LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Republic Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: RBCAA), headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is the holding company of Republic Bank & Trust Company (the “Bank”).

Republic Bancorp, Inc. (“Republic” or the “Company”) is pleased to report third quarter net income from continuing operations of $17.5 million, a 7% increase over the third quarter of 2018, resulting in Diluted Earnings per Class A Common Share (“Diluted EPS”) from continuing operations of $0.83. Year-to-date net income from continuing operations was $63.0 million, which is a 10% increase from the same period in 2018. The Company’s return on average assets (“ROA”) and return on average equity (“ROE”) was 1.58% and 12.11% for the first nine months of 2019.

Steve Trager, Chairman & CEO of Republic commented, “With $2.8 million of primarily nonrecurring tax benefits recorded during the third quarter of 2018 reducing comparability of our quarterly and year-to-date net income metrics, we have benchmarked our 2019 results using pre-tax net income. In addition, the July 2019 sale announcement by the Company of four banking centers created a discontinued operations reporting requirement for these units. As a result, we view our pre-tax net income from continuing operations to be more reflective of our true operating performance for the third quarters and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018.

“As it relates to our pre-tax net income from continuing operations, we are excited about these results. Overall pre-tax net income from continuing operations increased to $21.7 million for the third quarter of 2019, an increase of 20% over the third quarter of 2018. Healthy growth in net interest income, a strong increase in mortgage banking income, and a positive reduction in provision for loan losses within the Republic Processing Group drove the overall results for the quarter,” concluded Steve Trager.

The following table highlights Republic’s financial performance for the third quarters and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018: