Business
Western New England Bancorp, Inc. Reports Results for Three Months Ended March 31, 2024 and Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend
WESTFIELD, Mass., April 23, 2024 (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., April 23, 2024 (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 months ended March 31, 2024. The Company reported net income of $3.0 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, for the three months ended March 31, 2024, compared to net income of $5.3 million, or $0.24 per diluted share, for the three months ended March 31, 2023. On a linked quarter basis, net income was $3.0 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, as compared to net income of $2.5 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, for the three months ended December 31, 2023. The Company also announced today that the Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.07 per share on the Company’s common stock. The dividend will be payable on or about May 22, 2024 to shareholders of record on May 8, 2024. James C. Hagan, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are pleased with the stability of our deposit base and believe we are well positioned to continue strengthening our deposit franchise. We maintain solid relationships with the local community, our bank regulators and our depositors and borrowers. In 2024, we will continue to focus on growing consumer and commercial relationships with an emphasis on core funding. We continue to seek out new loan opportunities in our expanded franchise to meet the needs of our community. We remain well-capitalized, with strong liquidity and strong credit quality, with nonperforming loans to total loans of 0.29% at March 31, 2024 keeping with historical levels. We remain proud of our credit-based culture. We are also working with our management team to identify expense management initiatives that may help mitigate the pressure on net interest income we are currently experiencing as the current interest rate environment continues to adversely affect the net interest margin.” Hagan concluded, “During the first quarter, we repurchased 200,000 shares at an average price per share of $8.26 under the Company’s repurchase plan. We believe the share repurchases are a prudent use of capital that serve to enhance shareholder value, especially when they are accretive to book value. We will continue to work diligently to increase shareholder value through v...