66.5 F
San Diego
Wednesday, Mar 27, 2024
-Advertisement-

Community Bank Stocks Drawing Interest

California Community Bank in Escondido extended its stock offering for a few more weeks and should raise an additional $1.2 million in capital, underscoring a healthy market for community bank stocks.

The 2-year-old lender was still collecting on promised investments last week and is close to reaching its 10 percent over-allotment on a planned $12 million offering.

“It’s been a good offering. Everybody followed through with their commitments,” said Chief Financial Officer Bob Lampert. “After all our expenses are paid, we should net about $12.5 million.”

California Community said it needed the additional capital to continue growing and increase its lending limits from about $2.3 million to about $5 million on secured loans to a single borrower.

According to California Community’s original circular, the offering of 800,000 shares at $15 was to have raised about $11.2 million after expenses were subtracted. Lampert said the bank would probably reduce some of its costs associated with the sale because original investors purchased a large number of shares.

Lampert said beyond boosting the bank’s capital and increasing lending limits, the bank is also looking at expanding to a third branch or a loan production office.

“We might actually do both,” he said.

California Community’s stock, which trades on the OTC bulletin board as CABK.OB, was trading at $15.25 as of Oct. 17.

In other news, the bank reported its first quarterly net profit for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 of $109,000, compared with a net loss of $317,000 for the like period of 2004.

For the nine months, California Community had a net loss of $220,000 compared with a net loss of $1.16 million for the like period of last year.

The bank grew its total assets to $91.6 million, about double what it was in the prior year’s third quarter. Total loans were $54.2 million, up from $28.5 million; and total deposits were $82.6 million, compared with $35.9 million in the prior year’s third quarter.

– – –


Still Growing:

San Diego Trust Bank grew its assets to $78.9 million in the third quarter, an increase of 47 percent compared with the third quarter of last year. Loans rose to $50.8 million, a gain of 66 percent, and deposits increased to $67.3 million, up 54 percent from the third quarter of 2004.

Net income during the nine months was $426,000, compared with a net loss of $944,000 for the like period of last year.

President Mike Perry said noted the bank, which opened in October 2003, turned a profit after three quarters and is overachieving on its business plan.

San Diego Trust’s shares have been one of the more robust among local banks and were trading Oct. 19 on the OTC bulletin board under the ticker, SDBK.OB at $33, and have ranged from $15.67 to $35 in the last 52 weeks.

– – –


Purchase Complete:

First Community Bancorp, the Rancho Santa Fe parent to First National Bank, completed the purchase of its previously announced acquisition of Pacific Liberty Bank, with $151 million in assets and two offices, earlier this month. The assets will be merged into First Community’s Los Angeles-based bank, Pacific Western, with final integration to occur in November, the company said.

Pacific Liberty is the second purchase of First Community this year. Last month, the company announced its third acquisition in a definitive agreement to buy Cedars Bank, a Los Angeles-based bank with about $487 million in assets and six offices. First Community paid about $120 million in cash for Cedars.

Once the Cedars Bank acquisition is completed, First Community Bancorp would have total assets of about $3.7 billion, with about $2.5 billion in Pacific Western Bank, and some $1.2 billion at First National. The latter bank operates 13 branches in San Diego County.

– – –


Seeing Double:

1st Pacific Bank of California reported net income of $705,074 for the third quarter, more than double the $347,709 it had for the like period of 2004.

Nine-month net income grew to $1.6 million, up 97 percent from $824,487 in net income for the first nine months of 2004.

Total assets at the bank were $255.2 million, compared with $195.4 million as of Sept. 2004. Loans grew to $227.8 million, while total deposits increased to $210.4 million.

The year to date return on average assets was 0.96 percent, compared with 0.68 percent for the like period of 2004.

Chief Executive Officer Vince Siciliano said the bank plans to open its fourth office in East County by mid-2006 and has already hired Micki Mellby to manage the office.

– – –


Big Increase:

Temecula Valley Bancorp reported net income for the nine months ended Sept. 30 of $10.2 million, up 35 percent from the same period of 2004. The profits resulted in a 1.96 percent return on average assets, compared with a return on average assets for the first nine months of last year of 2.03 percent.

