The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited today announced core earnings for the second quarter of $20.2 million or $0.03 per share on a fully diluted basis, an improvement of 71 percent over the $11.8 million earned in the same quarter a year ago.In a press release announcing the results, it stated net income for the quarter was $32.9 million, including non-core net items of $12.7 million, up $16.7 million compared to net income of $16.2 million in the second quarter of 2012. The core cash return on average tangible common equity doubled to 11.0 percent in the second quarter of 2013 compared to 5.5 percent in the second quarter of 2012, reflecting measures taken to achieve strategic goals, particularly expense and capital management initiatives.Year-to-date core earnings for the six months ended 30 June 2013 was $35.5 million, or $0.05 per Share on a fully diluted basis, up $9.1 million or 34 percent from $26.4 million for the six-month period ended 30 June 2012, due primarily to strong expense management.Year-to-date net income increased by $15.3 million for the six months ended 30 June 2013 to $46.2 million, compared to a year-to-date net income of $30.9 million for the six-month period ended 30 June 2012.Brendan McDonagh, Butterfield’s chairman and chief executive officer, was quoted as saying: “We are pleased that our strategy to improve shareholder value has doubled the core cash return on tangible common equity to 11.0 percent for the quarter, up from 5.5 percent only a year ago. Against a backdrop of challenging economic environments in our major markets, we achieved this result largely through ongoing expense management initiatives across the organisation.“By striving to earn our cost of capital, we will be stronger for our customers, employees and shareholders. To maintain this momentum, the senior management team has agreed to a ten percent reduction in compensation.“With a further quarter of solid core earnings behind us, I am pleased to announce that the Board has declared a second interim Common dividend of $0.01 per Share as a means to return value to shareholders whilst maintaining the Bank’s strong capital position.”