NBT Bank net income edges up 3 percent in Q4

NORWICH, N.Y. — NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: NBTB) reported net income of $18.5 million in the fourth quarter, up more than 3 percent from $17.9 million in the year-earlier period.

Earnings per share edged up to 42 cents from 41 cents a year prior. That missed analysts’ expectations by 2 cents, according to Briefing.com data provided through Yahoo Finance.

NBT reported its earnings after the close of trading on Monday. Its share price fell more than 2 percent in Tuesday’s trading.

NBT’s core net income in the fourth quarter — excluding a gain on the sale of an equity investment, prepayment penalties on a long-term debt restructure, merger expenses, securities gains, and other items not considered core to its operations — totaled $18.5 million. That’s up from $18.4 million for the same period in 2013, NBT said. Core earnings per share were unchanged at 42 cents.

NBT Bancorp is a financial holding company headquartered in Norwich, with total assets of $7.8 billion as of the end of 2014. The company primarily operates through NBT Bank, N.A., a community bank, and through two financial-services firms. NBT Bank has more than 155 branches spread across upstate New York, northeastern Pennsylvania, northwestern Vermont, western Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire, and southern Maine.

NBT ranks second in deposit market share in the 16-county Central New York area, with $2.5 billion in total deposits and a 9.6 percent share of total market deposits, according to the latest FDIC data, as of June 30, 2014.