PROVIDENCE – Bank Rhode Island reported a year-over-year gain in its earnings – this time of 9.4 percent – for the second consecutive quarter to $2.2 million, an increase of $188,000 from the year-ago period. BankRI’s corporate parent, Bancorp Rhode Island Inc., added that diluted earnings per share were 44 cents, up from 41 cents a year earlier.
But the profit increase was due, in part, to the fact that in the second quarter of 2006, BankRI was unable to record about $148,000, net of tax, of Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston stock dividend income because the FHLB deferred its second-quarter dividend.
Still, BankRI did achieve growth on key fronts: Revenue from interest and non-interest sources totaled $24 million, an increase of 6.2 percent compared with the second quarter of 2006; total deposits were $1.03 billion as of June 30, up $9.3 million from year-end 2006; and there was year-over-year growth in most major deposit categories and current-quarter growth of $16.8 million in demand deposits.
The commercial loan portfolio, a crucial part of BankRI’s business, also has kept growing, to $542.7 million as of June 30, up 4 percent from year-end 2006 levels of $519.8 million.
BankRI’s net interest margin for the second quarter was 2.97 percent, unchanged from the first quarter.
In a news release, President and CEO Merrill W. Sherman said she was “pleased” with the quarterly results, which she said, “continue to reflect our focus on commercial growth and expense management.” She added: “We look forward to continuing to build value for all of our shareholders.”
Bancorp Rhode Island Inc. (Nasdaq: BARI) is the parent of Bank Rhode Island, a state-chartered, FDIC-insured institution with 16 branches in Providence, Kent and Washington counties. Additional information on BankRI and its parent company is available at bankri.com.
