First Niagara posts loan, deposit growth in CNY market in 1st quarter

First Niagara Financial Group (NASDAQ: FNFG), parent of First Niagara Bank, grew commercial loans by nearly $30 million and added $20 million in commercial deposits in its Central New York market in the first quarter, Gregory Norwood, CFO, tells CNYBJ.

“That market for us had a very good quarter,” Norwood says. “It really shows what market opportunities are there.”

Buffalo–based First Niagara on April 24 reported net income of $43.8 million, or 12 cents a share in the first quarter, down from $52.7 million, or 15 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding certain non-operating restructuring expenses incurred in the first quarter, First Niagara produced operating net income of 

$54.7 million, or 15 cents a share, compared to $61 million, or 17 cents, in the year-ago quarter.

First Niagara has been focused on cutting expenses in the last year or so.

Total operating expenses declined 2 percent in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2014. Salary and benefit expenses also fell 5 percent from the year-ago quarter, driven by a 7 percent decline in the number of employees.

The banking company closed 17 branches in the first quarter of 2015, spread across its four-state geographic footprint, and has also reduced management layers and simplified its organizational structure, according to Norwood.

“Banks typically have more management layers than many other commercial companies. That’s one of the things we were focused on [reducing],” he says. 

First Niagara is a multi-state, community-oriented bank with about 390 branches, $39 billion in assets, $28 billion in deposits, and about 5,300 employees across New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. 

First Niagara Bank ranked fourth in deposit market share in the 16-county Central New York market, according to June 30, 2014, FDIC statistics, the latest available. The bank had $2.2 million in deposits, good for an 8.4 percent share of the CNY market’s total deposits.                    

First Niagara Financial Group (NASDAQ: FNFG), parent of First Niagara Bank, grew commercial loans by nearly $30 million and added $20 million in commercial deposits in its Central New York market in the first quarter, Gregory Norwood, CFO, tells CNYBJ.

“That market for us had a very good quarter,” Norwood says. “It really shows what market opportunities are there.”

Buffalo–based First Niagara on April 24 reported net income of $43.8 million, or 12 cents a share in the first quarter, down from $52.7 million, or 15 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding certain non-operating restructuring expenses incurred in the first quarter, First Niagara produced operating net income of 

$54.7 million, or 15 cents a share, compared to $61 million, or 17 cents, in the year-ago quarter.

First Niagara has been focused on cutting expenses in the last year or so.

Total operating expenses declined 2 percent in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2014. Salary and benefit expenses also fell 5 percent from the year-ago quarter, driven by a 7 percent decline in the number of employees.

The banking company closed 17 branches in the first quarter of 2015, spread across its four-state geographic footprint, and has also reduced management layers and simplified its organizational structure, according to Norwood.

“Banks typically have more management layers than many other commercial companies. That’s one of the things we were focused on [reducing],” he says. 

First Niagara is a multi-state, community-oriented bank with about 390 branches, $39 billion in assets, $28 billion in deposits, and about 5,300 employees across New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. 

First Niagara Bank ranked fourth in deposit market share in the 16-county Central New York market, according to June 30, 2014, FDIC statistics, the latest available. The bank had $2.2 million in deposits, good for an 8.4 percent share of the CNY market’s total deposits.