Springfield-based Hampden Bancorp Inc., the holding company for Hampden Bank, said it turned a $694,000 profit in the quarter ending Dec. 31, compared to $491,000 in the same period a year prior.

Interest and dividend income decreased 5.6 percent for the quarter while interest expenses decreased almost 30 percent.

The company said profit for the six months ended Dec. 31, was $1.2 million compared to $1 million for the same period in 2010.

Deposits increased $9.7 million to $427 million at Dec. 31 from $417.3 million at June 30.

Stockholders’ equity decreased $7.2 million, or 7.7 percent to $86.4 million as of Dec. 31 compared to $93.5 million at the end of June. In the last half of the year, the company purchased 694,368 shares of company stock for $8.6 million, at an average price of $12.43 per share, pursuant to the Company’s third, fourth and fifth stock repurchase programs.

The company also announced that its board of directors authorized a sixth stock repurchase program for the purchase of up to 304,280 shares, or approximately 5 percent, of the company’s outstanding common stock.

Return on average assets for the six months ending Dec. 31 was 0.43 percent compared to 0.36 percent in the same period a year ago.

The provision for loan losses in the latter half of 2011 was $400,000, compared to $600,000 in the second half of 2010.