Florida is becoming a happy hunting ground for bank merger activities. The Sunshine State, with over 22 deals worth $643 million for $5.5 billion of assets and $4.4 billion in deposits since 2014, is indeed red hot and is likely to stay that way, suggest reports.
Atlantic Coast Financial Corporation (ACFC) is one of the players to watch out here and should be a calling card for out-of-state banks planning their way into Florida. After a grind through the credit crisis, ACFC’s resurgence has been phenomenal as its non-performing assets are down from 5% to 1.16%, breaking away the mould from being “a troubled institution” to a “conducive foundation”.
Atlantic Coast Financial Corporation (ACFC) is one of the players to watch out here and should be a calling card for out-of-state banks planning their way into Florida. After a grind through the credit crisis, ACFC’s resurgence has been phenomenal as its non-performing assets are down from 5% to 1.16%, breaking away the mould from being “a troubled institution” to a “conducive foundation”.
Hailing the turnround, CEO John Stephans said, “Our team has worked hard to achieve a strong turnaround at Atlantic Coast and, with five consecutive quarters of profitability following our successful capital raise in December 2013, we believe the results are readily apparent and momentum is building.”
The company has just delivered its sixth consecutive quarterly report with reported earnings per share of 36 cents and there’s no reason this momentum would slow down, experts believe.
Stephans further said “We are pleased to report another solid quarterly performance for Atlantic Coast, marked by attractive loan growth and sound credit quality, notable interest income growth, and continued improvement in our interest margin. Together, these factors contributed to ongoing profitability for our company and its shareholders. Atlantic Coast is now stronger than ever as a result of the hard work and dedication of our team members as we have pursued our ambitious goals, and I am particularly proud of our team has accomplished over the past six months.”
With several bank stock activists and specialists on its shareholders list, building shareholder value may be added pressure, but at 88% of a growing book value, Atlantic Coast is a fantastic stock for navigating and building on the flourishing Florida banking market.
About Atlantic Coast Financial Corporation
Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, Atlantic Coast Financial Corporation is the holding company for Atlantic Coast Bank, a community-oriented financial institution serving north-eastern Florida and south-eastern Georgia markets through 11 branches.
Set up in 1939 as a credit union to serve the employees of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, the bank got its charter changed from a federal credit union to a federal mutual savings bank in 2000 and focuses on attracting retail and commercial deposits and investing those funds in traditional loan opportunities.
The top leadership of the bank includes Mr. Bhanu Choudhrie, Executive Director C&C Alpha Group and director to Customers Bancorp in Southeast Pennsylvania and Quatro Management in New York.
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