Rockland Trust Sees Strong Progress in Q1 2026, Despite Muted Loan and Deposit Growth
The Independent Bank Corp., parent company of Rockland Trust, has reported strong progress in its first quarter earnings call for 2026. CEO Jeff Tengel highlighted several major areas of focus for the bank, including organic growth, expense management, and capital optimization.
While loan and deposit growth were somewhat muted in the quarter, Tengel expressed encouragement with the company's ability to continue growing organically. He noted that despite the challenging business climate, Rockland Trust held the line on expenses and continues to proactively manage its capital.
The company saw continued NIM improvement, increasing 13 basis points from the fourth quarter. Excluding loan accretion income, adjusted NIM rose by 8 basis points. This reflects pricing discipline across both the loan and deposit portfolios.
Rockland Trust also reported a significant reduction in expenses, down 1.5% from the fourth quarter. This was driven by cost savings from the Enterprise transaction, as well as seasonally higher employee and occupancy costs. The company returned $94 million of capital to shareholders in the first quarter, including the repurchase of 802,000 shares for $63 million.
Tengel emphasized that despite its aggressive capital actions, tangible book value rose to $47.86. He also highlighted the company's recent announcement of an 8.5% increase in its quarterly dividend.
The CEO also discussed the company's preparations for transitioning its core operating platform from Horizon to IBS, both part of the FIS ecosystem. This conversion is scheduled to take place in October of this year and will provide additional product capability and enhanced efficiencies that reflect the size and scale of Rockland Trust.
Furthermore, Tengel discussed the company's approach to AI, which includes establishing an Office of Digital Innovation and a governance framework around AI activities. He emphasized that this is a key area for investment and that the company will focus on relatively easy use cases before moving on to more impactful applications.
