UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

[ X ] Quarterly Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2008.

OR

[    ]  Transition Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for the transition period from ____________ to __________.

Commission File Number: 001-32007

NEWALLIANCE BANCSHARES, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

                                         DELAWARE                                                                   52-2407114                 
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)   (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
     
195 Church Street, New Haven, Connecticut        06510    
(Address of principal executive offices)   (Zip Code)

(203) 789-2767

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)


(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
[ X ]   Yes         [    ]   No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definition of “accelerated filer and large accelerated filer” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer   X     Accelerated filer ___                    
 
Non-accelerated filer ___   Smaller reporting company ___                    

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).   [    ]   Yes   [ X ]   No

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date.

  Common Stock (par value $.01)                   107,058,509                    
  Class     Outstanding at August 1, 2008  



TABLE OF CONTENTS


Part I – FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Page No.
             
  Item 1.   Financial Statements (Unaudited)      
             
      Consolidated Balance Sheets at June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007   3  
             
      Consolidated Statements of Income for the three and six months ended June 30, 2008 and 2007   4  
             
      Consolidated Statement of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity for the six months ended June 30, 2008   5  
             
      Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the six months ended June 30, 2008 and 2007   6  
             
      Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements   7  
             
  Item 2.   Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations   22  
             
  Item 3.   Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk   41  
             
  Item 4.   Controls and Procedures   41  
             
  Item 4T.   Controls and Procedures   41  
             
Part II – OTHER INFORMATION
             
  Item 1.   Legal Proceedings   41  
             
  Item 1A.   Risk Factors   42  
             
  Item 2.   Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds   45  
             
  Item 3.   Defaults Upon Senior Securities   45  
             
  Item 4.   Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders   45  
             
  Item 5.   Other Information   45  
             
  Item 6.   Exhibits   45  
             
             

SIGNATURES

2



New Alliance Bancshares, Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets

(In thousands, except per share data) (Unaudited) June 30,
2008
  December 31,
2007

Assets              

Cash and due from banks, noninterest bearing

$ 112,287     $ 108,917  

Short-term investments

  52,000       51,962  

Cash and cash equivalents

  164,287       160,879  

Investment securities available for sale (note 5)

  2,006,502       2,201,021  

Investment securities held to maturity (note 5)

  314,113       290,472  

Loans held for sale

  3,350       2,669  

Loans, net (note 6)

  4,901,669       4,684,156  

Premises and equipment, net

  60,898       61,939  

Cash surrender value of bank owned life insurance

  134,878       132,059  

Goodwill (note 7)

  527,643       531,191  

Identifiable intangible assets (note 7)

  48,588       53,316  

Other assets (note 8)

  100,328       93,282  

Total assets

$ 8,262,256     $ 8,210,984  

Liabilities              

Deposits (note 9)

             

Non-interest bearing

$ 500,673     $ 477,408  

Savings, interest-bearing checking and money market

  2,168,256       1,834,190  

Time

  1,662,071       2,062,067  

Total deposits

  4,331,000       4,373,665  

Borrowings (note 10)

  2,454,606       2,355,504  

Other liabilities

  69,540       74,708  

Total liabilities

  6,855,146       6,803,877  
               

Commitments and contingencies (note 14)

             
               
Stockholders’ Equity              

Preferred stock, $0.01 par value; authorized 38,000 shares; none issued

  -       -  

Common stock, $0.01 par value; authorized 190,000 shares; issued 121,486 shares at June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007

  1,215       1,215  

Additional paid-in capital

  1,244,216       1,242,100  

Unallocated common stock held by ESOP

  (94,209 )     (96,039 )

Unearned restricted stock compensation

  (21,785 )     (25,466 )

Treasury stock, at cost (13,531 shares at June 30, 2008 and 12,634 shares at December 31, 2007)

  (189,483 )     (178,401 )

Retained earnings

  461,597       451,729  

Accumulated other comprehensive income (note 16)

  5,559       11,969  

Total stockholders’ equity

  1,407,110       1,407,107  

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity

$ 8,262,256     $ 8,210,984  

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

3




New Alliance Bancshares, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Income

  Three Months Ended
June 30,
  Six Months Ended
June 30,
 
 
(In thousands, except share data) (Unaudited)   2008       2007       2008       2007  

Interest and dividend income                              

Residential real estate loans

$ 34,512     $ 31,729     $ 67,790     $ 61,549  

Commercial real estate loans

  18,291       18,636       37,177       37,008  

Commercial business loans

  6,819       8,862       14,185       16,980  

Consumer loans

  9,547       10,887       19,833       21,641  

Investment securities

  29,821       27,265       61,935       56,129  

Short-term investments

  190       732       474       1,610  

Total interest and dividend income

  99,180       98,111       201,394       194,917  

Interest expense                              

Deposits

  24,805       32,655       54,803       64,677  

Borrowings

  26,127       22,847       52,337       44,226  

Total interest expense

  50,932       55,502       107,140       108,903  

Net interest income before provision for loan losses

  48,248       42,609       94,254       86,014  
                               
Provision for loan losses   3,700       600       5,400       1,600  

Net interest income after provision for loan losses

  44,548       42,009       88,854       84,414  

Non-interest income                              

Depositor service charges

  6,708       7,003       13,340       13,492  

Loan and servicing income

  264       612       645       1,058  

Trust fees

  1,678       1,676       3,348       3,343  

Investment management, brokerage & insurance fees

  1,844       1,861       4,376       3,535  

Bank owned life insurance

  1,291       1,600       2,820       3,170  

Net gain (loss) on securities

  87       (22,345 )     1,225       (22,187 )

Net gain on sale of loans

  656       467       913       664  

Other

  1,991       1,360       3,518       3,388  

Total non-interest income

  14,519       (7,766 )     30,185       6,463  

Non-interest expense                              

Salaries and employee benefits (notes 11 & 12)

  22,935       21,635       46,624       43,492  

Occupancy

  4,320       4,325       9,214       8,729  

Furniture and fixtures

  1,654       1,702       3,340       3,443  

Outside services

  4,471       4,182       8,744       8,759  

Advertising, public relations, and sponsorships

  2,036       2,258       3,745       3,938  

Amortization of identifiable intangible assets

  2,364       2,951       4,728       6,039  

Merger related charges

  23       472       78       2,339  

Other

  3,514       3,410       7,082       6,965  

Total non-interest expense

  41,317       40,935       83,555       83,704  

Income (loss) before income taxes

  17,750       (6,692 )     35,484       7,173  
                               
Income tax provision (note 13)   5,968       (2,833 )     10,768       1,736  

Net income (loss)

$ 11,782     $ (3,859 )   $ 24,716     $ 5,437  

                               
Basic earnings (loss) per share (note 17) $ 0.12     $ (0.04 )   $ 0.25     $ 0.05  
Diluted earnings (loss) per share (note 17)   0.12       (0.04 )     0.25       0.05  
Weighted-average shares outstanding (note 17)                              

Basic

  100,112,529       103,872,256       100,194,898       103,960,928  

Diluted

  100,282,161       104,605,351       100,215,006       104,889,936  
Dividends per share $ 0.07     $ 0.065     $ 0.135     $ 0.125  
                               
                               

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

4




New Alliance Bancshares, Inc.
Consolidated Statement of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity

For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2008
(In thousands, except per share data) (unaudited)
Common
Shares
Outstanding
  Par Value
Common
Stock
  Additional
Paid-in
Capital
  Unallocated
Common
Stock Held
by ESOP
  Unearned
Compensation
  Treasury
Stock
  Retained
Earnings
  Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
Income
  Total
Stockholders’
Equity

Balance December 31, 2007   108,852     $ 1,215     $ 1,242,100     $ (96,039 )   $ (25,466 )   $ (178,401 )   $ 451,729     $ 11,969     $ 1,407,107  
                                                                       
Dividends declared ($0.135 per share)                                                   (13,786 )             (13,786 )
Allocation of ESOP shares, net of tax                   (166 )     1,830                                       1,664  
Treasury shares acquired (note 15)   (897 )                                     (11,082 )                     (11,082 )
Restricted stock expense                                   3,681                               3,681  
Excess tax benefit of stock-based compensation                   107                                               107  
Stock option expense                   2,175                                               2,175  
Adoption of EITF 06-4, net of tax (Note 2)                                                   (1,062 )             (1,062 )
                                                                       
Comprehensive income:                                                                      

Net income

                                                  24,716               24,716  

Other comprehensive loss, net of tax (note 16)

                                                          (6,410 )     (6,410 )

Total comprehensive income

                                                                  18,306  

Balance June 30, 2008   107,955     $ 1,215     $ 1,244,216     $ (94,209 )   $ (21,785 )   $ (189,483 )   $ 461,597     $ 5,559     $ 1,407,110  

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

5




New Alliance Bancshares, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

  Six Months Ended
June 30,
 
(In thousands) (Unaudited)   2008       2007  

Cash flows from operating activities              
Net income $ 24,716     $ 5,437  
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities              

Provision for loan losses

  5,400       1,600  

Gain on sale of OREO

  (68 )     -  

Restricted stock compensation expense

  3,681       3,709  

Stock option compensation expense

  2,175       2,232  

ESOP expense

  1,664       1,934  

Amortization of identifiable intangible assets

  4,728       6,039  

Net amortization/accretion of fair market adjustments from net assets acquired

  (2,502 )     (3,645 )

Net amortization/accretion of investment securities

  (1,483 )     (133 )

Change in deferred income taxes

  277       (4,836 )

Depreciation and amortization

  3,524       3,560  

Net gain on securities

  (1,225 )     (387 )

Impairment of investment portfolio

  -       22,574  

Net gain on sales of performing loans

  (913 )     (664 )

Proceeds from sales of loans held for sale

  52,222       23,564  

Loans originated for sale

  (58,682 )     (30,471 )

Net loss on sale of fixed assets

  7       -  

Gain on limited partnerships

  (646 )     (784 )

Increase in cash surrender value of bank owned life insurance

  (2,820 )     (3,170 )

(Increase) decrease in other assets

  (2,408 )     73,371  

Decrease in other liabilities

  (3,250 )     (14,210 )

Net cash provided by operating activities

  24,397       85,720  

Cash flows from investing activities              

Purchase of securities available for sale

  (293,967 )     (89,599 )

Purchase of securities held to maturity

  (58,995 )     -  

Proceeds from maturity, sales, calls and principal reductions of securities available for sale

  481,166       319,983  

Proceeds from maturity, calls and principal reductions of securities held to maturity

  35,865       29,604  

Proceeds from sales of fixed assets

  659       10  

Net increase in loans held for investment

  (216,809 )     (329,315 )

Net cash acquired in acquisitions

  -       124,163  

Proceeds from sales of other real estate owned

  517       -  

Purchase of premises and equipment

  (3,111 )     (3,979 )

Net cash (used) provided by investing activities

  (54,675 )     50,867  

Cash flows from financing activities              

Net decrease in customer deposit balances

  (42,700 )     (122,381 )

Net increase (decrease) in short-term borrowings

  31,639       (24,726 )

Proceeds from long-term borrowings

  345,000       421,000  

Repayments of long-term borrowings

  (275,492 )     (305,072 )

Shares issued for stock option exercise

  -       10  

Excess tax benefit of stock-based compensation

  107       62  

Acquisition of treasury shares

  (11,082 )     (10,529 )

Dividends declared

  (13,786 )     (13,332 )

Net cash provided (used) by financing activities

  33,686       (54,968 )

Net increase in cash and cash equivalents

  3,408       81,619  

Cash and equivalents, beginning of period

  160,879       156,025  

Cash and equivalents, end of period

$ 164,287     $ 237,644  

Supplemental information              

Cash paid for

             

Interest on deposits and borrowings

$ 108,957     $ 108,142  

Income taxes paid, net

  11,087       8,277  
Noncash transactions              

Net non-cash liabilities acquired

  -       (144,062 )

Value of shares issued for acquisitions

  -       58,939  
               

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

6




NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements



1.   Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
     
    Financial Statement Presentation
   
The consolidated financial statements of NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc. (the “Company”) have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation. Amounts in prior period financial statements are reclassified whenever necessary to conform to the current year presentation. These Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K as of and for the year ended December 31, 2007.

The preparation of the consolidated financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Material estimates that are particularly susceptible to significant near-term change relate to the determination of the allowance for loan losses, the obligation and expense for pension and other postretirement benefits, stock-based compensation and estimates used to evaluate asset impairment including income tax contingencies and deferred tax assets and liabilities and recoverability of goodwill and other intangible assets.
     
2.   Recent Accounting Pronouncements
     
   
In May 2008, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 162, “The Hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles” (“SFAS No. 162”). SFAS No. 162 identifies the sources of accounting principles and the framework for selecting the principles used in the preparation of financial statements of nongovernmental entities that are presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) in the United States (the “GAAP hierarchy”). This Statement shall be effective 60 days following the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) amendments to AU Section 411, “The Meaning of Present Fairly in Conformity With General Accepted Accounting Principles”. Management believes that the adoption of SFAS No. 162 will not have a material impact upon the preparation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
     
   
In April 2008, the FASB issued FASB Staff Position No. 142-3, “Determination of the Useful Life of Intangible Assets” (“FSP No. 142-3”). FSP No. 142-3 amends the factors that should be considered in developing renewal or extension assumptions used to determine the useful life of a recognized intangible asset under SFAS No. 142, “Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets” (“SFAS No. 142”). The intent of FSP No. 142-3 is to improve the consistency between the useful life of a recognized intangible asset under SFAS No. 142 and the period of expected cash flows used to measure the fair value of the asset under SFAS No. 141 (revised 2007), “Business Combinations” and other applicable accounting literature. FSP No. 142-3 is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2008. The Company does not anticipate that the adoption of FSP No. 142-3 will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
     
   
In March 2008, the FASB issued SFAS No. 161 “Disclosures about Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities” (“SFAS No. 161”). SFAS No. 161 changes the disclosure requirements regarding derivative instruments and hedging activities and specifically requires (i) qualitative disclosures about objectives and strategies for using derivatives, (ii) quantitative disclosures about fair value amounts of, and gains and losses on, derivative instruments, and (iii) disclosures about credit risk-related contingent features in derivative agreements. The new standard is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2008, with early application encouraged. Management believes that the adoption of SFAS No. 161 will not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
     
   
In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 141 (revised 2007), “Business Combinations” which replaces SFAS No. 141, “Business Combinations” (“SFAS No. 141(R)”). SFAS No. 141(R) retains the fundamental requirements in SFAS No. 141 that the acquisition method of accounting be used for all business combinations and for an acquirer to be identified for each business combination. SFAS No. 141(R) requires among other things, that acquisition-related transaction and restructuring costs be expensed rather than capitalized as part of the cost of the acquisition; that the acquiring entity in a business combination recognizes all the assets acquired and liabilities assumed in the transaction; that the acquisition-date fair value be used as the measurement objective for all assets acquired and liabilities assumed; and that the acquirer provide certain disclosures that will allow users of the financial statements to understand the nature and financial effect of the business combination. SFAS No. 141(R) is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2008 and would apply prospectively to any future business

7


NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements



   
combinations. The adoption of SFAS No. 141(R) on January 1, 2009 is expected to have a significant impact on the Company’s accounting for business combinations closing on or after this date.
     
   
In February 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 159, “The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities”, to permit all entities to choose to elect to measure eligible financial instruments at fair value. A business entity shall report in earnings, unrealized gains and losses on items for which the fair value option has been elected. Eligible items include any recognized financial assets and liabilities with certain exceptions including but not limited to, deposit liabilities, investments in subsidiaries, and certain deferred compensation arrangements. The decision about whether to elect the fair value option is generally applied on an instrument-by-instrument basis, is generally irrevocable, and is applied only to an entire instrument and not to only specified risks, specific cash flows, or portions of that instrument. The adoption of this Statement as of January 1, 2008 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. Management did not elect the fair value option for any of the Company’s eligible financial assets or liabilities on January 1, 2008.
     
   
In September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS No. 158, “Employers’ Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Plans” – an amendment of SFAS Nos. 87, 88, 106, and 132(R), that requires employers to recognize the overfunded or underfunded positions of defined benefit postretirement plans, including pension plans, in their balance sheets for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2006. The Standard also requires that employers measure plan assets and obligations as of the date of their financial statements. This Statement requires a public entity that currently measures plan assets and benefit obligations as of a date other than the date of its statement of financial position to implement the change in measurement date for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2008. Amounts recognized pursuant to SFAS No. 158 will not affect the Bank’s regulatory capital. The impact of adopting SFAS No. 158 on December 31, 2006, was a reduction to stockholders’ equity of $5.8 million, net of tax, with no impact to the consolidated statements of income and cash flows. The adoption of the measurement date provision on December 31, 2008 will not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
     
   
In September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS No. 157, “Fair Value Measurements” (“SFAS No. 157”), which addresses how companies should measure fair value when they are required to use a fair value measure for recognition or disclosure purposes under generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). As a result of SFAS No. 157, there is now a common definition of fair value to be used throughout GAAP as it establishes a fair value hierarchy. SFAS No. 157 will require companies to make expanded disclosures about fair value measurements. The Company adopted SFAS No. 157 effective January 1, 2008. The adoption of SFAS No. 157 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. See Note 3 in Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
     
   
In February 2008, the FASB issued FASB Staff Position FAS No. 157-2,“Effective Date of FASB Statement No. 157” (“FSP No. 157-2”), which delays the January 1, 2008 effective date of SFAS No. 157 for all nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities, to fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2008, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Management has not yet determined the impact of the adoption of FSP No. 157-2 upon the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
     
   
In September 2006, the FASB reached a consensus on Emerging Issues Task Force (“EITF”) Issue 06-4,“Accounting for Deferred Compensation and Postretirement Benefit Aspects of Endorsement Split-Dollar Life Insurance Arrangements,” (“EITF Issue 06-4”). In March 2007, the FASB reached a consensus on EITF Issue 06-10, “Accounting for Collateral Assignment Split-Dollar Life Insurance Arrangements,” (“EITF Issue 06-10”). Both of these standards require a company to recognize an obligation over an employee’s service period based upon the substantive agreement with an employee such as the promise to maintain a life insurance policy or provide a death benefit. The Company adopted the provisions of these standards effective January 1, 2008 which resulted in the recording of a liability of $1.6 million with a corresponding reduction to retained earnings, (net of tax).

