Business
Western New England Bancorp, Inc. Reports Results for Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020, Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend and Announces a New 5% Share Repurchase Plan
WESTFIELD, Mass., Oct. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Western New England Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company” or “WNEB”) (NasdaqGS: WNEB), the holding company for
About this update from Western New England Bancorp, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"WESTFIELD, Mass., Oct. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Western New England Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company” or “WNEB”) (NasdaqGS: WNEB), the holding company for Westfield Bank (the “Bank”), announced today the unaudited results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020. For the three months ended September 30, 2020, the Company reported net income of $2.1 million, or $0.08 diluted earnings per share, compared to net income of $3.2 million, or $0.12 diluted earnings per share, for the three months ended September 30, 2019. On a linked quarter basis, net income was $2.1 million, or $0.08 diluted earnings per share, as compared to net income of $2.0 million, or $0.08 diluted earnings per share, for the three months ended June 30, 2020. For the nine months ended September 30, 2020, net income was $6.2 million, or $0.25 diluted earnings per share, compared to net income of $9.9 million, or $0.38 diluted earnings per share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2019.\n The Company also announced that the Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.05 per share, payable on or about November 25, 2020 to shareholders of record on November 11, 2020. In addition, the Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase plan (the “2020 Plan”), pursuant to which the Company may repurchase up to 1.3 million shares, or approximately 5%, of the Company’s outstanding shares. On October 19, 2020, the Company announced the completion of the 2019 Repurchase Plan (“2019 Plan”). James C. Hagan, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Despite the challenging economic conditions due to the global health crisis caused by the spread of COVID-19, we delivered solid loan production and saw significant core deposit growth and positive deposit cost trends through the quarter. We continued to support our borrowers and community by originating $223.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans and offered loan deferrals under the CARES Act to borrowers in need. We were able to expand our core net interest margin by 11 basis points quarter over quarter, notwithstanding a 150 basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve Bank in March. With stable loan yields, continued reduction in our deposit and borrowing costs and deployment of excess cash balances, we are anticipating continued expansion of our net interest margin in...