USAL Bancorp in Montgomery, Ala., has agreed to buy Escambia County Bank in Flomaton, Ala.
USAL, the parent of the $205 million-asset AmeriFirst Bank, will pay an undisclosed amount of cash for the $77 million-asset Escambia County.
The deal is expected to close in the first quarter.
Escambia County shareholders will also receive a special dividend before the deal’s completion.
USAL will have five branches after the deal closes.
Olsen Palmer advised Escambia County.
The Cleveland-based bank is projecting steady growth in net interest income even as credit losses remain manageable. But Chairman and CEO Chris Gorman also said that he thinks a recession is likely.
The first-quarter increase involved commercial real estate loans, including some problematic multifamily loans and an office credit, but none of the criticized loans were to consumers, officials at the Dallas company say. Further CRE deterioration is anticipated.
The Detroit-based company is exploring ways to make more consumer auto loans without running afoul of stricter capital standards that are expected from the Federal Reserve. Possible approaches include more securitizations and the use of credit risk transfers.
The House Financial Services Committee also sent to the full House two bipartisan bills, including one that would prevent large banks from opting out of having to recognize Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income in regulatory capital.
Charge-offs and nonperforming loans rose at the Georgia bank in the first quarter. But it blamed the problem on one large client and said the matter has been resolved.
Amid healthy first-quarter loan growth and improving credit quality, Discover Financial Services slashed its profits by $800 million to offset remediation costs from a 16-year period when it overcharged certain merchants.
