MORENO VALLEY, Calif. Aug. 18, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Valley Bank (OTCBB:VMOY) said an increase in core earnings in the second quarter helps boost profitability.
For the quarter ended June 30, the Moreno Valley-based bank earned $115,000 or 5 cents a share. Results included a $48,000 gain from the sale of assets from the Sun City branch and $67,000 in one-time expenses associated with valuing stock options. Without the one-time items, the bank would have earned $134,000 in the quarter.
In the same quarter a year ago, the bank earned $51,000, or 2 cents a share. Results included a one-time $107,000 tax credit.
In the first six months of 2003, Valley Bank earned $321,000 or 13 cents a share. During the same period a year ago, the bank had earnings of $611,000, or 25 cents a share. Results included $607,000 in one-time tax benefits.
Valley Bank in the second quarter continued to benefit from strong loan demand, steady asset growth and lower expenses.
"We are very pleased with the bank's overall performance in the second quarter and first half of 2003," said Gene Wood, president and chief executive. "To a large degree, the bank is the beneficiary of a business strategy that was put in place a year ago that put us on sound financial footing."
Loans at the end of the second quarter reached $62 million, up from $50.1 million a year ago. Assets as of June 30 were $84.5 million, up from $79.2 million a year ago. Valley Bank was able to grow despite the sale of approximately $9 million in deposits from its closed Sun City branch in December 2002.
Problem loans at the end of the second quarter were down significantly from a year ago. A year ago Valley Bank had $5.7 million of past due and non-accrual loans. At the end of the first six months of 2003, it fell to $1.6 million.
Valley Bank, with assets of nearly $85 million, is a 43-year-old community bank with branches in Moreno Valley, Grand Terrace, the Woodcrest area of Riverside and Perris and a mortgage loan office in Fontana that serve a fast-growing area of the Inland Empire near the intersection of the 215 and 60 freeways.