A headline in today's B&T Daily mischaracterized the latest earnings at Medford-based Century Bancorp. The headline indicated that a branch sale had contributed to the bank holding company's decreased income in the third quarter of 2008. That branch sale was accounted for in the company's 2007 third quarter – a fact properly reflected in B&T's story, but not in the headline.

The bank holding company reported net income of $2.56 million for the third quarter, a decrease of 10.6 percent compared to $2.86 million for the third quarter last year. But when the one-time after tax gain in 2007 is factored out, Century Bancorp's Q3 net income exceeded its 2007 performance by $572,000.

For the first nine months of 2008, net income totaled $6.24 million, an increase of 13.5 percent when compared to net income of $5.49 million for the same period a year ago.