West Bank reports record income

WEST DES MOINES - West Bancorporation, the parent company of West Bank, has reported its highest first-quarter net income ever recorded by the company.

West Bancorporation announced Friday that its first quarter 2015 net income was $5.1 million, or $0.32 per diluted common share. That compares to the first quarter of last year, which saw a net income of $4.4 million, or $0.27 per diluted common share. On April 22, 2015, the Company's Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.16 per common share. This is

an increase of $0.02 per share, or 14 percent, over the quarterly dividend paid in each of the previous two quarters. The dividend is payable on May 20, 2015, to shareholders of record on May 6, 2015.

In addition to the record earnings in the first quarter, West Bancorporation, Inc. reported a new 52-week high of $20.18 on April 1, as quoted on The Nasdaq Stock Market.

'We had a tremendous start to 2015,” said Dave Nelson, President and Chief Executive Officer of West Bancorporation, Inc., in a news release.

'We consider the results of the first quarter to be normal, core earnings and did not have any unusual or one-time items in our results.”

Mr. Nelson added, 'Net interest income was stronger this year due to the average balance of the loan portfolio being 17 percent higher

than the first quarter of last year. Expense control was evident during the first quarter and helped drive earnings. Total noninterest

expenses were seven percent lower than in the first quarter of 2014. A significant reason for the decline was the reduction of other real

estate owned expenses. In addition, total compensation costs were three percent lower this year.”

Brad Winterbottom, President of West Bank, said, 'Loan growth during the first quarter took a breather after the significant growth

experienced in the fourth quarter of last year. However, we believe that our pipeline is strong, and our calling efforts are numerous. We

fully expect loan growth for the year to surpass the growth of our local economies.”

Eastern Iowa Market President, Lynn Rowat, commented, 'We were excited to celebrate the opening of our new

West Bank opened a new Eastern Iowa main office building in Coralville on Feb. 26, 2015. The first quarter provided our lenders the opportunity to increase our

pipeline to near record levels. Our loans and deposits continue to grow, and we believe we are well positioned to take advantage of the

significant construction activity in our market. Our community outreach efforts are also paying dividends, as our Community Board

members and staff create lending and deposit opportunities through their involvement.”

'We continue to be pleased with our strong growth in Rochester. Our loan balances were up 21 percent in the first quarter of 2015, to

over $62 million,” said Mike Zinser, Rochester Market President. 'We've opened as many business deposit accounts in the first quarter

as we did in all of 2014, resulting from a growing number of business customers joining West Bank in Rochester. In order to take

advantage of the strong momentum we have created, we have added another seasoned banker with a long history of success in this market.

Our Rochester team is second to none and is simply working to deliver those things that are most important to anyone running a business.”

The company also is planning to build a new office building in Rochester, Minn.