Center Bancorp in Union, N.J., said Monday that second-quarter earnings fell 26% from the year-earlier quarter as a result of a balance-sheet restructuring earlier this year.
The $1.1 billion-asset company reported first-quarter net income of $1.4 million, or 10 cents per diluted share. Year-to-date it has earned $305,000, compared with $3.7 million in the first half of 2005.
Center announced in March that it would sell off a large chunk of its investment portfolio and use the proceeds to pay off wholesale borrowings and generate more loans. The company took a $2.4 million charge in the first quarter, which led to a $1.1 million net loss.
So far the plan seems to be working. Center's investment securities portfolio now accounts for about 40% of total assets, against nearly 50% at midyear 2005. It has lowered its borrowings by 44% since then, to $187 million; borrowings now make up 17.4% of total assets, versus28.3% a year earlier.
Center also said that total loans rose 17% year over year, to $510 million.
