Enclosed please find our 2019 Annual Report Form 10-K, as well as your 2020 Annual Meeting Proxy Statement and Proxy Card. Our Annual Meeting will be held on May 13, 2020. As of this writing, our intentions are to hold the meeting in person. However as the COVID-19 situation evolves, we may choose to move it to a "virtual" meeting, online. More information on how to participate is included in the enclosed materials with more timely updates found at www.brooklinebancorp.com.
I am happy to report that 2019 was another year for record earnings at Brookline Bancorp. Our Net Income of $87.7 million represented an
increase of over 5% from 2018. This continual, steady growth is a testament to the hard work and discipline of our employees in delivering on our core strategies. I cannot overstate how their concerted efforts are the basis for our success.
This success was underpinned by an increase in Total Loans and Leases of $434.3 million, or nearly 7%, for a year-end total of $6.74 billion. Our bankers continue to demonstrate their expertise in those markets where we have deep historical experience and a clear view of current conditions. As a result, asset quality, always at the forefront of our core banking strategy, remained strong with Non- Performing Assets standing at just 0.28% of Total Assets at year end.
While the much welcomed rise in interest rates in 2019 was short-lived, the company's Net Interest Income for 2019 achieved steady growth, increasing to $253.3 million. Our focus on acquiring lower- cost deposits from our growing commercial banking customer base was a factor in these results. In total, deposit growth was $376 million, ending the year at $5.83 billion.
Non-Interest Income was a strong contributor to overall income at nearly $30 million, an 18% increase over the prior year. The two largest components, making up over 60% of this total, are fees generated from our deposit accounts and interest rate risk derivative products that we make available to our larger commercial borrowers.
Our focus on containing costs remains balanced with ensuring we continue to invest in the infrastructure and people that drive our business. As a result, Non-Interest Expenses grew just under 1.5% in 2019.
I would like to draw your attention to two other significant developments since our last Annual Meeting. The first was our strategic decision to merge First Ipswich Bank into Brookline Bank. As the geographies of these franchises expanded and began to overlap, it became clear that merging the two would provide a more cohesive delivery of our services while eliminating redundant operating overhead. We successfully completed the merger in February of this year.
The second was that after 20 years, Brookline Bank acquired the remaining interest in Eastern Funding, its financing subsidiary serving the laundromat, dry cleaning and grocery/deli industries. Eastern Funding has been a reliable contributor to our company's success, and we are very pleased to have them fully under our wing.
Sincerely,
Paul A. Perrault
Chief Executive Officer
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Brookline Bancorp Inc. published this content on 03 April 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 03 April 2020 21:05:05 UTC
Brookline Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company for Brookline Bank, Bank Rhode Island (BankRI), PCSB Bank (the Banks). The Bank offers a range of commercial, business and retail banking services, including a full complement of cash management products, on-line banking services, and consumer and residential loans and investment services, designed to meet the financial needs of small-to mid-sized businesses and individuals throughout Central New England and the Lower Hudson Valley in New York. Its specialty lending activities, including equipment financing, are focused on the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area, with services offered throughout the United States. The Bank, through its subsidiary Eastern Funding LLC, conducts equipment financing activities in the greater New York and New Jersey metropolitan area and elsewhere in the United States. The Bank operates 29 full-service banking offices and two lending offices in the greater Boston metropolitan area.
BROOKLINE BANCORP, INC. 
