NY Community Bancorp's 2Q profits fall

New York Community Bancorp, based in Westbury and Long Island's largest banking company, reported Thursday that its second-quarter profits fell by 9 percent, missing analyst consensus estimates, as income from mortgages fell in a weak market and government insurance premiums rose.

New York Community, which specializes in lending for rent-controlled and rent-stabilized multifamily homes, said it earned $119.5 million, or 27 cents a share, in the three months ended June 30, compared with $131.4 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of 28 cents a share in this year's quarter.

The company said in a statement that nonperforming loans were declining, and it cited other technical measures of financial improvement from the first quarter of this year.

But it also said that one- to four-family loans held for sale, primarily to government-sponsored entities, declined by $15.7 million from March 31 to $491.7 million. "These reductions were due to the substantial slowdown in consumer refinancing and higher average market interest rates, which led to a decline in applications as consumers continued to be discouraged by the weakness of the U.S. housing market and economic uncertainty driven by continued high unemployment," the company said.

It also said Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. premiums rose more than expected because of a new formula from the FDIC.

New York Community operates New York Community Bank, New York Commercial Bank, Queens County Savings Bank, Roslyn Savings Bank, Richmond County Savings Bank, Roosevelt Savings Bank and others.

The company's first-quarter earnings also fell from a year earlier and missed analysts' estimates. New York Community's stock has fallen in value by 22 percent in the past year. Shares closed down 8 cents Thursday to $15.