A $2 million charge-off on a single commercial real estate loan, as well as excessive snow removal costs, factored into Independent Bank Corp.’s latest quarterly earnings, company executives said this week.
Rockland Trust’s parent company recorded net income of $13.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, a 9.2 percent increase over $12.3 million in the year-ago period. The company’s first quarter results were impacted by a charge-off on a single commercial real estate loan.
During the company’s first quarter conference call, executives said the single $2.1 million charge-off was on a loan from a prior acquisition. Executives said during the call that that one loan had had a remaining book value of about $3.5 million. Altogether, the company recorded $4.1 million in charge-offs during the quarter and projected net charge-offs for the year to remain in the $9 to $12 million range.
Total assets increased 2.1 percent, or $504.8 million, to $6.2 billion at the quarter’s end. That increase included the company’s acquisition last year of Mayflower Bancorp.
Commercial loans primarily drove a 7.1 percent, or $319.8 million, increase in total loans to $4.8 billion. The company’s commercial portfolio increased 9.8 percent, or $307.6 million, to $3.4 billion during the first quarter. Accordingly, Independent Bank Corp. increased its loan loss provisions to keep pace with loan growth, to $4.5 million over $1.3 million in the corresponding quarter last year.
Year-over-year, total deposits increased 12.4 percent, or almost $563 million, to $5.1 billion.
Merger and acquisition expenses, all related to the company’s November 2013 acquisition of Mayflower Bancorp, totaled $77,000. Occupancy and equipment expenses increased $1.2 million, or 25 percent, due to $681,000 in snow removal costs and $503,000 in impairment on acquired facilities.
Independent Bank Corp. also recorded a 4.2 percent, or $187,000, increase in investment management income and continued growth in assets under administration, which totaled $2.3 billion at March 31. The company attributed much of this increase to its newly opened Boston office.
