(By Balaseshan) Mayflower Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: MFLR), the holding company for Mayflower Bank, reported a 19.4% increase in quarterly earnings on lower provision for loan losses, non-interest expenses and higher non-interest income.
Earnings for the third quarter were $407,000 or $0.20 per share, up from $341,000 or $0.17 per share last year.
Net interest income declined 3.6% to $2.0 million. The net interest margin decreased to 3.42% for the third quarter from 3.62% for the quarter ended January 31, 2012.
Non-interest income grew 8.2%, primarily due to an increase of $86,000 in gain on sales of mortgage loans, a $29,000 gain on sales of investment securities, and a $7,000 rise in interchange income. These increases were offset by a decrease of $3,000 in loan origination and other loan fees and a decrease of $27,000 in customer service fees.
Total non-interest expense fell by 3.6%, partially a result of a drop of $70,000 in losses and expenses of other real estate owned, due to reduced levels of other real estate owned, a decrease of $6,000 in occupancy and equipment expense, and a decline of $9,000 in FDIC assessment expense.
Provision for loan losses fell to $10,000 from $90,000. The allowance for loan loss as a percentage for net loans declined to 0.85% from 0.91%.
Total assets have increased by $3.5 million since March 31, 2012, ending at $255.1 million as of December 31, 2012. During the period, loans receivable increased by $7.8 million and total investment securities decreased by $4.6 million. The increase in loans receivable is primarily due to growth of $9.7 million in residential mortgages.
Total deposits for the nine months ended December 31, 2012 increased by $2.9 million, comprising of $9.2 million growth in aggregate checking and savings account balances, as offset by a reduction of $6.3 million in certificate of deposit balances.
In addition, the company's board of directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.06 per share to be payable on February 19 to shareholders of record as of February 5.
MFLR is trading up 0.48% at $10.55 on Tuesday. The stock has been trading between $7.50 and $11.24 for the past 52 weeks.