Higher mortgage-banking revenue, more net interest income, and a lower provision for loan losses drove profit higher at M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) in the third quarter.

Expenses also fell in the period by 7 percent from a year earlier as the integration of Wilmington Trust Corp., which M&T acquired last year, is now complete. Profit at Buffalo–based M&T rose 60 percent in the third quarter to $293 million, or $2.17 per share.

Earnings in the third quarter of 2011 totaled $183 million, or $1.32 per share.

M&T has more than 700 branch offices in Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C. The bank has total assets of more than $81 billion.

M&T is the leading bank in the Syracuse metro area deposit market with 30 branches, more than $2.5 billion in deposits, and a market share of 23.4 percent, according to the latest statistics from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The bank is second in the Utica–Rome area with 12 branches, $627.5 million in deposits, and a market share of about 17 percent.

M&T also leads the Binghamton–area market with 16 branches, more than $1.3 billion in deposits, and a market share of more than 50 percent.

During the third quarter, M&T announced plans to acquire Paramus, N.J.–based Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCBK). The deal remains on track to close in the second quarter of 2013, M&T Executive Vice President and CFO Rene Jones said during a conference call Oct. 17, discussing the bank’s latest results.

The $3.7 billion acquisition will bring M&T $25 billion in deposits and $28 billion in loans. Most of Hudson City’s 135 branches are in New Jersey, where M&T said it will have the fourth largest deposit share following the acquisition’s closing. 

Hudson City has other branches in downstate New York and Connecticut.

Also during the third quarter, M&T completed its exit from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) program. The Treasury sold its preferred stock in M&T to the public and no longer holds any M&T shares.

M&T in 2011 repaid more than $700 million in TARP funds, some acquired through acquisition. Those repayments left the Treasury with M&T shares worth more than $381 million.

Net interest income in the third quarter totaled more than $662.7 million at M&T, up 7 percent from the same period in 2011. Noninterest income was $446 million, up from $368 million a year earlier.

Loans and leases as of Sept. 30 totaled $64.1 billion, up 10 percent from the previous year. Deposits totaled $64 billion at the end of the third quarter, up 8 percent from Sept. 30, 2011.

M&T’s provision for credit losses was $46 million in the third quarter, down from $58 million a year earlier. Net charge-offs totaled $42 million, down from $57 million in the same period in 2011.

Nonaccrual loans fell to $925 million as of Sept. 30, down from $1.1 billion a year earlier.

Noninterest expense for the period was $616 million, down from $662 million a year earlier.       

Contact Tampone at ktampone@cnybj.com