BofA among local banks posting improved results

Financial giant Bank of America Corp., two regional banks and a small Newport-based bank rebounded in recent weeks from lackluster performances in 2009 to post improved numbers for the first quarter.
Bank of America said it made $3.2 billion in the first three months of 2010, its first profitable period in three quarters, while Rockland, Mass.-based Independent Bank Corp., parent of Rockland Trust Co., said it made $9.23 million, a 44 percent improvement from the same period a year earlier.
At the same time, Webster Financial Corp. said its operations also made money in the first quarter, but the cost of its shrinking involvement in the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program led to a $6.07 million loss for common shareholders.
Still, the performance was an improvement for Webster – the parent of Webster Bank – which had recorded an $11.1 million loss a year earlier.
And Newport Bancorp Inc., the holding company for Newport Federal Savings Co., turned things around, too.
After turning in a $7,000 loss in the first quarter 2009, NewportFed said it made $101,000 in the same period this year.
“With each day that passes, the 2010 story appears to be one of continuing credit recovery, and our results reflect a gradually improving economy,” Bank of America CEO and President Brian T. Moynihan said in a statement.
In some cases, the turnaround for the banks was in part attributed to lower interest rates, which reduced interest expenses.
Webster, for instance, recorded interest expense of $46.44 million, 37 percent lower than the $73.56 million a year earlier. And NewportFed said its expense from deposits declined $495,000 to $712,000 in the first quarter.
The banks reported mixed conditions for their loan portfolios.
NewportFed and Independent said separately that credit quality had declined in the first quarter. NewportFed boosted by two-thirds its loan-loss provision to $314,000, as the bank said nonperforming assets had doubled as of March 31 and it had charged off some loans.
Independent also increased its set-aside for bad loans, from $4 million a year ago to $4.65 million, as nonperforming assets grew to $41.84 million as of March 31, up from $36.18 million three months earlier.
Webster, however, touted an apparent improvement in its credit quality. Nonperforming assets declined more than 6 percent between Dec. 31 and March 31 to $349 million as of March 31, and charge-offs shrank 21 percent to $43.1 million in three months.
“Improvement was seen in several key asset-quality indicators,” Jerry Plush, Webster’s chief financial officer and chief risk officer, said in a statement. “While we remain cautious with regard to credit, these positive outcomes favorably impacted our results in the quarter.” &#8226