First Niagara likely to open more CNY branches after wrapping HSBC deal

With its acquisition of HSBC’s upstate New York branch network complete, First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: FNFG) now plans to fill in some of the remaining gaps in its new footprint.

That will likely mean new branch openings in the bank’s Central New York region, which includes Syracuse and Utica, says Mark Rendulic, First Niagara executive vice president for retail banking. Buffalo–based First Niagara closed its acquisition of the HSBC locations May 18 and converted them over the following weekend.

The branches reopened as First Niagara locations May 21.

The bank didn’t achieve quite as much branch density in Central New York with the HSBC deal as it did in some other markets. First Niagara is looking especially closely at Syracuse, Rendulic says.

“It’s a market where we think our model will play extremely well,” he says. “We expect to fill in the footprint further.”

First Niagara first announced plans to acquire 195 HSBC locations in Upstate, Westchester County, and Connecticut in July.

The HSBC deal will net First Niagara 100 new branches, following planned closures and divestitures, and adds more than 1,200 new employees to First Niagara’s work force.

The branches bring $9.8 billion in deposits and $1.6 billion in loans. First Niagara now has nearly 430 branches with $38 billion in assets, $29 billion in deposits, and about 6,000 employees in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

First Niagara has already closed 16 of its own branches as part of the deal and will close another 19 HSBC branches. First Niagara will also sell off 64 branches to KeyBank, Five Star Bank, and DeWitt–based Community Bank in the coming months, says 

The HSBC deal more than doubles First Niagara’s Upstate branch network to 200 locations. It also makes the bank a major player in the Syracuse, Utica, and Binghamton markets.

First Niagara now has a total of 36 branches in its Central New York region and it brought on more than 200 employees in the market. In Binghamton, the bank now has eight offices and added more than 60 people.

Six HSBC branches in Central New York are on the list to be closed. They included one in Auburn, two in Syracuse, one in Cicero, one in Cortland, and one in Rome.

No further branch closings are expected after the current round and the bank expects to retain all 1,200 HSBC employees it brought on board for the long haul, First Niagara President and CEO John Koelmel says.

“Our focus is on building up and out,” he says. “This is a play for us to increase our presence and accessibility for customers.”

First Niagara was able to retain more than 93 percent of the customer base involved in the HSBC deal, Koelmel adds. The HSBC team did a solid job keeping that business in place, he says.

“This was a sticky customer base,” he says. “They weren’t price shoppers. They didn’t chase rates. HSBC did a great job of building and leveraging relationships. They didn’t make it a product-focused group.”

For the first quarter, net income available to common shareholders at First Niagara totaled $54.8 million, up from $44.9 million a year earlier. The banking company earned 16 cents a share for the period, down from 22 cents a share a year earlier.                 

With its acquisition of HSBC’s upstate New York branch network complete, First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: FNFG) now plans to fill in some of the remaining gaps in its new footprint.

That will likely mean new branch openings in the bank’s Central New York region, which includes Syracuse and Utica, says Mark Rendulic, First Niagara executive vice president for retail banking. Buffalo–based First Niagara closed its acquisition of the HSBC locations May 18 and converted them over the following weekend.

The branches reopened as First Niagara locations May 21.

The bank didn’t achieve quite as much branch density in Central New York with the HSBC deal as it did in some other markets. First Niagara is looking especially closely at Syracuse, Rendulic says.

“It’s a market where we think our model will play extremely well,” he says. “We expect to fill in the footprint further.”

First Niagara first announced plans to acquire 195 HSBC locations in Upstate, Westchester County, and Connecticut in July.

The HSBC deal will net First Niagara 100 new branches, following planned closures and divestitures, and adds more than 1,200 new employees to First Niagara’s work force.

The branches bring $9.8 billion in deposits and $1.6 billion in loans. First Niagara now has nearly 430 branches with $38 billion in assets, $29 billion in deposits, and about 6,000 employees in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

First Niagara has already closed 16 of its own branches as part of the deal and will close another 19 HSBC branches. First Niagara will also sell off 64 branches to KeyBank, Five Star Bank, and DeWitt–based Community Bank in the coming months, says 

The HSBC deal more than doubles First Niagara’s Upstate branch network to 200 locations. It also makes the bank a major player in the Syracuse, Utica, and Binghamton markets.

First Niagara now has a total of 36 branches in its Central New York region and it brought on more than 200 employees in the market. In Binghamton, the bank now has eight offices and added more than 60 people.

Six HSBC branches in Central New York are on the list to be closed. They included one in Auburn, two in Syracuse, one in Cicero, one in Cortland, and one in Rome.

No further branch closings are expected after the current round and the bank expects to retain all 1,200 HSBC employees it brought on board for the long haul, First Niagara President and CEO John Koelmel says.

“Our focus is on building up and out,” he says. “This is a play for us to increase our presence and accessibility for customers.”

First Niagara was able to retain more than 93 percent of the customer base involved in the HSBC deal, Koelmel adds. The HSBC team did a solid job keeping that business in place, he says.

“This was a sticky customer base,” he says. “They weren’t price shoppers. They didn’t chase rates. HSBC did a great job of building and leveraging relationships. They didn’t make it a product-focused group.”

For the first quarter, net income available to common shareholders at First Niagara totaled $54.8 million, up from $44.9 million a year earlier. The banking company earned 16 cents a share for the period, down from 22 cents a share a year earlier.