WSFS Financial Corp. announced two items that will boost earnings in the third quarter.
“We are pleased with the progress we have made towards our previously discussed plan to recover the costs from the settlement disclosed in the first quarter of 2018. Consistent with those efforts, we continue to pursue the remaining remedies available to us for additional recoveries,” said Mark Turner, WSFS CEO. “Furthermore, we continue to see the benefits from our investment in Visa Class B shares; and a sale completed this quarter demonstrates our ability to leverage our knowledge of the underlying asset and to actively participate in this market, creating value for our shareholders.”Details are as follows:
- Settlement and Recovery of Insurance Proceeds of $7.9 million, relating to Universitas settlement. WSFS entered into a settlement agreement with Universitas to resolve arbitration claims related to services provided by Christiana Bank and Trust Company. WSFS inherited the issue with the purchase of Christiana. WSFS will continue to work to recover the remaining amounts relating to the Universitas proceeding.
- Sale and Valuation Impact from our Equity Investment in Visa Class B Shares of $7 million.During the third quarter of 2018, WSFS sold 30,000 Visa Class B shares in a cash transaction, which resulted in a pre-tax gain of $3.8 million.
The anticipated impact from the items outlined in this announcement are expected to increase reported pre-tax income by $14.9 million and after-tax income by $11.4 million in the third quarter of 2018.
WSFS Financial Corporation expects to report third quarter 2018 results on October 22.
WSFS has been in the news, due to the proposed acquisition of Philadephia-based Beneficial Bancorp. The deal to acquire the less profitable bank has come with a drop in WSFS’ stock price from record levels earlier in the summer
