While United Financial Bancorp had to contend with industry-wide pressure on its margins and a variety of merger-related expenses in the past year, the company finished out the year with increases in almost all its loan categories and growth in deposits and interest income.   

The holding company for Springfield-headquartered United Bank saw a net income of $4 million for the fourth quarter last year, compared with a net loss of $4.7 million for the comparable period in 2012.

In its earnings statement, the bank said that a $4.5 million ESOP plan termination expense, a $4 million merger-related expense associated with its acquisition of New England Bancshares, a $207,000 FHLB advance prepayment fee and a $465,000 tax benefit related to those one-time items, all impacted that bottom line in 2012. In 2013, the company had to consider $598,000 worth of merger-related expenses associated with its deal with Rockville Financial and $277,000 in gains from sales of securities.

Net income for the year ended Dec. 31 totaled $17.4 million, compared with $3.5 million in the previous year.

Total loans increased $65.8 million, or 4 percent, to $1.88 billion at year’s end. This increase was driven primarily by 6 percent increases in commercial and residential mortgages and a 19 percent increase in construction loans. The bank saw a 4 percent decrease in commercial loans.

The ratio of non-performing loans to total loans was 0.87 percent for the quarter ended Dec. 31 last year, compared with 0.81 percent for the comparable period in 2012. The ratio of net charge-offs to average loans totaled 0.15 percent for the year ended Dec. 31.

Provision for loan losses increased $436,000, or 63 percent, to $1.1 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, mainly due to higher levels of charge-offs and classified loan reserves.

Core deposits increased by $71.7 million, or 6 percent, to $1.2 billion at Dec. 31, from $1.14 billion in 2012.

Net interest income increased $3.1 million, or 19 percent, to $19.4 million in the fourth quarter, as a result of an increase in average interest-earning assets partially offset by a reduction in the net interest margin. The net interest margin declined 6 basis points to 3.37 percent for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with the same period last year, reflecting a decrease in spreads in response to the competitive interest rate environment.

The company announced a quarterly cash dividend of 11 cents per share, payable on March 3, to shareholders of record as of Feb. 7.