Oneida Financial profit rises almost 42 percent

ONEIDA — Across-the-board increases in interest income, non interest income, and investment gains, coupled with a decreased provision for loan losses, produced a strong first quarter for Oneida Financial Corp. 

Oneida Financial, (NASDAQ: ONFC), parent company of Oneida Savings Bank, reported net income of $2 million, or 29 cents per share, in the quarter, up nearly 42 percent from net income of $1.4 million, or 20 cents, in the year-ago period.

“Oneida Financial Corp. is pleased to report record first-quarter net income while continuing to grow our banking and insurance business,” Oneida Financial President and CEO Michael R. Kallet said in a news release. “Oneida Savings Bank is also pleased to report a record level of assets and deposits at March 31, 2012, while our insurance and financial-services subsidiaries, Bailey & Haskell Associates, Inc. and Benefit Consulting Group, Inc., once again posted record first-quarter revenue.”

Oneida Financial’s stock closed at $10.40 on April 24, the day the company released its earnings after the market close. On April 25, the share price rose 19 cents, or 1.8 percent, to close at $10.59. Year to date, Oneida Financial shares had gained 11.5 percent. 

During the first quarter, Oneida Financial’s net interest income edged up by $26,000 to $4.9 million while non-interest income increased 13.1 percent, or $790,000, to $6.8 million. That increase stems primarily from a $558,000 increase in commissions and fees on the sale of non-bank products through the company’s insurance and financial-services subsidiaries as well as a $311,000 increase in loan sale and servicing income.

Oneida Financial’s earnings results benefited from a $250,000 reduction in its provision for loan losses, which fell from $400,000 last year to $150,000 this year. Net charge-offs during the quarter totaled $43,000.

The banking company also received a boost from $97,000 in net investment gains, compared with $224,000 in losses during the first quarter of 2011, when the company took a $204,000 non-cash impairment charge in connection with some preferred securities.

Oneida Financial’s non interest expense grew during the quarter, increasing from $8.9 million a year ago to $9.4 million due to increases in compensation and employee benefits coupled with increased selling expenses related to the increase in sales of insurance and other non-banking products.

“Oneida Financial Corp. has continued to deploy our business strategies, which position us as a diversified banking and financial-services company,” Kallet said.

Headquartered in Oneida, Oneida Financial Corp. (www.oneidafinancial.com) is the parent company of Oneida Savings Bank, which has 12 branches in Madison, Oneida, and Onondaga counties; State Bank of Chittenango; Bailey, Haskell & LaLonde Agency, an insurance and risk-management company; Benefit Consulting Group, an employee-benefits consulting and retirement-plan administration firm; and Workplace Health Solutions, a risk-management company specializing in workplace-injury claims management