{"id":424374,"date":"2021-01-28T23:58:16","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T04:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/?p=424374"},"modified":"2021-01-28T23:58:16","modified_gmt":"2021-01-29T04:58:16","slug":"eastern-bankshares-inc-reports-fourth-quarter-2020-financial-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/eastern-bankshares-inc-reports-fourth-quarter-2020-financial-results\/","title":{"rendered":"Eastern Bankshares, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter 2020 Financial Results"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Eastern Bankshares, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter 2020 Financial Results<\/b><\/p>\n

Company Initiates Quarterly Cash Dividend<\/b><\/p>\n

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE<\/a>)–
\nEastern Bankshares, Inc. (the \u201cCompany,\u201d or together with its affiliates and subsidiaries, \u201cEastern\u201d) (NASDAQ Global Select Market: EBC), the stock holding company of Eastern Bank, today announced 2020 fourth quarter financial results and the initiation of a quarterly cash dividend.\n<\/p>\n

\nConcurrent with its mutual-to-stock conversion and as described in the prospectus for its initial public offering (\u201cIPO\u201d), the Company made a one-time donation of 7.5 million shares of common stock to the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation (\u201cEBCF\u201d) at a total market value of $91.3 million. This contribution resulted in a net loss of $44.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2020, or $0.26 per share, compared to net income of $28.5 million reported for the prior quarter. Operating net income* was $31.6 million for the quarter, or $0.18 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to $32.3 million reported for the prior quarter.\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe are very pleased with our operating results for the fourth quarter as well as our dividend initiation, and thank our colleagues for their outstanding efforts,\u201d said Bob Rivers, Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. and Eastern Bank. \u201cWe are thrilled to have completed our stock offering and to be trading publicly, which are major steps forward in building upon our more than 202-year history of providing competitive financial products and services and an outstanding customer experience. As I reflect on the year, I\u2019m especially proud of the 8,800 Paycheck Protection Program (\u201cPPP\u201d) loans totaling $1.1 billion that we delivered to businesses in need, the third most among lenders in Massachusetts. This is all being accomplished during the COVID-19 pandemic which has had, and continues to have, an adverse effect on our customers, colleagues and the markets in which we operate. We continue to carefully monitor and adapt to it, while keeping the safety and well-being of our colleagues and customers a priority.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe transformative, one-time donation of $91.3 million of stock to the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation, a condition of the stock offering, positions our Foundation to continue to support the communities we serve and address society\u2019s most vexing challenges in a meaningful way,\u201d added Rivers.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Company also announced the initiation of a quarterly cash dividend of $0.06 per share as part of its capital management strategy.\n<\/p>\n

\nRivers continued, \u201cGiven our Company\u2019s current strength and our history of generating strong cash flows, we believe that we can both invest in the business and return capital to shareholders. Our initiation of a quarterly dividend demonstrates our confidence in our ability to drive growth and effectively deploy capital while delivering value to our shareholders.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

SELECTED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS<\/b><\/p>\n