FLORENCE, S.C., July 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — First Reliance Bancshares, Inc., (OTC Bulletin Board: FSRL), the holding company for First Reliance Bank, today announced 2nd quarter 2007 unaudited pre-tax income of $1.3 million, an increase of $108,783, or 9.32%, compared to $1,167,411 reported in the second quarter of 2006.
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Unaudited net income increased 10.30%, to $907,708, as compared to $822,916 reported in the prior-year period. Earnings benefited from strong growth in both net interest income and non-interest income. Specifically, net interest income increased 6.56% to $4.7 million in the second quarter of 2007, while non-interest income increased by 13.65% to $1.4 million. Basic earnings per share grew 8.33%, to $0.26 over the $0.24 reported in the prior year
Net Income for the six months ended June 30, 2007 grew 15.63% to $1.6 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, compared to $1.4 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2006. As was the case with the quarterly results, the higher profitability was driven primarily by higher net interest income, which increased 7.96%, and noninterest income, which increased 19.43%.
As of June 30, 2007, total assets were $509.5 million, an increase of $76.4 million or 17.63%, over the $433.1 million reported for June 30, 2006. Loans increased 15.85% to $399.9 million, funded primarily by growth in deposits. Deposits increased to $424.8 million, up 20% from $353.9 million reported the prior year period.
“I am excited to announce that this quarter marks a milestone of approximately $510M in assets,” commented Rick Saunders, President & CEO. “We anticipate strong growth throughout the remaining 2 quarters of 2007 due much to our new Regional Headquarters in Lexington, SC and our new branch in Mt. Pleasant, SC. Both buildings, state-of-the-art in architecture and design, are a direct extension of our promise to remain Easy To Do Business With(TM). To guarantee our customers a convenient banking experience, these new buildings will operate under our 8-8 Mon.-Sat. banking hours, which are currently available at all of our Florence locations and will be a standard going forward. Grand opening celebration plans will be announced during the 3rd quarter of 2007.”
“To achieve our vision of becoming ‘The largest and most profitable bank in South Carolina’, our focus will continue to remain on growing our core services households and increasing our customer retention rate. Our current customer retention rate has grown to over 93%. We believe that this is a direct result of our commitment to provide convenient products and excellent customer service. Our efforts were recently rewarded when our customers awarded us with a customer loyalty rating of 86.10%,” Saunders concluded.
First Reliance Bank, founded in 1999, has assets of approximately $510 million, and employs 160 highly talented associates. The bank serves the Upstate, Midlands, Piedmont, Low Country, Grand Strand, and Pee Dee regions of South Carolina. The bank has been recognized for its success including being the only company ever to be named to The Top 25 Fastest Growing Companies(TM) in South Carolina four times including 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006 (SC Chamber/Elliott Davis. In June 2007, the bank was added to the Palmetto 25, a list of S.C.’s largest publicly held companies. In 2006, the bank was also recognized as one of the Top 15 Best Places to Work in South Carolina by the SC Chamber of Commerce. First Reliance Bank offers Totally FREE Checking, Totally FREE Business, FREE Coin Machines, a Nationwide NO FEE ATM Network, and a 5 Way Mortgage Service Promise. It also offers 8-8 Mon.-Sat. Extended Hours in all of their Florence locations. Its Easy to Do Business With(TM) standard has earned the young bank a customer satisfaction rating of 93% (Performance Solutions-May 2007-Audited). First Reliance Bank is traded as FSRL.OB.
