Popular Earnings: Beats the Street Despite Profit Drop

Popular Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) posted lower net income in the second quarter compared with a year-earlier period. Popular is a publicly owned bank holding company that offers retail and commercial banking services through its main banking subsidiary, Banco Popular de Puerto Rico.

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Popular Inc. Earnings Cheat Sheet

Results: Net income for Popular Inc. fell to $65.7 million (63 cents per share) vs. $109.8 million ($1.11 per share) a year earlier. This is a decline of 40.2% from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: Popular Inc. beat the mean analyst estimate of 41 cents per share.

Quoting Management: Mr. Richard L. Carrin, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, said: “Two consistently positive trends stand out in this quarter’s results. First, our net interest margin and our revenue-generating capacity remain strong. Second, credit metrics keep improving. The decrease of $120 million in non-performing loans marks our largest quarterly decline in this credit cycle. Despite various headwinds we are continuing our progress.”

Key Stats:

The company has now beaten estimates the last two quarters. In the first quarter, it topped expectations with net income of 50 cents versus a mean estimate of net income of 30 cents per share.

Looking Forward: Analysts appear increasingly negative about the company’s results for the next quarter. The average estimate for the third quarter has moved down from 53 cents a share to 48 cents over the last ninety days. The average estimate for the fiscal year is now $1.92 per share, down from $1.98 sixty days ago.

Competitors to Watch: Doral Financial Corp., Oriental Financial Group Inc., First BanCorp., Eurobancshares Inc., R&G Financial Corporation, W Holding Company, Inc., Bank of America Corp., SunTrust Banks, Inc., Wells Fargo & Company, and The Bank of Nova Scotia.

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(Company fundamentals provided by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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