Low interest rates are beginning to take their toll on the state’s largest residential lender.

Topeka-based Capitol Federal Savings reported Monday that its first quarter earnings tumbled by 43 percent from the same period a year ago. The company reported earnings of 17 cents per share, compared with 30 cents per share during the same period last year.

Kent Townsend, senior vice president and controller for Capitol Federal, said the lower interest rates the bank charges for home mortgage loans were the primary reason for the decline in earnings.

“A lot of people are refinancing and that’s reducing the amount of interest income we receive from those loans,” he said.

The amount of interest the bank pays customers on their deposits also has decreased, but not enough to offset the lower mortgage rates, Townsend said.

The entire banking industry is struggling with declining revenues as a result of lower mortgage rates, but Capitol Federal’s earnings were significantly lower than several other regional bank companies that are publicly traded. UMB Bank and Commerce Bancshares, two Kansas City, Mo.-based banks that are among Capitol Federal’s largest competitors, both posted higher earnings during the first quarter.

Townsend said Capitol Federal was different than other banks because it was more strictly focused on residential lending, and limits the amount of commercial loans it makes.

“That limits our flexibility a little bit in comparison to other types of institutions,” Townsend said. “But we think it is still a good strategy for us because residential lending is where our expertise is. There are economic times where we have outperformed the industry with that strategy.”

The company, as is its practice, did not issue guidance for the current quarter or the remainder of the year.

The company’s board of directors, though, did reaffirm its commitment to continue issuing quarterly and year-end dividends to its stockholders. But Townsend refused to comment on the possible amount of the dividends.

Shares of Capitol Federal fell by $1.17, or 3.69 percent, to close at $30.51 in trading Monday on the Nasdaq.