it netted $49.7 million before preferred dividends vs. its pre-dividend net of $50.4 million for the same period in 2013.
First-quarter net income available to common stockholders, after deducting the preferred payout, was $47.1 million, or 52 cents a diluted share, vs. $47.8 million, or 53 cents a share, a year ago.
Webster said its book of commercial and commercial real estate loans grew $993.4 million in the first quarter from a year earlier. Home mortgage and consumer loans grew a combined $282.2 million.
“Commercial Banking once again recorded double-digit loan growth, while HSA Bank opened a record number of new health savings accounts, as consumers increasingly reap the rewards of taking ownership for their health care costs,” Webster Chairman and CEO James C. Smith said.
