Northeast Bancorp of Lewiston has reported net income of $3.8 million in the first quarter of its fiscal year – up more than 100 percent from a year earlier.

The bank said its net income for the quarter ending Sept. 30 was 42 cents per share, more than double its net income of $1.8 million, or 19 cents per share, during the third quarter of 2016.

Northeast said Tuesday that its board of directors has declared a cash dividend of 1 cent per share to be paid to investors on Nov. 20.

“We began our fiscal year with a solid quarter,” Northeast President and CEO Richard Wayne said in a news release. “Our earnings of 42 cents per diluted common share, compared to 19 cents per diluted share in the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2016, were positively affected by transactional income from loan payoffs in the purchased portfolio and gains from the sale of (U.S. Small Business Administration) and residential loans. This helped us achieve a return on equity of 12 percent, compared to 6.1 percent in the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2016, as well as a return on assets of 1.4 percent and an efficiency ratio of 57.1 percent.”

As of Sept. 30, the bank’s total assets were $1 billion, it said, a decrease of $27.2 million from June 30, the end of the previous quarter.

The bank’s overall growth was achieved by greatly expanding Northeast’s loan portfolio while it has continued to operate as a full-service community bank. Two particular areas of focus for the bank and its 190 employees have been commercial loan acquisition and U.S. SBA loan origination.

J. Craig Anderson can be contacted at 791-6390 or at:

canderson@pressherald.com

Twitter: @jcraiganderson

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