New England Bancshares (NEB), the holding company for Enfield Federal Savings and Loan Association and Valley Bank, reported an almost 90 percent jump in year-over-year net income for the quarter-ended Dec. 31, but saw an overall net loss of $795,000 from March 31 through Dec. 31 of last year.

The company reported net income for the quarter ended Dec. 31 of $747,000, compared to net income of $395,000 reported for the same quarter a year ago, an increase of $352,000, or 89.1 percent.

However, NEB also reported a net loss of $795,000 for the nine months ended Dec. 31, compared to net income of $691,000 for the nine months ended Dec. 31, 2007.

“Total nonaccrual loans were $6.6 million at Dec. 31, 2008, an increase of $5.4 million from $1.2 million at March 31, 2008. Of this increase, $4.4 million was comprised of commercial business loans and commercial mortgage loans,” the company said in a statement.

Earlier this month, the company announced plans to both merge its two existing bank subsidiaries and acquire Apple Valley Bank & Trust Co. of Cheshire. As part of the acquisition, Apple Valley Bank will be merged into Valley Bank. After their merger, Valley Bank and Enfield Federal Savings and Loan Association will retain their names at their respective branches, and will operate as divisions of New England Bank.