The parent of Howard Bank announced Friday that its income increased more than 21/2 times in the first quarter as the bank continued to grow rapidly through acquisitions.
Howard Bancorp Inc., headquartered in Ellicott City, earned $618,000 in the quarter ended March 31, up from $235,000 in 2014's first quarter. Per-share earnings went from 6 cents to 15 cents.
The earnings were suppressed by $423,000, or 6 cents per share, in one-time expenses related to its agreement in early March to acquire Patapsco Bancorp, the parent of Patapsco Bank, for $10 million. That deal, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, would close later this year and give Howard more than $900 million in assets.
It had $710 million in assets as of March 31, up from $507 million a year earlier, an increase driven largely by its acquisition of most assets of the failed NBRS Financial Bank in Rising Sun during 2014's fourth quarter.
"We are pleased with the operating results of both our legacy commercial banking operations as well as the acquired former NBRS operations," Mary Ann Scully, Howard's chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
To help fund its continuing growth, Howard agreed to sell $25 million of stock at $11.50 a share to private investors. Howard's shares rose 21 cents to close Friday at $14 each.
Howard said its deposits grew to $581 million at the end of March, up from $401 million a year earlier, driven mostly by the NBRS acquisition but also by organic growth.
The bank also reported that its already strong asset quality improved. As of March 31, just 0.88 percent of assets were either nonperforming loans or foreclosed real estate, down from 1.05 percent a year earlier.