SAN FRANCISCO: Chairman and CEO Jim Herbert said, “First Republic reported record net income in 2014 due to strong performance across all areas of the enterprise. Driven by robust revenue growth, core EPS was $0.67 for the quarter and a record $2.83 for the year. Asset quality remains excellent.”
Loan sales volume and profitability for the fourth quarter were up compared to the same period last year. The Bank sold $991.3 million of primarily intermediate-term, fixed-rate home loans during the quarter and recorded a gain on sale of $4.1 million. The margin on such loan sales was 0.41%.
The bank sold for the year ended December 31, 2014 a record $4.4 billion of loans, compared to $2.7 billion for the prior year. Gain on sale of loans for the year ended December 31, 2014 was $35.5 million, compared to $36.3 million for the prior year. These loan sales are used in the ordinary course of business to help provide a full range of lending options for our clients, while also managing asset growth and interest rate risk. Total investments at December 31, 2014 were $6.6 billion, up 37.6% compared to a year ago. As of December 31, 2014, investments that are high-quality liquid assets, from a regulatory perspective, totaled $3.1 billion.
