Cardinal Financial 1Q Profit Falls 4.4%, But EPS Tops Expectations

Cardinal Financial Corporation CFNL reported 4.4% drop in its net income to $13.1 million in the March quarter from $13.7 million in the comparable quarter of the last year. Its earnings also dipped 7.1% to $0.39 a share from $0.42 a share in the previous year quarter. However, earnings topped Street analysts' expectations by $0.07 a share. According to the company, its net interest income grew 12% to $30.7 million from $27.4 million. Its net interest margin also rose to 3.31% from 3.25% in the comparable period. Total non-interest and interest income advanced 16.9% to $45.73 million from $39.11 million in the year-ago quarter. Analysts predicted $41.82 million. Cardinal Financial's Executive Chairman, Bernard Clineburg, said: "I am very pleased with how our Company performed during the first quarter of 2016. We reported near record earnings while our balance sheet and loan portfolio grew 18% from a year ago. Our net interest margin improved from last quarter, and Cardinal Bank's earnings increased 15% over last year's same quarter. Our business development efforts and commitment to the local markets continued to drive new relationships. Credit metrics can't get any better, as we had $0 nonperforming assets and $0 past due loans 90 days or more. We successfully executed upon our deposit gathering strategies to increase our core customer balances by 19%." Clineburg stated further that "George Mason had very strong activity as applications for loan originations exceeded $1.50 billion, with nearly 70% of volume from purchase money mortgages, providing stability in diverse economic conditions. George Mason continues to be the premier mortgage banking firm in the Washington DC metropolitan area." Cardinal Financial's Chairman concluded by saying that "Looking forward, we will continue to concentrate on gaining profitable market share, either through de novo expansion or acquisition, with the goal of increasing our franchise value. We remain committed to maintaining and growing a strong financial services company for our employees, clients, the communities we serve, and especially our shareholders."