Peoples Bank earnings soar
HALLSTEAD - Loan growth helped push fourth-quarter earnings at Peoples Financial Services Corp. up 21 percent to $2.2 million compared to the year-ago quarter.
Earnings per share for the quarter were 70 cents, up 13 cents.
Loan growth averaged 9.8 percent for the year, fueled by mortgages. But net interest margin tightened, decreasing 20 basis points to 3.97 percent.
The parent of Peoples Neighborhood Bank earned $9.1 million for the year, up 17 percent from 2011 with earnings per share of $2.93, up 44 cents.
Peoples Neighborhood Bank operates 11 offices in Lackawanna, Wyoming and Susquehanna counties in Pennsylvania and Broome County in New York and ended the year with $663.3 million in assets.