Bangor Savings Bank posts record earnings

BANGOR – Bangor Savings Bank has had another year of growth and increased profits, executives announced Monday.

According to bank officers, Bangor Savings Bank had net income of $15.6 million during the 2005-2006 fiscal year, which ended March 31. This 13.7 percent increase over the prior year’s net income of $13.7 million represents the highest level of earnings ever recorded at the bank, they indicated.

“We’ve had a very, very good year,” Bangor Savings Bank President James Conlon said in an interview Monday a few hours before the bank’s annual meeting at the Bangor Civic Center.

The bank’s assets at the end of March were worth $1.83 billion, which is an increase of 4.5 percent from 2004-2005. Deposits and repurchase agreements totaled $1.5 billion, up more than 7 percent from the prior year.

Conlon said Bangor Savings continues to pursue expansion into southern Maine so that the bank can grow. He said the bank expects to open three branches in the Portland area in the coming year and a few more the year after that. It also will continue to explore expansion through existing facilities in the southern part of the state.

“There’s a lot of competition down there, but there’s a lot of opportunity,” the bank president said.

But Bangor Savings Bank will stay true to its roots in eastern and northern Maine, Conlon said. This it why the bank makes sure it offers services for small businesses that earn less than $1 million in revenue each year.

“Really, not a lot of [banks] have paid attention to them,” Conlon said.

Initiatives the bank has pursued in the past year include packaging its mortgage services into a new mortgage development group with a broader range of services and improved closing times. The bank also has increased its lending through auto dealers by processing loan applications more quickly, resulting in 17,000 vehicles being financed for $300 million. Conlon said the bank has been careful to monitor the effect of economic influences such as high oil prices on its customer base. This past year Bangor Savings Bank Foundation raised $50,000 as a challenge grant for the Eastern Maine Energy Initiative to help people with heating fuel assistance needs.

“Those things are tough to measure, but they are very important to us,” Conlon said of the bank’s community giving.

Bangor Savings Bank has 550 employees and 45 offices throughout Maine.