Chemung Financial profit slips in Q3

ELMIRA —  Chemung Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: CHMG), the parent company of Chemung Canal Trust Company, on Monday announced net income of $2.2 million, or 47 cents per share, during the third quarter that ended Sept. 30.

The figures are down from the net income figure of $2.8 million, or 61 cents per share during the same quarter in 2012, the banking company said in a news release.

Excluding pre-tax acquisition expenses of $200,000, core net income for the third quarter of 2013 was $2.3 million, or 50 cents per share, according to Chemung Financial’s earnings release.

“Despite a sluggish economy in many of our markets, we continue to experience growth in our commercial and consumer loan portfolios,” Ronald Bentley, president and CEO of Chemung Financial Corp., said in the news release.

“Our branch acquisition pre-funding strategy, which included growth in securities and loans, drove an increase in net interest income for the third quarter of 2013 compared with the preceding quarter,” Bentley said.

Chemung Financial on July 12 announced that its banking subsidiary, Chemung Canal Trust Co., had agreed to buy six Bank of America branch offices located in Auburn, Cortland, Ithaca, and Seneca Falls.

In the third quarter, in anticipation of the increase in liquidity resulting from the purchase of six branches with about $260 million in deposits, the company initiated a pre-funding strategy.

The strategy involved the purchase of investment securities of varying maturities, funded with short-term FHLB advances. designates

FHLB denotes Federal Home Loan Banks, which are 12 federal-government sponsored banks that provide low-cost funding to financial institutions for loans.

The maturities and cash flows of the securities were structured to provide funding for the anticipated deployment into new commercial and consumer loans originated in the near future.

The acquisition of the branches will close in the fourth quarter of 2013.

As of Sept. 30, 2013, Chemung Financial reported total assets of $1.3 billion and $1.83 billion of assets under management or administration within its Wealth Management Division.

In addition to retail and commercial banking products, Chemung Canal provides wealth-management products, as well as trust, estate, retirement, and investment services.

Chemung Canal currently has 23 bank branches in Broome, Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, and Tompkins counties in New York and Bradford County in Pennsylvania. It also operates five branches, under the name Capital Bank, in Albany and Saratoga counties.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com