WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) _ Live Oak Bancshares Inc. (LOB) on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter earnings of $29.6 million.

The bank, based in Wilmington, North Carolina, said it had earnings of 68 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 69 cents per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 52 cents per share.

The bank holding company posted revenue of $93.8 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $73.1 million, which missed Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $83.6 million.

For the year, the company reported profit of $59.5 million, or $1.43 per share. Revenue was reported as $280.7 million.

Live Oak Bancshares shares have dropped 13% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $41.21, more than doubling 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 LOB at https://www.zacks.com/ap/LOB

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