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While Lakeville-based Salisbury Bank saw second quarter earnings fall 12 percent year-over-year, the bank reported record loan growth during the quarter.
Salisbury Bank’s second quarter net income available to common shareholders was $3.8 million, or $0.67 per basic common share, compared to $4.3 million, or $0.76 per basic common share, in the second quarter of 2021. Net income for the first quarter of 2022 was $3.5 million, or $0.62 per basic common share.
The bank’s parent company, Salisbury Bancorp, had completed a two-for-one forward stock split at the end of June, and the bank said in its second quarter earnings statement that all share and per share data had been adjusted to reflect the June 30 split.
Salisbury’s President and CEO Richard J. Cantele Jr. said in the statement that the stock split “enhanced the liquidity and marketability of our common shares without diluting the holdings of our existing shareholders.”
Cantele also said the bank had record quarterly loan growth in the second quarter while maintaining rigorous underwriting standards.
Excluding Paycheck Protection Program loans, Salisbury had loan growth of $81 million, or 7.6 percent in the quarter. The bank’s gross loans, including PPP, were $1.1 billion, up $70.3 million from the first quarter and $104.4 million from the second quarter of 2021.
“As we head into the second half of 2022, our commercial loan pipeline remains robust and we are cautiously optimistic that the business environment will remain favorable despite the macro-economic headwinds of high inflation and rising interest rates,” Cantele said. “We remain diligently focused on executing our strategic plan and enhancing the Bank’s profitability while continuing to provide outstanding customer service.”
Salisbury had deposits of $1.3 billion at the end of June, down $19.7 million, or 1.5 percent, from Dec. 31, 2021, and up year-over-year by $73.2 million, or 5.9 percent. The bank had total assets of about $1.5 billion, down 2 percent from the end of 2021.
