Area bank posts best quarterly gain in deposits since 2004

TAMPA — In most metrics, the first quarter at First Citrus Bancorporation, parent company of Tampa-based First Citrus Bank, was strong, with growth in assets, loans and deposits, among other data points.

The one negative: profits in the quarter were down 21%, bank officials say in a statement, attributing it “largely due to personnel additions on the business and retail banking roster.”

Otherwise, collaboration between the bank’s deposit and lending teams fueled low-cost deposit growth, officials say. The year-over-year period ending March 31, the bank adds, was the strongest core deposit growth period since 2004. “More importantly, low-cost deposit growth was the highest in the company’s history, the release states.

Also noteworthy: the federal coronavirus aid package, which didn’t start until late March, also boosted the quarterly results, which bodes well for the future, bank officials say.

“We’ve made significant gains on the recruiting front as evidenced by the improvements in demand deposit growth,” First Citrus Bank President and CEO John Barrett says in the statement. “The Payroll Protection Program launched this past month created an unexpected but welcomed seam in the market to nimbly add clients from regional and money center competitors. Another tailwind to enhance the First Citrus brand.”

Other first-quarter highlights include:

• Book value per share growth of 8%;

• Asset growth of 10%;

• Loan growth of 11%;

• Demand deposit growth of 32%; and

• Total deposit growth of 19%.

Net income for the three months ended March 31 was $835,000, or $0.41 per share, compared to net income of $1,057,000, or $0.52 per share, for the three months ended March 31, 2019, the release states. Book value per share as of March 31 was $18.71, an increase of 8.5% over the $17.25 book value per share as of March 31, 2019. A $0.40 special cash dividend per share was paid on March 4, 2020. 

Total assets were $437 million as of March 31, an increase of $41 million, or 10%, from $396 million as of March 31, 2019.