First Reliance Announces 1st Quarter Pre-Tax Income of $558,508 – Up 21%
FLORENCE, S.C., April 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — First Reliance Bancshares, Inc., (OTC Bulletin Board: FSRL), the holding company for First Reliance Bank, reported unaudited pre-tax income for the quarter ended March 31, 2005 of $558,508, an increase of $98,087, or 21%, over the $460,421 reported for the quarter ended March 31, 2004. Unaudited net income increased 20%, to $385,599, as compared to $321,174 reported in the prior-year period. Earnings benefited from strong growth in both net interest income and noninterest income. Specifically, net interest income increased 62% to $3,040,508 for the quarter ended March 31, 2005, while noninterest income grew 23% to $605,510. Basic earnings per share were $0.12, a decrease of $0.01 from the $0.13 reported in the prior-year period. The earnings per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2005 is based on average shares of 3,221,902 compared to 2,494,560 shares reported in the prior-year period. The additional shares are primarily the result of a successful stock offering completed in December 2004. The offering provided $8 million of new capital and increased the number of shares by 700,000.
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At March 31, 2005, total assets were $332.6 million, an increase of $138.0 million, or 71% over the $194.6 million reported for March 31, 2004. Loans increased $124.5 million or 82% to $275.7 million, funded primarily by growth in deposits. Deposits increased to $261.1 million, up 71% from $152.5 million for the prior-year period. The allowance for loan losses as a percentage of loans was 1.07% as of March 31, 2005.
Rick Saunders, President and CEO commented, “The beginning of 2005 saw the official opening of our fourth full service branch located in the Peninsula area of Charleston. Additionally, we received regulatory approval to open our fifth office in Mt. Pleasant, SC, which we anticipate occurring in the second quarter. Our tremendous growth can be attributed in part to our latest branch opening in Charleston as well as our continued growth in the Midlands Region.
“With 2005 underway, we intend to expand our Retail banking services with numerous initiatives that will support our growth and service goals. They include an on-line mortgage application, 5 Way Service Promise, account acquisition through our Totally Free Checking program, expanded hours of operation, Free ATM use and customer WOW events.”
First Reliance Bank focuses heavily on personal customer service and offers a full range of financial services. Personal products include checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, CDs and IRAs, and personal mortgage loans. Business products include checking and savings accounts, commercial lending services, money market accounts, and a deposit courier service.
Several new initiatives are scheduled for introduction throughout the year. eACCESSMortgage, the bank’s on-line mortgage initiative was launched towards the end of the first quarter. It offers consumers the convenience of applying for a mortgage on-line in a safe and secure environment at a time that best fits their schedules.
In conjunction with the new eACCESSMortgage product, the bank is introducing their 5 Way Mortgage Service Promise. The 5 Way Mortgage Service Promise is the first of two Service Promises that will be introduced; the Retail Service Promise is anticipated later this year. The 5 Way Mortgage Service Promise provides customers with 5 specific promises that the bank guarantees to meet or exceed, or they will financially compensate the customer in the amount of $500.00.
With one of the bank’s major strategic initiatives being account acquisition, the bank will launch Totally Free Checking in late April. Totally Free Checking is an all inclusive program that combines proven marketing and sales strategies to grow our number of checking accounts. While the primary objective is to increase the number of checking accounts, it will also generate opportunities for expanding relationships and fully engage the staff in achieving the bank’s growth objectives.
Other initiatives projected for introduction later in the year that are sure to excite existing customers as well as attract new customers to the bank include 8am-to-8pm banking which will expand the bank’s hours of operation at their Florence Main office. Extended hours will go into effect at their other locations later in the year. Plans are also being finalized to eliminate all fees associated with ATM usage.
Internally, the bank rolled out their CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software. The CRM system greatly enhances the bank’s ability to understand and subsequently better serve their customers.
Based in Florence, South Carolina, First Reliance Bancshares, Inc., is a bank holding company with approximately $333 million in assets as of March 31, 2005. First Reliance Bank, which was opened in 1999, is the Company’s sole operating subsidiary. The Bank, which serves as one of the only locally owned and operated banks in the Florence area, maintains two branch offices and a Technology Center in Florence, South Carolina, a branch in Lexington, South Carolina, and one branch in Charleston, South Carolina.
First Reliance Bancshares stock is traded on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol “FSRL”. Information about the Company is available on our website at http://firstreliance.com .
This press release contains forward-looking statements about branch openings within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements give our expectations or forecasts of future events.
Any or all of our forward-looking statements here or in other publications may turn out to be incorrect. They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Many such factors will be important in determining our actual future results. Consequently, no forward looking- statements can be guaranteed. Our actual results may vary materially, and there are no guarantees about the performance of our stock.
We undertake no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future results or otherwise. You are advised, however, to consult any future disclosures we make on related subjects in our reports to the SEC.
