Despite the challenges related to COVID-19, First Republic Bank’s (FRC) earnings decreased by just 5% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2020. Earnings will likely improve in the remainder of the year on the back of strong loan growth. However, the lagged impact of interest rate decline will slightly decrease net interest margin in the coming quarters, which will drag earnings. Moreover, provision expenses will likely remain high compared to last year, which will further pressurize the bottom line.
Overall, I’m expecting earnings per share in 2020 to grow by 2% year-over-year to