Quarterly profit dips not deterring WashTrust

WESTERLY – With an eye toward loan and wealth-management growth, Washington Trust Bancorp Inc. hopes to repeat 2015’s record earnings, despite coming off two consecutive quarters with year-over-year profit loss.

The parent of Westerly-based The Washington Trust Co. reported record-breaking 2015 profit totaling $43.5 million, or $2.54 per diluted share, which is a 6.5 percent increase compared with 2014.

But fourth-quarter profit fell 4 percent to $10.7 million compared with the same period a year earlier, according to earnings released last week. The bank also saw a year-over-year profit drop of 3.1 percent in the third quarter, due largely to stiff lending competition.

But chairman and CEO Joseph J. MarcAurele believes the bank will build off fourth-quarter profits and the record-breaking year.

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“We feel good about all of our lines of business, and we have more legs to the stool than most community banks,” he said. •

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