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Washington Federal Announces Quarterly Earnings Per Share Of $0.71
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Washington Federal, Inc. (Nasdaq: WAFD) (the "Company"), parent company of Washington Federal Bank, N.A. ("WaFd Bank"), today

About this update from Wafd, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":" SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nWashington Federal, Inc. (Nasdaq: WAFD) (the \"Company\"), parent company of Washington Federal Bank, N.A. (\"WaFd Bank\"), today announced quarterly earnings of $50,281,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, an increase of 29% from $38,951,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2020. After the effect of dividends on preferred stock, net income available for common shareholders was $0.71 per diluted share for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, compared to $0.51 per diluted share for the quarter ended December 31, 2020, a $0.20 or 39% increase in fully diluted earnings per common share. Return on common shareholders' equity for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 was 10.12% compared to 7.65% for the quarter ended December 31, 2020. Return on assets for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 was 1.02% compared to 0.83% for the same quarter in the prior year.\n\nPresident and Chief Executive Officer Brent J. Beardall commented, \"The first fiscal quarter of 2022 was a great start to the year. Net loan growth was robust, increasing $759 million or 5.5% for the quarter. Credit quality remained strong, with yet another quarter of net recoveries and our allowance for credit losses stands at $201 million. Deposit growth continued, with total customer deposits increasing by $360 million and checking accounts now making up 44% of deposits. Solid growth in our fundamental business has resulted in an 11.30% increase in net interest income over the same quarter last year.\n\n\"Two very important non-financial events occurred last quarter. First, we were able to exit the 2018 Bank Secrecy Act ('BSA') Consent Order with our primary federal regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ('OCC'). Over the last four years we have worked diligently to improve our BSA program. While we are grateful to be out of the Consent Order, we recognize the importance of regulatory compliance and will continue to build our culture of compliance going forward. Second, we successfully launched our new consumer online and mobile banking platforms. These were both substantial upgrades and provide a platform for our clients to have a real-time understanding of their financial health by aggregating data from all of their financial partners. Additionally, alerts can be personalized and set to notify clients of financial ac...