KS Bancorp Inc. Completes Repurchase of Preferred Stock and Private Placement of Subordinated Debt

KS Bancorp, Inc., the parent company of KS Bank, Inc., announced today that it has completed the redemption of all of its outstanding Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A and Series B.

The Company originally issued 4,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock and 200 shares of Series B Preferred Stock to the United States Department of Treasury in connection with its participation in the TARP Capital Purchase Program. Pursuant to the direction of the Board of Directors of the Company, and with the prior approval of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, the Company had redeemed 2,200 shares, or $2.2 million, of Series A Preferred Stock on September 25, 2014. The remaining 1,800 shares, or $1.8 million, of Series A Preferred Stock and 200 shares, or $200,000, of Series B Preferred Stock were redeemed on December 19, 2014, with the proceeds of subordinated debt issued in a private placement to local accredited investors. The Series A and B Preferred Stock accrued dividends at a rate of 9.00% per annum, whereas the newly issued subordinated debt accrues interest initially at a rate of 6.00% per annum, increasing to 7.00% per annum in December, 2017.

President/CEO Harold T. Keen stated, “We were extremely pleased to be able to redeem and retire the $2.2 million of preferred stock in September, 2014. The issuance of this subordinated debt allowed us to redeem and retire the remaining preferred stock and will significantly lower our interest expense. This is all positive news for earnings going forward.”

KS Bancorp, Inc. is a Smithfield, North Carolina-based single bank holding company. KS Bank, Inc., a state-chartered savings bank, is KS Bancorp’s sole subsidiary. The Bank is a full-service community bank serving the citizens of eastern North Carolina since 1924 and offers a variety of financial products and services including a securities brokerage service through an affiliation with a registered broker/dealer. There are nine full service branches located in Kenly, Selma, Clayton, Garner, Goldsboro, Wilson, Wendell, Smithfield, and Four Oaks, North Carolina plus a mortgage servicing location in Greenville, NC. For more information, visit www.ksbankinc.com.

This release contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business of the Company. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are based on the beliefs and assumptions of management of the Company and on the information available to management at the time that these disclosures were prepared. These statements can be identified by the use of words like “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate” and “believe,” variations of these words and other similar expressions. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

KS Bancorp, Inc.Harold T. Keen or Earl W. Worley, Jr., 919-938-3101