Contact Jeffrey A. Paolucci, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, (843) 674-3250
First Reliance Bancshares, Inc.
Consolidated Reports of Income
Three Three
Months Months
Ended Ended
March March
31, 2005 31, 2004
(Unaudited) (Unaudited)
Interest Income
Loans and Fees 4,305,702 2,356,597
Taxable Securities 182,285 190,413
Nontaxable Securities 125,971 101,147
Nonmarketable Securities 11,839 -
Federal Funds Sold and Other 7,173 1,395
Total 4,632,970 2,649,552
Interest Expense
Deposits 1,337,825 651,697
FHLB Advances 239,502 117,958
Federal Funds Purchased and Repurchase
Agreements 15,135 5,188
Total 1,592,462 774,843
Net Interest Income 3,040,508 1,874,709
Provision for loan losses 172,552 109,928
Net Interest Income after provision 2,867,956 1,764,781
Noninterest Income
Residential mortgage origination fees 152,774 99,005
Service charges on deposit accounts 328,605 248,387
Brokerage fees 31,002 30,297
Gain/Loss on sale of Other Real Estate (30,025) -
Gain/Loss on sale of Fixed Assets (287) -
Credit life insurance commissions 7,661 22,879
Other charges, commissions and fees 115,780 90,374
Total 605,510 490,942
Noninterest Expense
Salaries and employee benefits 1,706,080 1,071,596
Occupancy expense 158,395 76,857
Furniture and equipment expense 174,218 143,488
Other operating expenses 876,265 503,361
Total 2,914,958 1,795,302
Income before tax 558,508 460,421
Income tax expense 172,909 139,247
Net Income 385,599 321,174
Basic earnings per share 0.12 0.13
Diluted earnings per share 0.11 0.13
First Reliance Bancshares, Inc.
Balance Sheet
March 31March 31December 31
2005 2004 2004
(Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Audited)
Assets:
Cash and Cash Equivalents
Cash and Due Froms 5,972,453 2,996,418 3,803,535
Federal funds sold 7,595,000 1,499,000 1,042,000
Total cash and cash
equivalents 13,567,453 4,495,418 4,845,535
Investment securities
Securities available
for sale 28,142,501 26,558,428 28,567,666
Nonmarketable equity
securities 2,469,600 1,120,000 1,714,700
Other Investments - - -
Total investment
securities 30,612,101 27,678,428 30,282,366
Loans held for sale 1,331,952 1,734,244 1,332,890
Loans receivable 275,681,928 151,165,366 238,362,092
Less allowance for
loan losses (2,954,120) (1,781,804) (2,758,225)
Loans, net 272,727,808 149,383,562 235,603,867
Premises, furniture, and
equipment, net 7,159,172 5,805,962 5,891,402
Accrued interest receivable 1,500,645 832,243 1,458,673
Other real estate owned 342,509 366,002 320,598
Other assets 5,329,219 4,342,843 5,235,552
Total Assets 332,570,859 194,608,702 284,970,883
Deposits:
Noninterest bearing
transaction accounts 31,877,012 20,310,063 27,560,581
Interest bearing
transaction accounts 17,380,363 16,150,105 15,525,590
Savings 64,522,914 19,700,954 46,299,198
Time deposits
$100,000 and over 96,003,028 64,272,328 93,975,912
Other time deposits 51,299,038 32,047,713 42,132,546
Total deposits 261,082,355 152,481,163 225,493,827
Securities sold under
agreements to repurchase 3,195,332 2,244,760 3,061,903
Federal funds purchased - - -
Advances from Federal
Home Loan Bank 39,000,000 20,400,000 27,900,000
Accrued interest payable 689,868 530,820 742,017
Other liabilities 993,355 479,931 414,487
Total Liabilities 304,960,910 176,136,674 257,612,234
Shareholders' Equity:
Common Stock 32,294 24,946 32,039
Capital Surplus 23,597,787 15,371,677 23,428,034
Retained Earnings 4,049,900 2,646,776 3,664,301
Accumulated other
comprehensive income (60,136) 428,629 241,671
Treasury Stock (9,896) - (7,396)
Total Equity 27,609,949 18,472,028 27,358,649
Total Liabilities and
Shareholders Equity 332,570,859 194,608,702 284,970,883
SOURCE First Reliance Bancshares, Inc.
-0- 04/20/2005
/CONTACT: Jeffrey A. Paolucci, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer of First Reliance Bank, +1-843-674-3250, or
jpaolucci@firstreliance.com /
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(FSRL)
CO: First Reliance Bancshares, Inc.; First Reliance Bank
ST: South Carolina
IN: FIN OTC
SU: ERN
WB-JJ
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6923 04/20/200507:15 EDThttp://www.prnewswire.com
