Susquehanna Bancshares Inc., parent company of Susquehanna Bank, reported net income of $18.3 million for the second quarter of 2005, a 13.3 percent - or $2.2 million - net increase in earnings from the second period of 2004, driven in part by gains in the commercial and real-estate-construction loan business.
William J. Reuter, president and chief executive officer of the Lititz, Pa.-based financial services holding company, said the growth was aided by consolidation efforts that concluded with the April 15 consolidation and re-branding of Farmers & Merchants Bank and Trust as Susquehanna Bank branches.
"We are on track for achieving the bank performance improvements as the result of the consolidations," Reuter said in a conference call last Tuesday morning made available through a Webcast on Susquehanna's Web site.
"As we planned, the bank consolidations have given us a greater opportunity to focus on strengthening core bank areas such as real estate construction and commercial loan area, which is showing strong results as easily seen in our earnings release."
