Pittsfield’s Berkshire Hill Bancorp Inc. has reported $3.6 million in net income for the fourth quarter, a significant turnaround from the $24.2 million loss reported during the same period in 2009.
The company, which recently acquired Legacy Bancorp in Pittsfield and New York’s Rome Bancorp, reported $13.7 million in net income for all of 2010. This is also an improvement from the $16.1 million lost in 2009. A higher loan loss provision was recorded in last year’s fourth quarter, according to a statement.
Total pre-tax, pre-provision income increased by $6.4 million (32 percent) in 2010 compared to 2009, demonstrating the positive operating leverage from revenue growth and expense control. The company achieved this result while also absorbing the start-up losses of its expansion initiatives, including asset based lending, private banking, and de novo branches. On a seasonally adjusted basis, revenue growth and profitability were the strongest in the final quarter, creating strong momentum for further gains in 2011, according to a statement.
"We closed 2010 with our strongest quarterly core revenue growth of the year, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Our results exceeded our expectations for the quarter and for the year, with strong business generation in all of our regions and very solid contributions from our new asset based lending and private banking teams," said Michael P. Daly, president and chief executive officer. "This brought our full year core earnings per share to $1.01, before 2-cents in merger related charges. We produced positive operating leverage throughout the year by combining revenue growth with expense control, including a 1 percent decrease in fourth quarter core expenses before merger charges. Our asset quality has remained favorable, with improvements in major credit metrics in each quarter. We also continued our New York expansion, with the opening of two new branches in the fourth quarter. Our team has aggressively pursued growth and profitability initiatives in all business lines, producing high quality earnings and revenue growth for the year."
Daly said he expects the company will complete its acquisitions by midyear 2011, bringing total assets to more than $4 billion, with more than 60 branch offices, including 24 in the New York region.
The board of directors maintained the cash dividend on Berkshire’s common stock, declaring a dividend of 16-cents per share to stockholders of record at the close of business on Feb. 10 and payable on Feb. 24. The 64-cent full year dividend in 2010 provided a 3.3 percent yield based on the average closing price of Berkshire’s common stock in 2010, according to a statement.