8


NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements



3.   Fair Value Measurements
     
   
SFAS No. 157, “Fair Value Measurements”, defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value under GAAP, and expands disclosures about fair value measurements. As a result of SFAS No. 157 there is a common definition of fair value to be used throughout GAAP, a fair value hierarchy was established and companies are required to make expanded disclosures about fair value measurements. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy under SFAS No. 157 are described below:

 
Level 1 – Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.
     
 
Level 2 – Observable inputs other than Level 1 prices such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities; quoted prices in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities. This category generally includes U.S. Government and agency mortgage backed securities; corporate debt securities, derivative contracts and residential mortgage loans held-for-sale.
     
 
Level 3 – Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities. Level 3 assets and liabilities include financial instruments whose value is determined using pricing models, discounted cash flow methodologies, or similar techniques, as well as instruments for which the determination of fair value requires significant management judgment or estimation.

   
A description of the valuation methodologies used for instruments measured at fair value, as well as the general classification of such instruments pursuant to the valuation hierarchy, is set forth below.
     
   
Securities Available for Sale: Where quoted prices are available in an active market, securities are classified within Level 1 of the valuation hierarchy. Level 1 securities include highly liquid government bonds, certain mortgage products and exchange-traded equities. If quoted prices are not available, then fair values are estimated by using pricing models (i.e. matrix pricing) or quoted prices of securities with similar characteristics and are classified within Level 2 of the valuation hierarchy. Examples of such instruments would include mortgage-backed securities and municipal obligations. The fair value measurements consider observable data that may include dealer quotes, market spreads, cash flows, the U.S. Treasury yield curve, trade execution data, market prepayment speeds, credit information and the bond’s terms and conditions, among other things.
     
   
Loan Servicing Rights: A Loan Servicing Right asset represents the amount by which the present value of the estimated future net cash flows to be received from servicing loans are expected to more than adequately compensate the Company for performing the servicing. The fair value of servicing rights is estimated using a present value cash flow model. The most important assumptions used in the valuation model are the anticipated rate of the loan prepayments and discount rates. Adjustments are only recorded when the discounted cash flows derived from the valuation model are less than the carrying value of the asset. As such, measurement at fair value is on a nonrecurring basis. Although some assumptions in determining fair value are based on standards used by market participants, some are based on unobservable inputs and therefore are classified in Level 3 of the valuation hierarchy.
     
   
Impaired Loans: Impaired loans for which the Bank expects to receive less than the contracted balance are written down to fair value. Consequently, measurement at fair value is on a nonrecurring basis. These loans are written down through a specific reserve within the Bank’s total loan loss reserve allowance. The fair value of these assets are classified within Level 3 of the valuation hierarchy and are estimated based on either collateral values supported by appraisals, or observed market prices.
     
   
The following table details the financial instruments carried at fair value on a recurring basis as of June 30, 2008 and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation techniques utilized by the Company to determine the fair value:

        June 30, 2008
       
        Quoted Prices in         Significant  
        Active Markets for   Significant   Unobservable  
        Identical Assets   Observable Inputs   Inputs  
    (In thousands)   (Level 1)   (Level 2)   (Level 3)  
   
    Securities Available for Sale   $ 188,750   $ 1,696,932   $ -  
   

9


NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements



   
Certain assets and liabilities are measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. These include assets that are measured at the lower of cost or market that were recognized at fair value below cost at the end of the period as well as assets that are not measured at fair value on an ongoing basis but are subject to fair value adjustments in certain circumstances, such as when there is evidence of impairment.
     
   
The following table details the financial instruments carried at fair value on a nonrecurring basis as of June 30, 2008 and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation techniques utilized by the Company to determine the fair value:

        June 30, 2008
       
        Quoted Prices in         Significant  
        Active Markets for   Significant   Unobservable  
        Identical Assets   Observable Inputs   Inputs  
    (In thousands)   (Level 1)   (Level 2)   (Level 3)  
   
    Loan Servicing Rights   $ -   $ -   $ 3,462  
    Impaired Loans     -     -     6,455  
   

4.   Business Combinations
     
   
There were no business combinations completed for the six months ended June 30, 2008. The following table summarizes acquisitions completed since January 1, 2007.

            Balance at                              
            Acquisition Date   Transaction Related Items
           
 
                                                  Total
        Acquisition                     Identifiable   Cash     Shares     Purchase
    (In thousands)   Date     Assets     Equity   Goodwill   Intangibles   Paid     Issued     Price
   
    Connecticut Investment Management, Inc.   3/5/2007   $ 951   $ 652   $ 753   $ 1,363   $ 2,000   $ -   $ 2,000
    Westbank Corporation, Inc.   1/2/2007     716,834     42,967     79,466     14,232     58,447     4,009     117,386
   

   
The transactions were accounted for using the purchase method of accounting in accordance with SFAS No. 141,“Business Combinations.” Accordingly, the purchase price was allocated based on the estimated fair market values of the assets and liabilities acquired.
     
   
Connecticut Investment Management, Inc.
   
On March 5, 2007, the Company completed its acquisition of Connecticut Investment Management, Inc. (“CIMI”) a registered investment advisory firm for $2.0 million in cash. At December 31, 2006 CIMI had approximately $190.0 million in assets under management.
     
   
Westbank Corporation
   
On January 2, 2007 the Company completed the acquisition of Westbank Corporation (“Westbank”), the parent company of Westbank. The aggregate merger consideration was valued at approximately $117.4 million. Westbank had assets of approximately $716.8 million and stockholders’ equity of approximately $43.0 million on January 2, 2007.

10


NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements



5.   Investment Securities
     
   
The following table presents the amortized cost, gross unrealized gains, gross unrealized losses and estimated fair values of investment securities at June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007.

        June 30, 2008   December 31, 2007
       
 
                Gross     Gross                   Gross     Gross        
          Amortized     unrealized     unrealized       Fair     Amortized     unrealized     unrealized       Fair
    (In thousands)     cost     gains     losses       value     cost     gains     losses       value
   
    Available for sale                                                    
   

U.S. Treasury obligations

  $ 596   $ -   $ -     $ 596   $ 1,092   $ 3   $ -     $ 1,095
   

U.S. Government sponsored

                                                   
   

enterprise obligations

    172,522     381     (841 )     172,062     201,408     672     (21 )     202,059
   

Corporate obligations

    7,158     14     -       7,172     22,531     130     (146 )     22,515
   

Other bonds and obligations

    47,518     53     (2,566 )     45,005     52,853     56     (275 )     52,634
   

Marketable and trust preferred

                                                   
   

equity securities

    72,451     6     (9,441 )     63,016     86,543     154     (3,231 )     83,466
   

Federal Home Loan Bank stock

    120,821     -     -       120,821     113,760     -     -       113,760
   

Mortgage-backed securities

    1,579,084     20,018     (1,272 )     1,597,830     1,706,966     21,098     (2,572 )     1,725,492
   
   

Total available for sale

    2,000,150     20,472     (14,120 )     2,006,502     2,185,153     22,113     (6,245 )     2,201,021
   
    Held to maturity                                                    
   

Mortgage-backed securities

    306,978     4,283     (641 )     310,620     282,887     4,362     (281 )     286,968
   

Other bonds

    7,135     22     (29 )     7,128     7,585     25     (33 )     7,577
   
   

Total held to maturity

    314,113     4,305     (670 )     317,748     290,472     4,387     (314 )     294,545
   
   

Total securities

  $ 2,314,263   $ 24,777   $ (14,790 )   $ 2,324,250   $ 2,475,625   $ 26,500   $ (6,559 )   $ 2,495,566
   

   
The following table presents the fair value of investments with continuous unrealized losses for less than one year and those that have been in a continuous loss position for more than one year as of June 30, 2008.

                                               
        Less Than One Year   More Than One Year   Total
       
 
 
          Fair     Unrealized       Fair     Unrealized       Fair     Unrealized  
    (In thousands)     value     losses       value     losses       value     losses  
   
    U. S. Treasury obligations   $ -   $ -     $ -   $ -     $ -   $ -  
    U. S. Government sponsored enterprise obligations     95,654     (841 )     -     -       95,654     (841 )
    Corporate obligations     -     -       -     -       -     -  
    Other bonds and obligations     41,951     (2,595 )     -     -       41,951     (2,595 )
    Marketable and trust preferred equity obligations     41,335     (9,102 )     1,657     (339 )     42,992     (9,441 )
    Mortgage-backed securities     196,654     (1,913 )     -     -       196,654     (1,913 )
   
   

Total securities with unrealized losses

  $ 375,594   $ (14,451 )   $ 1,657   $ (339 )   $ 377,251   $ (14,790 )
   

   
Of the issues summarized above, 112 issues have unrealized losses for less than twelve months and one has an unrealized loss for twelve months or more. Management believes that no individual unrealized loss as of June 30, 2008 represents an-other-than-temporary impairment, based on its normal monthly review of the securities portfolio. Among other things, the other-than-temporary impairment review of the investment securities portfolio focuses on the combined factors of percentage and length of time by which an issue is below book value as well as consideration of company specific (cash flow interruptions) and broad market details.
     
   
The unrealized losses reported for U.S. Government sponsored obligations are related to changes in market interest rates.
     
   
The unrealized losses reported on mortgage-backed securities relate to securities issued by FNMA, FHLMC and AAA rated securities issued by private institutions. The unrealized losses on the securities issued by FNMA and FHLMC are due to changes in market interest rates while widening in non-agency mortgage spreads is the primary factor for the unrealized losses reported on AAA rated securities issued by private institutions. None of the securities are backed by sub-prime mortgage loans. All securities are performing in accordance with contractual terms.
     
   
The unrealized losses reported for other bonds and obligations are primarily related to federally guaranteed student loan auction rate certificates that are currently experiencing failing auctions. Unrealized losses in this category also relate a position in a short term adjustable rate mortgage mutual fund that holds positions in non-agency mortgage-backed securities that are facing negative mark to market pressures due to widening spreads in non-agency mortgage spreads. All securities are performing in accordance with contractual terms.

11


NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements



   
The unrealized losses reported for trust preferred equity securities relate to changes in market interest rates and to the current market stress partially resulting from efforts by banks to raise capital. This has in turn inflated coupon rates on new issues of trust preferred equity securities versus lower rates on the Company’s portfolio of A- to AAA rated, non-perpetual seasoned issues of trust preferred equity securities. In accordance with the Company’s internal policies for review of other-than-temporary impairment, a detailed review of select trust preferred equity securities was completed. This analysis determined that there was no other-than-temporary impairment at quarter end. All trust preferred equity securities are current and no impairment of cash flows is anticipated.
     
   
The Company has the ability and intent to hold the securities contained in the table for a period of time necessary to recover the unrealized losses, which may be until maturity.
     
6.   Loans
     
    The composition of the Company’s loan portfolio is as follows:

          June 30,       December 31,  
    (In thousands)     2008       2007  
   
    Residential real estate   $ 2,533,248     $ 2,360,921  
    Commercial real estate     999,048       947,185  
    Construction                
   

Residential

    19,816       29,023  
   

Commercial

    214,830       247,428  
    Commercial business     473,147       457,745  
    Consumer                
   

Home equity and equity lines of credit

    681,978       652,107  
   

Other

    27,400       33,560  
   
   

Total consumer

    709,378       685,667  
   
   

Total loans

    4,949,467       4,727,969  
   

Allowance for loan losses

    (47,798 )     (43,813 )
   
   

Total loans, net

  $ 4,901,669     $ 4,684,156  
   

   
At June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007, the Company’s residential real estate loan, residential construction loan, home equity loan and equity lines of credit portfolios are entirely collateralized by one to four family homes and condominiums, the majority of which are located in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The commercial real estate loan and commercial construction portfolios are collateralized primarily by multi-family, commercial and industrial properties located predominately in Connecticut and Massachusetts. A variety of different assets, including accounts receivable, inventory and property, and plant and equipment, collateralize the majority of the commercial business loan portfolio. The Company does not originate or directly invest in sub prime loans.

12


NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements
                                 

                                 
  The following table provides a summary of activity in the allowance for loan losses.
                                 
      At or For the Three Months     At or For the Six Months
      Ended June 30,     Ended June 30,
     
   
  (Dollars in thousands)   2008     2007     2008     2007
 
  Balance at beginning of period   $ 45,414     $ 42,085     $ 43,813     $ 37,408
  Net allowances gained through acquisition     -       -       -       3,894
  Provision for loan losses     3,700       600       5,400       1,600
  Charge-offs                              
 

Residential and commercial real estate loans

    -       -       51       2
 

Commercial construction

    1,000       285       1,000       285
 

Commercial business loans

    504       121       774       659
 

Consumer loans

    205       175       351       287
 
 

Total charge-offs

    1,709       581       2,176       1,233
 
  Recoveries                              
 

Residential and commercial real estate loans

    14       15       29       265
 

Commercial construction

    -       11       -       11
 

Commercial business loans

    343       263       663       316
 

Consumer loans

    36       30       69       162
 
 

Total recoveries

    393       319       761       754
 
  Net charge-offs     1,316       262       1,415       479
 
  Balance at end of period   $ 47,798     $ 42,423     $ 47,798     $ 42,423
 

7. Goodwill and Identifiable Intangible Assets                        
                           
  The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill and identifiable intangible assets for the six months ended June 30, 2008 are summarized as follows:
                           
                      Total
              Core Deposit   Identifiable
              and Customer   Intangible
  (In thousands)   Goodwill   Relationships   Assets
 
  Balance, December 31, 2007   $ 531,191     $ 53,316     $ 53,316  
  Other     (3,548 )     -       -  
  Amortization expense     -       (4,728 )     (4,728 )
 
  Balance, June 30, 2008   $ 527,643     $ 48,588     $ 48,588  
 
  Estimated amortization expense for the year ending:                        
 

Remaining 2008

          $ 4,728     $ 4,728  
 

2009

            8,501       8,501  
 

2010

            7,811       7,811  
 

2011

            7,556       7,556  
 

2012

            7,556       7,556  
 

Thereafter

            12,436       12,436  
 
 

The reduction of $3.5 million in goodwill, shown above as other, was primarily due to a reduction of unrecognized tax benefits for tax positions taken in prior years based on the settlement of an IRS examination.
                           
 
The components of identifiable intangible assets are comprised of core deposit and customer relationships and had the following balances at June 30, 2008:
                           
      Original           Balance
      Recorded   Cumulative   June 30,
  (In thousands)   Amount   Amortization   2008
 
 

Core deposit and customer relationships

  $ 86,908     $ 38,320     $ 48,588  
 
                           

13


NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements
 

                 
8. Other Assets              
                 
  Selected components of other assets are as follows:              
      June 30,   December 31,
  (In thousands)   2008   2007
 
  Deferred tax asset, net   $ 13,691     $ 10,033
  Accrued interest receivable     32,625       35,071
  Prepaid pension     13,450       14,180
  Investments in limited partnerships and other investments     9,804       9,069
  All other     30,758       24,929
 
 

Total other assets

  $ 100,328     $ 93,282
 
                 
9. Deposits              
                 
  A summary of deposits by account type is as follows:              
      June 30,   December 31,
  (In thousands)   2008   2007
 
  Savings   $ 1,349,136     $ 941,051
  Money market     427,174       492,042
  NOW     391,946       401,097
  Demand     500,673       477,408
  Time     1,662,071       2,062,067
 
 

Total deposits

  $ 4,331,000     $ 4,373,665
 
                 
10. Borrowings              
                 
  The following is a summary of the Company’s borrowed funds:              
      June 30,   December 31,
  (In thousands)   2008   2007
 
  FHLB advances (1)   $ 2,244,598     $ 2,136,965
  Repurchase agreements     183,783       192,145
  Mortgage loans payable     1,390       1,459
  Junior subordinated debentures issued to affiliated trusts (2)     24,835       24,935
 
 

Total borrowings

  $ 2,454,606     $ 2,355,504
 

  (1)
Includes fair value adjustments on acquired borrowings, in accordance with SFAS No. 141,“Business Combinations,” of $7.6 million and $9.6 million at June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007, respectively.
     
