Home Savings reports 24.4 percent increase in 3Q

By Kalea Hall | October 20, 2016 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Thanks in part to growth in loans and deposits, Youngstown-based United Community Financial Corp. reported another quarter of a double-digit earnings increase.

The parent company of Home Savings and Loan Co. reported third-quarter net income of $5.2 million, up 24.4 percent from $4.1 million reported in the third-quarter of 2015. Loans were up 16.6 percent year over year and deposits were up 4.4 percent.

“We backed up a very good second quarter with a very strong third quarter,” said Gary M. Small, the bank’s president and chief executive officer, during a conference call Wednesday.

In the second quarter of 2016, the bank reported a 29.2 percent year-over-year increase in its earnings. The jump went to $5.3 million from $4.1 million.

During the third quarter, the bank announced it would acquire Ohio Legacy Corp., parent company of Premier Bank and Trust of North Canton for $40.3 million by the end of the first quarter of 2017.

The acquisition will bring the bank to a $2.5 billion institution. In 2014, the bank was a $1.6 billion institution.

The last acquisition UCFC made was in 2002 with Potters National Bank in East Liverpool.

Once complete, the acquisition will bring Home Savings to 35 locations. It will add an asset-and-trust management business the Youngstown bank doesn’t have and give it a physical presence in Stark and Summit counties.

The bank is happy with how the Premier acquisition is coming along, Small said.

The bank also has shown loan growth. Total loans increased by $218.7 million year over year to $1.5 billion.

The increase was driven by commercial-loan growth. Commercial-loan balances were up 44.2 percent year over year. For the first nine months of the year, commercial-loan production totaled $232.8 million for a 43.1 percent increase over the first nine months of 2015.

Residential loans were up 6.2 percent in the third quarter. Deposits were up $62.6 million to $1.5 billion.

“We are adjusting our guidance upward,” Small said. “We see a very good finish for the year.”