Century Bancorp, the holding company of Century Bank, continued to increase commercial and industrial lending, while also reporting double-digit income growth in the third quarter of this year.

The company reported net income of roughly $23 million for the nine months ending Sept. 30, a 23.5 percent increase from net income for the same period through 2016.

Net income for the third quarter was slightly over $8 million, a 23.7 percent from the third quarter of 2016.

Net interest income was $63.9 million for the nine months ending Sept. 30, a 15.5 percent increase from the same period in 2016, primarily due to an increase in average earning assets and in the net interest margin.

Total assets have grown from roughly $4.3 billion as of Sept. 30, 2016, to nearly $4.6 billion at the end of September of this year.

Total loans are up about $245 million year-over-year, mainly due to growth in commercial and industrial loans, which are up over $150 million year-over-year, and now more than $700 million overall. In the three months ending Sept. 30, the bank increased commercial and industrial loans by $50 million.

Residential real estate loans grew $50 million ($272 million overall), and commercial real estate loans grew $40 million ($735 million overall) year-over-year, while municipal and construction and land development loans, which make up a much smaller portion of Century’s loan portfolio, saw minor decreases.

The company’s provision for loan losses for the nine months ending Sept. 30 was $1.34 million, an increase of $165,000 from the same time period last year, primarily as a result of an increase in loan growth offset, somewhat, by changes in historical loss factors.