  (2)
Includes fair value adjustments on acquired borrowings, in accordance with SFAS No. 141,“Business Combinations,” of $200,000 and $300,000 at June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007, respectively. The trusts were organized to facilitate the issuance of “trust preferred” securities. The Company acquired these subsidiaries when it acquired Alliance Bancorp of New England, Inc. and Westbank Corporation, Inc. The affiliated trusts are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Company and the payments of these securities are irrevocably and unconditionally guaranteed by the Company.
     
   
The acquisition fair value adjustments (premiums) are being amortized as an adjustment to interest expense on borrowings over their remaining term using the level yield method.
     
 
FHLB advances are secured by the Company’s investment in FHLB stock, a blanket security agreement and other eligible investment securities. This agreement requires the Bank to maintain as collateral certain qualifying assets, principally mortgage loans. Investment securities currently maintained as collateral are U.S. Agency hybrid adjustable rate mortgage-backed securities. At June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007, the Bank was in compliance with the FHLB collateral requirements. At June 30, 2008, the Company could borrow an additional $285.6 million from the FHLB, inclusive of a line of credit of approximately $20.0 million. Additional borrowing capacity of approximately $654.6 million would be available by pledging additional eligible securities as collateral. The Company also has borrowing capacity at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s discount window, which was approximately $114.6 million as of June 30, 2008, all of which was available on that date. Repurchase agreement lines of credit totaled $125.0 million at June 30, 2008, with availability of $100.0 million. At June 30, 2008, the majority of the Company’s $2.24 billion outstanding FHLB advances were at fixed rates ranging from 2.25% to 8.17%, while one advance of $15.0 million had a floating rate of 2.79%. The weighted average rate for all FHLB advances at June 30, 2008 was 4.57%.

14


NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements
 

   
11. Pension and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans
   
 
The Company provides various defined benefit and other postretirement benefit plans (postretirement health and life insurance benefits) to substantially all employees hired prior to January 1, 2008. The Company also has supplemental retirement plans (the “Supplemental Plans”) that provide benefits for certain key executive officers. Benefits under the supplemental plans are based on a predetermined formula and are reduced by other benefits. The liability arising from these plans is being accrued over the participants’ remaining periods of service so that at the expected retirement dates, the present value of the annual payments will have been expensed.
   
 
The following table presents the amount of net periodic pension cost for the three months ended June 30, 2008 and 2007.
   
                      Supplemental                
                      Executive   Other Postretirement
      Qualified Pension   Retirement Plans   Benefits
     
 
 
  (In thousands)   2008   2007   2008   2007   2008   2007
 
  Service cost - benefits earned during the period   $ 787     $ 809     $ 134     $ 125     $ 49     $ 50  
  Interest cost on projected benefit obligation     1,363       1,258       177       159       93       88  
  Expected return on plan assets     (1,798 )     (1,786 )     -       -       -       -  
  Amortization:                                                
 

Transition

    -       -       -       -       13       13  
 

Prior service cost

    13       13       2       2       -       -  
 

Loss (gain)

    -       79       -       -       (20 )     (6 )
 
 

Net periodic benefit cost

  $ 365     $ 373     $ 313     $ 286     $ 135     $ 145  
 
                                                   
  The following table presents the amount of net periodic pension cost for the six months ended June 30, 2008 and 2007:
                                                   
                      Supplemental                
                      Executive   Other Postretirement
      Qualified Pension   Retirement Plans   Benefits
     
 
 
  (In thousands)   2008   2007   2008   2007   2008   2007
 
  Service cost - benefits earned during the period   $ 1,575     $ 1,618     $ 269     $ 250     $ 98     $ 99  
  Interest cost on projected benefit obligation     2,726       2,515       353       318       186       175  
  Expected return on plan assets     (3,595 )     (3,571 )     -               -       -  
  Amortization:                                                
 

Transition

    -       -       -       -       26       26  
 

Prior service cost

    25       25       3       3       -       -  
 

Gain (loss)

    -       159       -       -       (40 )     (11 )
 
 

Net periodic benefit cost

  $ 731     $ 746     $ 625     $ 571     $ 270     $ 289  
 
                                                   
 
In connection with its conversion to a state-chartered stock bank, the Company established an employee stock ownership plan (“ESOP”) to provide substantially all employees of the Company the opportunity to become stockholders. The ESOP borrowed $109.7 million of a $112.0 million line of credit from the Company and used the funds to purchase 7,454,562 shares of common stock in the open market subsequent to the subscription offering. The loan will be repaid principally from the Bank’s discretionary contributions to the ESOP over a remaining period of 26 years. The unallocated ESOP shares are pledged as collateral on the loan.
   
 
At June 30, 2008, the loan had an outstanding balance of $101.0 million and an interest rate of 4.0%. The Company accounts for its ESOP in accordance with Statement of Position (“SOP”) 93-6, “Employers’ Accounting for Employee Stock Ownership Plans.” Under SOP 93-6, unearned ESOP shares are not considered outstanding and are shown as a reduction of stockholders’ equity as unearned compensation. The Company will recognize compensation cost equal to the fair value of the ESOP shares during the periods in which they are committed to be released. To the extent that the fair value of the Company’s ESOP shares differs from the cost of such shares, this difference will be credited to equity. The Company will receive a tax deduction equal to the cost of the shares released to the extent of the principal paydown on the loan by the ESOP. As the loan is internally leveraged, the loan receivable from the ESOP to the Company is not reported as an asset nor is the debt of the ESOP shown as a liability in the Company’s financial statements. Dividends on unallocated shares are used to pay the ESOP debt. The ESOP compensation expense for the three and six months ended June 30, 2008 was approximately $817,000 and $1.5 million, respectively. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2007, the ESOP compensation expense was approximately $929,000 and $1.9 million, respectively. The amount of loan repayments made by the ESOP is used to reduce the unallocated common stock held by the ESOP.

15


NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements
 

         
  The ESOP shares as of June 30, 2008 were as follows:      
         
 
  Shares released for allocation     1,038,069
  Unreleased shares     6,416,493
 
 

Total ESOP shares

    7,454,562
 
  Market value of unreleased shares at June 30, 2008 (in thousands)   $ 80,078
         
12. Stock-Based Compensation
   
 
The Company provides compensation benefits to employees and non-employee directors under its 2005 Long-Term Compensation Plan (the “LTCP”) which was approved by shareholders. The Company accounts for stock-based compensation using the fair value recognition provisions of revised SFAS No. 123 (“SFAS No. 123R”), “Share Based Payment”, which was adopted using the modified prospective transition method effective January 1, 2006. Under SFAS No. 123R, the fair value of stock option and restricted stock awards, measured at grant date, is amortized to compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the vesting period.
   
 
The LTCP allows for the issuance of up to 11.4 million Options or Stock Appreciation Rights and up to 4.6 million Stock Awards or Performance Awards.
   
  Option Awards
 
Options awarded to date are for a term of ten years. Substantially all of these options were awarded on the original award date of June 17, 2005 and these 2005 option awards have the following vesting schedule: 40% vested at year-end 2005, 20% vested at year-end 2006 and 2007, respectively and 20% will vest at year-end of 2008. Subsequent awards have vesting periods of either three or four years. The Company has assumed a 0.4% forfeiture rate as the majority of the options have been awarded to senior level management. Compensation expense recorded on options for the three months ended June 30, 2008 and 2007 was $1.0 million and $1.1 million, respectively, or after tax expense of approximately $682,000 and $715,000, respectively. For both the six month periods ended June 30, 2008 and 2007, compensation expense of $2.2 million, or after tax of $1.4 million and $1.5 million, respectively was recorded. It is anticipated that the Company will recognize expense on options of approximately $4.2 million, $179,000, $153,000, $70,000 and $7,000 in calendar years 2008 through 2012, unless additional awards are granted.
   
 
Options to purchase 79,250 shares were granted to employees during the six months ended June 30, 2008 and options to purchase 80,000 shares were granted during the six months ended June 30, 2007. Using the Black-Scholes option pricing model, the weighted-average grant date fair value was $1.96 and $2.72 for the options which were granted in 2008 and 2007, respectively. The weighted-average related assumptions for the six months ended June 30, 2008 and 2007 are presented in the following table.

      2008     2007  
 
  Risk-free interest rate   2.86 %   4.50 %
  Expected dividend yield   2.12 %   1.50 %
  Expected volatility   16.19 %   16.17 %
  Expected life   6.25 years     3.84 years  
 

16


NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements
                                 

                                 
  A summary of option activity as of June 30, 2008 and changes during the period ended is presented below.
                                 
                    Weighted-        
            Weighted-   Average   Aggregate
            Average   Remaining   Intrinsic
            Exercise   Contractual   Value
      Shares     Price   Term   ($000)
 
  Options outstanding at beginning of year   8,537,660     $ 14.41                  
  Granted   79,250       12.43                  
  Exercised   -       -                  
  Forfeited/cancelled   (48,729 )     14.34                  
  Expired   (12,850 )     14.39                  
 
  Options outstanding at June 30, 2008   8,555,331     $ 14.40       7.00     $ 23  
 
  Options exercisable at June 30, 2008   6,795,704     $ 14.40       6.97     $ -  
 

  The following table summarizes the nonvested options during the six months ended June 30, 2008.                
                   
              Weighted-average
              Grant-Date
      Shares   Fair Value
 
                   
  Nonvested at January 1, 2008     1,801,508     $ 2.65  
  Granted     79,250       1.96  
  Vested     (72,402 )     2.62  
  Forfeited/Cancelled     (48,729 )     2.59  
 
  Nonvested at June 30, 2008     1,759,627     $ 2.62  
 
                   
  Restricted Stock Awards
 
To date, 3,530,217 shares of restricted stock have been awarded under the LTCP. The majority of these shares were awarded in 2005 and these 2005 awards have a vesting schedule of 15% per year for six years and 10% in the seventh year. Subsequent awards have vesting schedules of either three or four years. The associated expense is recorded based on the vesting schedules. Compensation expense recorded on restricted stock for the three months ended June 30, 2008 and 2007 was approximately $1.8 million and $2.0 million or after tax expense of approximately $1.3 million and $1.5 million, respectively. For the six months ended June 30, 2008 and 2007, compensation expense for both periods was $3.7 million, or after-tax expense of approximately $2.7 million. The Company anticipates that it will record expense of approximately $7.0 million, $6.4 million, $6.3 million, $4.2 million and $29,000 in calendar years 2008 through 2012, respectively, unless additional awards are granted.
   
  The following table summarizes the nonvested restricted stock awards during the six months ended June 30, 2008.

              Weighted-average
              Grant-Date
      Shares   Fair Value
 
  Nonvested at January 1, 2008     2,262,216     $ 14.42  
  Granted     58,300       12.08  
  Vested     (533,295 )     11.72  
  Forfeited/Cancelled     (64,508 )     14.39  
 
  Nonvested at June 30, 2008     1,722,713     $ 14.34  
 

17


NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements
 

   
13. Income Taxes
   
 
The Company had transactions in which the related tax effect was recorded directly to stockholders’ equity or goodwill instead of operations. Transactions in which the tax effect was recorded directly to stockholders’ equity included the tax effects of unrealized gains and losses on available for sale securities and excess tax benefits related to the vesting of restricted stock. Deferred taxes charged to goodwill were in connection with prior acquisitions. The Company had a net deferred tax asset of $13.7 million and $10.0 million at June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007, respectively.
   
  The allocation of deferred tax expense involving items charged to income, items charged directly to shareholders’ equity and items charged to goodwill is as follows:

      Three Months Ended   Six Months Ended
      June 30,   June 30,
     
 
  (In thousands)   2008   2007   2008   2007
 
  Deferred tax (benefit) expense allocated to:                                
 

Stockholders’ equity, tax effect of net unrealized (loss) gain on investment

                               
 

securities available for sale, net of valuation allowance

  $ (3,905 )   $ 4,356     $ (3,107 )   $ 7,589  
 

Stockholders’ equity, tax impact of adoption of EITF 06-04

    -       -       (572 )     -  
 

Goodwill

    -       (32 )     (256 )     (3,812 )
 

Income

    (1,780 )     (8,076 )     277       (4,836 )
 
 

Total deferred tax benefit

  $ (5,685 )   $ (3,752 )   $ (3,658 )   $ (1,059 )
 
                                   
 
The Company adopted the provisions of FIN 48, “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes”, on January 1, 2007. A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:
             
        Six months ended
  (In thousands)     June 30, 2008
 
  Balance at December 31, 2007     $ 4,436  
 

Additions for tax positions of current year

      80  
 

Additions for tax positions of prior year

      36  
 

Reductions for tax positions of prior year

      (4,175 )
 
 

Balance at June 30, 2008

    $ 377  
 

 
Included in the balance at June 30, 2008 are $367,000 of tax positions for which the ultimate deductibility is highly uncertain and for which the disallowance of the tax position would affect the annual effective tax rate. The Company anticipates that none of the unrecognized tax benefits will reverse in the next twelve months due to statute expirations. The Company recognizes interest and penalties accrued related to unrecognized tax benefits as a component of income tax expense. As of June 30, 2008, the Company has accrued approximately $41,000 in interest and penalties.
   
 
The Company is generally no longer subject to federal, state or local income tax examinations by tax authorities for the years before 2002. In the first quarter of 2006, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) commenced an examination of the 2003 and 2004 tax years for the Company and various acquired entities. As of March 31, 2008, the IRS has completed their audit and they have communicated $64,000 of adjustments before interest, to the audited tax years. As a result of the completed audit with the IRS, the Company released $991,000 of interest and penalties on unrecognized tax benefits through continuing operations and $2.9 million of unrecognized tax benefits through goodwill.

18


NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements
 

   
14. Commitments and Contingencies
   
 
The Company is party to financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of its customers. These financial instruments consist primarily of commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit. Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to customers as long as there is no violation of any terms or covenants established in the contract. Commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses that may require payment of a fee. Since many of the commitments could expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements. These commitments consist principally of unused commercial and consumer lines of credit. Standby letters of credit generally are contingent upon the failure of the customer to perform according to the terms of an underlying contract with a third party. The credit risks associated with commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit are essentially the same as those involved with extending loans to customers and are subject to normal credit policies. Collateral may be obtained based on management’s assessment of the customer’s creditworthiness.
   
  The table below summarizes the Company’s commitments and contingencies discussed above.

      June 30,   December 31,
  (In thousands)   2008   2007
 
  Loan commitments   $ 132,409     $ 71,191  
  Unadvanced portion of construction loans     116,343       163,302  
  Standby letters of credit     14,494       15,885  
  Unadvanced portion of lines of credit     581,070       560,298  
 
 

Total commitments

  $ 844,316     $ 810,676  
 
                   
  Other Commitments
 
As of June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007, the Company was contractually committed under limited partnership agreements to make additional partnership investments of approximately $2.7 million and $2.8 million, respectively which constitutes our maximum potential obligation to these partnerships. The Company is obligated to make additional investments in response to formal written requests, rather than a funding schedule. Funding requests are submitted when the partnerships plan to make additional investments.
   
  Legal Proceedings
 
We are not involved in any pending legal proceedings other than routine legal proceedings occurring in the ordinary course of business. We believe that those routine proceedings involve, in the aggregate, amounts which are immaterial to the financial condition and results of operations of NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
   
15. Stockholders’ Equity
   
 
At June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007, stockholders’ equity amounted to $1.41 billion, representing 17.0% and 17.1% of total assets, respectively. The Company paid cash dividends totaling $0.135 per share on common stock during the six months ended June 30, 2008.
   
  Dividends
 
The Company and the Bank are subject to dividend restrictions imposed by various regulators. Connecticut banking laws limit the amount of annual dividends that the Bank may pay to the Company to an amount that approximates the Bank’s net income retained for the current year plus net income retained for the two previous years. In addition, the Bank may not declare or pay dividends on, and the Company may not repurchase any of its shares of its common stock if the effect thereof would cause stockholders’ equity to be reduced below applicable regulatory capital maintenance requirements or if such declaration, payment or repurchase would otherwise violate regulatory requirements.
   
  Share Repurchase Plan
 
On January 31, 2006, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized a repurchase plan of up to an additional 10.0 million shares or approximately 10% of the then outstanding Company common stock. Under this plan the Company has repurchased 5,926,000 shares of common stock at a weighted average price of $13.38 per share as of June 30, 2008. There is no set expiration date for this repurchase plan.

19


NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements
 

   
  Regulatory Capital
 
Capital guidelines of the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) require the Company and its banking subsidiary to maintain certain minimum ratios, as set forth below. At June 30, 2008, the Company and the Bank were deemed to be “well capitalized” under the regulations of the Federal Reserve Board and the FDIC, respectively, and in compliance with the applicable capital requirements.
   
  The following table provides information on the capital ratios.

