Provident Financial Services Inc. of Jersey City reported that its third-quarter net income rose 46% from second the quarter and 64% from the third quarter of last year, to $13.3 million.
The third quarter was the first to reflect Provident's July 14 acquisition of the $2.2 billion-asset First Sentinel Bancorp Inc. of Woodbridge, N.J. For the first nine months of the year, the $6.5 billion-asset Provident reported $32.2 million of earnings.
Its efficiency ratio for the third quarter was 62.3%, but Paul M. Pantozzi, its chairman and chief executive officer, predicted in a conference call Monday that the ratio would drop as a result of merger-related savings.
Provident is on track to reach its goal of trimming 20% from First Sentinel's noninterest expenses, Mr. Pantozzi said.
He said also there has been little evidence of customer runoff from the 22 former First Sentinel branches. Deposits at those branches were "virtually unchanged" from their July 14 levels, he said. Provident's deposits rose 51.8% from the end of last year, to $4.1 billion as of Sept. 30.
