Randolph-based Envision Bank reported positive net earnings for 2019 after enduring two years of losses, showing efforts to turn the lender around may be succeeding.

The bank had net income at the end of 2019 of $3.43 million, or $0.64 per share, compared to a net loss of $2.09 million or $0.37 per share at the end of 2018. The former Randolph Savings Bank, which also had losses in 2017, rebranded as Envision Bank in 2018.

The second quarter of 2019 was Envision’s first profitable quarter since 2016. Earnings continued to rise in the fourth quarter, with $828,000 in net income, or $0.16 per share, compared to a net loss of $228,000, or $0.04 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Total assets did decrease in the fourth quarter 2019 to $631 million compared to $641.4 million at the end of September 2019, a 1.7 percent decrease. The bank saw a $31.6 million reduction in loans held for sale during the fourth quarter, which the bank attributed to a seasonal decline in home purchases and a dip in loan refinancing activity. The reduction in loans held for sale was partially offset by increases in the loan and investment portfolios of $11.9 million and $10.3 million, respectively.

President and CEO James P. McDonough said in a statement that the turnaround in operating results in 2019 had been extremely gratifying. He said the fourth quarter 2018 initiatives, including the consolidation of mortgage banking operations and the expansion of the bank’s geographic footprint to central and western Massachusetts with fully staffed loan origination offices, paved the way for the turnaround.

Envision then increased its production capabilities by adding an experienced team of loan originators in Boston’s MetroWest region, McDonough said, at a time when refinancing activity had slowed and sales margins had contracted.

“By enhancing our capacity to generate additional revenues, we were well positioned in 2019 to take advantage of the boom in loan refinancing activity resulting from the decline in mortgage rates which started in the first quarter of the year,” McDonough said.

He added that Envision closed $969 million in residential mortgage loans in 2019, an increase of almost 90 percent from 2018.

Envision also made progress on a key initiative during the second half of 2019 to grow non-brokered deposits, which increased $27.2 million for an annualized growth rate of 14.3 percent.

“We believe that our core checking account acquisition efforts working with a nationally recognized organization specializing in such programs, combined with our use of business development officers and a focus on the need for competitively priced products for both consumer and business customers, position us well to sustain this momentum into 2020,” he said.

McDonough is approaching the end of his tenure at Envision Bank. He plans to retire on April 1, with former Blue Hills Bank leader William Parent taking over.