                                To Be Well
                    For Capital   Capitalized Under
                    Adequacy   Prompt Corrective
        Actual   Purposes   Action Provisions
       
 
 
  (Dollars in thousands)     Amount   Ratio   Amount   Ratio   Amount   Ratio
 
  NewAlliance Bank                                      
 

June 30, 2008

                                     
 

Tier 1 Capital (to Average Assets)

    $ 706,019   9.3 %   $ 302,237   4.0 %   $ 379,047   5.0 %
 

Tier 1 Capital (to Risk Weighted Assets)

      706,019   15.6       180,948   4.0       271,422   6.0  
 

Total Capital (to Risk Weighted Assets)

      753,817   16.7       361,896   8.0       452,370   10.0  
                                         
 

December 31, 2007

                                     
 

Tier 1 Capital (to Average Assets)

    $ 692,735   9.1 %   $ 304,876   4.0 %   $ 381,095   5.0 %
 

Tier 1 Capital (to Risk Weighted Assets)

      692,735   15.6       178,102   4.0       267,153   6.0  
 

Total Capital (to Risk Weighted Assets)

      736,548   16.5       356,204   8.0       445,254   10.0  
                                         
  NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.                                      
 

June 30, 2008

                                     
 

Tier 1 Capital (to Average Assets)

    $ 847,961   11.2 %   $ 304,006   4.0 %   $ 380,008   5.0 %
 

Tier 1 Capital (to Risk Weighted Assets)

      847,961   18.7       181,493   4.0       272,240   6.0  
 

Total Capital (to Risk Weighted Assets)

      895,759   19.7       362,987   8.0       453,733   10.0  
                                         
 

December 31, 2007

                                     
 

Tier 1 Capital (to Average Assets)

    $ 833,596   10.9 %   $ 305,288   4.0 %   $ 381,610   5.0 %
 

Tier 1 Capital (to Risk Weighted Assets)

      833,596   18.6       179,225   4.0       268,837   6.0  
 

Total Capital (to Risk Weighted Assets)

      877,409   19.6       358,449   8.0       448,062   10.0  
 
                                         
16. Other Comprehensive Income                                      
                                         
  The following table presents the components of other comprehensive income and the related tax effects for the three and six months ended June 30, 2008 and 2007.

      Three Months Ended   Six Months Ended
      June 30,   June 30,
     
 
  (In thousands)   2008   2007   2008   2007
 
  Net income (loss)   $ 11,782     $ (3,859 )   $ 24,716     $ 5,437  
  Other comprehensive income, before tax                                
 

Unrealized losses on securities

                               
 

Unrealized holding losses arising during the period

    (11,779 )     (10,183 )     (8,292 )     (783 )
 

Reclassification adjustment for (gains) losses included in

                               
 

net income (loss)

    (87 )     22,345       (1,225 )     22,187  
 
  Other comprehensive (loss) income, before tax     (11,866 )     12,162       (9,517 )     21,404  
  Income tax benefit (expense), net of valuation allowance     3,905       (4,356 )     3,107       (7,589 )
 
  Other comprehensive (loss) income, net of tax     (7,961 )     7,806       (6,410 )     13,815  
 
  Comprehensive income   $ 3,821     $ 3,947     $ 18,306     $ 19,252  
 

20


NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements
 

                                   
17. Earnings Per Share                                
                                   
  The calculation of basic and diluted earnings per share for the three and six months ended June 30, 2008 and 2007 is presented below.
                                   
      Three Months Ended   Six Months Ended
      June 30,   June 30,
     
 
  (In thousands, except per share data)   2008   2007   2008   2007
 
  Net income (loss)   $ 11,782     $ (3,859 )   $ 24,716     $ 5,437  
  Average common shares outstanding for basic EPS     100,113       103,872       100,195       103,961  
  Effect of dilutive stock options and unvested stock awards     169       733       20       929  
 
  Average common and common-equivalent shares for dilutive EPS     100,282       104,605       100,215       104,890  
  Net income (loss) per common share:                                
 

Basic

  $ 0.12     $ (0.04 )   $ 0.25     $ 0.05  
 

Diluted

    0.12       (0.04 )     0.25       0.05  
 

21


Forward-Looking Statements

This report may contain certain forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the U.S. federal securities laws.

Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and describe future plans, strategies, and expectations of Management and are generally identified by use of the word “plan”, “believe”, “expect”, “intend”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “project”, or similar expressions. Management’s ability to predict results or the actual effects of its plans or strategies is inherently uncertain. Accordingly, actual results may differ materially from anticipated results.

Factors that could have a material adverse effect on the operations of NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc. (“NewAlliance” or the “Company”) and its subsidiaries include, but are not limited to:

 
Changes in the interest rate environment may reduce net interest margin and/or the volumes and values of loans made or held as well as the value of other financial assets held;
 
General economic or business conditions, either nationally or regionally, may be less favorable than expected, resulting in, among other things, a deterioration in credit quality and/or a reduced demand for credit or other services;
  Competitive pressures among depository and other financial institutions may increase significantly and may decrease the profit margin associated with its business;
 
Legislative or regulatory changes, including those related to residential mortgages and changes in accounting standards, may adversely affect the businesses in which NewAlliance is engaged;
  Local, state or federal taxing authorities may take tax positions that are adverse to NewAlliance;
  Costs or difficulties related to the integration of acquired businesses may be greater than expected;
  Expected cost savings associated with completed mergers may not fully be realized or realized within expected time frames;
  Deposit attrition, customer loss or revenue loss following completed mergers may be greater than expected;
  Adverse changes may occur in the securities markets impacting the value of NewAlliance’s investments; and
  Competitors of NewAlliance may have greater financial resources and develop products that enable them to compete more successfully than NewAlliance.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this report. Except as required by applicable law or regulation, management undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date on which such statements were made.

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) is intended to help the reader understand NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc., our operations and our present business environment. We believe transparency and clarity are the primary goals of successful financial reporting. We remain committed to increasing the transparency of our financial reporting, providing our stockholders with informative financial disclosures and presenting an accurate view of our financial disclosures, financial position and operating results.

MD&A is provided as a supplement to—and should be read in conjunction with—our Consolidated Financial Statements and the accompanying notes thereto contained in Part I, Item 1, of this report as well as our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007. The following sections are included in MD&A:

Our Business — a general description of our business, our objectives and regulatory considerations.
   
Critical Accounting Estimates — a discussion of accounting estimates that require critical judgments and estimates.
   
Recent Accounting Changes — a discussion of recently adopted accounting pronouncements or changes.
   
Operating Results — an analysis of our Company’s consolidated results of operations for the periods presented in our Consolidated Financial Statements.
   
Financial Condition and Management of Market and Interest Rate Risk — an overview of financial condition and market and interest rate risk.

22


Our Business

General

NewAlliance is the third largest banking institution headquartered in Connecticut and the fourth largest based in New England with consolidated assets of $8.26 billion and stockholders’ equity of $1.41 billion at June 30, 2008. Its business philosophy is to operate as a community bank with local decision-making authority.

The Company’s results of operations depend primarily on net interest income, which is the difference between the income earned on its loan and securities portfolios and its cost of funds, consisting of the interest paid on deposits and borrowings. Results of operations are also affected by the Company’s provision for loan losses, income and expenses pertaining to other real estate owned, gains and losses from sales of loans and securities and non-interest income and expenses. Non-interest income primarily consists of fee income from depositors and wealth management services and bank owned life insurance (“BOLI”). Non-interest expenses consist principally of compensation and employee benefits, occupancy, data processing, amortization of acquisition related intangible assets, marketing, professional services and other operating expenses.

Results of operations are also significantly affected by general economic and competitive conditions and changes in interest rates as well as government policies and actions of regulatory authorities. Future changes in applicable laws, regulations or government policies may materially affect the Company.

Our Objectives

NewAlliance seeks to continually deliver superior value to its customers, stockholders, employees and communities through achievement of its core operating objectives which are to:

  Build high quality, profitable loan portfolios using organic, purchase and acquisition strategies;
  Increase core deposit relationships with a focus on checking and savings accounts;
  Increase the non-interest income component of total revenues through development of banking-related fee income and growth in wealth management services;
  Maintain a rigorous risk identification and management process;
  Grow through a disciplined acquisition strategy, supplemented by de-novo branching;
  Improve operating efficiencies; and
  Utilize technology to enhance superior customer service and products.

Significant factors management reviews to evaluate achievement of the Company’s operating objectives and its operating results and financial condition include, but are not limited to: net income and earnings per share, performance of acquisitions and integration activities, return on equity and assets, net interest margin, non-interest income, operating expenses related to total assets and efficiency ratio, asset quality, loan and deposit growth, capital management, liquidity and interest rate sensitivity levels, customer service standards, market share and peer comparisons.

Regulatory Considerations

NewAlliance and its subsidiaries are subject to numerous examinations by federal and state banking regulators, as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission. Please refer to NewAlliance’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 for additional disclosures with respect to laws and regulations affecting the Company’s businesses.

Critical Accounting Estimates

Our Consolidated Financial Statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP. In connection with the preparation of our financial statements, we are required to make assumptions and estimates about future events, and apply judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses and the related disclosures. We base our assumptions, estimates and judgments on historical experience, current trends and other factors that management believes to be relevant at the time our Consolidated Financial Statements are prepared. On a regular basis, management reviews the accounting policies, assumptions, estimates and judgments to ensure that our financial statements are presented fairly and in accordance with GAAP. However, because future events and their effects cannot be determined with certainty, actual results could differ from our assumptions and estimates, and such differences could be material.

23


We believe that our most critical accounting policies, and those which involve the most complex subjective decisions or assessments relate to income taxes, pension and other postretirement benefits, goodwill and intangible assets, the allowance for loan losses and stock-based compensation. None of the Company’s critical accounting estimates have changed during the quarter. A brief description of our current policies involving significant management valuation judgments follows:

Income Taxes

Management uses the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes in which defined tax assets and liabilities are established for the temporary differences between the financial reporting basis and the tax basis of the Company’s assets and liabilities.

Significant management judgment is required in determining income tax expense and deferred tax assets and liabilities. Some judgments are subjective and involve estimates and assumptions about matters that are inherently uncertain. In determining the valuation allowance, we use historical and forecasted future operating results, based upon approved business plans, including a review of the eligible carryforward periods, tax planning opportunities and other relevant considerations. Management believes that the accounting estimate related to the valuation allowance is a critical accounting estimate because the underlying assumptions can change from period to period. For example, tax law changes or variances in future projected operating performance could result in a change in the valuation allowance.

The reserve for tax contingencies contains uncertainties because management is required to make assumptions and to apply judgment to estimate the exposures associated with our various filing positions. The effective income tax rate is also affected by changes in tax law, entry into new tax jurisdictions, the level of earnings and the results of tax audits.

Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits

Management uses key assumptions that include discount rates, expected return on plan assets, benefits earned, interest costs, mortality rates, increases in compensation, and other factors. The two most critical assumptions—estimated return on plan assets and the discount rate—are important elements of plan expense and asset/liability measurements. These critical assumptions are evaluated at least annually on a plan basis. Other assumptions are evaluated periodically and are updated to reflect actual experience and expectations for the future.

Goodwill and Identifiable Intangible Assets

We evaluate goodwill and identifiable intangible assets for impairment annually or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value of the goodwill or identifiable intangible assets may not be recoverable. We complete our impairment evaluation by performing internal valuation analyses based on discounted cash flow modeling techniques, considering publicly available market information and using an independent valuation firm, as appropriate. These types of analyses contain uncertainties because they require management to make assumptions and to apply judgment to estimate industry economic factors and the profitability of future business strategies.

Allowance for Loan Losses

The allowance for loan losses reflects management’s best estimate of probable losses inherent in the loan portfolio. The adequacy of the allowance is determined based upon a detailed evaluation of the portfolio and sub-portfolios through a process which considers numerous factors, including levels and direction of delinquencies, non-performing loans and assets, risk ratings, estimated credit losses using both internal and external portfolio reviews, current economic and market conditions, concentrations, portfolio volume and mix, changes in underwriting, experience of staff, historical loss rates over the business cycle and current economic trends. All of these factors may be susceptible to significant change.

Stock-Based Compensation

We have a stock-based compensation plan, which includes non-qualified stock options and non-vested share awards. Fair value at the grant date is determined using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model and associated assumptions include future volatility of our stock price, expected dividend yield and future employee turnover rates. Changes in these assumptions can materially affect the fair value estimate.

A complete discussion of critical accounting estimates can be found in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K (fiscal year ended December 31, 2007).

24


Recent Accounting Changes
     
We adopted the following new accounting pronouncements on January 1, 2008:
     
  Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (“SFAS”) No. 157, “Fair Value Measurements;”
  SFAS No. 159, “The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities;”
 
Emerging Issues Task Force (“EITF”) Issue 06-4, “Accounting for Deferred Compensation and Postretirement Benefit Aspects of Endorsement Split-Dollar Life Insurance Arrangements;” and
  EITF Issue 06-10, “Accounting for Collateral Assignment Split-Dollar Life Insurance Arrangements.”

SFAS No. 157 had no impact on retained earnings and is not expected to have a material impact on our statements of income and condition. We have not made material changes to our valuation methodologies as previously disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007. For further information, see Note 3 in the Notes to the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements.

SFAS No. 159 had no impact on retained earnings as management did not elect the fair value option for any of the Company’s eligible financial assets or liabilities as of January 1, 2008.

EITF Issue 06-4 and EITF Issue 06-10 had the effect of recording a liability in the amount of $1.6 million with a corresponding reduction to retained earnings. For further information, see Note 2 in the Notes to the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements.

Operating Results

Executive Overview

In 2007 the Company completed two acquisitions, Westbank Corporation (“Westbank”) on January 2nd and Connecticut Investment Management, Inc. (“CIMI”) on March 5th. Westbank was the holding company for Westbank, a commercial bank and trust company with 16 banking offices in Massachusetts and Connecticut. CIMI was a registered investment advisory firm with approximately $190.0 million in assets under management. Further information regarding acquisitions can be found in Note 4, “Business Combinations” in the Notes to the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements.

Net income for the second quarter of 2008 was $11.8 million or $0.12 per diluted share, compared to a loss of $3.9 million or $0.04 per diluted share for the second quarter of 2007. For the six months ended June 30, 2008, net income was $24.7 million or $0.25 per diluted share, compared to $5.4 million or $0.05 per diluted share.

The largest single component causing the quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year increase in net income was the investment securities portfolio restructuring in June 2007. The restructuring resulted in the Company recording an-other-than-temporary impairment charge of $22.6 million ($14.7 million after-tax). The restructuring primarily affected fixed rate mortgage-backed securities and CMO’s and was completed to reduce the Company’s exposure to fixed rate assets as well as to increase the yield on the portfolio, thereby providing a prospective improvement in the net interest margin. The market value of the securities sold was $759.0 million and the cash proceeds were reinvested in agency hybrid adjustable rate mortgage-backed securities.

Results for the quarter were also positively affected by a $4.6 million decline in funding costs, mainly due to decreases in the average rate and balance of time deposits. These improvements were partially offset by an increase in the provision for loan losses of $3.1 million which reflects the increase in nonaccrual loans, an outcome of the current economic environment.

Year-over-year comparisons were positively impacted by the restructuring of the investment securities portfolio and a reduction in funding costs. Similar to the quarter, there was an increase in the provision for loan losses in the current year-to-date period of $3.8 million.

For the three and six months ended June 30, 2008 compared to 2007, return on average assets increased 78 basis points and 47 basis points, respectively, and our return on average equity increased 441 basis points and 271 basis points, respectively.

The net interest margin experienced improvements over 2007 for both the three and six months ended June 30, 2008 due to strong loan growth, the restructuring of the investment securities portfolio during the second quarter of 2007 and the reduction in deposit costs, partially offset by an increase in FHLB borrowings expense. For the three months ended June 30, 2008 the net interest margin was 2.67% as compared to 2.44% for the same period in 2007, an increase of 23 basis points. For the six months ended June 30, 2008 the net interest margin was 2.62%, an increase of 15 basis points from 2.47% for the six months ended June 30, 2007.

25


Our continued focus on maintaining credit quality has resulted in continued positive asset quality ratios as compared to our peers. The allowance for loan losses to total loans increased four basis points to 0.97% from 0.93% at December 31, 2007. The ratio of nonperforming loans to total loans was 0.53% at June 30, 2008 compared to 0.35% at December 31, 2007 and 0.33% at June 30, 2007. Net charge-offs were $1.3 million and $1.4 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2008, respectively compared to $262,000 and $479,000 for the three and six months ended June 30, 2007, respectively.

Stockholders’ equity remained essentially flat with December 31, 2007 as net income for the six months ended June 30, 2008 of $24.7 million, was partially offset by cash dividends paid in the amount of $13.8 million, or 13.5 cents per common share, as well as the repurchase of approximately 783,000 shares for $9.8 million. Dividend payments and stock buybacks are in accordance with our continued strategy of judicious capital deployment. The Tier I capital ratio was xx% at June 30, 2008. Per common share data also improved as of June 30, 2008 from December 31, 2007 and June 30, 2007. Book value per share increased to $13.03 from $12.93 at December 31, 2007 and $12.61 at June 30, 2007, and tangible book value per share increased to $7.70 from $7.56 and $7.41 for the same time periods, respectively. Diluted weighted average shares decreased by 4.3 million shares from June 30, 2007, which was a factor in the increase in earnings per share.

Selected financial data, ratios and per share data are provided in Table 1.
                                 
