Non-Interest Expense:
The Company’s non-interest expense for the quarters ended December 31, 2022, September 30, 2022, and December 31, 2021 was $11.7 million, $11.2 million, and $10.0 million, respectively. The increase in non-interest expense from the prior periods was primarily due to an increase in salaries and benefits related to investments to support the continued growth of the business, combined with increases in item processing and business development expenses. Excluding capitalized loan origination costs, non-interest expense for the fourth quarter of 2022, the third quarter of 2022 and the fourth quarter of 2021 was $12.7 million, $12.3 million, and $11.6 million, respectively.
Non-interest expense of $44.7 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 compared to $40.4 million for the same period of 2021. Excluding capitalized loan origination costs, non-interest expense was $48.8 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 and $46.0 million for the same period in 2021 which reflects the Company’s investment in infrastructure to support the continued growth of the Company.
The Company’s efficiency ratio, the ratio of non-interest expense to revenues, was 49.17%, 56.52%, and 66.90% for the quarters ended December 31, 2022, September 30, 2022, and December 31, 2021, respectively. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company’s efficiency ratio was 57.01% and 68.65%, respectively.
Balance Sheet:
Total assets of $2.04 billion as of December 31, 2022, represented a decrease of $6.3 million compared to $2.05 billion at September 30, 2022, and increased $27.2 million compared to total assets of $2.0 billion at December 31, 2021. The decrease in total assets from the prior quarter was primarily due to decreased liquidity related to the payoff of other borrowings, combined with modest growth of the loan portfolio. Compared to the same period in the prior year, the Company had strong loan growth in the commercial and real estate other portfolios, which was partially offset by decreased liquidity resulting from the outflow of deposits related to forgiveness of PPP loans and the payoff of other borrowings.
Total gross loans were $1.59 billion at December 31, 2022 and September 20, 2022, compared to $1.38 billion at December 31, 2021. During the fourth quarter of 2022, real estate other loans increased by $23.4 million, or 3%, due to organic growth, partially offset by decreases in commercial, real estate construction and land, and SBA loans related to the ordinary course of business. Year-over-year, commercial and real estate other loans increased by $160.3 million, or 34%, and $151.0 million, or 22%, respectively, due to organic growth. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in SBA loans of $74.2 million, or 91%, primarily due to PPP loan forgiveness, and a decrease in other loans of $40.9 million, or 51%, due to the sale of a portion of the solar loan portfolio.
Total deposits increased by $82.7 million, or 5%, to $1.79 billion at December 31, 2022 from $1.71 billion at September 30, 2022, and increased by $111.6 million, or 7%, from $1.68 billion at December 31, 2021. The increase in total deposits from the end of the third quarter of 2022 was primarily due to an increase in non-interest bearing demand deposits of $53.0 million and money market and savings deposits of $73.8 million, partially offset by a decrease in time deposits of $46.7 million as a result of reduced reliance on brokered certificates of deposits. Compared to the same period last year, the increase in total deposits was primarily concentrated in non-interest bearing demand deposits and time deposits, partially offset by a reduction in money market and savings deposits as a result of outflows related to forgiveness of PPP loans. Non-interest bearing deposits, primarily commercial business operating accounts, represented 45.3% of total deposits at December 31, 2022, compared to 44.4% at September 30, 2022 and 45.9% at December 31, 2021.