Bridge Bancorp earns $4.3M as loans grow

Bridge Bancorp, parent of the 26-branch Bridgehampton National Bank, said Monday that growth in loans and net interest income provided a 33 percent hike in net income that would have been higher if not for a $200,000 charge for the acquisition earlier this year of FNBNY Bancorp, parent of the First National Bank of New York.

The Bridgehampton-based Bridge said net income was $4.3 million or 37 cents a share in the three months ended June 31, up from $3.3 million or 36 cents a share in the same period last year. "Core" net income, excluding securities gains and losses, and the FNBNY acquisition costs, was a record $4.5 million or 39 cents a share, the bank said. FNBNY was acquired in February.

Bridge said net interest income, the difference between the revenue that is generated from a bank's assets, such as loans and securities, and the expenses associated with paying out its liabilities, such as interest on customer deposits, rose by 37 percent to $16.8 million.

Total assets were $2.2 billion, 27 percent higher than June 2013.

Total loans and associated fees rose 34 percent to $1.2 billion.

"The record results this quarter reflect the positive aspects of the recently completed acquisition, coupled with the continued momentum from our long-term strategy to broaden the franchise," Kevin M. O'Connor, president and CEO of Bridge, said in a statement.

Net interest margin, another measure of the difference between the interest a bank earns on its assets such as loans and the interest it pays out to depositors, increased to 3.36 percent from 3.23 percent.

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