Flushing Financial 2Q results mixed

Flushing Financial Corp. of Lake Success said net income was up 11.5 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier on a larger loan portfolio and improved credit quality.

The parent of the 17-branch Flushing Bank said Tuesday net income for the three months ended June 30 was $9.6 million, an increase of $1 million from a year earlier. Earnings per share were 32 cents, up 4 cents from a year earlier.

But the company said net interest income, the difference between the revenue generated from a bank's assets and the expenses associated with liabilities, fell by 2.6 percent from a year earlier to $37.3 million.

Net interest margin, a measure of the difference between the interest a bank earns on its assets such as loans and the interest it pays out to depositors, decreased 19 basis points to 3.49 percent in the quarter from a year earlier.

Flushing said, however, that its provision for loan losses decreased by $1.5 million from a year earlier, to $3.5 million.

The bank's total assets were $4.6 billion at June 30, up 3.3 percent from Dec. 31.

On Monday, Great Neck-based Community National Bank reported an 18 percent year-over-year gain in its second-quarter earnings, citing higher net interest income from a larger loan portfolio and also increases in service fees, loan servicing income and gains on the sale of loans.

Net income for the three months ended June 20 was $794,000 or 12 cents a share, up from $672,000, or 10 cents a share, a year earlier.

Net interest income increased by 27 percent over a year earlier, to $6.5 million.

Net interest margin improved 24 basis points from a year earlier to 3.81 percent.

The bank has 10 branches in Nassau, Suffolk, Queens and Manhattan and plans to open an 11th branch in Hewlett, next month.

It also plans to move into a new corporate headquarters, in Melville, next month.

The bank had assets of $666 million at the end of last year and $718 million at the end of the second quarter.