ROCKLAND, Mass. – For the quarter ended Sept. 30, Rockland Trust Co.’s parent, Independent Bank Corp. (Nasdaq: INDB), last night posted a profit of $8.3 million, a 2.85-percent decline from the third quarter last year.
Profit per diluted share fell 2 cents compared with the year-ago period, to 60 cents per share, as total net income fell $244,000 or 2.8 percent to $8.3 million.
Net interest income fell 6.91 percent to $39.9 million, “as anticipated due to the strategic repositioning of the balance sheet,” the company said, though the net interest margin widened to 3.98 percent from 3.89 percent a year earlier. Non-interest income rose 9.52 percent to $7.7 million.
Total deposits fell to $2.0 billion on Sept. 30 – a decline of 1.9 percent over the quarter and 3.7 percent since the beginning of the year – reflecting “a managed decrease … consistent with balance-sheet funding needs,” Independent Bank Corp. said.
The company reported return on average assets of 1.24 percent in the third quarter and return on average equity of 15.57 percent, versus returns of 1.17 percent and 15.56 percent in the same period in 2006.
On Aug. 14, it completed the 1 million share stock repurchase program announced Dec. 14, acquiring the full million shares of common stock at a price of $30.70 per share. Since January 2006, the company has repurchased 1.8 million shares or about 12 percent of those previously outstanding.
In another after-hours announcement yesterday, Independent Bank Corp. joined with Slades Bank parent Slade’s Ferry Bancorp of Somerset in announcing a $105 million cash-and-stock merger plan. (READ MORE)
Independent Bank Corp. (Nasdaq: INDB) is the parent of Rockland Trust Co., a full-service community bank with $2.7 billion in assets that serves southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod. Additional information is available at www.RocklandTrust.com.
