Sterling Bancorp Announces Unaudited Consolidated Earnings Results for the Fourth Quarter and Year Ended December 31, 2015; Reports Net Charges-Offs for the Fourth Quarter of 2015; Provides Tax Rate Guidance for 2016
Net income for the year ended December 31, 2015 was $66.1 million, or $0.60 per diluted share, compared to net income of $58.7 million, or $0.70 per diluted share for the prior calendar year. For the year ended December 31, 2015, core net income was $105.4 million and core earnings per diluted share were $0.96. This represented an increase of 58.1% and 21.5%, respectively, over the same period a year ago. For the year, core return on average tangible assets was 1.17% and core return on average tangible equity was 13.86%. Tangible book value per share increased to $7.05 at December 31, 2015 from $6.94 at September 30, 2015. Net interest income was $311.216 million against $232.349 million a year ago. Income before income tax expense was $97.949 million against $84.160 million a year ago. Return on average tangible assets was 0.73% against 0.88% a year ago. Return on average tangible equity was 8.70% against 11.37% a year ago. Total interest income was $348,141,000 compared to $262,282,000 for the same period a year ago.
Net charge-offs against the allowance for loan losses for the three months ended December 31, 2015 were $3.0 million, or 0.15% on an annualized basis, compared to $1.7 million, or 0.09% on an annualized basis, in the three months ended September 30, 2015.
The company estimates its effective tax rate for 2016 will be 34.0%.