NBT reports 18 percent profit growth in Q4 and 2024

NORWICH — NBT Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NBTB), the parent company of NBT Bank, N.A., reported strong profit growth for both the fourth quarter of 2024 as well as the full year 2024, following the integration of acquired Salisbury Bancorp, Inc., in August 2023. NBT generated fourth-quarter net income of $36 million, or 76 cents per share, up more than 18 percent from $30.4 million, or 64 cents, in the fourth quarter of 2023. Full-year net income at the Norwich–based banking and financial-services company totaled $140.6 million, or $2.97 per share, also up over 18 percent from $118.8 million, or $2.65 per share, in 2023. “Three consecutive quarters of growth in net interest income and margin along with continued strong results from our diverse mix of fee business drove NBT’s operating performance in the fourth quarter of 2024,” NBT President/CEO Scott A. Kingsley said in the Jan. 27 profit report. During a Jan. 28 conference call with investors, analysts, and the media, Kingsley noted that all three of NBT’s non-banking subsidiaries — NBT Insurance Agency, LLC; EPIC Retirement Plan Services; and wealth-management services — performed well, helping drive noninterest income up 11 percent to $42.2 million. He credits strong financial markets for some of that increase. The integration of Salisbury Bancorp in August added 13 branches, $1.18 billion in loans, and $1.31 billion in deposits to NBT in 2024. Total deposits at NBT Bank were $11.55 billion as of Dec. 31, 2024, up 5.3 percent from the end of 2023. In 2025, NBT Bancorp is going full steam ahead on its planned acquisition of Evans Bancorp, Inc., with plans to close the transaction sometime in the second quarter, after NBT received the required regulatory and shareholder approvals in late 2024. NBT and Evans entered into the all-stock transaction agreement on Sept. 9. The acquisition will add Evans’ 18 Western New York branches into the NBT Bank network. Evans has assets of $2.28 billion, deposits of $1.9 billion, and net loans of $1.76 billion. “Our partnership with Evans is a natural geographic expansion of NBT’s footprint,” Kingsley said during the conference call. He noted the deal isn’t just about adding Evans branches, but also actively growing NBT in the western part of the state. “I think we feel very bullish there is growth opportunity for us.” As of afternoon trading on Jan. 29, NBT’s stock price was almost unchanged year to date, but up about 24 percent in the last 12 months. Headquartered in Norwich, NBT Bancorp is the parent company of NBT Bank, with 155 branches in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Connecticut; EPIC Retirement Services, a national benefits-administration firm in Rochester; and NBT Insurance Agency, a full-service insurance agency based in Norwich.