M&T branching out in Maryland

Buffalo bank plans more offices as other institutions cut back

New branches in Bethesda near Norfolk and Cordell avenues and in Silver Spring near Colesville Road and Georgia Avenue should open by the end of the year, said Drew McKone, M&T’s retail regional manager for Montgomery County. One being built on Executive Boulevard in Rockville will likely open in early 2009, as it is being constructed from the ground up and the other two are parts of existing buildings, he said.

The branches add from six to eight employees each, Powell said. M&T, owned by M&T Bank Corp. of Buffalo, N.Y., has also started building in some other areas of Maryland but is not ready to release details, he said. In addition, the bank seeks to expand its ATM network in the state.

M&T had 150 branches in Maryland as of June 2007, the third most offices in the state behind PNC Financial Services Group of Pittsburgh and Bank of America Corp. of Charlotte, N.C., according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The bank ranked fifth in Maryland in deposits with $7.1 billion.

Executives with Chevy Chase Bank of Bethesda, the third largest bank in deposits in Maryland with $8 billion, recently said they are closing all branches in Giant Food stores starting next month. First Mariner Bancorp, the Baltimore parent of First Mariner Bank, the 13th largest bank in the state with $921.2 million in deposits, plans to shut down branches in Towson and Ocean City in September.

Like most banks, M&T saw its net income in the second quarter drop from last year. Earnings declined by 25 percent to $160.3 million from a year ago. But assets rose by 14 percent to $65.9 million from June 2007.

M&T’s profits were ‘‘significant,” and the bank is still seeing growth in loans and deposits, along with a stable net interest margin, Rene F. Jones, executive vice president and CFO, said in a statement. The bank’s provision for credit losses increased to $100 million in the second quarter from $30 million a year ago, while net charge-offs of loans rose to $99 million from $22 million a year ago.

One of the few banks operating in Maryland whose bottom line improved during the second quarter from last year is HarVest Bank of Maryland. HarVest showed a $74,000 profit in the second quarter, said Jack Hollerbach, the Rockville bank’s president and CEO. HarVest had a $77,000 loss a year ago, according to the FDIC.

Assets have almost doubled in the past year, as the bank hit $205 million, Hollerbach said. That was up from $120.2 million a year ago and $184 million in the 2008 first quarter.

HarVest also plans to open its fourth branch next month, taking over a former Graystone Bank branch in Frederick.