Rockville Bank’s parent posted a sharp drop in fourth quarter net profit due to extra staffing and costs tied to its pending merger with a Massachusetts competitor.
For three months ended Dec. 31, parent Rockville Financial Corp., now based in Glastonbury, netted $1.8 million, or 7 cents a diluted share, down from $4.3 million, or 16 cents a share, netted the same quarter a year earlier.
CEO William “Bill” Crawford IV said, however, Rockville’s net income from its core operations were higher in 2013 than they were in 2012.
Rockville’s latest quarter counted a pre-tax expense of $2.1 million stemming from its pending $360 million merger with United Bank in West Springfield.
The merger, with Rockville as the surviving lender but assuming the United Bank name, awaits formal state and federal regulatory approval and is set for completion perhaps by late summer.
The Hartford region’s biggest housing lender also boosted its staffing in the quarter to 342 full-time equivalent positions, hiring six new mortgage bankers.
Rockville currently is adding more of the mortgages it issues to its investment portfolio rather than sell them on the secondary market because mortgage yields and risks are better than it can get on other investments right now, Crawford said.
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