NORWICH – NBT First Quarter highlights:

Net Income up 12.1%

Diluted earnings per share up 11.9%

Average demand deposits up 2.2%

FTE net interest margin of 3.64%

NORWICH – NBT reported net income and earnings per share for the last three months before March 31 this week.

Net income for the three months was $29.1 million, up 1.7 percent from $28.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2018 and up 12.1 percent from $26 million for the first quarter of 2018.

Diluted earnings per share for the three months was $0.66, as compared with $0.65 for the prior quarter, an increase of 1.5 percent, and $0.59 for the first quarter of 2018, an increase of 11.9 percent.

NBT Bancorp Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered in Norwich., with total assets of $9.5 billion. The company primarily operates through NBT Bank and through two financial services companies. NBT has 149 banking locations in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.

“In the first quarter of 2019, we achieved double-digit year-over-year earnings growth with net income and earnings per share up 12% over first quarter 2018. In addition, we continued to build our tangible capital which increases our ability to be opportunistic in executing on our long-term growth strategies,” said NBT President and CEO John H. Watt, Jr.

“Our strong financial results affirm the quality of our team and their commitment to providing our customers with the best service and financial products while constantly working to enhance the experience we deliver. This customer-focused approach drives our success and is the foundation of our efforts to build shareholder value,” he said.

Net interest income was $77.7 million for the first quarter of 2019, down $1.2 million, or 1.5 percent, from the previous quarter. The fully taxable equivalent (FTE) net interest margin was 3.64 percent for the three months, up three basis points (bps) from the previous quarter, as higher rates on lower average interest-earning assets more than offset higher funding costs on higher average interest-bearing liabilities. Interest income increased $0.8 million, or 0.9 percent, as the yield on average interest-earning assets increased 14 bps from the prior quarter to 4.28 percent, while average interest-earning assets of $8.7 billion remained relatively consistent with prior quarter. Interest expense was up $2.0 million, or 17.2 percent, as the cost of interest-bearing liabilities increased 15 bps to 0.92 percent. The Federal Reserve has raised its target fed funds rate nine times from December 2015 through March 2019 for a total increase of 225 bps. During this same cycle of increasing rates, the company’s average cost of deposits increased by 26 bps, resulting in a full cycle deposit beta of 11.7 percent.