Flushing Financial's 2Q earnings surge

Despite an increase in bad loans, Flushing Financial Corp., the Lake Success-based owner of Flushing Savings Bank, reported second-quarter earnings of $7.7 million -- 49 percent higher than in the same period last year.

The gain was primarily the result of higher net interest income, because of a higher spread between what the bank pays on deposits and what it earns on loans, company president and chief executive John Buran said in a statement.

The bank set aside another $5 million to cover potential loan losses, and bad loans increased by $19.7 million in the second quarter. But almost half of that was a $9.8 million construction loan on a nearly finished project, and a recent appraisal indicates the bank should recover the entire balance of that loan.

Flushing Savings Bank has assets of $4.3 billion and has 15 branches in Nassau County and New York City.