IRVINE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/14/15 -- Plaza Bank (OTCBB: PLZB) (the "Bank") today reported unaudited net income for the first quarter of 2015 of $1,622,000 or $0.09 per share on a diluted basis, a decrease of 5.1% compared to the prior year's first quarter net income of $1,710,000 or $0.09 per share on a diluted basis. For the quarter ended March 31, 2015, the Bank's annualized return on average assets was 1.18% and annualized return on average equity was 10.62%, down from an annualized return on average assets of 1.40% and an annualized return on average equity of 12.35% for the 2014 comparable period.
Gene Galloway, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, commenting on the first quarter, "In the first quarter we announced the merger with Bank of Manhattan, N.A. ("Manhattan"), started a system conversion project of Manhattan's accounts and settled the Department of Justice investigation. These actions did negatively affect our results by increasing our professional expenses by $266,000. However, these challenges did not affect our sales force as they were able to generate $56 million in loan origination, in which is normally our slowest quarter. Additionally, their pipeline is our largest ever at $60 million for the next two months."
