First Business Financial reports Q4 EPS $1.71, consensus $1.26

“First Business Bank’s excellent execution throughout 2024 culminated in outstanding fourth quarter performance,” said Corey Chambas, Chief Executive Officer. “Our success is attributable to our deep client relationships and exceptional team, who produced near 10% loan growth once again. At the same time, we are very pleased with the 13% expansion of fee income in the fourth quarter, which helped drive an improved efficiency ratio. Excluding the tax and recourse benefits in the quarter, our earnings per share amounted to $1.43, marking growth of 15% and 24% from the linked and prior year quarters and supporting our key focus on meaningful tangible book value expansion. We remain confident in our ability to execute our strategic plan and achieve 10% balance sheet and top line revenue growth in 2025.”