First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) Q3 2023 Earnings Conference Call October 20, 2023 11:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Ramon Rodriguez - IR Officer
Aurelio Alemán-Bermudez - President and CEO
Orlando Berges-González - EVP and CFO
Conference Call Participants
Alex Twerdahl - Piper Sandler
Operator
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the First BanCorp Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results. My name is Bruno and I'll be operating your call today. [Operator Instructions]
I will now hand over to your host, Ramon Rodriguez, Investor Relations Officer.
Ramon Rodriguez
Thank you, Bruno. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining First BanCorp.'s conference call and webcast to discuss the company's financial results for the third quarter of 2023. Joining you today from First BanCorp are Aurelio Alemán, President and Chief Executive Officer; Orlando Berges, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
Before we begin today's call, it is my responsibility to inform you that this call may involve certain forward-looking statements, such as projections of revenue, earnings and capital structure as well as statements on the plans and objectives of the company's business. The company's actual results could differ materially from the forward-looking statements made due to the important factors described in the company's latest SEC filings.
The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made during the call. If anyone does not already have a copy of the webcast presentation or press release, you can access them at our website at fbpinvestor.com.
At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to our CEO, Aurelio Alemán.
Aurelio Alemán-Bermudez
Thank you, Ramon. Good morning to everyone, and thanks for joining the call today.
Please let's turn to Page 4 to go over the financial highlights. We posted another good quarter with $82 million in net income or $0.46 per share, which translated into a fairly strong return on asset of 1.72%.
Net interest income registered a slight decrease during the quarter, mainly due to the expected upward pressure on deposit pricing and increase in the mix of interest-bearing deposits to total deposits.
Expenses were quite in line with guidance at $160 million, and the efficiency ratio reached 50.7% during the quarter, continue to be very, very top of the industry. These variances were mostly offset by a lower provision for credit losses during the quarter. In terms of asset quality, NPA increased slightly by $9 million during the quarter, primarily attributed to the inflow of a single commercial loan in Puerto Rico.