Table 1: Selected Data                                
                                 
    Three Months Ended   Six Months Ended
    June 30,   June 30,
   
 
(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)   2008   2007   2008   2007

Condensed Income Statement                                
Interest and dividend income   $ 99,180     $ 98,111     $ 201,394     $ 194,917  
Interest expense     50,932       55,502       107,140       108,903  

Net interest income before provision for loan losses     48,248       42,609       94,254       86,014  
Provision for loan losses     3,700       600       5,400       1,600  

Net interest income after provision for loan losses     44,548       42,009       88,854       84,414  
Non-interest income     14,519       (7,766 )     30,185       6,463  
Operating expenses     41,294       40,463       83,477       81,365  
Merger related charges     23       472       78       2,339  

Income before income taxes     17,750       (6,692 )     35,484       7,173  
Income tax provision     5,968       (2,833 )     10,768       1,736  

Net income (loss)   $ 11,782     $ (3,859 )   $ 24,716     $ 5,437  

Weighted average shares outstanding                                

Basic

    100,112,529       103,872,256       100,194,898       103,960,928  

Diluted

    100,282,161       104,605,351       100,215,006       104,889,936  
Earnings (loss) per share                                

Basic

  $ 0.12     $ (0.04 )     0.25     $ 0.05  

Diluted

    0.12       (0.04 )     0.25       0.05  

 
Financial Ratios                                
Return on average assets (1)     0.58 %     (0.20 )%     0.61 %     0.14 %
Return on average equity (1)     3.33       (1.08 )     3.49       0.78  
Net interest margin (1)     2.67       2.44       2.62       2.47  
                                 
Non-GAAP Ratios                                
Efficiency ratio (2)     66.62       71.55       67.92       73.35  
                                 
Per share data                                
Book value per share   $ 13.03     $ 12.61       13.03     $ 12.61  
Tangible book value per share     7.70       7.41       7.70       7.41  

                                 
(1) Annualized.
(2)
The efficiency ratio represents the ratio of non-interest expenses, net of OREO expenses, to the sum of net interest income and non-interest income, excluding security and limited partnership net gains or losses. The efficiency ratio is not a financial measurement required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. However, management believes such information is useful to investors in evaluating Company performance.

26


Average Balances, Interest, Average Yields/Cost and Rate/Volume Analysis
Tables 2 & 3 below set forth certain information concerning average interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities and their associated yields or rates for the periods indicated. The average yields and costs are derived by dividing income or expenses by the average balances of interest-earning assets or interest-bearing liabilities, respectively, for the periods shown and reflect annualized yields and costs. Average balances are computed using daily balances. Yields and amounts earned include loan fees and fair value adjustments related to acquired loans, deposits and borrowings. Loans held for sale and nonaccrual loans have been included in interest-earning assets for purposes of these computations.

Table 4 below presents the extent to which changes in interest rates and changes in volume of interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities have affected the Company’s interest income and interest expense during the periods indicated. Information is provided in each category with respect to: (i) change attributable to change in volume (change in volume multiplied by prior rate), (ii) change attributable to change in rate (change in rate multiplied by prior volume); and (iii) the change attributable to rate and volume (change in rate multiplied by change in volume), which is prorated between the changes in rate and volume.

Table 2: Average Balance Sheets for the Three Months Ended June 30, 2008 and 2007                
                                           
                                           
                                           
    Three Months Ended
   
    June 30, 2008   June 30, 2007
   
 
                  Average                 Average
    Average         Yield/   Average         Yield/
(Dollars in thousands)   Balance   Interest Rate   Balance   Interest   Rate

Interest-earning assets                                          

Loans

                                         

Residential real estate

  $ 2,496,686     $ 34,512     5.53 %   $ 2,296,841     $ 31,729   5.53 %

Commercial real estate

    1,201,492       18,291     6.09       1,129,658       18,636   6.60  

Commercial business

    460,348       6,819     5.93       478,037       8,862   7.42  

Consumer

    700,195       9,547     5.45       660,334       10,887   6.59  

Total Loans

    4,858,721       69,169     5.69       4,564,870       70,114   6.14  

Short-term investments

    29,012       190     2.62       55,736       732   5.25  

Investment securities

    2,346,725       29,821     5.08       2,359,563       27,265   4.62  

Total interest-earning assets

    7,234,458     $ 99,180     5.48 %     6,980,169     $ 98,111   5.62 %

Non-interest-earning assets

    942,280                     910,013              
   
                 
             

Total assets

  $ 8,176,738                   $ 7,890,182              
   
                 
             
                                           
Interest-bearing liabilities                                          

Deposits

                                         

Money market

  $ 459,839     $ 2,309     2.01 %   $ 498,785     $ 4,201   3.37 %

NOW

    386,766       277     0.29       425,608       1,209   1.14  

Savings

    1,238,774       7,453     2.41       906,121       4,296   1.90  

Time

    1,667,174       14,766     3.54       2,055,404       22,949   4.47  

Total interest-bearing deposits

    3,752,553       24,805     2.64       3,885,918       32,655   3.36  

Repurchase agreements

    178,715       919     2.06       193,016       1,914   3.97  

FHLB advances and other borrowings

    2,273,945       25,208     4.43       1,821,975       20,933   4.60  

Total interest-bearing-liabilities

    6,205,213       50,932     3.28 %     5,900,909       55,502   3.76 %

Non-interest-bearing demand deposits

    482,501                     490,733              

Other non-interest-bearing liabilities

    74,564                     71,945              
   
                 
             

Total liabilities

    6,762,278                     6,463,587              

Equity

    1,414,460                     1,426,595              
   
                 
             

Total liabilities and equity

  $ 8,176,738                   $ 7,890,182              
   
                 
             

Net interest-earning assets

  $ 1,029,245                   $ 1,079,260              
   
                 
             

Net interest income

          $ 48,248                   $ 42,609      
           
                 
     

Interest rate spread

                  2.20 %                 1.86 %

Net interest margin (net interest income

                                         

as a percentage of total interest-earning assets)

                  2.67 %                 2.44 %

Ratio of total interest-earning assets

                                         

to total interest-bearing liabilities

                  116.59 %                 118.29 %

27


Table 3: Average Balance Sheets for the Six Months Ended June 30, 2008 and 2007
                                             
    Six Months Ended
   
    June 30, 2008   June 30, 2007
   
 
                  Average                 Average
    Average         Yield/   Average         Yield/
(Dollars in thousands)   Balance   Interest Rate   Balance   Interest Rate

Interest-earning assets                                            

Loans

                                           

Residential real estate

  $ 2,446,768     $ 67,790     5.54 %   $ 2,222,235     $ 61,549     5.54 %

Commercial real estate

    1,200,327       37,177     6.19       1,125,494       37,008     6.58  

Commercial business

    458,508       14,185     6.19       461,341       16,980     7.36  

Consumer

    694,054       19,833     5.72       655,962       21,641     6.60  

Total Loans

    4,799,657       138,985     5.79       4,465,032       137,178     6.14  

Short-term investments

    28,841       474     3.29       60,053       1,610     5.36  

Investment securities

    2,378,191       61,935     5.21       2,435,575       56,129     4.61  

Total interest-earning assets

    7,206,689     $ 201,394     5.59 %     6,960,660     $ 194,917     5.60 %

Non-interest-earning assets

    944,508                     879,731                
   
                 
               

Total assets

  $ 8,151,197                   $ 7,840,391                
   
                 
               
                                             
Interest-bearing liabilities                                            

Deposits

                                           

Money market

  $ 476,044     $ 5,529     2.32 %   $ 503,482     $ 8,193     3.25 %

NOW

    383,892       794     0.41       421,929       2,251     1.07  

Savings

    1,118,532       13,204     2.36       873,917       7,530     1.72  

Time

    1,805,033       35,276     3.91       2,096,046       46,703     4.46  

Total interest-bearing deposits

    3,783,501       54,803     2.90       3,895,374       64,677     3.32  

Repurchase agreements

    184,348       2,067     2.24       196,893       3,837     3.90  

FHLB advances and other borrowings

    2,222,070       50,270     4.52       1,781,600       40,389     4.53  

Total interest-bearing-liabilities

    6,189,919       107,140     3.46 %     5,873,867       108,903     3.71 %

Non-interest-bearing demand deposits

    471,090                     523,176                

Other non-interest-bearing liabilities

    75,502                     49,337                
   
                 
               

Total liabilities

    6,736,511                     6,446,380                

Equity

    1,414,686                     1,394,011                
   
                 
               

Total liabilities and equity

  $ 8,151,197                   $ 7,840,391                
   
                 
               

Net interest-earning assets

  $ 1,016,770                   $ 1,086,793                
   
                 
               

Net interest income

          $ 94,254                   $ 86,014        
           
                   
       

Interest rate spread

                  2.13 %                   1.89 %

Net interest margin (net interest income

                                           

as a percentage of total interest-earning assets)

                  2.62 %                   2.47 %

Ratio of total interest-earning assets

                                           

to total interest-bearing liabilities

                  116.43 %                   118.50 %

28


Table 4: Rate/Volume Analysis
                                                   
      Three Months Ended   Six Months Ended
      June 30, 2008   June 30, 2008
      Compared to   Compared to
      Three Months Ended   Six Months Ended
      June 30, 2007   June 30, 2007
     
 
      Increase (Decrease)           Increase (Decrease)        
      Due to           Due to        
     
         
       
(In thousands)     Rate   Volume   Net   Rate   Volume   Net

Interest-earning assets                                                  

Loans

                                                 

Residential real estate

    $ 20     $ 2,763     $ 2,783     $ 21     $ 6,220     $ 6,241  

Commercial real estate

      (1,489 )     1,144       (345 )     (2,216 )     2,385       169  

Commercial business

      (1,725 )     (318 )     (2,043 )     (2,692 )     (103 )     (2,795 )

Consumer

      (1,968 )     628       (1,340 )     (3,014 )     1,206       (1,808 )

 

Total loans

      (5,162 )     4,217       (945 )     (7,901 )     9,708       1,807  

Short-term investments

      (277 )     (265 )     (542 )     (485 )     (651 )     (1,136 )

Investment securities

      2,705       (149 )     2,556       7,154       (1,348 )     5,806  

 

Total interest-earning assets

    $ (2,734 )   $ 3,803     $ 1,069     $ (1,232 )   $ 7,709     $ 6,477  

 
Interest-bearing liabilities                                                  

Deposits

                                                 

Money market

    $ (1,585 )   $ (307 )   $ (1,892 )   $ (2,237 )   $ (427 )   $ (2,664 )

NOW

      (831 )     (101 )     (932 )     (1,270 )     (187 )     (1,457 )

Savings

      1,335       1,822       3,157       3,231       2,443       5,674  

Time

      (4,276 )     (3,907 )     (8,183 )     (5,366 )     (6,061 )     (11,427 )

 

Total interest bearing deposits

      (5,357 )     (2,493 )     (7,850 )     (5,642 )     (4,232 )     (9,874 )

Repurchase agreements

      (862 )     (133 )     (995 )     (1,539 )     (231 )     (1,770 )

FHLB advances and other borrowings

      (759 )     5,034       4,275       (84 )     9,965       9,881  

 

Total interest-bearing liabilities

      (6,978 )     2,408       (4,570 )     (7,265 )     5,502       (1,763 )

 
Increase in net interest income     $ 4,244     $ 1,395     $ 5,639     $ 6,033     $ 2,207     $ 8,240  

 

Net Interest Income Analysis
Net interest income is the amount that interest and fees on earning assets (loans and investments) exceeds the cost of funds, primarily interest paid to the Company’s depositors and interest on external borrowings. Net interest margin is the difference between the income on earning assets and the cost of interest-bearing funds as a percentage of average earning assets.

During the first half of 2008, the yield curve began to return to a more normal, upward-sloping shape. Since the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2007, the Federal Reserve Board (“FRB”) lowered the target federal funds rate seven times, for a total decrease of 275 basis points (from 4.75% to 2.00%). Decreases of 200 basis points and 25 basis points occurred during the first and second quarters of 2008, respectively.

Comparison of Quarter-to-Date June 2008 and June 2007
As shown in Table 2, net interest income for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 was $48.2 million, an increase of $5.6 million from June 30, 2007. The increase is due to a 23 basis point increase in the net interest margin to 2.67% at June 30, 2008 from 2.44% for the same period in the prior year, which is offsetting the $50.0 million decline in net interest-earning assets.

Interest income increased $1.1 million to $99.2 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 due to the positive effect of the June 2007 investment portfolio restructuring, partially offset by the decrease in interest income earned on the loan portfolio. The restructuring of the investment portfolio primarily led to the 46 basis point increase in the average yield earned over the prior year period. The increase in the average yield earned offset the $12.8 million decline in the average balance of investment securities as the Company used cash flows from investments as one of the vehicles to fund loan growth and offset deposit outflows.

Loan income declined for the quarter due to the decrease in the average yield earned in response to the FRB rate cuts as new loans were originated and as adjustable rate loans reset, the yields were at lower rates. While most loan categories experienced increases in average balances, the residential real estate loan portfolio was the main driver of the growth. The increase in average balances was due to increased organic loan originations as the Company continued to take advantage of the pricing opportunities in our lending area due to the sustained dislocations in the credit market, which has in the short term diminished competition. Loan portfolio volume accounted for approximately $4.2 million of the increase in interest income and partially offset the 45 basis point decline in the average yield earned on loans. All loan categories, except for residential, experienced a decline in the average yield due to the interest rate cuts by the FRB.

29


The cost of funds for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 decreased $4.6 million to $50.9 million, compared to $55.5 million for the same period a year ago. The Company’s strategy during this period was to bring down deposit costs while being mindful of competitor pricing, which resulted in a $7.9 million decrease in interest expense comprised of a 72 basis point decrease in the average rate paid and a $133.4 million decrease in the average balances. This decrease was primarily in higher costing time deposits as interest expense in this category decreased $8.2 million as the average balances and average rate paid decreased $388.2 million and 93 basis points, respectively. The decrease in time deposits was partially offset by an increase in savings accounts as the average balance for the period rose $332.7 million the average yield paid increased 51 basis points causing interest expense to increase $3.2 million. Savings accounts increased due to targeted marketing campaigns which offered higher pricing for select products and migration from maturing time deposits as they repriced at reduced rates.

To offset the overall decrease in the average balance of deposit accounts and to fund loan growth, the Company expanded the use of FHLB advances and other borrowings. This resulted in an increase in the average balance of $452.0 million, which accounted for $5.0 million of the increase in interest expense.

Comparison of Year-to-Date June 2008 and June 2007
As shown in Table 3, net interest income for the six months ended June 30, 2008 was $94.3 million compared to $86.0 million for the same period a year ago. This year over year increase is primarily due to the same factors as previously discussed above.

The increase in interest income was driven by the investment portfolio restructuring and the growth in the loan portfolio, partially offset by the decrease in the average yield earned on loans. As in the quarter, the cost of funds for the current year-to-date period decreased compared to the same period a year ago. Although the decline in the cost of funds of $1.8 million was not as significant as the decrease experienced in the quarter, the shift in the mix of interest-bearing liabilities has reduced the cost of funds by 25 basis points and helped to improve the net interest spread by 24 basis points.

The Company will continue to evaluate its options for funding loan growth and, as necessary, to counter deposit outflows including, a) expanding the use of FHLB advances and other borrowings, and b) increasing the rate paid on deposits, which may have a negative impact on the net interest margin.

Provision for Loan Losses
The provision for loan losses (“provision”) is based on management’s periodic assessment of the adequacy of the loan loss allowance which, in turn, is based on such interrelated factors as the composition of the loan portfolio and its inherent risk characteristics, the level of nonperforming loans and charge-offs, both current and historic, local economic conditions, the direction of real estate values, and regulatory guidelines.

Management performs a monthly review of the loan portfolio, and based on this review determines the level of the provision necessary to maintain an adequate allowance for loan losses (“allowance”). Management recorded a provision for loan losses of $3.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2008. The primary factors that influenced management’s decision to record this provision were growth in the loan portfolios as well as increasing trends in delinquencies, net charge-offs and nonperforming loans. The second quarter increase in non-performing loans of $7.2 million was primarily related to commercial construction loans for two residential condominium projects. A provision for loan losses of $600,000 was recorded for the three months ended June 30, 2007, based on growth in the portfolio, the level of net charge-offs, and non-performing loans at that time.

For the six months ended June 30, 2008, the provision for loan losses was $5.4 million as compared to $1.6 million for the same period a year ago. The year-to-date provision relates to increases in non-performing loans of $9.8 million, primarily in the residential portfolio and construction loans to commercial developers of residential condominiums due to the current economic conditions. Future provisions for loan losses may be deemed necessary if economic conditions do not improve or continue to deteriorate.

At June 30, 2008, the allowance for loan losses was $47.8 million, which represented 0.97% of total loans and 182.57% of non-performing loans. This compared to the allowance for loan losses of $43.8 million at December 31, 2007 which represented 0.93% of total loans and 267.38% of non-performing loans.

