Citizens Financial Group Inc., ending its first year as an independent bank, on Friday reported a jump in fourth-quarter profit but a slight decline in overall earnings for all of 2015.

The Providence-based bank, spun off from the Royal Bank of Scotland PLC last year, reported fourth-quarter profit of $221 million, 12 percent higher than the same time in 2014. The bank posted profit of 42 cents per share, on target with what Bloomberg’s survey of analysts had expected.

For 2015 overall, the bank’s profit slipped about 4 percent to $840 million, from $865 million in 2014. Bank officials attributed the decline primarily to a one-time gain in 2014, when Citizens sold its Chicago-area branches.

Bruce Van Saun, the chief executive of Citizens, said he was pleased with the results. “We are building things the right way to be sustainable for the long term,’’ he said.

Investors, however, were not as impressed. Citizens stock lost 55 cents a share, or 2.6 percent, to close at $20.78.

Van Saun said that Citizens would focus on improving the bank’s technology and expanding its consumer and commercial loan portfolios. He added that the bank may be ready in 2017 to start buying smaller institutions to expand.

Deirdre Fernandes can be reached at deirdre.fernandes@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @fernandesglobe.