(By Balaseshan) Salisbury Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: SAL), the bank
holding company for Salisbury Bank and Trust Co., reported a 55.2% drop
in quarterly earnings due to certain non-recurring expenses. Net
interest income fell 5.8%, while non-interest income increased 11%.
Earnings for the fourth quarter were $531,000 or $0.31 per share,
lower than last year's $1.18 million or $0.70 per share. Excluding three
non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share would have been $0.60
for the latest quarter.
Net interest income declined to $4.43 million from $4.74 million,
while non-interest income rose to $1.88 million from $1.69 million.
Provision
for loan losses was $380,000, compared to $330,000 in the third quarter
of 2012 and $580,000 in the fourth quarter of 2011. Net loan
charge-offs were $199,000, down from $359,000 in the previous quarter
and from $531,000 last year.
The net interest margin decreased 7 basis points from previous
quarter and fell 17 basis points from last year to 3.32% for fourth
quarter 2012.
Non-interest expense increased $1,915,000 or 10.9%,
as it included certain non-recurring items: litigation settlement of
$400,000, and pension curtailment of $342,000. The results also included
a $450,000 non-recurring expense to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board
(FHLBB) that will be recovered in 2013 through reduced interest expense.
Net loans receivable were $388.8 million at December 31, 2012,
compared with $377.4 million at September 30, 2012. Non-performing
assets increased to $10.1 million at December 31, 2012, from $9.9
million at September 30, 2012, and fell from $10.8 million at December
31, 2011.
The company's board of directors has declared a $0.28 per common
share quarterly cash dividend at its January 25, 2013 meeting. The
dividend will be paid on February 22 to shareholders of record as of
February 8.
SAL is trading down 1.78% at $24.67 on Friday. The stock has been trading between $22.52 and $28.47 for the past 52 weeks.