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Bank Earnings for 3Q2017

Associated Banc-Corp., Green Bay, Wis., reported third quarter earnings of $63 million or 41 cents per share compared to… [Continue]

120-year-old bank merges into Missouri

First Home Bank of Mountain Grove, Mo., and Stockmens Bank of Colorado Springs, Colo., have agreed to merge. The transaction is expected to close later this year.

Initially, First Bancshares, Inc., the parent company of First Home Bank, will purchase Stockmens Bank. Second, First Home Bank will be merged into Stockmens Bank resulting in First Bancshares owning one Colorado bank operating as Stockmens Bank in Colorado, State Bank of Bartley, Neb., and First Home Bank. [Continue]

Bankers educate lawmakers on industry issues

Chuck Mueller could hardly fault his customers for pulling their deposits from his bank. If the president and CEO of Fidelity Bank, Edina, Minn., had been in their position, he quite possibly would have done the same thing.

Some of the largest depositors at Fidelity Bank were neither upset with its staff nor seeking better rates elsewhere. They had no qualm whatsoever with Mueller’s $435.9 million organization, aside from its state charter within Minnesota and the effect such had regarding residency factors issued by the Department of Revenue.

One of those 26 factors when considering residency status was the “location of any bank accounts, especially the location of the most active checking account.” If one of Mueller’s customers wanted to establish residency in tax-free Florida, for example, their account at Fidelity Bank could be used against them when Minnesota went looking for taxes.

“We had three or four customers walk in and move millions of dollars just because, although it wasn’t a de facto absolute, it was one of those things on the list,” Mueller said. “They just wanted to be really safe because the state is watching this.

“No amount of talking on my part could convince these people to retain those deposit relationships. … [Continue]

Heartland Financial to add Minnesota bank to its roster

Minnesota Bank & Trust, Edina, Minn., a subsidiary of Heartland Financial USA, Inc., Dubuque, Iowa, and Signature Bank, Minnetonka, Minn., have agreed to merge. Signature Bank will be blended into Minnesota Bank & Trust’s operations and brand. The combined bank will create a $600 million Heartland subsidiary. [Continue]

Public offering, acquisitions shape business at Byline Bank

Commenting to a business magazine on the future plans of Byline Bancorp Inc., chairman Roberto Herencia said, “We have a management team that is capable of running a much larger and more complex organization.”

That was in June, right as Byline launched the first Chicago area public offering of a bank stock in 15 years. Fast forward five months and Herencia’s words translated to action with its announced deal to purchase First Evanston Bancorp, Inc., in a stock and cash transaction deal valued at $169 million. [Continue]

Patience, outreach, lead M&A strategies discussed at BHCA Seminar

Most of the many merger and acquisition strategies discussed during the Bank Holding Company Association’s Fall Seminar, “Buy, Sell or Hold: Strategies for Success,” sounded familiar to Lynn Fuller.

The president and CEO of Heartland Financial, Dubuque, Iowa, has made acquisitions a habit for more than three decades. Fuller described Heartland’s growth from less than $200 million in assets to $8.2 billion during one of the general session presentations at the seminar held at the Hyatt Regency hotel, Bloomington, Minn., Oct. 2-3.

“I said to my father, ‘We better giddy up or get out,’” Fuller said. “Our goal back then was to get into the top 100 banks. Today, we’re somewhere between 90 and 80, depending on how our positions go. … Starting from less than $200 million, you can imagine that was a long haul.”

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago gave Fuller the push he needed to pursue acquisitions when it predicted massive consolidation coming. [Continue]

Will next generation move banks beyond challenges?

The focus in the banking industry during 2017 continued to be on performance. The Fed began raising the fed funds rate in late 2015 and again in late 2016. All expectations were for rate increases to resume in 2017, which they did in January, March and July up to a range of 1.00 to 1.25 percent, where it has remained. Even with these increases, margins remain compressed and borrowers are challenged by persistent concerns, particularly in the agricultural economy. Ag output pricing remains low and current supplies high. Therefore, as producers try to wait for price increases to sell, returns to producers resulting from improved yields on new production are not expected to materially increase overall returns and may have the effect of increasing downward pressure on prices, thus reducing returns. To increase prices more, avenues for sales need to open up. Trade restrictions can be counterproductive to development of market expansion, keeping domestic supplies to low valuations. This is putting pressure on land valuations adding further complications for banks operating in the agricultural communities. [Continue]