NORWICH — NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: NBTB), parent of NBT Bank, recently reported that its net income rose more than 30 percent in the third quarter to a record $29.8 million, or 68 cents a share from $22.9 million, or 52 cents, in the year-ago period. Growth in deposits, loans, and fee-based income, as well […]
NORWICH — NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: NBTB), parent of NBT Bank, recently reported that its net income rose more than 30 percent in the third quarter to a record $29.8 million, or 68 cents a share from $22.9 million, or 52 cents, in the year-ago period.
Growth in deposits, loans, and fee-based income, as well as an improved net interest margin contributed to the growth, the Norwich–based banking company said.
NBT’s earnings per share of 68 cents in the quarter topped the consensus analyst estimate of 65 cents, according to Zacks Equity Research.
NBT’s net income for the first nine months of 2018 also grew 30 percent to a record $83.9 million, or $1.91 per share, from $64.5 million, or $1.47, for the same period last year.
“For the third quarter and through the first nine months of the year, we have achieved record net income and earnings per share,” NBT President and CEO John H. Watt, Jr., said in the company’s earnings report. “These results reflect the continuing efforts of our team to drive organic growth in loans and deposits and to grow our fee-based businesses while making important and ongoing technology investments that enable NBT to continually enhance the customer experience and create long-term shareholder value. Our ability to successfully manage deposit costs in a rising rate environment and to maintain strong asset quality is fundamental to our business.”
NBT’s fully taxable equivalent net interest margin was 3.57 percent in the third quarter of this year, up from 3.47 percent a year prior.
Net loans increased to more than $6.8 billion at the end of the third quarter from nearly $6.4 billion a year earlier. The banking company’s total deposits topped $7.4 billion in the latest quarter, up from more than $7.2 billion in the third quarter of 2017.
NBT’s total assets rose to $9.55 billion from $9.15 billion in the past year.
The banking company posted noninterest income of $33.4 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2018, up 8.5 percent from the third quarter of 2017. The increase was driven by higher retirement-plan administration fees resulting from NBT’s acquisition of Retirement Plan Services, LLC in the second quarter of 2018. Also contributing were higher insurance and other financial-services revenue gains due to account growth that were somewhat offset by lower other noninterest income due primarily to lower swap fees, the earnings report stated.
NBT’s board of directors approved a fourth-quarter 2018 cash dividend of 26 cents per share, up 1 cent, or 4 percent, from the previous dividend. The banking company will pay the new dividend on Dec. 14, to shareholders of record as of Nov. 30. Combined with NBT’s previous dividend increase in the second quarter, the quarterly dividend payable to its shareholders has risen 13 percent in 2018.
NBT Bank has 152 branches in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. NBT Bancorp also owns EPIC Retirement Plan Services, which is a Rochester–based 401(k) plan recordkeeping firm, and NBT Insurance Agency, LLC, a Norwich–headquartered full-service insurance agency.