EVERETT – The parent company of Everett’s Frontier Bank saw its stock price shoot to a record high Friday after it announced a 36 percent increase in profits.
Frontier Financial Corp. closed at $29.12 cents a share Friday on the Nasdaq Stock Market, increasing by $1.25, or 4.5 percent.
Earlier, Frontier officials announced that profits for the third quarter ending Sept. 30 were $18.5 million, a 36.4 percent increase in comparison with year-ago earnings of $13.6 million.
John Dickson, Frontier Financial’s president, called the third-quarter results outstanding.
“Loans increased by $518.9 million, or 22 percent, since Sept. 30, 2005, and increased $75 million, or 2.7 percent, for the third quarter 2006,” he said in a prepared statement.
Dickson noted that loans have grown by $439.8 million for the first nine months of this year, exceeding the amount of $411.2 for all of 2005.
The increase in loans was mostly driven by land development and home construction, Dickson said, noting it was still strong this summer. A drop in short-term treasury rates also helped keep the bank’s profit margins strong throughout the quarter, he said.
The bank’s diluted earnings per share increased from 32 cents per share during the third quarter of last year to 40 cents a share this year.
Frontier recently declared a 3-for-2 stock split that was executed Sept. 26. The board also increased its fourth-quarter dividend to 15 cents per share.
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