Consumers Bancorp posts net income of $547,000

Staff report

Consumers Bancorp, Inc. reported a net income of $574,000 for the second fiscal quarter of 2011,

That is a 9.3 percent decrease from the previous quarter, which ended Sept. 30, 2010, but an increase of 14.6 percent over the second fiscal quarter of 2010, which ended Dec. 31, 2009.

The bank reported a net income of $1.2 million for the six-month period that ended Dec. 31, 2010. Net income was $1.1 million for the same period last year.

Also, the company posted a 13.5 percent increase in earnings per share, $0.59 up from $0.52 a year ago, and an increase in total assets of $13.7 million during the six-month period that ended Dec. 31, 2010.

Earnings per share for the second fiscal quarter were $0.28 compared with $0.25 for the same period last year and compared with $0.31 for the quarter that ended Sept. 30, 2010.

Ralph J. Lober, president and chief executive officer of Consumers Bancorp said despite the economic climate of the past three years, community banks have maintained consistent earnings, and his bank is no exception.

“On a national basis, loans, to small businesses specifically, have declined,” Lober said. “We’ve been making those loans, and that’s what we need to do to get the economy going.”

The bank has 10 offices in Northeast Ohio and plans to open another in April in Hartville in Stark County.