Aug 1, 2014 3 min read

MONESSEN – FedFirst Financial Corp., parent of First Federal Savings Bank, Thursday announced a net loss of $276,000 for the three months ended June 30, compared with net income of $576,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2013.

The Monessen-based bank said the quarterly financial performance was largely impacted by more than $1 million in merger-related expenses from the company’s merger with CB Financial Services, Inc., the Carmichaels-based holding company for Community Bank.

According to a news release, FedFirst said diluted loss per share was 12 cents for the three months ended June 30 compared with diluted earnings per share of 23 cents for the comoparable quarter of 2013.

The company reported net income of $258,000 for the six months ended June 30, compared with $1.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2013, a decrease of $1.1 million or 81.2 percent.

Diluted earnings per share was 11 cents for the six months ended June 30, compared with 55 cents per share for the six months ended a year ago, a decrease of 44 cents per share or 80 percent. The company said quarter and year-to-date results were largely impacted by $1.4 million in expenses for the upcoming merger.

Those expenses included $719,000 in professional services related to investment banker and legal fees, $654,000 of occupancy expenses related to the planned consolidation of the First Federal Peters and Washington branches into nearby Community Bank branches, and $11,000 in audit and accounting fees.

“Although merger-related expenses resulted in negative results this quarter, our core banking business performed well,” said Patrick G. O’Brien, president and CEO. “Net interest income improved over 5 percent compared to the prior-year period, while commercial real estate and commercial business loans have driven year-to-date loan growth of over 5 percent.”

Net interest income for the three months ended June 30 increased $138,000, or 5.3 percent, to $2.7 million compared with $2.6 million for the three months ended June 30, 2013.

Payoff of higher-cost, long-term borrowings replaced at short-term, lower rates resulted in a $93,000 decrease in interest expense on borrowings and interest rate reductions and decreases in average balances on higher-cost deposits resulted in a $58,000 decrease in interest expense on deposits.

In addition, primarily due to commercial loan growth, interest income on loans increased $32,000 despite the impact of a one-time receipt in the prior period of $115,000 upon payoff of an impaired, non accrual commercial real estate loan. This was partially offset by a $67,000 decline in interest income on securities from paydowns.

Non-interest income increased $62,000, or 5.7 percent, to $1.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2014 and remained comparable to the three months ended June 30, 2013.

Net interest income increased $238,000, or 4.6 percent, to $5.4 million for the six months ended June 30, compared with $5.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2013.