Equitable Group and its Equitable Bank subsidiary reported strong results for the fourth quarter and whole year in 2018.
For the full year, Adjusted Diluted earnings per share were an all-time record $10.10, up 8% from $9.38 in 2017. That followed a strong end to the year with Q4 2018 reported Diluted earnings per share ("EPS") of $2.33.
The firm’s mortgage business showed strong gains for the year with Single Family Lending mortgage principal at December 31, 2018 of $10.6 billion, up 14% from $9.3 billion a year ago on strong originations and renewal rates.
Commercial Lending mortgage principal at December 31, 2018 was $3.9 billion, up 31% from $2.9 billion a year ago as a result of record origination activity.
“Single family and commercial lending both achieved double-digit asset growth in 2018 as a result of our best-in-class service," said Andrew Moor, President and Chief Executive Officer. "For fellow shareholders, this high growth translated into record annual earnings, even after accounting for $3.9 million of mark-to-market losses which resulted mainly from the impact of volatile capital markets on certain of our preferred share investments.”
Deposits up 23%
The bank reported deposits of $13.5 billion, up 23% from $11.0 billion a year ago as the Bank grew its EQ Bank deposits to $2.2 billion, a 34% increase year-over-year.
"Our innovative digital platform drew more customers than ever to Canada's Challenger Bank™ this year and we were able to profitably deploy those deposits into our lending businesses,” added Moor.
He says that the outlook for 2019 is positive and he expects further growth of the business.
“The acquisition of equipment leasing specialist Bennington Financial Corp and the introductions of our reverse mortgage and CSV line of credit offerings set the stage for Equitable to challenge and grow across an even wider spectrum of the
