JPM - How This Small Massachusetts Bank Just Walloped the Big Bank Stocks
Six of the largest banks in the U.S. have now reported major profit declines in the first quarter of 2020, ranging from 30% to 90% on a year-over-year basis. The news did not exactly come as a surprise considering the impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on the economy. Banks have been forced to set aside lots of cash to cover bad loans and other losses they likely will incur in the coming months. Although most of the industry is expected to follow suit, a small bank in Massachusetts has managed to buck the trend.
Century Bancorp (NASDAQ: CNBKA), the holding company of Century Bank and Trust and one of the first small banks to release first-quarter earnings, surprisingly reported year-over-year profit growth in the first quarter, a huge accomplishment considering what happened in March.
Century Bank is a $5.5 billion asset bank in Medford, Massachusetts, with 26 branches. It's a pretty standard community bank that originates a variety of residential and commercial loans to small and medium-sized businesses, as well as local governments, and large healthcare and education institutions in New England.