JASPER — German American Bancorp reported 2016 third quarter earnings of $10.2 million, or 67 cents per share.
This level of quarterly earnings represents the first time in the company’s 107-year history that German American reported earnings exceeding $10 million, it said in a news release.
The quarterly results represented an increase of about 5 percent on a per-share basis as compared to the $9.8 million or 64 cents per share earned in the second quarter of 2016. Compared to the third quarter of 2015, which was $7.7 million, or 58 cents per share, the current earnings performance represents an increase of about 16 percent on a per-share basis.
Earnings for the second and third quarters of 2016 were enhanced by including the operations of River Valley Bancorp and its banking subsidiary, River Valley Financial Bank, which were acquired by German American on March 1.
The company said the record third-quarter performance was driven by several factors, including a $41.8 million increase in period loans, representing an increase of about 9 percent on an annualized basis, as of Sept. 30, compared to the end-of-period balances as of June 30.
Continued improvement in loan portfolio quality allowed German American to avoid the need for a provision for loan losses in the current quarter, which was a $350,000 expense improvement from the second quarter 2016 results.
“We believe this combination of strong organic loan growth coupled with the exceptional level of credit quality within our loan portfolio bodes well in terms of our ability to continue to generate strong operating performance,” said Mark A. Schroeder, German American chairman and chief executive officer.
German American’s board of directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 18 cents per share, payable Nov. 20 to shareholders of record on Nov. 10.
Total assets for the company increased to $2.980 billion as of Sept. 30, representing an increase of $63.7 million, or 9 percent, on an annualized basis, compared with June 30, and an increase of $666.3 million compared with Sept. 30, 2015. The year-over-year increase was largely attributed to the acquisition of River Valley Bancorp.
German American Bancorp. Inc. is a bank holding company based in Jasper. Through its subsidiary German American Bancorp, the company operates 51 banking offices in 19 contiguous counties in southern Indiana, including a branch in downtown Columbus and one in northern Kentucky county.
