Groton ― New accounting rules have made it that much harder to explain what kind of year Chelsea Groton Bank had in 2022, or really any bank.

If you look at the bottom line results, the bank on Thursday reported $4.9 million in profits against $17.4 million a year earlier. That would reflect a down year.

But bank presidents since 2019 have looked at a different number that they say better reflects financial results. When you look at the operating profits, there’s a much brighter picture: $16.5 million in the black, compared to $11.8 million a year earlier.

The reason for the discrepancy goes back to those pesky accounting rules that now require banks to report as a profit or loss investments that haven’t been sold yet. This year, that meant a hit of about $11 million to Chelsea Groton’s bottom line, related to the big downturn in stocks last year. In all previous years going back to 2019, the new rule resulted in a wildly profitable report.

So which is it, a big reduction in profitability or a really good year?

Chelsea Groton president and chief executive Tony Joyce said in a Zoom call that it was a really good year. Bad loans were few and far between, total deposits were up and the overall loan portfolio increased substantially. He said the bank smartly prepared for a run-up in interest rates by increasing the percentage of adjustable-rate loans whose costs reflect higher rates.

With respect to deposits, “We improved our market share in New London County,” Joyce said.

Chelsea Groton holds 19.3 percent of all deposits in the region, solidly ahead of the second-ranked financial institution, Bank of America, which accounts for 15.3 percent, he said. And his bank’s deposits grew by 1.3 percent while others were losing depositors because of attractive rates for money market funds and certificates of deposit.

“Chelsea Groton provided more residential loans in New London County than any other bank in 2022,” according to a release.

Despite having to report a $31 million reduction in capital related to unrealized investment losses, Joyce also pointed out that Chelsea Groton, with $1.5 billion in assets, is extremely well capitalized, far above peer institution averages and nearly three times above the regulatory requirement.

“When things go crazy, that’s what everyone relies on,” he said.

And while Chelsea Groton, which has 15 locations throughout the region, isn’t adding new branches, it has been steadily upgrading them to reflect a new banking philosophy of creating an environment more conducive to developing relationships with customers.

“We have changed the way branches are set up, the way they flow,” Joyce said. “We’ve tried to make it more than transactional.”

Changes include adding more video capability to be able to bring experts from other branches into a conversation, he said. The branches are also more open, brighter and contain informal spaces for meeting.

So far, Chelsea Groton has revamped seven of its branches with this philosophy, and another three will be refurbished this year. Waterford will be completed soon, North Stonington next and New London in the fall, Joyce said.

Meanwhile, the bank’s headquarters building in Groton is nearing completion of a near-total overhaul that should be finished this summer. The building is being completely reorganized within the same footprint to create more collaborative spaces and informal meeting places as well as improving video conferencing abilities and adding a community room where groups from outside the bank can gather, Joyce said.

Bank personnel had to vacate the building at the end of 2021 and relocated to an office in Norwich for all of 2022.

Other highlights of last year included hosting more than 300 educational opportunities through the bank’s Chelsea University program, taught in places as disparate as senior centers and schools. The bank also noted giving away more than $600,000 through its Chelsea Bank Foundation to various nonprofits throughout the region.

At the bank’s annual meeting Thursday, Joyce also introduced its five new elected corporators: Stephen M. Coan, CEO emeritus of Mystic Aquarium; Donna Handley, a senior vice president for Hartford HealthCare; Caleb Roseme, COO of Assured Quality Homecare; Samanta Descombes-Roseme, founder of Assured Quality Homecare, and Jonathan Shockley, director of business development for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe. In all, the bank has 92 corporators who serve as ambassadors between the bank and the community.