First Niagara profit falls, but beats expectations

BUFFALO, N.Y. — First Niagara Financial Group (NASDAQ: FNFG), parent of First Niagara Bank, this morning reported second-quarter net income available to shareholders of $53.5 million, or 15 cents a share.

That’s down nearly 22 percent from $68.3 million, or 19 cents, in the year-ago quarter.

However, the 15 cents a share beat analysts’ average expectation of 14 cents, according to Zacks Investment Research.

And, Buffalo–based First Niagara’s results also topped the $43.8 million, or 12 cents per share, in net income available to shareholders that it reported in this year’s first quarter.

In early Friday trading, investors and traders seemed to embrace the latest earnings report as First Niagara shares jumped more than 2 percent to trade as high as $9.73. As of 11:20 a.m., the stock price was up 8 cents, or 0.85 percent, to $9.61. Year to date, the stock is up almost 14 percent.

“Overall, we had a better commercial-loan growth story than we thought last quarter,” Gregory Norwood, CFO, tells BJNN in a phone interview. The banking company also generated stronger fee income driven by mortgage loans. Those factors drove First Niagara to beat analysts’ earnings estimates, he says.

First Niagara says it is a multi-state, community-oriented bank with about 390 branches, $39 billion in assets, $28 billion in deposits, and about 5,400 employees across New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. 

First Niagara Bank ranked fourth in deposit market share in the 16-county Central New York market, according to June 30, 2014 FDIC statistics, the latest available. The bank had $2.2 million in deposits, good for an 8.4 percent share of the CNY market’s total deposits.

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