Two area banks boost worker pay, citing tax reform law

M&T Bank and Berkshire Bank, both major players in the Central New York banking market, have announced they will be increasing pay for some workers as a result of the tax-cut legislation recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump.

M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB) announced Wednesday it would raise wages for hourly paid employees to a range of $14 to $16 per hour, depending on where the employee works. It said it was doing so “in anticipation of the improvement in after-tax income it expects to recognize as a result of federal tax reform.”

In a news release, the Buffalo–based banking company added, “This increase will represent an investment in employees of $25 million, once fully implemented.”

The bank also said it would grant employees 40 hours of paid time a year for volunteer or employee-resource group activities “of their choice.” In addition, M&T contributed $50 million to its charitable foundation in 2017, almost triple its average contribution for the past decade.

“At M&T, we put what is in the best interest of our employees, customers and communities at the center of all that we do,” Allen Naples, M&T Bank’s regional president in Syracuse, said in an email statement. “We’re proud to be able to recognize our colleagues in this manner…”

M&T Bank ranks number one in deposit market share in the 16-county Central New York area, with a nearly 20 percent market share.

Berkshire Bank’s parent, Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NASDAQ: BHLB), recently announced it was raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour, providing a $1,000 bonus to more than 1,000 employees who earn below a certain threshold, and increasing spending on employee development and training.

In addition, the Massachusetts–headquartered banking company, with $11.6 billion in assets, said it would contribute $2 million to its charitable foundation.

Locally, Berkshire Bank ranks number 3 in deposit market share in the two-county Utica–Rome metro area with $635 million in deposits, good for a 15 percent market share, through 13 branches in the region, according to the latest available FDIC data.

Berkshire Bank has 10 branches in Oneida County and three offices in Herkimer County. It also has a couple branches in Onondaga County — in DeWitt and East Syracuse, respectively.

M&T earnings

On Thursday, M&T issued its earnings results for the fourth quarter of 2017. Revenue was down slightly to $322 million from $331 million in the fourth quarter of 2016. Earnings per share were up 2 percent to $2.01 from $1.98 in the year-ago quarter.

The bank reported that the new tax law affected its current earnings by making net deferred tax assets less valuable, resulting in an additional expense of $85 million in the fourth quarter, which it said represented 56 cents of earnings per share. The bank’s increased donation to its charitable foundation reduced net income by $27 million, or 18 cents a share.

“Fourth quarter results were negatively impacted by the newly enacted tax legislation, but a lower corporate tax rate in the future should provide many benefits to M&T,” said Darren J. King, the bank’s executive VP and chief financial officer, noted in the report.

Contact McChesney at cmcchesney@cnybj.com

**Updated on Friday 1/19 with Naples statement.