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
Six Months Six Months Months Months
Ended Ended Ended Ended
June 30, June 30, June 30, June 30,
2007 2006 2007 2006
(Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited)(Unaudited)
Interest Income
Loans and Fees 16,510,892 13,479,849 8,618,219 7,082,161
Investment Securities
Taxable 446,076 530,540 211,742 260,191
Tax exempt 352,957 314,908 182,816 162,507
Federal funds sold 336,410 275,795 257,751 97,924
Other interest income 87,880 59,153 47,575 33,135
Total 17,734,215 14,660,245 9,318,103 7,635,918
Interest Expense
Time deposits $100,000
and over 3,152,637 2,127,855 1,760,167 1,067,676
Other deposits 4,604,489 3,372,780 2,416,821 1,828,021
Other interest expense 923,937 773,699 476,644 362,979
Total 8,681,063 6,274,334 4,653,632 3,258,676
Net Interest Income 9,053,152 8,385,911 4,664,471 4,377,242
Provision for loan losses 460,436 690,786 325,202 440,501
Net Interest Income after
provision 8,592,716 7,695,125 4,339,269 3,936,741
Noninterest Income
Service charges on
deposit accounts 908,437 774,587 465,767 410,208
Gain on sale of
mortgage loans 1,116,131 939,181 645,889 580,731
Brokerage fees 85,869 59,775 45,009 28,310
Credit life insurance
commissions 4,606 10,608 1,307 4,179
Other charges, commissions
and fees 162,788 125,874 88,325 66,108
Gain on sale of securities
available for sale 5,996 - 4,975 -
Gain on sale of other
real estate 20,374 17,657 11,009 17,657
Gain on sale of
fixed assets 16,104 - 1,689 -
Other 296,606 263,541 159,756 145,575
Total 2,616,911 2,191,223 1,423,726 1,252,768
Noninterest Expense
Salaries and benefits 5,227,430 4,499,706 2,631,655 2,259,071
Occupancy 655,892 561,588 318,496 272,602
Furniture and
equipment related 419,763 359,273 229,102 196,695
Other operating 2,688,958 2,486,816 1,307,548 1,293,730
Total 8,992,043 7,907,383 4,486,801 4,022,098
Income before tax 2,217,584 1,978,965 1,276,194 1,167,411
Income tax expense 602,669 582,346 368,486 344,495
Net Income 1,614,915 1,396,619 907,708 822,916
Basic earnings per share 0.47 0.41 0.26 0.24
Diluted earnings per share 0.45 0.39 0.26 0.23
First Reliance Bancshares, Inc.
Balance Sheet
June 30 June 30 December 31
2007 2006 2006
(Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Audited)
Assets:
Cash and Cash Equivalents
Cash and Due From Banks 7,996,670 10,072,241 17,328,075
Federal funds sold 23,601,000 - 14,135,000
Total cash and cash
equivalents 31,597,670 10,072,241 31,463,075
Investment securities
Securities available for sale 34,412,589 36,101,846 35,931,271
Nonmarketable equity securities 1,995,400 2,473,850 2,187,600
Investment in trust 310,000 310,000 310,000
Total investment securities 36,717,989 38,885,696 - 38,428,871
Loans held for sale 6,472,908 12,336,366 6,632,010
Loans receivable 404,386,897 349,035,226 353,491,036
Less allowance for loan losses (4,458,077) (3,831,630) (4,001,881)
Loans, net 399,928,820 345,203,596 349,489,155
Premises, furniture, and
equipment, net 17,862,726 11,285,542 13,770,135
Accrued interest receivable 2,421,681 2,138,115 2,464,531
Other real estate owned 855,599 1,166,985 1,386,380
Cash surrender value life
insurance 10,335,086 9,910,831 10,134,036
Other assets 3,321,054 2,133,385 2,442,529
Total Assets 509,513,533 433,132,757 456,210,722
Liabilities:
Deposits:
Noninterest bearing
transaction accounts 45,156,803 46,021,304 42,107,434
Interest bearing
transaction accounts 38,442,293 25,316,061 33,243,099
Savings 77,475,956 89,859,516 78,831,730
Time deposits $100,000
and over 147,175,381 104,737,742 111,991,864
Other time deposits 116,503,199 87,949,894 106,763,956
Total deposits 424,753,632 353,884,517 372,938,083
Securities sold under agreements
to repurchase 11,130,839 5,278,809 8,120,014
Advances from Federal Home
Loan Bank 26,000,000 29,800,000 28,500,000
Fed Funds Purchased - 955,000 -
Junior subordinated debentures 10,310,000 10,310,000 10,310,000
Accrued interest payable 780,407 420,874 766,276
Other liabilities 821,571 1,087,928 1,483,086
Total Liabilities 473,796,449 401,737,128 422,117,459
Shareholders' Equity:
Common Stock 34,845 34,064 34,249
Capital Surplus 25,776,154 24,984,291 25,257,814
Restricted Stock (142,528) (83,456) (66,131)
Retained Earnings 10,472,671 7,008,467 8,857,755
Accumulated other
comprehensive income (424,058) (547,737) 9,576
Total Shareholders Equity 35,717,084 31,395,629 34,093,263
Total Liabilities and
Shareholders Equity 509,513,533 433,132,757 456,210,722
SOURCE First Reliance Bancshares, Inc.
Contact: Jeffrey A. Paolucci, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of First Reliance Bancshares, Inc., +1-843-674-3250
