Net Income Soars 77% at Western Bancorp

Western Bancorp, a Newport Beach bank holding company, reported first-quarter net income of $5.3 million, or 38 cents a share, a 77% increase over $3 million, or 28 cents a share, earned in last year’s first quarter. Total revenue rose 37% to $36.4 million from $26.5 million.

Western, which owns Southern California Bank and Western Bank, acquired Santa Monica Bank on Jan. 27 and included that bank’s operating results for the last two months of the period. It merged Santa Monica Bank into Western Bank and changed the name to Santa Monica Bank.

At the end of March, the company’s assets were $2.1 billion, a 50% increase over $1.4 billion a year earlier.