In Brief: First Niagara Cites Loan, Deposit Growth

Published January 20, 2005, 2:00 a.m. EST

Updated January 19, 2005, 6:54 p.m. EST

1 Min Read

First Niagara Financial Group Inc.'s fourth-quarter earnings rose 34% from the same period in 2003, to $13.6 million.

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For the full year the $7.8 billion-asset Lockport, N.Y., company's earnings rose 44%, to $51.8 million, or 65 cents a share.

Paul J. Kolkmeyer, First Niagara's president and chief executive officer, said Wednesday that the results were driven by strong growth in core deposits, as well as commercial and commercial real estate loans.

First Niagara, which acquired $2.5 billion-asset Hudson River Bancorp last week, said it expects to earn 82 cents a share this year.

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