Saturday, October 31, 2009
Valley Bank reports quarter was profitable
The latest from The Ticker blog
Profit rose at Valley Bank this past summer, though not enough to offset losses earlier during the year.
The bank's parent company, Roanoke-based Valley Financial Corp., on Friday reported a profit of $1.3 million, or 23 cents a share, during the three months that ended Sept. 30.
But the gain to common shareholders was somewhat less, because the bank had to deduct from its profit $242,000 to pay a dividend to the federal government. The government, looking to ease the credit crisis, bought $16 million worth of preferred stock of Valley Financial Corp. last year under the Troubled Assets Relief Program.
The pre-dividend figure represented an 83 percent gain in quarterly profit over the same period a year ago, which ended before the TARP investment.
Ellis Gutshall, president and CEO, said in a news release that the bank had made progress solving problems with delinquent loans and in other areas.
"While we remain concerned about the economic climate, we are obviously encouraged by and pleased with our third-quarter performance," his statement said.
For the first nine months of the year, the bank lost $3 million, or 79 cents a share. At the same point in 2008, it had earned $2.2 million, or 46 cents a share. Add in the federal dividends, and the nine-month loss for 2009 swelled to $3.7 million.
The bank's board suspended payment of its semiannual common stock dividend "due to the uncertain economic challenges ahead," Gutshall's statement said.
-- Jeff Sturgeon
