Cass Information Systems said first-quarter 2026 net income rose to $8.8 million, or $0.67 a share, from $9.0 million, or $0.66 a share, a year earlier, while diluted earnings per share from continuing operations increased to $0.66 from $0.63.
Adjusted diluted EPS from continuing operations climbed 26.9% year over year to $0.66 from $0.52, and adjusted net income from continuing operations rose 23.7% to $8.7 million from $7.1 million.
Net interest margin widened to 3.95% from 3.75% a year ago, and net interest income increased $1.9 million, or 10.1%.
Facility dollar volumes increased 7.4% to $6.3 billion, while facility invoice volumes fell 4.4% to 4.0 million. Transportation dollar volumes rose 4.5% to $9.0 billion, even as transportation invoice volumes slipped 3.1% to 8.1 million.
Processing fees declined $741,000, or 4.5%, but financial fees increased $470,000, or 4.7%.
Provision for credit losses dropped sharply to $61,000 from $905,000 a year earlier.
Personnel expenses were flat year over year. Within that line, salaries and commissions fell $395,000, or 2.0%, while share-based compensation rose $198,000 and employee profit sharing increased $132,000.
Equipment expense increased $138,000, and other expense rose $590,000, or 8.5%.
Loans increased $27.5 million, or 2.6%, from December 31 to March 31, led by a $22.7 million increase in other commercial and industrial loans.
Average payments in advance of funding rose $3.4 million, or 2.0%, from a year earlier, while the ending balance jumped $96.1 million, or 58.4%, from the prior quarter.
Average deposits increased $36.6 million, or 3.5%, and average accounts and drafts payable rose $100.1 million, or 9.3%.
Short-term borrowings stood at $145.0 million at quarter-end, mainly to fund the higher payments in advance of funding balance.
Non-performing loans fell to $3.1 million from $7.0 million at year-end, a drop of $3.9 million, or 55.1%. The company said it had no loan charge-offs in the quarter and an allowance for credit losses to loans ratio of 1.27%.
Cass repurchased 64,802 shares at a weighted average price of $44.34. Total shareholders’ equity declined $1.2 million from year-end, reflecting $2.9 million of repurchases, $4.1 million of dividends and a $3.4 million increase in accumulated other comprehensive loss, partly offset by $8.8 million of net income. As a result of these announcements, the company's shares have moved -0.07% on the market, and are now trading at a price of $43.91. If you want to know more, read the company's complete 8-K report here.
