Communities First Financial Corp., parent company of Fresno First Bank, announced record second-quarter profits of $1.54 million, up 68 percent compared to the same period last year.

That represents earnings of 53 cents per diluted share, compared to 32 cents last year.

For the first six months of the year, income was also up 72 percent to $3.01 million, or $1.03 per diluted share.

“Our long-term goal is to deliver consistent earnings performance for our stakeholders. We extended our momentum from the first quarter, producing solid performance metrics including return on average assets (“ROAA”) of 1.54%, return on average common equity (“ROAE”) of 16.96%, and an efficiency ratio of 54.88% for the second quarter of 2018,” said Steve Miller, president and CEO.

“The strength of our franchise lies in our non-interest bearing deposit book, which grew 29% from a year ago. On top of this growth, we are also benefitting from a lower corporate tax rate, a higher fed funds rates and rising short term interest rates. We are well positioned to maintain our growth strategies as we continue to expand our presence in Central California. At the same time, we are in an excellent position to fund internal growth or capitalize on opportunities that might arise outside of our immediate market,” added Miller.

Total assets grew 17 percent to $413.6 million at June 30, compared to $352.0 million at June 30, 2017, and increased 1 percent from $409.8 million at March 31.