Profits up at Bank of Newport

NEWPORT — Bank of Newport, the nation’s oldest mutual savings bank, reported
earnings of $4.9 million for the year, an increase of 7.3 percent, at the bank’s
annual meeting recently. Jack Ellis, the bank’s president and chief executive
officer, attributed the increase in part to the bank’s ability to diversity into
such areas as insurance and financial services, and said that if the bank is to
grow it needs to continue to diversify. The bank acquired Braman & White LLC,
a full service insurance agency, in 1999, and Corrigan Financial, Inc., a financial
planning, tax preparation and investment management firm, in 1997. Ellis also
said the bank’s assets topped $727 million, up $84 million; year-end loans were
$517 million, up $90 million; residential mortgage production was $139 million;
commercial lending produced $27 million in new loan commitments, up from $16 million;
and deposits were up 12.5 percent to $500 million.