Commercial lending boosted earnings at HarborOne Bancorp in the fourth quarter.

The holding company for HarborOne Bank posted net income totaling $2.9 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $3.6 million in the prior quarter and $1.5 million in the year-ago quarter. For the year ended Dec. 31, net income totaled $5.9 million, compared with $5.8 million in 2015.

The bank acquired its mortgage company subsidy, Merrimack Mortgage Co., on July 1, 2015 and said in a statement that the 2016 full year results included a pre-tax contribution of $4.8 million to fund the HarborOne Foundation. According to the company, without that expense, net income for the year would have totaled $8.8 million.

“We focused our efforts on prudent growth in 2016, with our successful IPO providing capital to execute our strategy, primarily through commercial real estate and commercial loan originations,” President and CEO James Blake said in a statement. “We are well positioned to continue this momentum into the New Year as we evaluate further opportunities to grow our customer base and look forward to celebrating our 100th year in 2017.”

Net interest income in the fourth quarter totaled $16.6 million, up $2.7 million or 19.2 percent from $13.9 million in the year-ago period.

Net loans increased 4 percent from the prior quarter and 14.6 percent from the year-ago quarter to $1.98 billion. During the fourth quarter, commercial real estate loans increased $44.9 million, construction loans increased $18 million, commercial and industrial loans increased $11.8 million, and consumer loans increased $7.2 million. Residential real estate loans declined $3.5 million. Mortgage loans held for sale declined $27.6 million, or 24.2 percent, to $86.4 million, which the company attributed to a seasonal decline in residential mortgage originations.

The company’s provision for loan losses totaled $1.5 million in the fourth quarter, $1.7 million in the third quarter and $15,000 for the fourth quarter of 2015. The increase in 2016 was primarily due to commercial loan growth, the company said.

The allowance for loan losses totaled $17 million or 0.85 percent of total loans at Dec. 31, compared with $15.8 million, or 0.82 percent of total loans, at Sept. 30, 2016 and $13.7 million, or 0.79 percent of total loans, at Dec. 31. Net charge-offs totaled $320,000 in the fourth quarter, or 0.06 percent of average loans outstanding on an annualized basis, compared with $317,000 and 0.07 percent for the quarter ended Sept. 30, and $318,000 and 0.07 percent for the fourth quarter in 2015.

Nonperforming assets totaled $22.9 million at Dec. 31, compared with $26 million at Sept. 30, and $31.8 million at Dec. 31, 2015. Nonperforming assets as a percentage of total assets were 0.94 percent at Dec. 31, 2016, 1.11 percent at Sept. 30, and 1.47 percent at Dec. 31, 2015.

Deposits totaled $1.8 billion at Dec. 31, up 4 percent from the prior quarter and 6.7 percent from the year-ago quarter.

Total assets increased to $2.4 billion at Dec. 31, compared with $2.3 billion at Sept. 30 and $2.16 billion a year ago.