Brookline Bancorp Inc., the holding company for Brookline Bank, Bank Rhode Island and the First National Bank of Ipswich, said it made a $27.6 million profit in 2011 compared to $26.9 million the prior year.

In the fourth quarter, the company reported a $7.1 million profit compared to $6.4 million in the same period a year earlier and $6.3 million in the previous quarter.

Net earnings from operations were $7.6 million for the quarter, and included an after-tax expense of $499,000 related to the acquisition of Bancorp Rhode Island Inc. Merger-related expenses for the year were $1.3 million and included the acquisition of First Ipswich.

The bank’s total assets were $3.3 billion, a 21 percent increase over 2010 and a 4.5 percent increase from the end of the third quarter. Its loan portfolio grew to $2.7 billion at the end of 2011, up more than 20 percent from 2010. In a statement, the bank attributed the bump to organic growth of 11.9 percent among all major loan categories and the addition of $203.1 million in loans from the First Ipswich acquisition.

The First Ipswich purchase also brought $212.2 million in new deposits last year, helping fuel an almost 25 percent year-over-year jump in total deposits to $2.3 billion by the end of last year.

Brookline ended the year with $110.5 million in net interest income, a 14.4 percent increase from 2010.

Non-interest income was $4.8 million, an increase of $2.6 million over 2010. The increase included a $1.5 million pre-payment penalty charged by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, which was partially offset by $834,000 in gains on the sale of securities.

The company’s return on average assets was 0.90 percent for the year compared to 1.01 percent the previous year.

Brookline said it would pay a dividend of 8.5 cents per share.