Butterfield eyes more acqusitions as profit rises 16%
Butterfield today announced first-quarter net income of $62.6 million – up more than 16 per cent year over year.
Michael Collins, Butterfield’s chairman and chief executive officer, also signalled that the bank was eyeing more acquisitions and confirmed Butterfield had closed on the deal to acquire private trust services business Rawlinson & Hunter Guernsey on April 15.
The bank achieved a $4 million year-over-year increase in net interest income to $93.3 million, due to a lower cost of deposits following the reduction of market interest rates by central banks, partially offset by lower loan and treasury yields.
As a result, Butterfield’s net interest margin – the difference between interest income generated on loans and investments, and interest paid out on deposits – improved to 2.75 per cent from 2.7 per cent in the 2025 first quarter.
Non-interest income totalled $62.6 million in the first three months of the year, $4.2 million higher than the same period last year. The bank attributed the increase to higher trust revenue from new clients and fee increases, and higher banking revenue due to increased credit card volumes.
Michael Collins, Butterfield's chairman and chief executive officer, said: “The first quarter of 2026 was a solid start to the year, with strong financial performance, as well as continuing our M&A-driven growth with the acquisition of Rawlinson & Hunter in Guernsey.
“During the first quarter, we saw sustained demand for our services across banking, wealth management and trust. Net interest income benefited from lower deposit costs, as well as stable deposit volumes in all of our jurisdictions.
“The reduction in non-interest expenses demonstrates our operational efficiency, particularly during periods of falling interest rates and market volatility.”
Integration planning for the newly acquired Rawlinson & Hunter business in Guernsey was progressing well, Mr Collins added.
“We expect our growing private trust business to benefit from its increased scale in Guernsey and further position Butterfield as a leader in the international private trust world with total assets under administration of $146 billion,” Mr Collins added.
“Acquisitions remain core to Butterfield’s growth strategy, and we continue to target island banks and trust businesses that we believe will add long-term value for shareholders.”
The bank’s loan portfolio totalled $4.4 billion at the end of the first quarter, relatively flat compare to the end of 2025, the bank stated.
As at March 31, 2026, the bank had gross non-accrual loans of $90.2 million, representing 2 per cent of total gross loans, a decrease of $1.2 million from the end of 2025.
Butterfield said return on average common equity for the first quarter of 2026 was 22.1 per cent, up from 20.9 per cent for the first quarter of 2025.
At March 31, deposit balances were $12.9 billion compared to $12.8 billion a year earlier. The bank’s investment portfolio was valued at $5.7 billion as of the end of March.
Butterfield’s board declared a quarterly cash dividend of 50 cents per common share to be paid on May 27, 2026 to shareholders of record on May 13, 2026.
During the first quarter, Butterfield also repurchased 0.8 million common shares under the bank's existing share repurchase programme.
• See the full earnings statement under Related Media
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