NewStar Financial, Inc., a specialized commercial finance company, today reported net income of $6.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2011. On an adjusted basis, net income was $6.6 million, which reflected $0.2 million after-tax non-cash equity compensation expense related to the 2006 IPO.

The Company also reported that net income for 2011 increased 38% to $14.2 million, compared to $10.2 million in 2010.
 
"I am excited about the company's performance in the fourth quarter. We finished 2011 in a strong position with solid results across all aspects of the business. We also continued to gain momentum with customers in the marketplace and added balance sheet capacity to meet increasing loan demand," said Tim Conway, NewStar's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Our financial results reflected strong new business volume and further improvement in our credit performance.

Increased loan volume drove loan growth of 8% despite high levels of run-off during the year," he added. "With solid loan growth, improving margins and credit costs approaching more normalized levels, we generated a 38% increase in net income for 2011. I am pleased with our results and optimistic about 2012 because I believe that we are beginning to once again, demonstrate our earnings capacity and the value of our specialized lending franchise," he concluded.