Meta Financial Group Inc., parent of MetaBank, reported profits of $4.7 million, or 48 cents per share, for the first quarter of its 2018 fiscal year, which ended Dec. 31. In the comparable year-ago period, Meta recorded net income of $1.2 million, or 14 cents per share. Over the period, the financial services holding company had total revenues of $55.5 million, up from $39.2 million a year ago. The increase was primarily due to growth in card fee income, interest income from commercial insurance premium finance and community banking loans, student loan purchases, and income from tax-exempt securities tax product fees. Meta reported a $10 million increase in noninterest income and a $6.4 million increase in interest income. On Jan. 9, Meta said it entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire Crestmark Bancorp Inc. of Troy, Mich., in an all-stock transaction. Crestmark Bank will merge into MetaBank. As of Sept. 30, MetaBank had $5.2 billion in assets and $1.3 billion in total loans and, on a pro forma consolidated basis, the combined company would have had approximately $6.4 billion in assets and $2.2 billion in loans and leases, according to a release. Meta is based in Sioux Falls, S.D., and has four bank locations in Greater Des Moines.