Net income slides in Q1 at Alliance Financial

SYRACUSE — Profit at Syracuse–based Alliance Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ALNC) fell more than 21 percent in the first quarter to $2.6 million, or 55 cents a share.

The banking company earned $3.3 million, or 70 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2011. The decrease in this year’s first quarter resulted from a decline in interest earning assets and a lower net interest margin, according to Alliance.

Still, residential mortgage and indirect auto loan originations were strong in the first quarter, Alliance President and CEO Jack Webb said in a news release.

“While maintaining our sound underwriting standards, we expect current and planned growth in these portfolios will favorably impact interest income in coming quarters,” Webb said. “Our asset quality metrics remain very strong and compare favorably with fourth quarter peer averages, with nonperforming assets dropping 21 percent in the first quarter through a combination of successful workouts and write-downs of previously identified impaired loans. Total loan delinquencies were also down 16 percent in the first quarter.”

Alliance Financial has $1.4 billion in total assets with 29 Alliance Bank branches in Cortland, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, and Oswego counties. The company also runs an investment management administration center in Buffalo and an equipment lease financing company.

Alliance is the number four bank in the Syracuse metro area deposit market with $827.8 million in deposits and a market share of 7.9 percent, according to the latest statistics from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Contact Tampone at ktampone@cnybj.com