First Niagara’s second-quarter profit edges up 4 percent

BUFFALO, N.Y. — First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: FNFG) today reported that its second-quarter net income increased to $66.2 million, or 19 cents a share, from $63.6 million, or 18 cents, in the year-ago period.

That beat the consensus analyst estimate of 18 cents by one penny, according to Capital IQ and Yahoo Finance.

“The penny beat was largely because of better taxes,” Gregory W. Norwood, First Niagara’s chief financial officer, told CNYBJ.com.

The Buffalo–based parent company of First Niagara Bank N.A. saw its effective tax rate decline to 14 percent from 19.6 percent in the previous quarter, reflecting its receipt of state tax credits from prior years.

However, First Niagara also reported substantial loan growth.

Average total loans increased 7 percent annualized from the prior quarter, driven by continued growth in the company’s commercial lending, indirect auto, and home-equity portfolios, the earnings report stated.

Average commercial loans, which include commercial business and commercial real-estate loans, increased to $13.5 billion, or an 8 percent annualized increase from the previous quarter.

“The key was all the bank’s [target markets] posting strong loan growth, including New York and also all individual product types,” Norwood said.

First Niagara says it is a multi-state community-oriented bank with about 410 branches, $39 billion in assets, $27 billion in deposits, and 5,900 employees serving New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. 

First Niagara is the fourth largest bank in the 16-county Central New York market ranked by deposit market share.

For much more on the banking company’s earnings report, see the Banking & Wealth Management special report in the Aug. 1 issue of The Central New York Business Journal.

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com