Peoples sees earnings growth
HALLSTEAD - Mortgage and commercial lending helped drive profit at Peoples Financial Services Corp. and earnings increased 20.5 percent over the same quarter last year to $1.9 million.
The Hallstead-based parent company of Peoples Neighborhood Bank also reported earnings per share were 72 cents, up 12 cents from the year-ago quarter.
The bank had increases in mortgage activity and commercial lending. Also, the bank was hit a year ago with a $509,000 one-time prepayment penalty for paying down debt with the Federal Home Loan Bank.
Peoples Neighborhood Bank operates 11 offices in Lackawanna, Wyoming and Susquehanna counties in Pennsylvania and Broome County, N.Y.