NORWICH — NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: NBTB), parent company of NBT Bank, N.A., reported strong third-quarter growth with net income of $38.1 million, or 80 cents per share, up 54.9 percent from $24.6 million, or 54 cents a share. Much of that growth is attributable to NBT’s acquisition of Connecticut–based Salisbury Bancorp, Inc., on Aug. […]
NORWICH — NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: NBTB), parent company of NBT Bank, N.A., reported strong third-quarter growth with net income of $38.1 million, or 80 cents per share, up 54.9 percent from $24.6 million, or 54 cents a share.
Much of that growth is attributable to NBT’s acquisition of Connecticut–based Salisbury Bancorp, Inc., on Aug. 11, 2023. The acquisition added 13 branches, $1.18 billion in loans, and $1.31 billion in deposits.
“Sequential growth in net interest income and margin for the second consecutive quarter as well as strong performance from our diverse mix of fee businesses drove NBT’s positive operating performance in the third quarter of 2024,” NBT President/CEO Scott A. Kingsley said in the banking company’s Oct. 28 earnings report.
NBT reported net interest income of $101.7 million in the third quarter, up 7.1 percent from the year-ago quarter due to the increase in average loans and the interest earned on those balances combined with a more favorable funding mix.
The banking company’s non-interest income (excluding securities gains/losses, was $45.3 million in the third quarter, up 12.1 percent from the third quarter of 2023. Retirement-plan administration fees grew $1.8 million from organic growth and higher market levels, and wealth-management fees increased $1.6 million from the third quarter of 2023 driven by the addition of Salisbury revenues, organic growth, and market performance. Insurance revenue increased $600,000 with organic growth.
The Salisbury acquisition also impacted non-interest expense, which grew from $90.8 million in the third quarter of 2023 to $95.7 million in this year’s third quarter.
NBT has grown both organically and through acquisitions in recent years, and it announced another planned purchase recently. On Sept. 9, NBT said it had entered an agreement to acquire Evans Bancorp, Inc.
The all-stock transaction will add 18 Evans branches to the NBT network. Based in Williamsville, Evans had assets of $2.26 billion, deposits of $1.89 billion, and net loans of $1.74 billion as of June 30.
“The greater Buffalo and Rochester communities served by Evans are a natural extension of NBT’s footprint in upstate New York, and our shared community banking values support our strategic rationale,” Kingsley said. “We expect the merger to close in the second quarter of 2025, pending required approvals by regulatory agencies and Evans’ shareholders.”
NBT reported total deposits of $11.59 billion as of Sept. 30, up from $10.97 billion on Dec. 31, 2023, due to higher consumer-deposit balances and accounts, as well as an inflow of seasonal municipal deposits.
NBT Bancorp’s board of directors approved a fourth-quarter cash dividend of 34 cents per share, payable on Dec. 16 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 2.
Headquartered in Norwich, NBT Bancorp is the holding company for NBT Bank, which has 155 branches in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Connecticut; Rochester–based EPIC Retirement Plan Services, a national benefits-administration firm; and NBT Insurance Agency, LLC, a full-service insurance agency.
