Berkshire Hills Bancorp. lifted third-quarter net income on expanded loan volume, including from the Massachusetts lender’s latest acquisition last summer.
For three months ended Sept. 30, the Pittsfield, Mass., parent of Berkshire Bank outposts in Massachusetts and Connecticut netted $14.7 million, or 49 cents a diluted share, vs. $10 million, or 35 cents a diluted share, netted the same quarter a year ago.
Berkshire also declared a dividend of 19 cents a share to be paid Nov. 25 to stockholders on record by Nov. 12.
CEO Michael Daly said the bank’s August acquisition of Firestone Financial, along with the first full quarter since completing buyout of former Hampden Bank in Massachusetts, contributed meaningfully to third-quarter results.
Aside from its expanding Small Business Administration loan volume, Berkshire Bank just hired a “team leader’’ for its expanding regional auto-loan desk, Daly said.
Berkshire Hills ended the quarter with $7.8 billion in assets vs. $7.5 billion a year earlier.
