Simsbury Bank’s parent lifted first-quarter net profit more than four-fold, propelled by strong commercial-loan demand and lower overhead.
For three months ended March 31, SBT Bancorp Inc. said it netted $343,000, or 36 cents a diluted share, up from $78,000, or 6 cents a share, netted the same quarter in 2014.
SBT President and CEO Martin J. Geitz said that, in addition to brisk commercial demand, its mortgage unit, which along with the rest of the housing industry cooled markedly in the latter half of 2014, is rebounding.
“We experienced a significant increase in applications and closed purchased mortgages during the quarter,’’ Geitz said in a statement. “The launch of the wholesale mortgage origination channel has contributed incremental loan volume to our retail origination platform, and we expect measured improvement in the mortgage business contribution to earnings.”
SBT ended the quarter with $405.8 million in assets vs. $404.7 million a year earlier.
