NY Community Bancorp, other local banks post 1Q earnings

New York Community Bancorp, Long Island's largest locally based banking company, said Wednesday that higher net interest and noninterest incomes in the first quarter increased its net income by 3.4 percent from a year earlier.

Other local banks also reported earnings:

Flushing Financial Corp. of Lake Success reported late Tuesday that its net income for the quarter ended March 31 fell by 15.2 percent from a year earlier.

Empire Bancorp of Islandia, parent of the four-branch Empire National Bank, said Wednesday its first quarter net income rose 31 percent from a year earlier to $587,000, or nine cents a share.

Bridge Bancorp, parent of the 29-branch Bridgehampton National Bank, said its net income for the quarter was $4.8 million, or 41 cents a share, compared with $400,000, or 4 cents a share, a year earlier when earnings were depressed by costs to acquire FNBNY, securities losses and branch restructuring costs.

Westbury-based New York Community said its net income in the three months ended March 31 rose to $119.3 million, or 27 cents a share, as noninterest income rose by 40 percent to $52.2 million.

The parent of New York Community Bank, which has 272 branches nationally and operates through seven divisions, including Roslyn Savings Bank, said net interest income, the difference between revenue generated from a bank's assets and the expenses associated with its liabilities, rose by 3 percent from a year earlier to $293 million. It credited an increase in interest-earning assets.

New York Community said assets as of March 31 were $48.3 billion, 0.3 percent lower than on Dec. 31, largely due to the sale of $553.3 million of loans.

Flushing Financial, parent of the 17-branch Flushing Bank, said net income was $8.7 million, or 30 cents a share, in this year's first quarter.

Record annual 19.9 percent loan growth in the quarter resulted in a 3 percent increase in net interest income to $37.6 million, compared with a year earlier. The first quarter's noninterest expense included several items such as stock awards to employees and directors that are recurring in the first quarter expenses but will be reduced or eliminated in the remainder of the year.

Empire's earnings per share reflect the issuance of new shares last year in a private placement. Its net interest income rose by 19 percent in the quarter, compared with a year earlier, to $4.6 million, on higher loan balances.

Bridge Bancorp said its net interest income rose by 20 percent in the quarter from a year earlier, to $18.7 million, as loans grew by 24 percent to $267 million.

An earlier version of this article gave an incorrect figure for Empire Bancorp's quarterly net income.