Community Bank Q3 profit rises nearly 20 percent

DeWITT — Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE: CBU) reported net income of $22 million in the third quarter, up almost 20 percent from $18.4 million in the year-ago period.

The DeWitt–based banking company generated earnings per share (EPS) of 54 cents in the latest quarter, up 17 percent from 46 cents in third quarter of 2012, which included eight cents per share of acquisition expenses. This quarter’s EPS beat analysts’ expectations for 52 cents, according to Yahoo Finance/Thomson Financial data.

Community Bank produced revenue of $88.2 million in the third quarter of 2013, up 4.2 percent from a year prior. Revenue growth was bolstered by higher non-interest income from a larger core deposit account base, along with continued organic growth in wealth management and benefits-administration services, the banking company said.

Non-interest income rose nearly 7 percent to $27.6 million, and net interest income climbed more than 3 percent to $60.6 million, respectively, when compared to the year-ago quarter, Community Bank reported.

“We continued to perform at a very high level during the third quarter of 2013, generating record earnings, solid organic loan growth, high single-digit, year-over-year growth in financial services revenue, and continued strong asset quality metrics,” Mark E. Tryniski, president and CEO of Community Bank, said in the earnings report. “During the third quarter, we also announced an agreement to acquire eight branch-banking locations from Bank of America, N.A., which will further expand and strengthen our market presence across our Northeast Pennsylvania service footprint.”

Community Bank reported its third-quarter profit after the close of regular trading Tuesday afternoon.

In Wednesday trading, Community Bank shares were unchanged as of about 2:30 p.m. Year to date, the stock is up about 35 percent.

Community Bank System has more than $7.3 billion in assets and over 180 branch offices. Its main subsidiary, Community Bank, N.A., operates across upstate New York and Northeast Pennsylvania. Its other operating units include Benefit Plans Administrative Services, Inc., a national employee-benefits consulting and trust-administration firm with offices in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas; and the CBNA Insurance Agency, with offices in five northern New York communities. It also owns Community Investment Services, Inc. a wealth-management firm delivering financial products throughout Community Bank’s branch network; and Nottingham Advisors, an investment-management and advisory firm with offices in Buffalo and North Palm Beach, Fla.

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com