Mission Valley Bancorp reported first-half 2015 net income of $1.2 million Tuesday, capping what its chief executive called the strongest second quarter in the community bank’s history. Net interest income reached $5.76 million at quarter’s end, as compared to $5.25 million reported last June 30 by the Sun Valley holding company, which operates Mission Valley Bank. Mission Valley has recently taken steps to streamline operations, closing its Valencia branch at 25060 W. Avenue Stanford and laying off two employees when its five-year lease on the property expired at the end of March. The closure left the community bank with one branch on Carl Boyer Drive in Santa Clarita and one on Sunland Boulevard in Sun Valley. The bank reported a 7 percent reduction in operating expenses for the first half of the year, to $5.27 million. “The bank has begun to realize the benefits of focusing on fee income from its specialized lending and merchant acquisition programs,” Chief Executive Tamara Gurney said in a prepared statement. Shares of the thinly traded stock closed unchanged at $6.90.
