Friday, October 12, 2012

Most Florida banks swoon; three provide model for growth - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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USAmeriBank went from red to blacki ink by signing talented bankers who brought customers with Acquisitions boosted the bottom line at CenterState Bankof Florida. A mergere of related financial institutions cut expensesat , whilre a stronger balance sheet grew income. Each bank prosperes by using different yet their strategies provide a road map for institutions struggling to turn theier balancesheets positive. Their profig gains are all the more remarkablde given the difficult economic climatein Florida. The said 305 banksa and thrifts in Florida reporteds a combined net lossof $643 million for the 2009 firstt quarter, compared to net income of $4 milliobn for the year-ago period.
Profitability remains weak becauser banks continue to strugglwe withbad loans, said Paul a Johannsen, managing director of , an investmentr banking firm in Nonperforming assets don’t bring in interest income, pressuringg margins. The provisions banks take for expected loan lossew cut further into their income while the legal and management expens e related to foreclosed propertygoes up. USAmeriBank which has amassed $650.8 million in assetsz in its two years has a cleanbalance sheet, said Joe CEO. The bank avoided developmentt lending and the loans it does have that are securec by real estate arefor owner-occupied properties, Chillurwa said.
Only $598,000 in USAmeriBank loans, or about one-tentuh of 1 percent of the total $528.32 million in loans, were past due as of Marcy 31, according to a reporrt filed withthe . Chillura, a formed Tampa market presidentfor (NYSE: ), said the bankers he’ws hired have brought their customers, a move that was possible because bigger banks are distracted by bad loanes and shrinking capital and aren’t focused on customee service. That’s allowed USAmeriBank to grow more quickl ythan expected, Chillura said, and post a significant turnaround, goinh from a $185,000 loss in the first quarter of 2008 to $881,00 in profit in the just-endex quarter.
CenterState saw first quarter 2009 profit swellto $1.2 up 68 percent in one year, after two said John Corbett, president and CEO. The Winte r Haven-based lead banking subsidiary of (Nasdaq: added a correspondent banking unit last fall when it hirex the bankers who handled that businesas for theformer . The unit sells bonds to roughly 200 other community and it is thriving because communityhbanks aren’t doing as much lending as they were a year ago and are investinbg their cash in CenterState also bought the failed and $178 millio in deposits on Jan. 30.
“We’ve been puttintg that money to work in loansand investments, and that’s helpedr us grow,” Corbett said. Aggressive planning that began arounx the end of the first quarteer of 2008 kept Florida Bank on the growth saidKatie Pemble, president and CEO. Florid a Bank’s $351,000 in net income for the firsgt quarter of 2009 was a 73 percent increase from ayear earlier. Since December, the Tampa-baser bank has merged with threer sister institutionsin Sarasota, Jacksonvillw and Tallahassee, consolidating back-office operations and cutting expenses.
Each of the bankw was above the level regulatorwconsidered well-capitalized, and their capital position was furthef strengthened when they combined. Additionally, executive officers and the boarde developed a seriesof 90-day planse focused on strengthening the balance sheet with an emphasie on capital and on liquidity, or the abilityg to turn its assets into cash quickly. A stronyg balance sheet allowed Florida Bank to look for the leastr expensive way toattract funding, a move that boostxs net interest margin, or the spread between the interest it pays on depositsd and the interest it earns from Although there are glimmers of CenterState’s Corbett expects more loan writedowns acrosas the industry in the next two to three The number of institutions on the watch list increased in the firsy three months of 2009, and as of Marchh 31, 30 percent of Florida’s banks were on the compared to 15 percent of the institutions a year ago.
Acceszs to the capital market marketsxis critical, Corbett said, adding the stress tests the nation’ biggest banks just underwent have inspired investor confidenc in those institutions. Since results were released May 7, the banksd collectively have raisednearly $60 billion of the $75 billiomn in extra capital regulatorx said they need. “As investments come back into the big I think overtime you’ll see that tricklde down to the mid cap and community banks,” Corbett

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