Fueled by a still-surging home construction market in the Inland Empire, Temecula Valley saw its loan portfolio grow by 36 percent over the same quarter in 2004 to $686.4 million.

Construction loans increased by 87 percent, while real estate secured loans rose 25 percent, and commercial loans grew 17 percent for the first three quarters, the bank said.

Its portfolio of Small Business Administration loans declined 18 percent over the same period.

Temecula Valley’s reported nonperforming assets as of Sept. 30 stood at $9.1 million, down from the second quarter, when it held $9.7 million nonperforming assets, and from last year’s third quarter, when it held $10.17 million in problem assets.

The nonperformers, which included $2.1 million in real estate owned, made up an acceptable ratio of 1.15 percent of total assets. When the bank subtracts the problem SBA loans that are guaranteed by the agency, the problem assets are reduced by $5.8 million, bringing the bank’s real exposure to $3.3 million, or 0.4 percent of its total loans, more than an acceptable ratio given its portfolio size.

Charged-off bad loans through the end of September amounted to $450,534, but the bank was able to recover $319,298, meaning the net charged-offs totaled $111,236. That compared with $641,096 in net charge-offs for the first nine months of 2004.

In September, the bank’s parent company conducted a trust-preferred securities offering for about $8 million and transferred $7 million of that to the bank. In addition to stock exercised stock options and profits, the bank’s shareholders equity was $53.9 million as of Sept. 30.

That was sufficient to boost all capital ratios to well above minimums with tier one leverage ratio at 9.34 percent.

Also in September, the banking firm reported it changed auditors to Crowe Chizek & Co., replacing Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co., which had been the bank’s auditors since its founding in 1996. The company said it changed auditors because it needed a firm with “more resources to match our anticipated growth and complexity as well as a firm with several accelerated filer clients with stock that is publicly traded,” according to the securities filing.

It noted during the time it engaged Vavrinek, the accounting firm never issued an adverse opinion or a disclaimer of opinion on the company’s financial reports.

– – –


Record Earnings:

Mission Oaks National Bank, which also is based in Temecula and has three offices, reported record net income of $548,000 for its third quarter, compared with $324,000 for the third quarter of last year.

Nine months net income was nearly $1.4 million, compared with $1 million for the same period of 2004.

Assets grew 32 percent to $142.7 million, while net loans increased to $88.9 million, up nearly 21 percent.

The bank’s earnings boosted its return on average assets for the year to 1.51 percent, up from 1.25 percent a year ago.

– – –


Public Financings:

A number of local public and private companies reported new financing deals recently.

Goal Financial LLC, a San Diego-based student loan finance company, said it closed $1 billion in student loan debt issuance. It’s the second such bond issue that Goal Financial has conducted this year. Deutsche Bank Securities, Barclays Capital, Goldman Sachs & Co. and UBS Investment Bank underwrote the deal.

BioMed Realty Trust, Inc., a San Diego-based real estate investment trust that owns and leases office space to life sciences clients, filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission permitting the company to sell up to $500 million of its debt, common stock, preferred stock, warrants and other securities. The company said it has no immediate plans to issue any such securities.

InfoSonics Corp., which distributes cell phones in this country and in Latin America, obtained a new credit line of up to $20 million with Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank, NA. The joint venture trade bank line replaces an earlier line of credit the company had for $15 million.

Ophthonix, a locally based maker of optical lenses, said it raised $17 million in series C venture financing led by InterWest Partners and joined by Enterprise Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Gund Investment Corp., Trex Enterprises and Wasatch Advisors.

– – –


Small Change:

MetroBank, which is based in Houston, completed the purchase this month of First United Bank of San Diego, which had nearly $200 million in assets and two offices, for $37.4 million in cash. San Diego County Credit Union opened an office in Murrieta, its 23rd.


Send any banking and finance news to Mike Allen via e-mail at mallen@sdbj.com. He can also be reached at (858) 277-6359, Ext. 3110.

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-