Brookline Bancorp saw record earnings in the second quarter as net income increased more than 60 percent compared to the same quarter last year.
Brookline Bancorp, the parent company of Brookline Bank and Bank Rhode Island, had second quarter net income of $31.6 million, or $0.40 per basic and diluted share, compared to net income of $26.5 million, or $0.34 per basic and diluted share, in the first quarter and net income of $19.6 million, or $0.25 per basic and diluted share, in the second quarter of 2020.
“Brookline Bancorp and its employees continue to execute on our strategy of high performance for both our customers and our stockholders,” Paul Perrault, Brookline Bancorp’s chairman and CEO, said in the bank’s second quarter earnings statement. “We look forward to continued success in the second half of 2021.”
For the first six months of 2021, Brookline Bancorp had net income of $58 million, or $0.74 per diluted common share, compared to $2.3 million, or $0.03 per diluted common share, for the same period last year.
Second quarter net interest income increased to $71.1 million in the second quarter from $69.1 million in the first quarter. Brookline Bancorp’s co-president and chief financial officer, Carl Carlson, said in a conference call to discuss earnings that $800,000 of that increase was due to an increase in Paycheck Protection Program interest and fees. He added that the remaining increase from the first quarter was driven by lower funding costs, with broker deposits and borrowings declining and time deposits repricing or shifting to lower-cost products.
The net interest margin increased 13 basis points to 3.52 percent in the second quarter from 3.39 percent in the first quarter.
Brookline Bancorp’s total assets on June 30 were $8.5 billion, down from $8.6 billion on March 31 and $9.1 billion on June 30, 2020. Brookline’s total deposits were $6.89 billion in the second quarter compared to $6.87 billion in the first quarter and $6.4 billion in the second quarter of 2020.
Total loans and leases were $7 billion, down $247.3 million from March 31 and $387.4 million from June 30, 2020. Carlson said Brookline Bancorp originated over $600 million in non-PPP loans in the second quarter but also had significant payoffs that were driven in part by the sale of some family businesses, as well as an active real estate market.
Brookline Bancorp had COVID-19-related payment deferrals on 151 loans totaling $96 million, 1.4 percent of total loans. The bank said in the earnings statement that approximately 90 percent of loans that had been granted an initial loan payment deferral have returned to payment status.
In response to an analyst’s question about his thoughts on merger opportunities in the market’s competitive landscape, Perrault noted the limited opportunities.
“I haven’t changed my thoughts about it, but there seems to be a lot less to think about,” Perrault said. “It really is getting pretty thin.”
He said the bank has looked at situations regionally, including outside or not adjacent to Brookline Bancorp’s market, and has had conversations in some places. But he added that the bank is also comfortable with its ability for organic growth.
“We’re big enough to get the job done in the markets that we elect to play in,” Perrault said. “And so as interesting and possible benefit could come out of M&A, it’s not a requirement for us to execute our plans.”
