Greater Hudson earnings drop
Buy This Photo Greater Hudson Bank, with a branch on Route 211 in the Town of Wallkill, looks to regain earnings momentum, CEO Edward Lutz said.STEVE BORLAND/Times Herald-Record
Published: 2:00 AM - 11/06/13
TOWN OF WALLKILL — A problematic business loan forced Greater Hudson Bank to sock away close to $1 million for potential loan losses in the third quarter.
The bank set aside $906,000 for potential bad loans in the quarter ended Sept. 30, up exponentially from $32,000 for the same time period last year.
The provision reduced the bank's earnings in the third quarter, and for the first nine months of the year. Greater Hudson posted $139,000 in net income for the third quarter, a fraction of the $777,000 the bank reported for the third quarter of 2012.
For the first three quarters of the year, the bank has posted $1.2 million in profit, down almost 40 percent for the same time period in 2012.
"We hope this is an aberration and we can get back to the earnings momentum we had in the past," said the bank's new CEO, Edward Lutz. He declined to discuss specifics of the loan.
Lutz said the departure of his predecessor, Eric Wiggins, is not related to the bad loan. Greater Hudson's board of directors appointed Lutz as CEO in early October.
Loan portfolio growing
Lutz formerly served on the board as co-vice chairman. He was part of the group of investors that recapitalized the bank, formerly known as Community Bank of Orange, in 2008.
The bank has grown its loan portfolio by $25.1 million since the beginning of the year. Many of those loans were in the commercial and industrial division. Lutz plans to build the bank's residential loan portfolio.
"The economy is still ragged around the edges, but we've seen signs, particularly in housing, that things have gotten better," Lutz said.
jdinapoli@th-record.com
We reserve the right to remove any content at any time from this Community, including without limitation. Please check our Community Rules for more information. We ask that you report content that you in good faith believe violates the above rules by clicking the Flag link next to the offending comment or fill out this form. New comments are only accepted for two weeks from the date of publication. Today's Most Clicked Stories
