OSWEGO — Pathfinder Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBHC) recently reported that its second quarter net income rose three-fold to $1.8 million from $607,000 a year ago, boosted by strong revenue growth and earning-asset increases, as well as expense reductions. The holding company for Pathfinder Bank said its earnings per share rose to 31 cents from 11 […]
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OSWEGO — Pathfinder Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBHC) recently reported that its second quarter net income rose three-fold to $1.8 million from $607,000 a year ago, boosted by strong revenue growth and earning-asset increases, as well as expense reductions.
The holding company for Pathfinder Bank said its earnings per share rose to 31 cents from 11 cents a year earlier. Pathfinder’s second-quarter revenue (net- interest income, before provision for loans losses, and total noninterest income) totaled $9.2 million, up nearly 16 percent from $7.9 million in the second quarter of 2019.
Pathfinder’s second quarter net-interest income improved to $7.6 million, up 14 percent from $6.7 million for the prior-year quarter.
The bank’s second quarter 2020 provision for loan losses was $1.1 million, an increase of $536,000 compared to $610,000 for last year’s second quarter, primarily a result of continued uncertainty regarding potential credit losses due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
Pathfinder’s total interest-earning assets as of June 30, 2020 were $1.1 billion, an increase of almost 19 percent from $922.2 million a year before.
Total loans stood at $806 million as of June 30, up 3 percent from $781.5 million as of Dec. 31, 2019, and up 16 percent from $692.8 million as of June 30, 2019
Total deposits of $970.6 million as of June 30, 2020 were up 10 percent from the start of 2020 and up 20 percent from a year earlier.
Impact of COVID-19
“The first six months of 2020, and particularly the second quarter, was unpredictable and highly unusual, relative to any other economic disruption in my 20 years as Pathfinder Bank’s leader, and in my 37 years in the financial services industry,” Thomas W. Schneider, president and CEO of Pathfinder Bancorp and Pathfinder Bank, said in the banking company’s Aug. 3 earnings report.
Pathfinder said its participation in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small businesses and nonprofits resulted in the funding of 680 loans, totaling $75.1 million, to existing and new customers within its market.
“We expect the PPP loan forgiveness process to occur primarily throughout the second-half of 2020 and result, along with anticipated lower funding costs, in an enhancement to net interest margin,” the banking company said.
Pathfinder says its branch operations have largely fully resumed following earlier shutdowns amid the pandemic.
“I am also pleased to be able to report that our branch locations returned to ‘close-to-normal’ operations by the latter part of the [second] quarter. While we continue to maintain strict adherence to physical distancing and hygiene protocols, at all of our facilities, we can say that the majority of our personal service options have been fully restored. The protocols in place are designed to protect the health of our customers and our critical front-line employees, and will remain in effect, for the duration of this pandemic response,” Schneider said. “We continue to encourage our customers to utilize our various digital channels and drive-through facilities for transactions whenever possible. We are confident that these alternative-service delivery capabilities will effectively handle most regular banking transactions in a manner that is both safe and continuously available.”
The chief executive continued, “We are fortunate that, to this point in time, our Central New York market area has been less impacted by COVID-19 than the downstate regions of New York State. The downstate regions had a much higher incidence of infection and resultant disruption to personal routines and business activity, than we have experienced in Central New York. Our region was able to move through New York State’s strict reopening protocols more quickly than most other areas, which was beneficial to our individual and business customers alike. As a result, we are starting to see a return to more normal individual and business transaction activity.”
Pathfinder Bank is a New York State chartered commercial bank headquartered in Oswego. The bank has 10 full-service offices located in its market areas consisting of Oswego and Onondaga County and one limited-purpose office in Oneida County.
