You are given a text that consists of multiple sentences. Your task is to perform abstractive summarization on this text. Use your understanding of the content to express the main ideas and crucial details in a shorter, coherent, and natural sounding text. 
Text: We had an outstanding performance in the second quarter, generating $0.78 per share.
This reflects our larger scale and our focus on digital utilization and customer service differentiation.
From a big picture perspective, it also reflects several key factors that are coinciding at this time that puts OFG in an excellent strategic position.
One, Puerto Rico's economy is clearly benefiting from the massive amount of federal reconstruction funds now starting to be received, as well as COVID stimulus funds.
It's important to note that these funds are more meaningful here as compared to mainland states, given how reconstruction funds and the amount of stimulus payments compared to average income levels on the island, as well as the size of our economy.
Two, Puerto Rico has managed well the COVID pandemic and today vaccination levels are in the top quartile of US states and territories with 55% of the population fully vaccinated and 63% with at least one dose.
And three, OFG's operating in a much different competitive environment than years past, with only three commercial banks serving the market.
All these continues to validate the comments I made last quarter regarding our optimism on Puerto Rico's economy and OFG's future.
Our second quarter results confirm this across all businesses.
Let's take a look at our income statement as compared to the first quarter.
Total core revenues were $133 million, an increase of more than 4%, results were enhanced by a 12% reduction in cost of funds.
Interest income grew more than 2%.
Banking and financial services revenues rose more than 5% due to increased economic activity.
Asset quality trends continue to improve.
As a result, provision for credit losses was a net benefit of $8.3 million.
Earnings also benefited by our recent deployment of excess capital to redeem all three of our outstanding series of preferred stock, which eliminated $1.6 million in quarterly preferred dividends.
We will continue to explore ways to deploy this excess liquidity.
Looking at the June 30 balance sheet.
Customer deposits increased $350 million to $9.1 billion, reflecting even greater liquidity on the part of both commercial and consumer customers.
As a result, both cash and assets grew.
Loans declined 1.2% to $6.4 billion mainly due to pay-downs in our residential mortgage portfolio and forgiveness of our first round of PPP loans.
Most of that decline was offset by growth in commercial and auto loan balances.
New loan origination increased 28% from the first quarter to $674 million.
We're starting to see optimism on the part of our commercial clients.
Originations now total more than $1.2 billion as of the first half of the year.
All this bodes well for the second half of the year.
Please turn to Page 4.
At OFG, we believe better banking is built upon fulfilling our purpose.
Namely helping our customers, our people and our communities achieve their financial goals.
During the second quarter, for our customers, we quickly process forgiveness for about 75% of our first round of our PPP loans, once again, using our proprietary all digital solutions.
Our business model is putting us closer to existing and potential commercial clients to help them finance their operations and strategies.
As part of this effort, we launched a series of online educational videos to help small businesses improve their capabilities and optimize our business potential.
Even though the pandemic is subsiding here, digital utilization of our banking services has continued at high levels among both our commercial and retail customers.
Online and mobile banking 30 and 90 day utilization continue well above pre-pandemic levels.
This validates our long-standing digital strategy and its growing acceptance by our customers and the market in general.
For our people, we continue to facilitate COVID vaccinations.
As of Monday, 81% of our team members are already fully vaccinated.
We expect to reach 90% vaccination levels during the third quarter.
In 2015, we started a college scholarship program for the children of our staff.
This year, we are proud to announce that we increased the average scholarship awarded by 19%.
In our communities, we have been working on several new corporate social responsibility programs.
One program launched on the second quarter helps high school students in lower income communities to improve their personal and technological development.
We are extremely proud of all of these achievements.
At the end of the day, there is nothing more rewarding them being part of a team that delivers on its purpose.
This quarter's overall performance energizes us at OFG to work harder and to aspire for more.
Now, here's Maritza to go over the financials in more detail.
Please turn to Page 5 to review our financial highlights.
Total core revenues were $133 million.
That's an increase of about 4% from both the first and year-ago quarters.
Most of the increase from the first quarter was due to higher income from non-PCD loans.
This reflects higher revenues from commercial and auto loans, which more than offset lower interest income from pay downs in residential mortgages and forgiven PPP loans.
Net interest income also benefited by approximately $7,000 due to one extra day compared to the first quarter.
In addition, total core revenues also reflected growth in banking services from financial services.
Revenues from banking services grew 11% from the first quarter and 34% year-over-year.
These were due to expanding economic activity.
Revenue from financial services increased 12% from the first quarter and 30% year-over-year.
This was largely due to increased asset values and higher commercial insurance income.
Non-interest expenses totaled $83 million.
That is an increase of $5 million from the first quarter and a decline of $2.9 million year-over-year.
Second quarter expenses reflect that our previously announced cost savings; a $2.2 million technology write down and a higher variable expenses related to increase cost savings.
