Americasbank (MM) (NASDAQ:AMAB)
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From Jul 2019 to Jul 2024
AmericasBank Corp. (Nasdaq:AMAB), the parent company of AmericasBank,
today announced a major step forward in its strategy to expand its
community banking model in Central Maryland markets.
The expansion is beginning with the renaming of the current banking
center in Towson, Maryland, which will officially become Towson
Community Bank on July 1, 2007. Towson Community Bank will operate as a
division of AmericasBank.
“AmericasBank is becoming a family of
community banking centers organized to look, act, and feel like
independent local banks,” said Mark H. Anders,
President and CEO of the Company. “We believe
that small, independently-operated community banking centers can be
highly profitable by focusing sharply on providing the personal service
and common sense solutions not offered by big banks.
“A family of such banking centers offers the
opportunity for steady, controlled growth and above-market investment
returns.”
AmericasBank plans to open three to five banking centers during the next
five years in central Maryland. Each banking center will be locally
operated and managed as a division of AmericasBank. A senior banker from
the community will lead each banking center as its president, supported
by an advisory board of local business and community leaders. Each
banking center will operate and be promoted under a unique trade name. A
mortgage banking office will support each banking center and will
promote home ownership and the development of housing in the community.
Anders said Towson is typical of the kind of market AmericasBank will
target for its family of banks. “Towson is a
perfect market for our community banking model,”
Anders said. “It’s a
seat of county government and home to several large regional health care
facilities, a college, and a university. The demographics are ideal for
a bank whose target market is the business and professional community,
as well as local organizations and individuals. All of these customers
are underserved by big banks, and there are a dwindling number of true
community banks left in the market."
Beyond Towson, Anders said the Company would soon announce an opening
date for its second community banking center in Annapolis, Maryland,
followed by a third, possibly in Frederick, Maryland. Both, like Towson,
are governmental, health care, and professional centers for their
regions. The Company opened a loan production office in Frederick last
August and in Annapolis in March 2007.
“Our goal is to enter a new market by first
opening a loan production office, followed by the opening of a full
service banking center in 6-12 months,”
Anders said. “The costs of opening a de novo
branch are high and, because we intend to operate these banking centers
as independently operated and managed banks, our costs will be even
higher. By opening a loan production office first, we believe that we
can significantly reduce the drag on earnings that would result from
opening three to five banking centers during the next five years.”
Anders said his role would be changing, too. “My
role as president and chief executive officer of AmericasBank will
become more strategic,” he said. “While
I will work closely with the presidents of our community banking centers
on marketing and creating brand identity within their local markets, my
principal duties will be to implement our expansion plan.”
Anders said that AmericasBank would be introducing the new president of
Towson Community Bank very soon, followed by the announcement of other
key hires for the Towson banking center and the naming of a president
for the Annapolis banking center, which should be open by late summer.
Anders said the AmericasBank expansion strategy represents a commitment
to steady, sustainable growth for the long term. “Implementing
our expansion strategy will be painful in the short run,”
he said, “but we believe that the returns to
our shareholders in the long term will validate this strategy. We
believe that our shareholders are sending us a clear message that they
want us to emphasize growth over short term earnings and we are putting
the strategies in place to accomplish this goal.”
About AmericasBank Corp.
AmericasBank Corp. is the parent company of AmericasBank, a
Maryland-chartered commercial bank headquartered in Towson, Maryland.
AmericasBank is dedicated to contributing to the growth and prosperity
of the communities it serves, with a special focus on serving the needs
of the business community and promoting home ownership.
The statements in this press release that are not historical facts
constitute "forward-looking statements" as defined by Federal Securities
laws. Such statements, regarding AmericasBank Corp.'s anticipated future
results of operations, are subject to risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed
or implied by such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the risk that
AmericasBank Corp. may continue to incur losses; the possible loss of
key personnel; the inability to successfully implement strategic
initiatives; risk of changes in interest rates, deposit flows and loan
demand; risk associated with having a large percentage of residential
real estate loans secured by investment properties; risk of an industry
concentration with respect to deposits; risk of credit losses; risks
associated with residential mortgage lending, including acting as a
correspondent lender; risk associated with a slowdown in the housing
market or high interest rates; the allowance for loan and lease losses
may not be sufficient; operational risks of the leasing companies to
which AmericasBank has extended credit in connection with the lease
portfolio; dependence on third party vendors; risk of possible future
regulatory action as a result of past violations of the Real Estate
Settlement Procedures Act; as well as changes in economic, competitive,
governmental, regulatory, technological and other factors that may
affect AmericasBank Corp. or AmericasBank specifically or the banking
industry generally. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date
they are made. AmericasBank Corp. will not update forward-looking
statements to reflect factual assumptions, circumstances or events that
have changed after a forward-looking statement was made. For further
information, please refer to the AmericasBank Corp.'s filings with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and available at their web site www.sec.gov.