Durham’s M&F Bank returns to profitability

M&F Bank returned to profitability, albeit barely, in the first quarter.

The Durham-based bank posted net income of $8,000, or zero cents per share, versus a net loss of $140,000 a year ago.

In a prepared statement, CEO James H. Sills said that “2017 is the year to grow the loan portfolio and generate core earnings.”

Loans outstanding increased $5.9 million to $156.2 million during the quarter. Meanwhile, M&F’s loan delinquency rate fell to 1.15 percent compared to 2 percent at the end of 2016.

Noninterest expense fell by $317,000, or 11 percent, including a $146,000 decrease in salaries and employee benefits. Last year the bank laid off seven employees, or 11 percent of its staff, as part of a cost-cutting effort aimed at boosting performance.

In 2016, M&F posted its first annual loss since it opened its first branch in 1908 but took steps to improve its position, including paying off its nearly $12 million debt to the federal government – federal stimulus money it received during the recession under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

M&F has four branches in the Triangle and seven overall.

This story was originally published April 27, 2017 at 2:29 PM with the headline "Durham’s M&F Bank returns to profitability."