Adjusting for the write-down, our efficiency ratio would have been similar to the first quarter.
We continue to see expenses in line with our previously announced plans for the year.
Our goal by the end of 2022 is to continue to improve our efficiency ratio to the mid to lower 50% range.
Return on average assets was 1.58%.
This was significantly higher than the first year and a year-ago quarters.
This also exceeded -- it also exceeded our baseline target of more than 1%.
Return on average and tangible common equity was 17.8%.
This was also up significantly from the first year -- for the first and year-ago quarters and also exceeded our baseline target of more than 12%.
We continue to build capital.
Tangible book value per share was $18.13.
There is an increase of 4% from the first quarter and 13% from the year ago quarter.
This is the highest increase sequentially over the last five quarters.
Please turn to Page 6 to review our operational highlights.
Average loan balances total $6.6 billion.
That's a decline of $37 million from the first quarter, due primarily to residential mortgage pay downs and PPP forgiveness as I have mentioned before.
This was mostly offset by new commercial and order loans.
The change in mix enable us to expand loan yields to 6.69%, eight basis point higher than in the first quarter.
Higher levels of residential mortgage breakdown reflect increased liquidity on the part of the -- of consumers.
Our residential mortgage portfolio consists of legacy oriental [Phonetic] mortgage loans and mortgage loan from the UVA and the Scotiabank acquisition.
Almost all our new residential mortgage loan originations are confirming USA agency [Inaudible].
So, we don't typically add new production to our residential loan portfolio, instead we convert more production into Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's and sell them.
And we converted the FHA loans into the Ginnie Mae's and retain them in our securities portfolio.
During the second quarter, we added $54 million of these Ginnie Mae securities into our investment portfolio.
Total new loan origination was $674 million.
That is an increase of 28% from the first quarter.
There are gains in all major categories.
This was led by commercial and auto, followed by consumer and residential mortgage.
Approximately 50% of new commercial orders were for new money to expand business operations; building new store, warehouses, buying inventory, or making acquisitions, Our core deposits totaled $8.96 billion.
That's an increase of 5% or $427 million from the first quarter.
Increases in non-interest bearing accounts, savings accounts and non-accounts were partially offset by the declines in customer CDs [Phonetic].
Core deposit costs continue to fall.
They were 38 basis points in the second quarter.
That is a reduction of nine basis points from the first quarter.
This reflects rate reductions and the continued maturing of older, higher price CDs.
As a result of the increase in deposits average cash balances totaled $2.5 billion.
That is an increase of 14%, offset $350 million from the first quarter.
Our current strategy is to continue to look for opportunities to deploy this asset liquidity through lending, capital actions, or into investment once interest rates move up.
Net interest margin was 4.22%, a decline of only four basis points from the first quarter.
They increased amount of cash, reduce NIM by 13 basis points.
Most of that was offset by nine basis points from the lower cost of deposit.
We believe NIM is still in the range of our expectations for remaining approximately level this year.
This tends to pay [Indecipherable] review our quality and capital strength.
Asset quality trends continue to improve.
Reconstruction and the stimulus funds provided significant liquidity to businesses and individual.
Some use this to pay down their loans and lines of credit.
Our net charges hit a historical low of only 13 basis points.
The yearly and total delinquency rates at 1.86% and 3.90% respectively were at their lowest level in five quarters.
Non-performing loan rates at 2.06% was also its lowest level in five quarters if you exclude the effects of our pandemic related deferral program.
As a result of these provision for credit losses, was a net benefit of $8.3 million.
This is based on $2.1 million in net charge-offs and $10.4 million net reserve reviews.
[Technical Issues] forward as continuous elevated.
There are still concerns about COVID uncertainty for our consistent robust economic recovery.
Our [Technical Issues] service was 2.95% on a reported basis and 3.06% excluding PPP loans.
The CET ratio continues to climb, reaching 13.95%.
The stockholders' equity was $1.8 billion, a decline of $28 million from the first quarter.
This was due to the redemption of preferred stock, Series A and B, and a good portion of which was offset by the increase in retainer.
The tangible common equity ratio continues to trend to 9.06%.
Ladies and gentlemen, please standby.
Please turn to Page 8 for our conclusion.
Our performance this quarter reflects what we had anticipated to see a year after the Scotia acquisition.
Our larger scale, business approach and improved strategic positioning is coming to fruition adding to our franchise value.
Following the first quarter and now this quarter we're seeing incremental optimism on the part of the business sector to invest for the future, slowly but surely giving us confirmation of Puerto Rico's economic revival.
We at OFG are more than ready.
We have a lot of dry powder in the form of cash to deploy for growth on the loan side, but we will also continue to look closely at capital management strategies.
Operator, please open the call for question and answer.

user
q2 earnings per share $0.78.

assistant