First National Bank of LI parent says earnings up 31%

Earnings are up sharply for the First of Long Island Corp., the Glen Head company that owns the First National Bank of Long Island.
 
The company reported net income of $9.6 million for the first half of the year, up 31.2 percent over the same period last year. Earnings per share were $1.31, up 29.7 percent for the same period.
 
The bank company attributed most of the improvement to growth in sales of tax-exempt securities and relatively low-risk loans, such as apartment building, owner-occupied commercial and residential mortgages.
 
The earnings growth came despite the bank setting aside another $1.6 million to cover potential bad loans, bringing its total provision to $11.9 million. The bank now has $3.4 million in bad loans, up from $2.7 million a year ago. Still, that represents a relatively low percentage of total loans, compared to most banks.
 
The bank now has assets of $1.6 billion and 33 branches on Long Island and in Manhattan.

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