Newport Beach-based Orange County Business Bank reported a lower profit for the first six months of the year but made more loans.
Low interest rates set by the Federal Reserve led to a nearly 80% fall in income to $136,000 for the six months from a year earlier, according to the bank, which lends to smaller businesses.
But low rates also appeared to have spurred loans, which grew by 41%, or about $50 million, to $173 million for the period.
Net interest income, or the difference between the loan interest payments to the bank and interest deposit payments by the bank, was $4.2 million for the period, versus $4.9 million a year earlier.
Other income, such as service charges on deposits and other fees, totaled $398,000 for the period compared to $476,000 a year earlier.
Expenses for the same period, such as salaries and other operating costs, were $4.1 million, up about 15% from the previous year.
The bank, with assets of $242 million as of June 30, said it remains “well-capitalized” under guidelines set by federal regulators.
As of June 30, the bank had about $4.4 million set aside to cover loans that could go bad, representing about 2.5% of its total loans.
