$1.9M earnings at Empire National

Empire National Bank of Islandia reported year-end earnings of $1.9 million, its first full year of profitability after three years in business. A year ago the bank lost $5.5 million.

The report comes a couple of months after its federal regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, demanded that the bank take steps to improve earnings. Bank chief executive Douglas Manditch said the results show the bank has been in compliance with the order since before it was issued.

"We feel the bank is in very strong financial condition," Manditch said, noting that earnings increased even as the bank set aside more money to cover potential bad loans. The bank's bad loan percentage remained low, at 1.02 percent of total loans.

Empire continued to grow, with total assets up 30.3 percent to $328.1 million and deposits rose by 25.2 percent to $252.2 million. Manditch said the bank's condition is strong enough that he feels comfortable attempting to raise more capital later this year.

The bank has three branches.

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