Hudson City Bancorp's profit leaped 25 percent in the first quarter as the mortgage crisis plaguing many other lenders pushed much of the bank's competition out of the market, the company said Tuesday.
Hudson City earned $88.7 million, or 18 cents per share, in the first quarter, compared with profit of $71.2 million, or 13 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2007.
Profit met analysts' expectations, according to a Thomson Financial survey.
Hudson City's profit from lending grew 24 percent to $193.3 million as the bank collected interest payments on a bigger book of loans. The company's loan portfolio swelled to $24.9 billion from $20.25 billion.
The profit margin on lending, or net interest margin, strengthened to 1.72 percent from 1.7 percent.
Hudson City sidestepped the crisis hurting many other banks and mortgage lenders by making fewer risky bets. For instance, the bank avoided "subprime" mortgages, or loans to people with shaky credit.
Also, the New York metropolitan area, where Hudson City runs its 119 branches, has not suffered a housing downturn as severe as other regions have. Hudson City said it is receiving more applications for home loans because the crisis has chased many competitors out of the market.
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