The no-TARP decision for one bank
Tompkins Financial, which declined TARP funding along with many other community-based banks in 2008, continues to report strong earnings despite the languishing economy.
Tompkins, parent company of Mahopac National Bank in the Hudson Valley, reported a record net income of $8.4 million in the first quarter of 2010, a net increase of 9.2 percent over the same period in 2009 when it released its first quarter figures at the end of April.
Diluted earnings per share were $.078 for the first quarter of 2010, a 9.3 percent increase over the same time period last year. Tompkins reported total loans at $1.9 billion as of March 21, up 4.2 percent, and deposits of $2.5 billion, up 7.5 percent over the first quarter of the 2009.
“We”™re extremely proud to report these strong results for the first quarter of 2010,” said Stephen Romaine, president and CEO in a prepared statement to stockholders. “While we have not been immune to the challenges of the difficult economic environment, we are pleased the commitment to our strategy has been a successful one. We remain committed to lending in support of economic growth in the communities we serve.”
Romaine noted some deterioration in asset quality from the prior year, but levels of nonperforming assets remained significantly below national averages. Tompkins”™ loss experience was considered better than industry averages, said Romaine, as evidenced by the Federal Reserve”™s December 31, 2009, Bank Holding Company Performance Report, indicating the banks”™ ratio of net losses to average loans for the calendar year ending Dec. 31 were better than 97 percent of the banks with total assets between $3 billion and $10 billion reporting.
Tompkins was one of several community banking organizations in New York that refused TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program) funding. “We”™re very glad we did,” said Romaine at a company meeting last year. Several larger banks have not repaid their loans, making the TARP program ”“ begun under President George Bush in 2008 ”“ a thorn in the side for the Obama administration. But TARP offers a mixed result as JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, American Express Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., U.S. Bancorp, Capital One Financial Corp., Bank of New York Mellon Corp., State Street Corp., BB&T Corp, Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America have all repaid their TARP money, according to online sources.
Locally, Mahopac National Bank”™s Hudson Valley branches are participating in the Credit for Success program, which was rolled out successfully in Ulster County in 2009 and now spread statewide and become a regional program. In the program, those rebuffed on loans get a second chance via a cooperative agreement among regional banks.
Small-business owners can apply for the Credit for Success program, even if it is at the bank that turned them down for their conventional loan. Loans range from $50,000 to $150,000.
One caveat to the program: the business applying for the loan must have been turned down for a conventional loan.
“We have not done an actual loan so far, but we have one in the pipeline and believe the program will help stimulate lending,” said Gerald Klein, president and CEO of Mahopac National Bank, headquartered in Brewster. “It”™s another avenue for small business to get funding.”
The bank has just opened a new wealth management office, Tompkins Financial Advisors, in White Plains to serve its customers in Westchester and Putnam.
Tompkins plans to hold its annual shareholder”™s meeting at Sinapi”™s Ceola Manor in Jefferson Valley on Wednesday, May 26, beginning at 6 p.m.