30


Table 5: Non-Interest Income
    Three Months Ended                   Six Months Ended                
    June 30,   Change   June 30,   Change
   
 
 
 
(Dollars in thousands)   2008   2007   Amount   Percent   2008   2007   Amount   Percent

Depositor service charges   $ 6,708     $ 7,003     $ (295 )     (4.21 )%   $ 13,340     $ 13,492     $ (152 )     (1.13 )%
Loan and servicing income     264       612       (348 )     (56.86 )     645       1,058       (413 )     (39.04 )
Trust fees     1,678       1,676       2       0.12       3,348       3,343       5       0.15  
Investment management, brokerage &                                                                

insurance fees

    1,844       1,861       (17 )     (0.91 )     4,376       3,535       841       23.79  
Bank owned life insurance     1,291       1,600       (309 )     (19.31 )     2,820       3,170       (350 )     (11.04 )
Net gain (loss) on securities     87       (22,345 )     22,432       100.39       1,225       (22,187 )     23,412       105.52  
Net gain on sale of loans     656       467       189       40.47       913       664       249       37.50  
Other     1,991       1,360       631       46.40       3,518       3,388       130       3.84  

Total non-interest income

  $ 14,519     $ (7,766 )   $ 22,285       286.96 %   $ 30,185     $ 6,463     $ 23,722       367.04 %

Non-Interest Income

Comparison of Quarter-to-Date June 2008 and June 2007
As displayed in Table 5, non-interest income increased $22.3 million to $14.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2008 from the prior year period. The increase was primarily due to an increase in net gain/loss on securities attributable to the investment portfolio restructuring that resulted in a $22.6 million pre-tax charge during the prior year quarter. Excluding the restructuring charges, non-interest income decreased $289,000 primarily due to decreases in depositor service charges, loan and servicing income and bank-owned life insurance, partially offset by an increase in other income.

 
Net gain (loss) on securities increased $22.4 million, primarily due to the restructuring in 2007. Excluding the securities restructuring, the net gain on securities decreased $142,000 due to the loss on the sale of the last two remaining bank stocks as a result of the market downturn in the financial sector, partially offset by the gain on the sale of mortgage-backed ARM securities which were sold at a premium in order to reduce prepayment risk and to fund deposit outflows.
     
 
Other income increased primarily as a result of a net gain on limited partnerships due to the increase in the carrying value on certain limited partnerships.
     
 
Depositor service charges decreased due to a decline in overdraft fees, ATM fees and inactive and dormant account fees. The Company eliminated ATM point-of-sale and inactive and dormant account service charges during the first quarter of 2008 due to promotional and competitive reasons and overdraft fees declined due to volume. These decreases were partially offset by increased check card revenue due to increased card activity.
     
 
Loan and servicing fees declined due largely to a decrease in loan fees, principally commercial real estate prepayment fees, and to an increase in the valuation allowance of the SBA servicing asset.
     
 
Bank-owned life insurance decreased due to a decline in the average yield earned as a result of current market interest rates.
     

Comparison of Year-to-Date June 2008 and June 2007
For the six months ended June 30, 2008 non-interest income increased $23.7 million to $30.2 million compared to $6.5 million for the same period a year ago. Non-interest income for the six months ended June 30, 2007 was positively affected by the restructuring of the investment portfolio discussed above. Excluding the investment restructuring, non-interest income increased $1.1 million due mainly to increases in investment management, brokerage and insurance fees, net gain on securities and net gain on sale of loans, partially offset by a decrease in loan and servicing income and bank owned life insurance.

 
Net gain on securities increased $23.4 million due to the restructuring in 2007 and resulting impairment charge of $22.6 million. Excluding the restructuring, net gain on securities increased $838,000 due to gains recorded on the sale of adjustable-rate mortgage-backed securities. These securities were sold at a premium and were sold in order to reduce prepayment risk and offset deposit outflow. Partially offsetting the mortgage-backed securities gain was the loss on the sale of bank stocks due to a decline in the market price.
     
 
Investment management, brokerage and insurance fees increased mainly due to the sales of fixed annuity products resulting from a favorable rate environment for these products. An increase in the number of sales personnel and increased marketing efforts have contributed to the increased trading activity and the sales of investment products.

31


 
Net gain on sale of loans increased due to an upsurge in mortgage loans originated for sale due to pricing opportunities in our lending area resulting from the continued dislocations in the credit market.
     
 
Loan and servicing income and bank owned life insurance decreased due to the same reasons as discussed in the quarterly comparison.
                                                                 
Table 6: Non-Interest Expense
    Three Months Ended                   Six Months Ended                
    June 30,   Change   June 30,   Change
   
 
 
 
(Dollars in thousands)   2008   2007   Amount   Percent   2008   2007   Amount   Percent

Salaries and employee benefits   $ 22,935     $ 21,635     $ 1,300       6.01 %   $ 46,624     $ 43,492     $ 3,132       7.20 %
Occupancy     4,320       4,325       (5 )     (0.12 )     9,214       8,729       485       5.56  
Furniture and fixtures     1,654       1,702       (48 )     (2.82 )     3,340       3,443       (103 )     (2.99 )
Outside services     4,471       4,182       289       6.91       8,744       8,759       (15 )     (0.17 )
Advertising, public relations,                                                                

and sponsorships

    2,036       2,258       (222 )     (9.83 )     3,745       3,938       (193 )     (4.90 )
Amortization of identifiable                                                                

intangible assets

    2,364       2,951       (587 )     (19.89 )     4,728       6,039       (1,311 )     (21.71 )
Merger related charges     23       472       (449 )     (95.13 )     78       2,339       (2,261 )     (96.67 )
Other     3,514       3,410       104       3.05       7,082       6,965       117       1.68  

Total non-interest expense

  $ 41,317     $ 40,935     $ 382       0.93 %   $ 83,555     $ 83,704     $ (149 )     (0.18 )%

Non-Interest Expense

Comparison of Quarter-to-Date June 2008 and June 2007
As displayed in Table 6, non-interest expense increased $382,000 to $41.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2008 from $40.9 million for the same period a year ago. The main driver of the increase was salaries and employee benefits and outside services. These increases were partially offset by decreases in amortization of identifiable intangible assets, merger related charges and advertising, public relations, and sponsorships.

 
Salaries and employee benefits increased as a result of employee incentive accruals, general merit increases and a decrease in capitalized salary expenses primarily due to the decline in loan originations, particularly commercial loans. These increases were partially offset by a decrease to charges associated with the LTCP for an executive that is no longer with the Company and to a lesser extent, expenses related to the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (“ESOP”). ESOP expense declined due to a lower average stock price during the second quarter of 2008 as compared to the same period in 2007.
     
 
Outside services increased primarily due to legal and consulting costs related to human resources as well as charges incurred for outsourcing general internal audit work, partially offset by a decline in data processing expenses.
     
 
Amortization of identifiable intangible assets decreased due to using an accelerated method of amortization for core deposit intangibles which results in a higher level of expense in earlier periods. Amortization of non-compete agreements decreased due to the expiration of all agreements in the third quarter of 2007.
     
 
Merger related charges decreased due to charges for legal, consulting, advertising and data processing expense associated with the Westbank acquisition that occurred in 2007.
     
 
Advertising expenses decreased due to a decline in higher-costing television advertisements, public relations, sponsorships and cash incentive programs.

32


Comparison of Year-to-Date June 2008 and June 2007
For the six months ended June 30, 2008 non-interest expense decreased $149,000 to $83.6 million from $83.7 million for the same period a year ago. The main drivers of the decrease were merger related charges and amortization of identifiable intangible assets. These decreases were mostly offset by increases in salaries and employee benefits and occupancy expenses.

 
Conversion and merger related charges decreased due to the same reasons as outlined above.
     
 
Amortization of identifiable intangible assets decreased due to using an accelerated method of amortization as discussed above.
     
 
Salaries and employee benefits increased as a result of severance recorded in the first quarter of 2008 for an executive that is no longer with the Company. There were also increases in employee incentive accruals, general merit increases, bonus payouts due to the increased sales of investment products and a decrease in capitalized salaries primarily due to the same factors as discussed above. These increases are partially offset by a decrease in ESOP expense due to a decline in the average year-to-date stock price.
     
 
Occupancy expense increased due to a charge of approximately $350,000 in order to facilitate the disposition of excess leased space and increased maintenance and repair costs spread throughout the branch network.

Income Tax Provision

The income tax expense of $6.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2008 resulted in an effective tax rate of 33.6%, compared to an income tax benefit of ($2.8) million for the three months ended June 30, 2007, which resulted in an effective tax rate of 42.3%. The income tax expense for the six months ended June 30, 2008 and 2007 was $10.8 million and $1.7 million, respectively. The effective tax rate for these periods was 30.3% and 24.2%, respectively.

In the second quarter of 2007, the Company restructured a part of the investment securities portfolio which had a significant impact on the Company’s effective tax rate. Absent the investment portfolio restructuring, the effective tax rate for the three and six months ended June 30, 2007 would have been 31.9% and 32.4%, respectively.

The increase in the effective tax rate for the three months ended June 30, 2008 from June 30, 2007 (excluding the impact of the portfolio restructuring) is primarily due to a decrease in income from bank owned life insurance investments. The decrease in the effective tax rate for the six months ended June 30, 2008 from June 30, 2007 (excluding the impact of the portfolio restructuring) is primarily due to reduction of $924,000 of unrecognized tax benefits for tax positions of prior years resulting from the settlement of the IRS audit in the first quarter of 2008.

The projected effective rate for the year ended December 31, 2008 is 31.6%.

33


Financial Condition

Financial Condition Summary
From December 31, 2007 to June 30, 2008, total assets and total liabilities increased $51.3 million, due mainly to increases in loans and borrowings, partially offset by a decrease in investments and deposits, with virtually no change in stockholders’ equity.

Investment Securities
The following table presents the amortized cost and fair value of investment securities at June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007.

Table 7: Investment Securities                        
  June 30, 2008   December 31, 2007
 
 
  Amortized   Fair     Amortized   Fair
(In thousands) cost   value     cost   value

Available for sale                        

U.S. Treasury obligations

$ 596   $ 596     $ 1,092   $ 1,095

U.S. Government sponsored enterprise obligations

  172,522     172,062       201,408     202,059

Corporate obligations

  7,158     7,172       22,531     22,515

Other bonds and obligations

  47,518     45,005       52,853     52,634

Marketable and trust preferred equity securities

  72,451     63,016       86,543     83,466

Federal Home Loan Bank stock

  120,821     120,821       113,760     113,760

Mortgage-backed securities

  1,579,084     1,597,830       1,706,966     1,725,492

Total available for sale

  2,000,150     2,006,502       2,185,153     2,201,021

Held to maturity                        

Mortgage-backed securities

  306,978     310,620       282,887     286,968

Other bonds

  7,135     7,128       7,585     7,577

Total held to maturity

  314,113     317,748       290,472     294,545

Total securities

$ 2,314,263   $ 2,324,250     $ 2,475,625   $ 2,495,566

At June 30, 2008, the Company had total investments of $2.32 billion, or 28.1%, of total assets. The decrease of $170.9 million, from $2.49 billion at December 31, 2007 was mainly the result of using cash flows from available-for-sale and held-to-maturity mortgage-backed securities primarily to fund loan growth and to a lesser extent offset deposit outflows, partially offset by purchases of mortgage-backed securities using funds borrowed from the Federal Home Loan Bank.

The Company’s underlying investment strategy has been to purchase FNMA and FHLMC hybrid adjustable rate mortgage-backed securities, and seasoned GSE fixed rate mortgage-backed securities. The Company has focused on the purchases of these securities due to their attractive spreads versus funding costs and for their monthly cash flows that provide the Company with liquidity. This strategy is also supplemented with select purchases of bullet agency securities. For mortgage-backed securities, the average life, when purchased, would range between 1.5 and 3.5 years and the maturity dates for Agency obligations would range between one and five years.

SFAS No. 115 requires the Company to designate its securities as held to maturity, available for sale or trading depending on the Company’s intent regarding its investments at the time of purchase. The Company does not currently maintain a portfolio of trading securities. As of June 30, 2008, $2.01 billion, or 86.5%, of the portfolio, was classified as available for sale and $314.1 million, or 13.5% of the portfolio was classified as held to maturity. The net unrealized gain on securities classified as available for sale as of June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007 was $6.4 million and $15.9 million, respectively. The decline in the market value of securities available for sale was primarily due to spreads, liquidity and fluctuations in market interest rates during the period. In addition to market interest rates, the unrealized losses reported for trust preferred equity securities are also attributable to the current market stress partially resulting from efforts by banks to raise capital. This has in turn inflated coupon rates on new issues of trust preferred equity securities versus lower rates on the Company’s portfolio of A- to AAA rated, non-perpetual seasoned issues of trust preferred equity securities. All trust preferred equity securities are current and no impairment of cash flows is anticipated. Management has performed a review of all investments with unrealized losses and determined that none of these investments had other-than-temporary impairment. The investment portfolio does not have direct exposure to sub-prime lending, does not include collateralized debt obligations or structured investment vehicles. The Company does not own or plan on investing in securities backed by sub-prime mortgage collateral.

34


Lending Activities
The Company makes residential real estate loans secured by one-to-four family residences, commercial real estate loans, residential and commercial construction loans, commercial business loans, home equity loans and lines of credit and other consumer loans. Table 8 displays the balances of the Company’s loan portfolio as of June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007.

Table 8: Loan Portfolio                        
                         
    June 30, 2008     December 31, 2007  
   
   
 
          Percent           Percent  
(Dollars in thousands)   Amount   of Total     Amount   of Total  

Residential real estate   $ 2,533,248   51.2 %   $ 2,360,921   49.9 %
Residential real estate construction     19,816   0.4       29,023   0.6  

Net residential real estate

    2,553,064   51.6       2,389,944   50.5  
Commercial real estate     999,048   20.2       947,185   20.1  
Commercial real estate construction     214,830   4.3       247,428   5.2  

Net commercial real estate

    1,213,878   24.5       1,194,613   25.3  
Commercial business     473,147   9.6       457,745   9.7  
Home equity and equity lines of credit     681,978   13.8       652,107   13.8  
Other consumer     27,400   0.5       33,560   0.7  

Total loans

  $ 4,949,467   100.0 %   $ 4,727,969   100.0 %

As shown in Table 8, gross loans were $4.95 billion, up $221.5 million, or 4.7%, at June 30, 2008 from year-end 2007. The Company experienced an increase in most loan categories due to organic loan growth.

Residential real estate loans continue to represent the largest segment of the Company’s loan portfolio as of June 30, 2008, comprising over fifty percent of gross loans. The increase of $163.1 million was due primarily to organic loan growth with only $25.0 million of purchased loans during the quarter.

Commercial real estate loans and commercial business loans increased $34.7 million. The increase was attributable to the commercial real estate loan portfolio which increased due to organic loan growth and a shift from the commercial construction category due to loans completing the construction phase and converting to fully amortizing commercial mortgage loans. The commercial real estate construction category includes approximately $58.0 million of loans to commercial borrowers for residential housing development. Since year-end 2007, this segment has experienced an increase in charge-offs, delinquencies and adversely classified loans which has impacted the current quarter provision for the allowance for loan losses. See the “Provision for Loan Losses” section located on page 30, “Asset Quality” and “Allowance for Loan Losses” sections located on pages 36-37 for further information concerning the allowance for loan losses. The Company’s continued strategy is to build its commercial loan portfolios including real estate and other business loans by promoting strong business development efforts to obtain new business banking relationships, while maintaining strong credit quality and profitability. In addition, it is also the Company’s strategy to limit its exposure to residential construction.

Home equity loans and lines of credit increased $29.9 million from December 31, 2007 to June 30, 2008. These products were promoted by the Company through competitive pricing and marketing campaigns as the Company is committed to growing this loan segment while maintaining credit quality as a higher yielding alternative to first mortgage loans.

35


Asset Quality
As displayed in Table 9, nonperforming assets at June 30, 2008 increased to $27.6 million compared to $17.3 million at December 31, 2007. The increase is primarily due to loans secured by residential one-to-four family homes in both the residential and commercial construction portfolios, largely as a result of the current economic conditions. The increase of $3.6 million in the residential real estate portfolio was due primarily to an increase in residential inventory levels, declines in the median sales price of residential homes and a general worsening of the economy that is causing difficulties for some borrowers due to high energy and food costs. The increase of $6.7 million in the commercial construction portfolio was primarily related to three relationships with residential home developers for condominium projects. As the current economic conditions persist or deteriorate there will be added stress on our loan portfolios. The Company believes that its historical practice of conservative underwriting, the relatively modest size of its residential construction portfolio, and the strong average FICO scores and low loan to value ratios associated with its residential portfolio are significant advantages in keeping asset quality manageable. Nonperforming loans as a percent of total loans outstanding continue to remain at relatively low levels and at June 30, 2008 were 0.53%, compared to 0.35% at December 31, 2007.

Table 9: Nonperforming Assets              
    June 30,   December 31,  
(Dollars in thousands)   2008   2007  

 
Nonaccruing loans (1)              

Real estate loans

             

Residential (one- to four- family)

  $ 8,464   $ 4,837  

Commercial real estate loans

    2,893     3,414  

Commercial construction

    9,055     2,382  

 

Total real estate loans

    20,412     10,633  

Commercial business

    4,904     4,912  

Consumer loans

             

Home equity and equity lines of credit

    745     606  

Other consumer

    120     235  

 

Total consumer loans

    865     841  

 

Total nonaccruing loans

    26,181     16,386  
Real estate owned     1,418     897  

 

Total nonperforming assets

  $ 27,599   $ 17,283  

 

Total nonperforming loans as a percentage of total loans (2)

    0.53 %   0.35 %

Total nonperforming assets as a percentage of total assets

    0.33     0.21  

(1) Nonaccrual loans include all loans 90 days or more past due, restructured loans and other loans, which have been identified by the Company as presenting uncertainty with respect to the collectability of interest or principal.
(2) Total loans are stated at their principal amounts outstanding, net of deferred fees and fair value adjustments on acquired loans.

