Cortland reports record earnings

Staff report

Cortland Bancorp, the holding company for Cortland Savings and Banking Co., on Wednesday reported record first-quarter earnings of $1.33 million, a 61 percent increase from $830,000 during the same period a year ago.

In that time, loans grew 5 percent to $312 million, compared with $279 million in March 2013.

“We are off to a great start this year delivering our most-profitable quarter in over 10 years,” James M. Gasior, president and CEO, said in a statement.

Total noninterest income was $858,000, down from $1.3 million during the first quarter of last year. Cortland attributed the decline to decreasing mortgage-loan volumes, which generate income on loan sales.

Meanwhile, the company’s net-interest margin grew to 3.7 percent in the first quarter, compared with 3.63 percent last year.

On the back of branch- restructuring initiatives, Cortland cut operating expenses by $517,000 from the first quarter of 2013 and by $382,000 from just a quarter ago, the company reported.

Cortland also announced a quarterly cash dividend of 5 cents, payable May 28 to shareholders of record at the close of business May 12.