Income, earnings rise at Chemung Financial

ELMIRA — Last April’s acquisition of Fort Orange Financial Corp., along with several other factors, boosted first-quarter net income and earnings per share at Chemung Financial Corp.

Net income rose 117 percent to $3.6 million, up from $1.7 million a year ago, while earnings per share rose nearly 70 percent from 46 cents to 78 cents.

“The significant increase in our first-quarter net income compared to the first quarter of last year was due in part to a $1.032 million decrease in one-time pre-tax costs related to our acquisition of Fort Orange,” Chemung President and CEO Ronald Bentley said in a news release.

In addition, Chemung received a $759,000 flood insurance reimbursement to cover damage to the company’s Owego and Tioga offices, which reopened this past February after flooding last year.

The Fort Orange acquisition, Bentley said, had the most impact on Chemung’s increase in net interest income, which rose nearly 41 percent to $12 million. A portion of the increase is the result of payments received on certain loans acquired from Fort Orange’s Capital Bank, while the rest is due to the Capital Bank acquisition and the resulting increase in average earning assets.

Since Dec. 31, total assets increased 3.1 percent to $1.25 billion and total deposits increased 4 percent to $1.03 billion. Total loans grew less than 1 percent to $803 million, due in large part to loan growth at Capital Bank.

Headquartered in Elmira, Chemung Financial Corp. (www.chemungcanal.com) is the holding company for Chemung Canal Trust Co., which has $1.25 billion in total assets and 28 offices in eight New York counties as well as Bradford County, Pa. The company also owns CFS Group, Inc., a financial-services subsidiary offering services including mutual funds, annuities, brokerage services, tax preparation, and insurance.

Contact DeLore at tgregory@tgbbj.com