BancorpRI sees 67% drop in 2Q profit

PROVIDENCE – Bancorp Rhode Island Inc., the parent of Bank Rhode Island, last week posted a second-quarter profit of $740,000, a 66.98 percent drop from the year-ago period’s $2.24 million.
Earnings per diluted share sank to 7 cents, down from 49 cents in the same quarter a year earlier and far below the 14 cent consensus estimates of analysts who follow BancorpRI, according to Yahoo!Finance.
Second-quarter revenue fell 6.53 percent to $21 million from $22.47 million in the second quarter of 2008.
Merrill W. Sherman, BancorpRI president and CEO, cited higher-than-normal premiums from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as a reason for the smaller second-quarter profit. The payment to the FDIC totaled $1.18 million – and included a special fee assessed to all member institutions to replenish the insurance fund – compared with $162,000 a year earlier.
The bank’s commercial portfolio grew to $711.64 million as of June 30, a gain of $53.22 million – or 8.08 percent – from the start of 2009. Total deposits came to $1.08 billion at the half-year mark, up $42 million – or 4.03 percent – from the Jan. 1 level. &#8226