Berkshire Hills Bancorp in Boston has its next CEO lined up.
The $12.9 billion-asset company said in a press release Monday that Nitin Mhatre will also become its president on Friday. Sean Gray, who has been acting CEO since Aug. 10, will remain president and chief operating officer of Berkshire Bank.
Mhatre recently served as executive vice president of community banking at Webster Bank, where he led the consumer and business banking operations. Before that, he held a variety of leadership posts at Citigroup.
Mhatre "is a forward-thinking leader who is passionate about community banking and is committed to our mission to serve our customers and local communities with a values-based purpose," Bill Dunlaevy, Berkshires Hills’ chairman, said in the release. "He brings to Berkshire a proven record of building a customer-centric culture, developing and delivering on transformational strategic plans and performance-driven results."
Berkshire began looking for a new CEO shortly after Richard Marotta
Marotta took the helm at Berkshire
Marotta’s departure came less than two weeks after Berkshire reported a $549 million second-quarter loss that included a $554 million noncash goodwill impairment charge and a $30 million loan-loss provision. It reported a $21 million profit in the third quarter.
Berkshire on Monday said that its fourth-quarter earnings fell by 29% from a quarter earlier to $15 million. The loan-loss provision was $10 million, a $9 million increase from the third quarter.
