Taunton-based Bristol County Savings Bank boosted its assets last year by $110.1 million to $1.6 billion as of its Oct. 31 fiscal year end, management said at the bank’s recent annual meeting.
“The bank’s increase in total assets is a significant achievement, especially when you consider the economic challenges of the region along with the low interest rate environment,” Board Chairman Dennis M. Cody said, according to a statement from the bank.
Bristol County Savings also increased net income $1.5 million to $11.3 million at its year end and raised its total capital $11.7 million to $235.9 million, boosting its capital ratio to 14.6 percent and exceeding the regulatory minimum to be considered well-capitalized.
Net interest margin increased to $2.4 million, offsetting lower loan yields, and non-interest income increased $2.4 million over the prior year, largely the result of the bank’s strategic emphasis on diversifying its income streams through its insurance and financial advisory services subsidiaries. Bristol County Savings also realized an additional $1.5 million in capital gains during its last fiscal year.
Net loans increased $125 million to $1.2 billion in total loans outstanding at year-end, and the bank increased its deposits by $129 million, or 12 percent, year-over-year to $1.2 billion in total deposits at year-end, which bank management said made Bristol County Savings the third largest depository in Bristol County.
In 2014, Bristol County Savings also promoted 21 employees, including seven new officers, and hired 24 new employees.
Bank executives also highlighted FBInsure’s recent acquisitions of the New Bedford-based Gramlich Insurance Agency and the Henry L. Newbury Insurance Agency in North Attleboro and Taunton. FBInsure is the bank’s insurance subsidiary.
“It was another good year for the bank driven by our constant efforts to meet and exceed customer expectations across our many and diverse product lines,” President and CEO Patrick J. Murray Jr. said in a statement.
Murray also said at the annual meeting that for the fourth consecutive year the bank’s charitable foundation contributed more than $1.4 million to non-profits within the bank’s market area.