Allowance For Loan Losses
As displayed in Table 10 below, during the three months ended June 30, 2008, the Company recorded net charge-offs of $1.3 million compared to net charge-offs of $262,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2007. Current quarter charge-offs include write-downs totaling $1.0 million on two construction loan relationships. These two relationships are with residential home developers and are for condominium projects. For the six months ended June 30, 2008, net charge-offs were $1.4 million, compared to $479,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2007.

The Company had a loan loss allowance of $47.8 million and $43.8 million at June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007, respectively. The allowance for loan losses to total loans was 0.97% at June 30, 2008 compared to 0.93% at December 31, 2007. Management believes the allowance for loan losses is adequate and consistent with asset quality and delinquency indicators.

36


Table 10: Schedule of Allowance for Loan Losses

    At or For the Three Months     At or For the Six Months  
    Ended June 30,     Ended June 30,  
   
   
 
(Dollars in thousands)   2008     2007     2008     2007  

Balance at beginning of period   $ 45,414     $ 42,085     $ 43,813     $ 37,408  
Net allowances gained through acquisition     -       -       -       3,894  
Provision for loan losses     3,700       600       5,400       1,600  
Charge-offs                                

Residential and commercial real estate loans

    -       -       51       2  

Commercial construction

    1,000       285       1,000       285  

Commercial business loans

    504       121       774       659  

Consumer loans

    205       175       351       287  

Total charge-offs

    1,709       581       2,176       1,233  

Recoveries                                

Residential and commercial real estate loans

    14       15       29       265  

Commercial construction

    -       11       -       11  

Commercial business loans

    343       263       663       316  

Consumer loans

    36       30       69       162  

Total recoveries

    393       319       761       754  

Net charge-offs

    1,316       262       1,415       479  

Balance at end of period   $ 47,798     $ 42,423     $ 47,798     $ 42,423  

Net charge-offs to average loans     0.11 %     0.02 %     0.06 %     0.02 %
Allowance for loan losses to total loans     0.97       0.92       0.97       0.92  
Allowance for loan losses to nonperforming loans     182.57       280.09       182.57       280.09  
Net charge-offs to allowance for loan losses     2.75       0.62       2.96       1.13  
Total recoveries to total charge-offs     23.00       54.91       34.97       61.15  

Goodwill and Identifiable Intangible Assets
At June 30, 2008, the Company had intangible assets of $576.2 million, a decrease of $8.3 million, from $584.5 million at December 31, 2007. The decrease is due to year-to-date amortization expense for core deposit and customer relationships as well as for the reduction of unrecognized tax benefits for tax positions taken in prior years related to acquisitions. In accordance with SFAS No. 141, all assets acquired and liabilities assumed are recorded based on their fair values on the acquisition date.

Identifiable intangible assets are amortized on a straight-line or accelerated basis, over their estimated lives. Management assesses the recoverability of intangible assets subject to amortization whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying value may not be recoverable. If the carrying amount exceeds fair value, an impairment charge is recorded to income. Goodwill is not amortized, but instead is reviewed for impairment on an annual basis. The Company performed its annual test for goodwill impairment during the first quarter of the year, and no impairment was recorded. No events or circumstances subsequent to those evaluations indicate that the carrying value of the Company’s goodwill may not be recoverable.

Sources of Funds
Cash flows from deposits, loan and mortgage-backed securities repayments, securities sales proceeds and maturities, borrowings and earnings are the primary sources of the Company’s funds available for use in its lending and investment activities and in meeting its operational needs. While scheduled loan and securities repayments are a relatively stable source of funds, deposit flows and loan and investment security prepayments are influenced by prevailing interest rates and local and economic conditions and are inherently uncertain. The borrowings primarily include FHLB advances and repurchase agreement borrowings. See Note 10 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements contained elsewhere within this Report for further borrowings information.

The Company attempts to control the flow of funds in its deposit accounts according to its need for funds and the cost of alternative sources of funding. A Loan and Deposit Pricing Committee meets weekly to determine pricing and marketing initiatives. It influences the flow of funds primarily by the pricing of deposits, which is affected to a large extent by competitive factors in its market area and asset/liability management strategies.

37


Deposits
The Company receives retail and commercial deposits through its main office and 88 other banking offices throughout Connecticut (77 locations) and Massachusetts (12 locations). Customer deposits generated through the NewAlliance banking network are the largest source of funds used to support asset growth.

Table 11: Deposits            
    June 30,   December 31,
(In thousands)   2008   2007

Savings   $ 1,349,136   $ 941,051
Money market     427,174     492,042
NOW     391,946     401,097
Demand     500,673     477,408
Time     1,662,071     2,062,067

Total deposits

  $ 4,331,000   $ 4,373,665

As displayed in Table 11, deposits decreased $42.7 million compared to December 31, 2007. The Company’s strategy was to reduce rates paid on interest-bearing deposits, particularly on time deposits, in order to stabilize the net interest margin and increase core deposits. The strategy helped to increase our net interest margin from December 31, 2007. During the first quarter of the year, deposit outflows did occur due to the reduction in the average rate paid on deposits. Many of our peers did not reduce their rates as quickly, therefore, a portion of maturing time deposits were lost to competitors. Partially offsetting the decrease in time deposit accounts was an increase in core deposits of approximately $357.3 million, as the Company was able to retain some of the attrition in time deposit accounts and established new customer accounts and relationships through targeted product promotions. During the most recent quarter, the Company ran product promotions and offered rates in line with many of our competitors which partially recouped deposit outflows from the first quarter. Total deposits increased $73.4 million from March 31, 2008.

Borrowings
NewAlliance also uses various types of short-term and long-term borrowings in meeting funding needs. While customer deposits remain the primary source for funding loan originations, management uses short-term and long-term borrowings as a supplementary funding source for loan growth and other liquidity needs when the cost of these funds are favorable compared to alternative funding, including deposits.

The following table summaries the Company’s recorded borrowings at June 30, 2008.

Table 12: Borrowings            
             
    June 30,   December 31,
(In thousands)   2008   2007

FHLB advances (1)   $ 2,244,598   $ 2,136,965
Repurchase agreements     183,783     192,145
Mortgage loans payable     1,390     1,459
Junior subordinated debentures issued to affiliated trusts (2)     24,835     24,935

Total borrowings

  $ 2,454,606   $ 2,355,504


(1)
Includes fair value adjustments on acquired borrowings, in accordance with SFAS No. 141,“BusinessCombinations,” of $7.6 million and $9.6 million at June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007, respectively.
(2)
Includes fair value adjustments on acquired borrowings, in accordance with SFAS No. 141,“BusinessCombinations,” of $200,000 and $300,000 at June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007, respectively. The trusts were organized to facilitate the issuance of “trust preferred” securities. The Company acquired these subsidiaries when it acquired Alliance Bancorp of New England, Inc. and Westbank Corporation, Inc. The affiliated trusts are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Company and the payments of these securities are irrevocably and unconditionally guaranteed by the Company.

The acquisition fair value adjustments (premiums) are being amortized as an adjustment to interest expense on borrowings over their remaining term using the level yield method.

Borrowings were $2.45 billion at June 30, 2008, an increase of $99.1 million from the balance recorded at December 31, 2007, and was mainly in FHLB advances. The increase in FHLB advances was primarily due to funding loan growth and to offset

38


deposit outflows which occurred predominantly during the first quarter, while managing interest rate risk and liquidity. At June 30, 2008, the majority of the Company’s outstanding FHLB advances were at fixed rates, while only $15.0 million had floating rates.

Stockholders’ Equity
Total stockholders’ equity equaled $1.41 billion at June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007. There was virtually no change in stockholders equity due to increases of current year earnings of $24.7 million and stock option and restricted stock expense of $5.9 million. These increases were offset by the $13.8 million payment of cash dividends declared on our common stock during the six months ended June 30, 2008, our repurchase of 783,033 shares of our common stock for $9.8 million and a decline in the fair market value of available for sale investments of $6.4 million, net of tax. For information regarding our compliance with applicable capital requirements, see “Liquidity and Capital Position” below.

Dividends declared year to date June 30, 2008 were $0.135 per share compared to $0.125 per share for the same period last year. On July 29, 2008, we declared a $0.07 per share cash dividend payable on August 19, 2008 to shareholders of record on August 8, 2008. Book value per share amounted to $13.03 and $12.93 at June 30, 2008 and December 31, 2007, respectively, and tangible book value amounted to $7.70 and $7.56 at the same dates, respectively.

Management Of Market And Interest Rate Risk

General
Market risk is the exposure to losses resulting from changes in interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates, commodity prices and equity prices. The Company has no foreign currency or commodity price risk. Credit risk related to investment securities is low as all are investment grade or have government guarantees. There is no direct sub-prime mortgage exposure in the investment portfolio. The chief market risk factor affecting financial condition and operating results is interest rate risk. Interest rate risk is the exposure of current and future earnings and capital arising from adverse movements in interest rates and spreads. This risk is managed by periodic evaluation of the interest rate risk inherent in certain balance sheet accounts, determination of the level of risk considered appropriate given the Company’s capital and liquidity requirements, business strategy, performance objectives and operating environment and maintenance of such risks within guidelines approved by the Board of Directors. Through such management, the Company seeks to reduce the vulnerability of its net earnings to changes in interest rates. The Asset/Liability Committee, comprised of several senior executives, is responsible for managing interest rate risk. On a quarterly basis, the Board of Directors reviews the Company’s gap position and interest rate sensitivity exposure described below and Asset/Liability Committee minutes detailing the Company’s activities and strategies, the effect of those strategies on the Company’s operating results, interest rate risk position and the effect changes in interest rates would have on the Company’s net interest income. The extent of movement of interest rates is an uncertainty that could have a negative impact on earnings.

The principal strategies used to manage interest rate risk include (i) emphasizing the origination, purchase and retention of adjustable rate loans, and the origination and purchase of loans with maturities matched with those of the deposits and borrowings funding the loans, (ii) investing in debt securities with relatively short maturities and/or average lives and (iii) classifying a significant portion of its investment portfolio as available for sale so as to provide sufficient flexibility in liquidity management. By its strategy of limiting the Bank’s risk to rising interest rates, the Bank is also limiting the benefit of falling interest rates.

The Company employs two approaches to interest rate risk measurement; gap analysis and income simulation analysis.

Gap Analysis
The matching of assets and liabilities may be analyzed by examining the extent to which such assets and liabilities are “interest rate sensitive” and by monitoring a bank’s interest rate sensitivity “gap.” An asset or liability is deemed to be interest rate sensitive within a specific time period if it will mature or reprice within that time period. The “interest rate sensitivity gap” is defined as the difference between the amount of interest-earning assets maturing or repricing within a specific time period and the amount of interest-bearing liabilities maturing or repricing within that same time period. At June 30, 2008, the Company’s cumulative one-year interest rate gap (which is the difference between the amount of interest-earning assets maturing or repricing within one year and interest-bearing liabilities maturing or repricing within one year), was negative $38.3 million, or negative 0.46% of total assets. The Bank’s approved policy limit is plus or minus 20%. A gap is considered positive when the amount of interest rate sensitive assets exceeds the amount of interest rate sensitive liabilities. A gap is considered negative when the amount of interest rate sensitive liabilities exceeds the amount of interest rate sensitive assets. During a period of rising interest rates, a negative gap would tend to adversely affect net interest income while a positive gap would tend to result in an increase in net interest income. Conversely, during a period of falling interest rates, a negative gap would tend to result in an increase in net interest income while a positive gap would tend to adversely affect net interest income.

39


Income Simulation Analysis
Income simulation analysis considers the maturity and repricing characteristics of assets and liabilities, as well as the relative sensitivities of these balance sheet components over a range of interest rate scenarios. Tested scenarios include instantaneous rate shocks, rate ramps over a six-month or one-year period, static rates, non-parallel shifts in the yield curve and a forward rate scenario. The simulation analysis is used to measure the exposure of net interest income to changes in interest rates over a specified time horizon, usually a three-year period. Simulation analysis involves projecting future balance sheet structure and interest income and expense under the various rate scenarios. The Company’s internal guidelines on interest rate risk specify that for a range of interest rate scenarios, the estimated net interest margin over the next 12 months should decline by less than 12% as compared to the forecasted net interest margin in the base case scenario. However, in practice, interest rate risk is managed well within these 12% guidelines.

For the base case rate scenario the flat yield curve as of June 30, 2008 was utilized. This yield curve was utilized due to the recent excessive volatility in the rates markets. As of June 30, 2008, the Company’s estimated exposure as a percentage of estimated net interest income for the next twelve-month period as compared to the forecasted net interest income in the base case scenario are as follows:

    Percentage change in
    estimated net interest income
    over twelve months

200 basis point twelve month ramp upwards in interest rates    3.65%
100 basis point twelve month ramp downwards in interest rates   -2.36%

As of June 30, 2008, a downward twelve month ramp of 100 basis points was a realistic representation of the risk of falling rates as the housing market continued to falter, thereby putting pressure on future economic growth. For an increase in rates, an upward twelve month ramp of 200 basis points is also a relevant representation of potential risk given the recent increases in both overall and core inflation rates.

Based on the scenarios above, net interest income would increase slightly in the 12-month period after an upward movement in rates, and would decrease slightly after a downward movement in rates. Computation of prospective effects of hypothetical interest rate changes are based on a number of assumptions including the level of market interest rates, the degree to which non-maturity deposits react to changes in market rates, the expected prepayment rates on loans and investments, the degree to which early withdrawals occur on time deposits and other deposit flows. As a result, these computations should not be relied upon as indicative of actual results. Further, the computations do not reflect any actions that management may undertake in response to changes in interest rates.

Liquidity and Capital Position
Liquidity is the ability to meet current and future short-term financial obligations. The Company further defines liquidity as the ability to respond to the needs of depositors and borrowers as well as maintaining the flexibility to take advantage of investment opportunities. The Company’s primary sources of funds consist of deposit inflows, loan repayments and sales, maturities, paydowns and sales of investment and mortgage-backed securities, borrowings from the Federal Home Loan Bank and repurchase agreements.

The Company has expanded its use of borrowings from the Federal Home Loan Bank to fund loan growth while managing interest rate risk and liquidity. At June 30, 2008, total borrowings from the Federal Home Loan Bank amounted to $2.24 billion, exclusive of $7.6 million in purchase accounting adjustments, and the Company had the immediate capacity to increase that total to $2.54 billion. Additional borrowing capacity of approximately $654.6 million would be readily available by pledging eligible investment securities as collateral. Depending on market conditions and the Company’s liquidity and gap position, the Company may continue to borrow from the Federal Home Loan Bank or initiate borrowings through the repurchase agreement market. At June 30, 2008 the Company’s repurchase agreement lines of credit totaled $125.0 million, $100.0 million of which was available on that date.

The Company’s most liquid assets are cash and due from banks, short-term investments and debt securities. The levels of these assets are dependent on the Company’s operating, financing, lending and investment activities during any given period. At June 30, 2008, cash and due from banks, short-term investments and debt securities maturing within one year amounted to $244.4 million, or 2.96% of total assets.

NewAlliance’s main source of liquidity at the parent company level is dividends from NewAlliance Bank. The main uses of liquidity are payments of dividends to common stockholders, repurchase of NewAlliance’s common stock, and the payment of principal and interest to holders of trust preferred securities.

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Management believes that the cash and due from banks, short term investments and debt securities maturing within one year, coupled with the borrowing line at the Federal Home Loan Bank and the available repurchase agreement lines at selected broker dealers, provide for sufficient liquidity to meet its operating needs.

At June 30, 2008, the Company had commitments to originate loans, unused outstanding lines of credit and standby letters of credit totaling $844.3 million. Management anticipates that it will have sufficient funds available to meet its current loan commitments. Time deposits maturing within one year from June 30, 2008 amount to $1.25 billion.

At June 30, 2008, the Company’s Tier 1 leverage ratio, a primary measure of regulatory capital was $848.0 million, or 11.16%, which is above the threshold level of $380.0 million, or 5.0% to be considered “well-capitalized.” The Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio stood at 18.69% and the Total risk-based capital ratio stood at 19.74%. The Bank also exceeded all of its regulatory capital requirements with leverage capital of $706.0 million, or 9.3% of average assets, which is above the required level of $303.2 million or 4.0%. The Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio was 15.61% and the Total risk-based capital ratio was 16.66%. These ratios qualify the Bank as a “well capitalized” institution under federal capital guidelines.

Item 3.  Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

Quantitative and qualitative disclosures about the Company’s market risk appears under Item 2, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”, under the caption “Management of Market and Interest Rate Risk” on pages 39 through 41.

Item 4.  Controls and Procedures

The Company’s management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) or Rule 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of June 30, 2008. Based upon that evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective.

Disclosure controls and procedures are our controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that the information required to be disclosed by us in our reports filed or submitted under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in our reports filed under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including the principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure in the second quarter 2008.

