© Reuters.
Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc (NYSE:) on Friday reported third-quarter earnings for 2023, posting a net income of $20 million, or $0.45 per share, and an operating income of $22 million, or $0.50 per share. Despite a challenging interest rate environment and industry disruption, the company demonstrated resilience with increased year-to-date net income and operating earnings.
The bank’s net interest income stood at $90.3 million, while non-interest income was recorded at $17.5 million. However, there was a linked-quarter decrease in operating earnings by $2.4 million and a net interest margin decrease by 6 basis points to 3.18 percent. The average earning assets saw a decrease of 2%, while the operating non-interest expense remained flat.
In response to these challenges, Berkshire Hills Bancorp maintained strong liquidity and capital levels, continued its expense optimization strategy, and increased talent recruitment. The bank also welcomed Mary Anne Callahan to its Board of Directors. Its subsidiary, Berkshire Bank, which operates 96 financial centers, holds assets worth approximately $12.1 billion.
In other banking news from Friday, Republic Bancorp, Inc., the parent company of Republic Bank & Trust Company, reported an 8% increase in net income to $21.6 million and a 9% increase in Diluted EPS to $1.10 per share in Q3 2023 over Q3 2022.
CEO Logan Pichel attributed these strong results to the company’s diversified business model, robust Core Bank credit quality, and disciplined expense management amidst rising interest rates and an inverted yield curve. Despite a decrease of $1.8 million or 12% in Core Banking operations’ net income from Q3 2022 to Q3 2023, the Total Company net income increased due to the solid performance of the Republic Processing Group (RPG), which saw a net income increase of $3.4 million or 69% over Q3 2022.
Pichel highlighted the bank’s strong credit quality with a low delinquency ratio of 0.14% at their Core Bank and disciplined expense control during a period of high inflation with Total Company noninterest expense increasing by only $1.9 million or 4% over Q3 2022.
The Core Bank loan portfolio witnessed a 100 basis points increase in loan yield from Q3 2022 to Q3 2023. Republic strengthened its position through the acquisition of CBank, which added density to their Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati market, expanded their loan portfolio diversification, and forged a new partnership with Nest Egg for consumer financial planning. They also successfully implemented online business deposit account opening and reintroduced their national online deposit gathering capabilities for consumers. Pichel concluded with a positive future outlook for Republic Bancorp, Inc.
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