Wilmington-based Live Oak Bancshares released an upbeat quarterly earnings report last week, with results that beat analysts’ expectations.

“LOB came out with quarterly earnings of $0.96 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.45 per share,” Zacks Equity Research reported Oct. 26. “This compares to earnings of $0.76 per share a year ago.”

The parent of Live Oak Bank announced total revenues of $141.6 million for its third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, and diluted earnings per share of $0.96. Revenues were up substantially from $103 million reported for Q3 of 2021, but down from those of the second quarter of 2022 when the company reported total revenues of almost $208.5 million.

A factor in the earnings was Live Oak Ventures’ exit in September from its investment in Payrailz LLC, a digital payments platform. The financial technology company was recently acquired by Jack Henry & Associates Inc., and Live Oak anticipates an estimated pre-tax gain of about $28 million, subject to final adjustments.

One reason for the decrease in revenues was a jump in provisioning expenses: money set aside as a hedge against bad debts or other expected liabilities.

Otherwise, the quarter’s results were strong: total loan and lease origination of just over $1 billion, up 5% compared to the previous quarter. The company now has nearly $7.4 billion worth of loans and leases (excluding PPP loans), an increase of 4.7% since the end of Q2 and 14.4% more than at the end of Q3 of 2021.

Total deposits increased to $8.4 billion at the end of Q3, an increase of $249.2 million compared with those at the end of Q2, and an increase of almost $1.6 billion over those of Q3 2021.

“The increase in total deposits from the prior periods provides support for the growth in the loan and lease portfolio,” the report stated.

Live Oak’s total assets at the end of the most recent quarter were about $9.3 billion, up from those of both the previous quarter ($9.1 billion) and the third quarter of 2021 ($8.1 billion).

“Live Oak remains steadfastly dedicated to serving small business customers across our country with vital capital to create jobs, boost local economies and achieve more,” Live Oak Bancshares’ Chairman and CEO James "Chip" Mahan said in the company’s earnings release. “Once again this quarter, we recognized capital gains from a [financial technology] investment, giving Live Oak more dry powder to further its mission to be America’s small business bank.”

In September, Live Oak Bank officials said they plan to add more than 200 jobs over the next five years and invest $25 million in expanding their midtown Wilmington campus. If they meet their targets, the bank stands to gain state and local incentives.