Northway Financial Corp. in North Conway, N.H., said Monday that its fourth-quarter earnings fell 95% from the same period in 2010, to $67,000, after it set aside more money for potential losses and absorbed costs related to prepayment of its Federal Home Loan Bank advances.
For the full year, the $820 million-asset company reported a profit of $5.1 million, up 8% from 2010.
The biggest hit to fourth-quarter earnings was a $1.6 penalty the company took for prepaying $19 million of advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston. During the quarter the company more than doubled its provision for loan losses, to $1.4 million, to account for increased levels of nonaccrual loans.
For the year, the company recorded a net gain of $3.5 million on the sale of securities, compared to a $165,000 loss a year earlier, and a $3.8 million gain on the sale of three banking centers, but the gains were partially offset by one-time costs associated with the branch sale and its expansion into three new markets.
Northway Financial is the parent of Northway Bank. It has 17 branches and a loan production office, all in New Hampshire.
