OceanFirst Financial Corp. Announces Quarterly and Annual Financial Results

Core Points - OceanFirst Financial Corp. reported a net income of $20.9 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, for Q4 2024, down from $26.7 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, in Q4 2023 [1][2][46] - For the full year 2024, net income available to common stockholders was $96.0 million, or $1.65 per diluted share, compared to $100.0 million, or $1.70 per diluted share, in 2023 [1][2][46] - Core earnings for Q4 2024 were $22.1 million, or $0.38 per diluted share, down from $26.3 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, in Q4 2023 [2][3] - The company experienced a decrease in net interest income to $83.3 million in Q4 2024 from $87.8 million in Q4 2023, with a net interest margin of 2.69%, down from 2.82% [6][9][11] Financial Performance - Return on average assets for Q4 2024 was 0.61%, down from 0.78% in Q4 2023 [1][3] - Return on average stockholders' equity decreased to 4.88% in Q4 2024 from 6.41% in Q4 2023 [1][3] - Efficiency ratio increased to 67.86% in Q4 2024 from 60.38% in Q4 2023, indicating higher operating expenses relative to income [1][3] Loan and Deposit Growth - Loan growth for Q4 2024 was $95.9 million, or 4% annualized, with a 20% increase in originations to $515.2 million [3][5] - Total deposits remained stable at $10.1 billion, with a 3% annualized increase excluding brokered deposit run-off [3][5] - The loan pipeline increased to $306.7 million, up from $183.0 million year-over-year [28] Asset Quality - Non-performing loans increased to $35.5 million, representing 0.35% of total loans, up from 0.29% a year earlier [33][34] - The allowance for loan credit losses as a percentage of total non-performing loans was 207.19%, down from 227.21% [34] Capital and Equity - Total stockholders' equity increased to $1.70 billion from $1.66 billion, reflecting net income and share repurchases [31][32] - The common equity tier one capital ratio increased to 11.2%, up approximately 30 basis points from the previous year [30] Dividends - The Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per share, marking the 112th consecutive quarterly dividend [4]