On behalf of Chesapeake Financial Shares, Inc., parent company of both Chesapeake Bank and Chesapeake Wealth Management, Jeffrey M. Szyperski, chairman of the board and chief executive officer, recently reported earnings for the first quarter of 2018 of $2,917,014, a 12.1% increase from the first quarter of 2017.
The reported earnings per share were $0.703 fully diluted compared to $0.632 fully diluted for the first quarter of 2017. Total assets ended the quarter at $797,349,694, a 1.5% increase over yearend.
Nonperforming assets continued to decrease from 1.713% at March 31, 2017, to 1.628% at March 31, 2018, a 5.0% decrease.
“Our asset quality continues to improve each successive quarter due to a solid credit process and continued hard work by our lenders,” said Szyperski.
Management reaffirmed at the April 6, 2018, annual shareholders meeting their initiative to retain and attract local shareholders.
“Local shareholders recognize both what a value our stock is as well as the importance of Chesapeake to our local communities. We feel this two-pronged message resonates,” said Szyperski.
At the April 20, 2018, meeting of the Chesapeake Financial Shares board of directors, a $0.14 per share dividend was approved by the board, payable on or about June 15, 2018, to shareholders of record June 1, 2018.
“We feel this is a very strong dividend given the current market price of our stock. This translates into an approximate 1.96% dividend yield on the current stock price,” said Szyperski.