Century Bank continued to see the number of loans needing COVID-19 modifications drop in the fourth quarter and ended the year with record earnings.

The Medford-based bank had record net income in 2020 of $42.2 million, or $7.58 per Class A share diluted, an increase of 6.3 percent compared to net income of $39.69 million, or $7.13 per Class A share diluted, in 2019.

Fourth quarter net income totaled $11.6 million or $2.08 per Class A share diluted, an increase of 8.1 percent compared to net income of $10.73 million, or $1.93 per Class A share diluted, for the fourth quarter of 2019.

For the third time this year, Century’s board increased the quarterly shareholder dividend after more than 15 years without an increase. The dividend increased from $0.16 per share to $0.18 per share on Class A common stock and from $0.08 per share to $0.09 per share on Class B common stock.

Century ended the year with $6.36 billion in total assets, up 15.8 percent from $5.49 billion at the end of 2019. Century had nearly $3 billion in loans at the end of 2020 compared to $2.4 billion in 2019, and about $5.4 billion in deposits on Dec. 31, an increase of about 24 percent compared to 2019.

The bank as of Dec. 31 had COVID-19 modifications on 20 loans totaling $25.02 million, Century said in a statement. These loans primarily had short-term payment deferrals, and all were performing according to their modified terms. At the end of the third quarter, 33 of Century’s loans with COVID-19 modifications for $37.98 million.

Net interest income totaled $106.8 million in 2020 compared to $95.8 million in 2019. The bank said the 11.5 percent increase was primarily due to a decrease in interest expense from falling interest rates. Still, the net interest margin decreased from 2.10 percent for 2019 to 2.00 percent for 2020, primarily because of increased margin pressure from the decrease in interest rates across the yield curve, the bank said.

Century’s allowance for loan losses was $35.5 million or 1.18 percent of loans outstanding on Dec. 31 compared to $29.6 million or 1.22 percent of loans on Dec. 31, 2019. Century said the ratio decreased primarily due to Payroll Protection Program loans, which are guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration and do not require an allowance for loan losses.

Unlike some other stock banks, Century did not adopt the current expected credit losses (CECL) standard in 2020, delaying the new accounting method as allowed under the CARES Act. The latest COVID-related legislation signed at the end of December delays CECL adoption further to Jan. 1, 2022, or the start of the fiscal year that begins after the national emergency terminates, whichever is earlier.

Century’s provision for loan losses was $5.8 million in 2020 compared to $1.25 million in 2019.