In addition, based on that evaluation, no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting occurred during the quarter ended June 30, 2008 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

Item 4T.  Controls and Procedures

Not applicable.

PART II - OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1.  Legal Proceedings

There are no material legal proceedings or other litigation. See the caption “Legal Proceedings” under Footnote 14 “Commitments and Contingencies” in Part I, Item I, Financial Statements (Unaudited) of this Form 10-Q for further discussion.


41



Item 1A.  Risk Factors

An investment in our common stock involves certain risks inherent to our business. The material risks and uncertainties that management believes affect the Company are described below. To understand these risks and to evaluate an investment in our common stock, you should read this entire report, including the following risk factors.

If any of the following risks actually occur, the Company’s financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. If this were to happen, the value of the Company’s common stock could decline significantly.

Changes in Interest Rates and Spreads Could Have an Impact on Earnings and Results of Operations, Which Could Have a Negative Impact on The Value of NewAlliance Stock.
NewAlliance’s earnings and financial condition are dependent to a large degree upon net interest income, which is the difference between interest earned from loans and investments and interest paid on deposits and borrowings. The narrowing of interest rate spreads, meaning the difference between interest rates earned on loans and investments and the interest rates paid on deposits and borrowings, could adversely affect NewAlliance’s earnings and financial condition. The Company cannot predict with certainty or control changes in interest rates. Regional and local economic conditions and the policies of regulatory authorities, including monetary policies of the Federal Reserve Board, affect interest income and interest expense. The Company has ongoing policies and procedures designed to manage the risks associated with changes in market interest rates.

However, changes in interest rates still may have an adverse effect on NewAlliance’s profitability. For example, high interest rates could also affect the amount of loans that we originate, because higher rates could cause customers to apply for fewer mortgages, or cause depositors to shift funds from accounts that have a comparatively lower cost, to accounts with a higher cost or experience customer attrition due to competitor pricing. If the cost of interest-bearing deposits increases at a rate greater than the yields on interest-earning assets increase, net interest income will be negatively affected. Changes in the asset and liability mix may also affect net interest income. Similarly, lower interest rates cause higher yielding assets to prepay and floating or adjustable rate assets to reset to lower rates. If the Bank is not able to reduce its funding costs sufficiently, due to either competitive factors or the maturity schedule of existing liabilities, then the Bank’s net interest margin will decline.

Credit Market Conditions May Impact NewAlliance’s Investments
Significant credit market anomalies may impact the valuation and liquidity of the Company’s investment securities. The problems of numerous primary security dealers have reduced market liquidity, increased normal bid-asked spreads and increased the uncertainty of market participants. Such illiquidity could reduce the market value of the Company’s investments, even those with no apparent credit exposure.

NewAlliance’s Business Strategy of Growth Through Acquisitions Could Have an Impact on Earnings and Results of Operations That May Negatively Impact the Value of NewAlliance Stock.
In recent years, NewAlliance has focused, in part, on acquisitions. Over the past four years, the Company has acquired four banking institutions, a non-depository trust company and a registered investment advisory firm. From time to time in the ordinary course of business, the Company engages in preliminary discussions with potential acquisition targets. As of the date of this filing, there are no binding or definitive agreements, plans, arrangements, or understandings for such acquisitions by the Company. Although our business strategy includes both internal expansion and acquisitions, there can be no assurance that, in the future, we will successfully identify suitable acquisition candidates, complete acquisitions successfully, integrate acquired operations into our existing operations or expand into new markets. Further, there can be no assurance that acquisitions will not have an adverse effect upon our operating results while the operations of the acquired businesses are being integrated into our operations. In addition, once integrated, acquired operations may not achieve levels of profitability comparable to those achieved by our existing operations, or otherwise perform as expected. Further, transaction-related expenses may adversely affect our earnings. These adverse effects on our earnings and results of operations may have a negative impact on the value of our stock.

If The Goodwill That The Company Has Recorded in Connection With Its Acquisitions Becomes Impaired, It Could Have a Negative Impact on The Company’s Profitability and Stockholders’ Equity.
Applicable accounting standards require that the purchase method of accounting be used for all business combinations. Under purchase accounting, if the purchase price of an acquired company exceeds the fair value of the company’s net assets, the excess is carried on the acquirer’s balance sheet as goodwill. At December 31, 2007, the Company had approximately $531.2 million of goodwill on its balance sheet. Companies must evaluate goodwill for impairment at least annually. Write-downs of the amount of any impairment, if necessary, are to be charged to the results of operations in the period in which the impairment occurs. There can be no assurance that future evaluations of goodwill will not result in findings of impairment and related write-downs, which may have a material adverse effect on NewAlliance’s financial conditions and results of operations.


42



NewAlliance May Experience Higher Levels of Loan Losses Due to Recent Growth.
NewAlliance’s growth strategy depends on generating an increasing level of loans to produce an acceptable return to our stockholders. We will also need to accomplish this loan growth while maintaining low loan losses in our portfolio. We expect growth to occur in markets that are relatively new to us, including central and western Massachusetts through our recent acquisition of Westbank. As such, NewAlliance’s allowance for loan losses may need to be increased, or may be deemed insufficient by various regulatory agencies. Such agencies may require the Bank to recognize an increase to the allowance for loan losses. Any increases in the allowance for loan losses will result in a decrease in net income and, possibly capital, and may have a material adverse effect on NewAlliance’s financial condition and results of operations. See the sections titled “Allowance for Loan Losses” and “Classification of Assets and Loan Review” in Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation, located in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for further discussion related to the process for determining the appropriate level of the allowance for loan losses.

NewAlliance May Experience Higher Levels of Loan Losses Due to Economic Conditions.
NewAlliance’s business is subject to periodic fluctuations based on national and local economic conditions. These fluctuations are not predictable, cannot be controlled and may have a material adverse impact on the Company’s operations and financial condition. For example, recent declines in housing activity including declines in building permits, housing starts and home prices may make it more difficult for our borrowers to sell their homes or refinance their debt. Sales may also slow, which could strain the resources of real estate developers and builders. Many analysts are now predicting the U.S. Economy is in or will experience a recession in the near term. This could affect employment levels and the ability of our borrowers to service their debt. The Bank may suffer higher loan losses as a result of these factors and the resulting impact on our borrowers.

Strong Competition Within NewAlliance’s Market Areas May Limit Growth and Profitability.
Competition in the banking and financial services industry is intense. In our market areas, we compete with commercial banks, savings institutions, mortgage brokerage firms, credit unions, finance companies, mutual funds, insurance companies, and brokerage and investment banking firms operating locally and elsewhere. As we grow, we will be expanding into market areas where we may not be as well known as other institutions that have been operating in those areas for some time. In addition, regional, super regional and national interstate banking institutions have become increasingly active in our market areas. Many of these competitors, in particular the regional, super regional and national institutions, have substantially greater resources and lending limits than we have and may offer certain services that we do not or cannot efficiently provide. Our profitability depends upon our continued ability to successfully compete in our market areas. The greater resources and deposit and loan products offered by some of our competitors may limit our ability to grow profitably.

NewAlliance May Not Pay You Dividends if NewAlliance is Not Able to Receive Dividends From Its Subsidiary, NewAlliance Bank.
Cash dividends from NewAlliance Bank and our liquid assets are our principal sources of funds for paying cash dividends on our common stock. Unless we receive dividends from NewAlliance Bank or choose to use our liquid assets, we may not be able to pay dividends. NewAlliance Bank’s ability to pay us dividends is subject to its ability to earn net income and to meet certain regulatory requirements.

NewAlliance is Subject To Extensive Government Regulation and Supervision
NewAlliance, primarily through NewAlliance Bank and certain non-bank subsidiaries, is subject to extensive federal and state regulation and supervision. Banking regulations are primarily intended to protect customers, depositors’ funds, federal deposit insurance funds and the banking system as a whole, not stockholders. These regulations affect the Company’s lending practices, capital structure, investment practices, dividend policy and growth, among other things. Congress and federal regulatory agencies continually review banking laws, regulations and policies for possible changes. Changes to statutes, regulations or regulatory policies, including changes in interpretation or implementation of statutes, regulations or policies, could affect the Company in substantial and unpredictable ways. Such changes could subject the Company to additional costs, limit the types of financial services and products we may offer and/or increase the ability of non-banks to offer competing financial services and products, among other things. Failure to comply with laws, regulations or policies could result in sanctions by regulatory agencies, civil money penalties and/or reputation damage, which could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition and results of operations. While NewAlliance has policies and procedures designed to prevent any such violations, there can be no assurance that such violations will not occur. See the section captioned “Supervision and Regulation” in Item 1. of the Company’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K for further information.


43



NewAlliance May Not Be Able To Attract and Retain Skilled People
NewAlliance’s success depends, in large part, on its ability to attract and retain key people. Competition for the best people in most activities engaged in by the Company can be intense and we may not be able to hire people or to retain them. The unexpected loss of services of one or more of the Company’s key personnel could have a material adverse impact on the business because of their skills, knowledge of the market, years of industry experience and the difficulty of promptly finding qualified replacement personnel.

NewAlliance Continually Encounters Technological Change
The financial services industry is continually undergoing rapid technological change with frequent introductions of new technology-driven products and services. The effective use of technology can increase efficiency and enable financial institutions to better serve customers and to reduce costs. However, some new technologies needed to compete effectively result in incremental operating costs. The Company’s future success depends, in part, upon its ability to address the needs of its customers by using technology to provide products and services that will satisfy customer demands, as well as to create additional efficiencies in operations. Many of the Company’s competitors have substantially greater resources to invest in technological improvements. The Company may not be able to effectively implement new technology-driven products and services or be successful in marketing these products and services to its customers. Failure to successfully keep pace with technological change affecting the financial services industry could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s business and, in turn, its financial condition and results of operations.

NewAlliance’s Controls and Procedures May Fail or Be Circumvented
Management regularly reviews and updates the Company’s internal controls, disclosure controls and procedures, and corporate governance policies and procedures. Any system of controls, however well designed and operated, is based in part on certain assumptions and can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurances that the objectives of the system are met. Any failure or circumvention of the controls and procedures or failure to comply with regulations related to controls and procedures could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition.

Customer Information May be Obtained and Used Fraudulently
Risk of theft of customer information resulting from security breaches by third parties exposes the Company to reputation risk and potential monetary loss. The Company has exposure to fraudulent use of our customer’s personal information resulting from its general business operations and through customer use of financial instruments, such as debit cards. If a breach in security does occur in the marketplace and the financial data of our customers is compromised, the Company will react as quickly as possible to protect customer accounts and limit potential losses to the Company.

NewAlliance’s Stock Price Can be Volatile.
NewAlliance’s stock price can fluctuate widely in response to a variety of factors including:

actual or anticipated variations in quarterly operating results;
recommendations by securities analysts;
new technology used, or services offered, by competitors;
significant acquisitions or business combinations, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments by or involving the Company or the Company’s competitors;
failure to integrate acquisitions or realize anticipated benefits from acquisitions;
operating and stock price performance of other companies that investors deem comparable to NewAlliance;
news reports relating to trends, concerns and other issues in the financial services industry;
changes in government regulations; and
geopolitical conditions such as acts or threats of terrorism or military conflicts.

General market fluctuations, industry factors and general economic and political conditions and events, such as economic slowdowns or recessions, interest rate changes, credit loss trends or currency fluctuations could also cause NewAlliance’s stock price to decrease regardless of the Company’s operating results.


44



Item 2.  Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

(a)  None.

(b)  Not applicable.

(c)  The following table sets forth information about the Company’s stock repurchases for the three months ended June 30, 2008.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
   

(a) Total Number
of Shares
Purchased

(b) Average
Price Paid per
Share (includes
commission)

(c) Total Number of Shares
Purchased as Part of
Publicly Announced Plans
or Programs
(d) Maximum Number (or
Approximate Dollar Value) of
Shares that may Yet Be
Purchased Under the Plans or
Programs
Period          
April 1-30, 2008   0 $                                                    - 0 4,709,000 shares
May 1-31, 2008   115,400 $                                            12.99 115,400 4,593,600 shares
June 1-30, 2008 (1) 519,933 $                                            12.68 519,720 4,073,880 shares
Total   635,333 $                                            12.74 635,120  

On January 31, 2006, the Company’s second stock repurchase plan was announced and provides for the repurchase of up to 10.0 million shares of common stock of the Company. There is no set expiration date for this plan.

(1)
Includes 213 shares which represent common stock withheld by the Company to satisfy tax withholding requirements on the vesting of restricted shares under the Company’s 2005 Long-Term Compensation Plan.

Item 3.  Defaults Upon Senior Securities

None.

Item 4.  Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

None.

Item 5.  Other Information

None.

Item 6.  Exhibits

Exhibit    
Number    
3.1  
Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc. Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 3.1 filed with the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed August 13, 2004.
3.2  
Amended and Restated Bylaws of NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
4.1  
See Exhibit 3.1, Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Exhibit 3.2, Bylaws of NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
10.1  
NewAlliance Bank Deferred Compensation Plan. Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 10.2 filed with the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, Registration No. 333-109266, filed September 30, 2003.
10.2  
Fourth Amendment to NewAlliance Bank Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan. Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 10.3.2 filed with Pre-Effective Amendment No. 1 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, Registration No. 333-109266, filed December 12, 2003.
10.2.1  
NewAlliance Bank 2004 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan. Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 10.3.3 filed with Pre-Effective Amendment No. 1 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, Registration No. 333-109266, filed December 12, 2003.

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10.3  
NewAlliance Amended and Restated Employee Stock Ownership Plan Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan. Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 10.3 filed with the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed October 1, 2007.
10.4  
The NewAlliance Bank Amended and Restated 401(k) Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan. Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 10.4 filed with the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed October 1, 2007.
10.5  
NewAlliance Bank Executive Incentive Plan approved by shareholders on April 17, 2008, as amended (filed herewith).
10.6  
Employee Severance Plan. Incorporated by reference is Exhibit 10.6 filed with the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed November 8, 2007.
10.7.1  
Amended and Restated Employment Agreement among NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc., NewAlliance Bank and Peyton R. Patterson, effective September 25, 2007. Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 10.7.1 filed with the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed October 1, 2007.
10.7.2  
Amended and Restated Employment Agreement among NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc., NewAlliance Bank and Merrill B. Blanksteen, effective September 25, 2007. Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 10.7.2 filed with the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed October 1, 2007.
10.7.3  
Amended and Restated Employment Agreement among NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc., NewAlliance Bank and Gail E.D. Brathwaite, effective September 25, 2007. Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 10.7.3 filed with the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed October 1, 2007.
10.7.4  
Intentionally omitted.
10.7.5  
Amended and Restated Employment Agreement between NewAlliance Bank and Diane L. Wishnafski, effective September 25, 2007. Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 10.7.5 filed with the Company’s Quarterly report on Form 10-Q, filed November 8, 2007.
10.7.6  
(Intentionally omitted)
10.7.7  
(Intentionally omitted)
10.7.8  
Amended and Restated Employment Agreement between NewAlliance Bank and Donald T. Chaffee, effective September 25, 2007. Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 10.7.8 filed with the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed October 1, 2007.
10.7.9  
Employment Agreement between NewAlliance Bank and Paul A. McCraven, effective September 25, 2007. Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 10.7.9 filed with the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed October 1, 2007.
10.7.10  
Amended and Restated Employment Agreement between NewAlliance Bank and Koon-Ping Chan, effective September 25, 2007. Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 10.7.10 filed with the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed October 1, 2007.
10.8.1  
Form of Stock Option Agreement (for outside directors). Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 10.8.1 filed with the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed August 9, 2005.
10.8.2  
Form of Stock Option Agreement (for employees, including senior officers). Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 10.8.2 filed with the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed August 9, 2005.
10.9.1  
Form of Restricted Stock Award Agreement (for outside directors). Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 10.9.1 filed with the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed August 9, 2005.
10.9.2  
Form of Restricted Stock Award Agreement (for employees, including senior officers). Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 10.9.2 filed with the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed August 9, 2005.
10.10  
NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc. 2005 Long-Term Compensation Plan. Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 4.3 filed with the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-8, filed November 4, 2005.
10.11  
Amendment Number One to the New Haven Savings Bank/NewAlliance Bank 2004 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan. Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 10.11 filed with the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed March 1, 2007.
10.12  
Form of Indemnification Agreement for Directors and Certain Executive Officers. Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 10.12 filed with the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed March 1, 2007.
14  
Code of Ethics for Senior Financial Officers. Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 14 filed with the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-KT, filed March 30, 2004.
21  
Subsidiaries of NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc. and NewAlliance Bank. Incorporated herein by reference is Exhibit 21 filed with the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed March 1, 2007.
31.1  
Certification of Peyton R. Patterson pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (filed herewith).
31.2  
Certification of Merrill B. Blanksteen pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (filed herewith).
32.1  
Certification of Peyton R. Patterson pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (filed herewith).
32.2  
Certification of Merrill B. Blanksteen pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (filed herewith).

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SIGNATURES

  Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
   
  NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc.
  By:   /s/ Merrill B. Blanksteen
     
      Merrill B. Blanksteen
      Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
      (principal financial officer)
       
       
  Date:   July 28, 2008

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