Gold Coast Bank reports net income up 36 percent

Privately held Gold Coast Bank of Islandia said its third quarter net income rose by 36 percent, mostly on higher net interest income.

The period ended Sept. 30 was the bank's 17th consecutive quarter of profitability since opening in March 2008.

Net income was $266,000 in the quarter, up from $195,000 a year earlier. Per share earnings for the quarter were 9 cents, up from 7 cents a year earlier.

Net interest income, the difference between the revenue generated from a bank's assets and the expenses associated with liabilities, rose by 23 percent over a year earlier, to $2.2 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, rose to 3.18 percent in the third quarter from 3.08 percent a year earlier.

Gold Coast has branches in Islandia, Huntington, Setauket, Farmingdale and Mineola. Its chairman and chief executive, John C. Tsunis, said in a statement that it is considering opening a sixth branch, "possibly on Nassau County's populated and busy North Shore, or in Manhattan, the center of world business."

Total assets were $276 million at Sept. 30, up 19 percent from a year earlier.

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Total loans outstanding were $196 million, up 35 percent. The bank had no nonperforming loans on Sept. 30.