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CHARLESTON — United Bankshares Inc. this week reported record earnings for the year of 2025 of $464.6 million, or $3.27 per diluted share.

The year’s results produced returns on average assets, average equity and average tangible equity of 1.41%, 8.63% and 13.95%, respectively.

“Our financial performance in 2025 was among the very best in our company’s long history,” United CEO Richard M. Adams Jr. said. “We delivered record earnings, strong profitability,

resilient credit and robust capital and liquidity. Underpinning these results was our continued success driving high-quality organic growth.

“As we look to the new year, we remain committed to our mission of excellence in service to our shareholders, customers, communities and employees,” he said.

Earnings for the fourth quarter of 2025 were $128.8 million, or $0.91 per diluted share. Fourth quarter results produced annualized returns on average assets, average equity and average tangible equity of 1.52%, 9.31% and 14.86%, respectively.

Earnings for the third quarter of 2025 were $130.7 million, or $0.92 per diluted share, and annualized returns on average assets, average equity and average tangible equity were 1.57%, 9.58% and 15.45%, respectively.

As a result of the acquisition of Piedmont Bancorp Inc. on Jan. 10, 2025, the fourth quarter and year of 2025 were impacted by increased levels of average balances, income and expense as compared to the fourth quarter and year of 2024.

Earnings for the fourth quarter of 2024 were $94.4 million, or $0.69 per diluted share, and annualized returns on average assets, average equity and average tangible equity were 1.25%, 7.48% and 12.03%, respectively.

Earnings for the year of 2024 were $373 million, or $2.75 per diluted share, and returns on average assets, average equity and average tangible equity were 1.26%, 7.61% and 12.43%, respectively.

Net interest income for the fourth quarter of 2025 was a record $287.5 million, an increase of $7.3 million, or 3%, from the third quarter. Tax-equivalent net interest income, a non-GAAP measure which adjusts for the tax-favored status of income from certain loans and investments, for the fourth quarter increased $7.4 million, or 3%, from the third quarter.

The provision for credit losses was $6.8 million for the fourth quarter, compared to $12.1 million for the third quarter.

Noninterest income for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $30.9 million, a decrease of $12.3 million, or 28%, from the third quarter.

Net losses on investment securities were $218,000 for the fourth quarter as compared to net gains on investment securities of $10.4 million for the third. Net losses and gains on investment securities for the fourth and third quarter, respectively, were primarily due to changes in the fair value of equity securities. The remainder of the decrease in noninterest income from the third quarter was driven by decreases in several other categories of noninterest income, none of which were significant.

Noninterest expense for the fourth quarter was $151.7 million, an increase of $5 million, or 3%, from the third quarter. The expense for the reserve for unfunded loan commitments was $2.4 million for the fourth quarter, compared to a net benefit of $3.2 million for the third quarter.

For the fourth quarter of 2025, income tax expense was $31.1 million, a decrease of $2.7 million from the third quarter. United’s effective tax rate was 19.4% and 20.5% for the fourth and third quarters, respectively

Net interest income for the fourth quarter of 2025 increased $54.8 million, or 24%, from the fourth quarter of 2024. Tax-equivalent net interest income increased $54.9 million, or 24%, from the fourth quarter of 2024. The increases were primarily due to an increase in average earning assets, a lower average rate paid on deposits and an increase in acquired loan accretion income.

These increases were partially offset by an increase in average interest-bearing deposits. Average earning assets increased $3.3 billion, or 12%, from the fourth quarter of 2024, driven by increases in average net loans and loans held for sale of $3 billion and average short-term investments of $497.3 million, partially offset by a decrease in average investment securities of $198.4 million.

The increase in average loans from the fourth quarter of 2024 was driven by the Piedmont acquisition and organic loan growth.

The provision for credit losses was $6.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2025 as compared to $6.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2024.

Noninterest income for the fourth quarter of 2025 increased $1.6 million, or 6%, from the fourth quarter of 2024. The increase in noninterest income was primarily due to an increase in fees from brokerage services of $980,000 driven by higher volume.

Noninterest expense for the fourth quarter of 2025 increased $17.5 million, or 13%, from the fourth quarter of 2024. The expense for the reserve for unfunded loan commitments was $2.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2025, compared to a net benefit of $3.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2024. Other noninterest expense increased $2.3 million from the fourth quarter of 2024 due to a $2.4 million increase in tax credit amortization and higher amounts of certain general operating expenses partially offset by a decline of $1.3 million in merger-related expenses. Additionally, increases in equipment expense of $1.8 million, amortization of intangibles of $1.4 million and net occupancy of $1.1 million were mainly attributable to the acquisition.

