ATLANTA, Jan. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Premier Bancshares, Inc. (Amex: PMB)
ranked second in share price appreciation among companies in the American
Banker index of the 225 best-capitalized banks for 1998. Premier Bancshares,
Inc., stock rose 46.2% in 1998.
Darrell D. Pittard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Premier
Bancshares, said, "Last year was an exciting and challenging year for Premier
Bancshares. We took a number of steps to expand our market presence and
position our company to meet the tremendous opportunities available in the
high-growth regions where we are located."
Premier Bancshares, Inc. is a multi-bank holding company headquartered in
Atlanta, Georgia, with total assets of approximately $1.5 billion, and
subsidiaries operating over 40 offices throughout the Southeast.
With the exception of historical information, the matters discussed in
this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties.
(See article below reprinted with permission from American Banker.)
Wall Street Rewarding Performance, Not Big Deals
Bank stock investors found their biggest gains last year away from the
megamerger path, an American Banker analysis shows.
While mergers grabbed the biggest headlines, the stock market withheld
judgement and instead rewarded companies in which it could perceive clear and
consistently profitable strategies.
Regardless of size, the banks that acquired selectively or opted for
internal growth tended to post the best gains for shareholders in 1998.
Investors bid up companies "with top-line revenue growth that didn't need
deals to grow and that reached a kind of efficiency plateau," said Stephen
Biggar, banking analyst with the Standard & Poor's Equity Group.
Companies with asset problems lost the most ground, and the big newly
merged companies ended up somewhere in the middle, the survey showed.
The leaders in share price appreciation among companies in the American
Banker index of 225 best-capitalized banks included Premier Bancshares of
Georgia, whose stock rose 46%, to $28.1875; Bank of New York Co., up 39%, to
$40.25; and Centennial Bancorp of Oregon, 38%, to $18.75.
The American Banker index gained 9.25% for the year. The Nasdaq bank
index, populated by smaller-capitalization issues that never recovered from
last summer's market meltdown, shed 11.77%.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 16% and the S&P 500 was up 26.69%.
The biggest declines were mainly attributable to misjudgments of loan
values. These banks took hits from a flood of early mortgage repayments or by
relying too much on one basket of credits.
That group included Republic Bancshares of Florida, down 50.5%, to
$13.125; Imperial Bancorp of Los Angeles, off 49.4%, to $16.625; and Silicon
Valley Bancshares of California, losing 39.4%, to $17.125.
Subprime lenders, among 1997's highest fliers, virtually fell off the
chart in 1998 as accounting methods came under fire and the values of their
loan portfolios had to be marked down.
Stock buyers did selectively award acquisitions, such as the 1998 teaming
of Firstar Corp. of Milwaukee and Star Banc Corp. of Cincinnati. The post-
merger Firstar Corp. was the year's biggest gainer, at 62%, to $93.
But the money-centers that dominated the top ranks in past years were
virtually absent.
Citigroup, created from the pairing of Citicorp and Travelers Group, was
off 1.8%. BankAmerica Corp., having merged with NationsBank, Corp., was down
1.1%.
Bank One Corp., combining the former Banc One Corp. with First Chicago NBD
Corp., gained a relatively meager 3.4%. Wells Fargo & Co., which merged with
Norwest Corp., was up 3.1%.
"We sought out companies with minimal exposure to Russia and Asia and
looked for a greater percentage of income to be generated from fee-based
businesses," said Susan Flischel, portfolio manager for the Countrywide
Equities Fund.
Investors should begin to consider big purchasers this year, Mr. Biggar
said.
Also missing from the list of top gainers were banking companies that
announced big share buybacks, countering the common conception that
repurchases significantly boost stock value.
Winners and Losers
Best and worst 1998 stock price performance among 225 largest banks
10 best performers 10 worst performers
Firstar +62.1 Republic, St. Petersburg, Fla. -50.5%
Premier, Ga. +46.2 Imperial, Calif., -49.4
Bank of New York +39.2 Silicon Valley -39.4
Centennial, Ore. +37.5 Whitney -34.2
Zions +37.5 First Charter, N.C. -33.7
Popular, P.R. +37.4 Union Planters -33.2
Westernbank, P.R. +33.7 Triangle -33.0
Fifth Third +30.8 Colonial, Ala., -30.3
Chase +29.7 TCF Financial -28.7
TrustCo., N.Y. +26.6 JeffBanks -28.4
SOURCE Premier Bancshares, Inc.
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.premierbancshares.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/283325.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 283325
CONTACT:
Darrell D. Pittard, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer, or Michael E. Ricketson, Executive Vice
President, Premier Bancshares, Inc., 404-814-3090
|
