First Connecticut Bancorp, the holding company for Farmington Bank, reported net income of $5.6 million, or $0.35 diluted earnings per share, for the third quarter, nearly doubling earnings from the third quarter of last year.

Net interest income for the quarter was $20.8 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, an increase of more than $3 million from the third quarter of 2016.

Noninterest income for the quarter was $3.3 million for the quarter, a $385,000 decrease from the third quarter in 2016, primarily a result of a decrease in bank-owned life insurance income.

After the strong quarter, John Patrick, president and CEO of Farmington Bank, said on a conference call with investors the company would focus on its ratio of loans to deposits.

“Deposits continue to be a focus of ours and we will continue to grow deposits faster than we grow loans,” he said.

The $3 billion asset bank’s loan-to-deposit ratio at the end of the third quarter was high around 113 percent, with roughly $2.69 billion in total loans and $2.38 billion in total deposits as of Sept. 30.

But the high ratio did not worry Patrick.

“I am comfortable with where we are,” he said, adding that the company has a good relationship with regulators right now. “We continue to open a significant number of net new checking accounts. Our brokered deposits are around $30 million. Why incur costs to fix our ratio?…  Is my stock price being hurt by my loan-to-deposit ratio, and if I fixed it, how much appreciation would it add to my stock price knowing it affects the margins?”

Farmington Bank’s CFO Greg White told investors that a more accurate representation of the bank is its deposit-to-total assets ratio.

White also said on the call there was more pressure on the cost of funds in September.

Although the company’s net interest margin in the third quarter was 2.95 percent, up 21 basis points from this time last year, White said there was pressure from municipalities to keep rates competitive.

He also said some of the bigger players in the area such as Santander and TD Bank were offering people direct mail “teasers” such as a free $200 or $300 when signing up for a new checking account.

Total loans grew more than $220 million year-over-year, led by increases in residential, commercial and construction real estate loans.

Patrick said the bank, which recently expanded into Western Massachusetts, was seeing good growth in those branches. He also said the bank plans to open its Manchester branch by the first quarter of 2018, and that there could be some additional new branch announcements next year as well.

Credit quality remained strong, with one investor calling it “pristine,” with very little in charge-offs and loan delinquencies 30 days and greater representing 0.66 percent of total loans as of Sept. 30.