For the fourth quarter of 2025, income tax expense was $31.1 million, compared to $26.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2024. This increase of $4.4 million in income tax expense was driven by higher earnings partially offset by a lower effective tax rate. United’s effective tax rate was 19.4% and 22.0% for the fourth quarter of 2025 and fourth quarter of 2024, respectively. The effective tax rates for the fourth quarters of 2025 and 2024 reflect the impact of provision to return adjustments during each period.

Net interest income for 2025 increased $191.1 million, or 21%, from 2024. Tax-equivalent net interest income increased $190.9 million, or 21%, from 2024. The increases were primarily due to an increase in average earning assets, a lower average rate paid on deposits, an increase in acquired loan accretion income and a decrease in average long-term borrowings. These increases were partially offset by an increase in average interest-bearing deposits. Average earning assets increased $3 billion, or 11%, from 2024, driven by increases in average net loans and loans held for sale of $2.5 billion and average short-term investments of $896.6 million, partially offset by a decrease in average investment securities of $385.9 million.

Acquired loan accretion income was $33.7 million for 2025, compared to $9.3 million for 2024. Average long-term borrowings decreased $472.6 million, or 46%, from 2024. Average interest-bearing deposits increased $2.7 billion, or 16%, from 2024.

The provision for credit losses was $53.9 million for 2025, which included $18.7 million of provision recorded on purchased non-credit deteriorated loans from Piedmont. The provision for credit losses was $25.2 million for 2024.

Noninterest income for 2025 was $135.2 million, an increase of $11.5 million, or 9%, from 2024. The increase was driven by net gains on investment securities for 2025 of $11.2 million compared to net losses on investment securities for 2024 of $7.7 million, a $2.5 million increase in fees from brokerage services, a $2 million increase in income from bank-owned life insurance and a $1.8 million increase in fees from deposit services. Partially offsetting these increases were a $9 million decrease in mortgage loan servicing income and a $6.5 million decrease in income from mortgage banking activities. Net gains on investment securities of $11.2 million for 2025 were primarily due to net unrealized fair value gains on equity securities. Net losses on investment securities of $7.7 million for 2024 included $16 million in losses on sales of available for sale investment securities partially offset by a $6.9 million gain on the VISA share exchange.

Noninterest expense for 2025 was $600.1 million, which included $12.7 million in merger-related expenses, while noninterest expense was $545 million for 2024, which included $2.9 million in merger-related expenses. Employee compensation increased $17.4 million for 2025 primarily due to $1.5 million in merger-related expenses, higher employee headcount mainly from the acquisition, and higher employee incentives partially offset by lower commissions driven by a decrease in mortgage production. Other noninterest expense increased $14.2 million, driven by $7 million in merger-related expenses recognized during 2025, compared to $2.9 million for 2024; a $2.6 million increase in tax credit amortization; and higher amounts of certain other general operating costs.

Income tax expense for 2025 was $118.8 million, compared to $91.6 million for 2024. The increase was primarily due to higher earnings and a higher effective tax rate. United’s effective tax rate was 20.4% for 2025 and 19.7% for 2024 reflecting the impact of provision to return adjustments during each period.

As of Dec. 31, non-performing loans were $101.5 million, or 0.41% of loans & leases, net of unearned income. Total non-performing assets were $110.3 million, including other real estate owned of $8.9 million, or 0.33% of total assets. As of Sept. 30, non-performing loans were $116.9 million, or 0.48% of loans & leases, net of unearned income. Total non-performing assets were $123.8 million, or 0.37% of total assets as of Sept. 30. As of Dec. 31, 2024, non-performing loans were $73.4 million, or 0.34% of loans and leases, net of unearned income. Total non-performing assets were $73.7 million, or 0.25% of total assets as of the end of 2024.

As of Dec. 31, 2025, the allowance for loan and lease losses was $297.5 million, or 1.2% of loans and leases, net of unearned income. The allowance for loan and lease losses was $300.1 million, net of unearned income as of Sept. 30, 2025, and $271.8 million as of Dec. 31, 2024.

United continues to be well-capitalized based upon regulatory guidelines, a release from the company said. United’s estimated risk-based capital ratio was 15.7% as of Dec. 31.

During the fourth quarter of 2025, United repurchased, under previously announced stock repurchase plans, approximately 1.3 million shares of its common stock at an average price per share of $36.49. During the full year of 2025, United repurchased approximately 3.6 million shares at an average price per share of $35.24. United did not repurchase any shares of its common stock during 2024.

United Bankshares Inc. is a financial services company with consolidated assets of approximately $34 billion as of Dec. 31. It is the 41st largest banking company in the U.S. based on market capitalization and is the parent company of United Bank, which comprises over 240 offices across West Virginia, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Washington, D.C.