On January 10, Columbia Bank received its highest ranking on the Forbes annual list of America’s Best Banks. Columbia received a rank of 11 on the annual list, far above other Northwest banks and a significant leap from the rank of 30 Columbia received in 2017.
Columbia Bank stated, “This designation is a great reflection of each of you who demonstrate our core values by doing the right thing for our clients and community every day. It further reflects our evolution as a premier financial institution possessing industry-leading talent and expertise. Congratulations and thank you for all that you do!”
Hadley Robbins, president and chief executive officer of Columbia Banking System and Columbia Bank (NASDAQ: COLB) (“Columbia”), said upon the release of Columbia’s fourth quarter 2017 earnings, “2017 was a year of tremendous change for our organization. I’m proud of our bankers for the resiliency they showed while maintaining a client centric focus during our executive succession activities. With the completion of our merger with Pacific Continental Corporation, we are excited to welcome a new group of talented bankers and an exceptional customer base to Columbia.” Robbins continued, “While competitive pressures dampened loan growth, we had another solid year of production as our bankers grew relationships on both sides of the balance sheet. Our full year record earnings were helped, in part, by rising interest rates as evidenced by the 26 basis point expansion in our operating net interest margin during the year.”
Highlights
• Fourth quarter net income of $15.7 million; diluted earnings per share of $0.23, which included $0.31 per share negative impact from deferred tax asset re-measurement and acquisition- related expenses
• Record full year 2017 net income of $112.8 million; diluted earnings per share of $1.86
• QTD net interest margin of 4.20 percent, unchanged from linked quarter and up nine basis points from prior year period
• Loan production for the quarter of $377.7 million and full year production of $1.20 billion
• Completed merger with Pacific Continental Corporation
