Berkshire Bank Q3 profit falls

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: BHLB) earned more than $10 million in the third quarter, down from the more than $11 million earned in the same quarter a year ago, the parent of Berkshire Bank announced on Monday.

The banking company’s core earnings per share in the third quarter decreased to 43 cents, down from 52 cents per share in the third quarter of 2012.

The “widely publicized” reduction in residential mortgage-refinancing demand led to a 10 cents per share, after-tax reduction in mortgage-banking fees, Berkshire Hills said in its earnings news release.

Berkshire Hills had a “good” quarter and the company’s business-expansion initiatives have driven year-to-date earnings growth, despite the “headwinds resulting from the interest-rate environment,” Michael Daly, CEO of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, said in the news release.

“At the beginning of the third quarter, we took action to further consolidate the benefits from our expansion. We renewed loan growth while trimming core expenses, achieving near-term core earnings and profitability targets,” Daly said.

The company expects to accomplish its long-term objectives through market-share growth in its New England and New York footprint, he added.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp on July 24 announced that its banking subsidiary, Berkshire Bank, agreed to acquire 20 retail bank branches in New York state from Bank of America, including 11 in Oneida and Herkimer counties.

The area branches include four in Utica and two in Rome, plus one office each in Ilion, West Winfield, Little Falls, New Hartford, and Whitesboro.

The company has made “good progress towards completing the purchase of 20 New York branches from Bank of America,” Daly said.

“We are targeting overall, positive operating leverage in 2014 based on revenue growth and efficiency goals,” he added.

In other company news, Berkshire Hills on Oct. 15 announced the promotion of George Bacigalupo to executive vice president of commercial banking.

In addition, the firm’s board of directors also voted to declare a cash dividend of 18 cents per share to shareholders of record at the close of business on Nov. 14, payable on Nov. 27, the company said.

Pittsfield, Mass.–based Berkshire Hills Bancorp has assets of $5.5 billion and 74 branches in Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. The company first entered the Central New York market in 2011 with its acquisition of Rome Savings Bank and acquired DeWitt–based Beacon Federal last October.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com