Investors Bancorp Q1 Profit Tops View

(RTTNews) - Investors Bancorp, Inc. (ISBC) Thursday posted first-quarter net income of $34.4 million, up from $27.2 million in the comparable quarter last year. Earnings per share for the latest first quarter were $0.25, same as last year.

On average, five analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.24 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net-interest income rose 26.6% to $129.2 million from $102.0 million last year. The increase was primarily due to the average balance of interest earning assets increasing $3.19 billion, or 26.3%, to $15.36 billion at March 31, 2014 compared to $12.16 billion at March 31, 2013, as well as a 16 basis point decrease in our cost of interest-bearing liabilities to 0.87% for the three months ended March 31, 2014 from 1.03% for the three months ended March 31, 2013.

Total non-interest income was $11.9 million, up 18.4% from $10.1 million in the prior year period. The increase is primarily due to a $2.6 million increase in other income.