WEST READING, Pa. (AP) _ Customers Bancorp Inc. (CUBI) on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter profit of $56.2 million.

The West Reading, Pennsylvania-based bank said it had earnings of $1.65 per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.32 per share.

The bank holding company posted revenue of $176.9 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $146.7 million, which missed Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $147.7 million.

For the year, the company reported profit of $132.6 million, or $3.74 per share. Revenue was reported as $505.4 million.

Customers Bancorp shares have climbed 17% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $21.22, a drop of 7.5% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CUBI at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CUBI

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