Chesapeake Financial Shares, Inc., the parent company of both Chesapeake Bank and Chesapeake Wealth Management, reported earnings of $2,749,988 for the first quarter of 2024, a 303.9 percent increase from the first quarter of 2023, according to chairman of the board and CEO Jeffrey M. Szyperski.

The reported earnings per share were $0.583 fully diluted as compared to $0.192 for the fourth quarter of 2023. Total assets ended the quarter at $1,511,866,477, up $40.8 million from year-end. Nonperforming assets were 0.187 percent as of March 31, 2024 compared to 0.255 percent for the fourth quarter of 2023.

“Our specialty lines of business, Chesapeake Payment Systems and Flexent, continue to provide solid noninterest income strength to our earnings,” Szyperski noted. “Coupled with 15.2 percent annualized net loan growth in the first quarter, we feel we have started 2024 on strong footing. The efforts we made in 2023 to strengthen our balance sheet and provide greater stability to our...