Butterfield Bank says its loan portfolio is “stable”.

However, across the Group, non-performing residential mortgages increased by $9 million over the last nine months.

Non-performing loans are where the debtor is significantly behind on making their payments.

“Overall, the loan portfolio is stable and performing as expected given the current economic climate,” the bank said.

Butterfield was commenting after it reported its third-quarter results on Wednesday.

The bank saw its third-quarter profit rise 15 percent to $21.6 million from $18.8 million a year earlier as the company reduced staff and cut costs.

The bank said provisions for credit losses in the Bermuda operation were $2.2 million, up $0.6 million from the third quarter of 2012, largely due to “increased impairment of non-performing hospitality loans”.

The loan portfolio totalled $4.1 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2013, up $128 million from year end.

Non-performing loans, which include non-accrual loans and accruing loans past due by 90 days or more, totalled $139.3 million as of September 30, down $2.4 million from the year-end. The decrease was primarily the result of $10.3 million charge offs on commercial mortgages not considered recoverable net of an increase of $9.0 million in non-performing residential mortgages.