Losses at Pittsfield’s Legacy Bancorp Inc., the holding company for Legacy Banks, grew in the first quarter. The company reported a net loss of $1.2 million for the quarter ended March 31, compared to a net loss of $792,000 for the same period last year.

The first quarter decrease was the result of an increase in the provision for loan losses, partially offset by a decrease in charges on investments deemed to be other-than-temporarily impaired (OTTI), according to a statement.

"While we are disappointed to start off 2010 by reporting a net loss, there are also some bright and encouraging components within our report for the first quarter," said J. Williar Dunlaevy, chief executive officer. "We continue to be disciplined each and every quarter in assessing credit quality … The result is that in the first quarter we added to our loan loss reserves and also took charge-offs against certain non-performing loans. While these charge-offs have lowered the overall reserve ratio to 1.25 percent, much of those amounts were reserved for in previous quarters. As a result of the charges taken, the levels of non-performing loans and assets declined significantly."

He added: "On the positive side, we are very pleased with the deposit growth generated by our branch network in the first quarter, which has allowed us to continue to reduce our borrowings from the Federal Home Loan Bank. Additionally, we have been diligent in reducing the overall cost of funds, resulting in an increase to our net interest margin as compared to the fourth quarter of 2009."

The bank has gone through some recent changes, including Patrick J. Sullivan’s appointment as president and CEO of Legacy Banks and president of Legacy Bancorp, effective April 1.

The company also recently acquired Pittsfield’s Renaissance Investment Group LLC, an independent investment advisory company.