ATLANTA, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Premier Bancshares, Inc. (Amex: PMB)
announced today the opening of 5 new lending offices in the Southeast and the
ground breaking of an additional banking office in the metro Atlanta area.
Premier Lending Corporation, the Company's mortgage lending subsidiary,
has opened residential mortgage lending offices in the following cities:
Augusta, Georgia; Warner Robins, Georgia; St. Simons Island, Georgia;
Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Charlotte, North Carolina. Thomas M. Bird,
Executive Vice President and Lynn P. Holley, Senior Vice President have joined
Premier Lending in its Augusta office to lead Premier Lending's expansion
throughout the Southeast.
Mr. Bird previously served as Senior Vice President for Prime Lending for
over eleven years. While there, he engineered an expansion of mortgage
lending offices in the Southeast. He has served on numerous committees for
the Mortgage Bankers Association of Georgia and served as the association's
state president in 1994.
Ms. Holley most recently served as Senior Vice President and Chief
Administrative Officer for Prime Lending. She has extensive experience in
managing the administrative areas for mortgage companies.
George S. Phelps, President of Premier Lending, said, "We are pleased to
have the opportunity to add these outstanding managers to our organization.
Their experience will assist us in growing our company beyond the state of
Georgia."
Darrell D. Pittard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Premier
Bancshares, Inc. said, "The addition of these lending offices will provide us
with footholds in high growth markets throughout the Southeast. The team we
have selected, Tom Bird, Lynn Holley, and Hugh Hollar, has an excellent
reputation for managing regional growth."
He continued, "We feel fortunate in a declining interest rate environment,
which in the short term will negatively impact many banking companies, we have
substantially increased mortgage loan volume at our Premier Lending
subsidiary. During September, Premier Lending closed a record $86 million in
residential mortgage loans and originated in excess of 1200 applications which
will be closed over the next month. Much of this new activity was related to
first mortgages used to purchase new homes; the majority of these loans were
originated prior to the dramatic decline of long term interest rates."
Premier Bank, the Company's banking subsidiary, has opened construction
lending offices in Augusta, Georgia; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Charlotte,
North Carolina to complement its mortgage lending business.
Hugh E. Hollar has joined Premier Bank as Senior Vice President and
manager of Construction Lending for the loan production offices outside of
metro Atlanta.
Mr. Hollar served as Vice President of Prime Lending for the past nine
years and was responsible for all construction lending activities in the
Southeast. He has been actively involved in leadership positions with the
Homebuilders Association of Georgia, serving as the 1997 Associate Vice
President and was recognized as the 1998 Associate of the Year.
Premier Bank recently began construction for another banking office in the
metro Atlanta area. On September 22, 1998, officials of the Company
participated in the ground breaking for a new branch to be built in downtown
Marietta, Georgia. Marietta serves as the county seat for Cobb County which
is among the top 20 United States large counties on the Economic Strength
Index. When this 2900-square-foot banking office opens to the public in the
spring of 1999, the Company will have 7 locations in Cobb County.
On July 9, 1998, the Company announced the pending merger of Frederica
Bank & Trust (Frederica), operating in St. Simons Island, Georgia. The
acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval and the approval of
Frederica's shareholders, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this
year. Following this transaction, Premier will have assets of approximately
$1.4 billion.
Premier Bancshares, Inc. is the third largest bank holding company
headquartered in Georgia and, after pending consolidations, will have the
following subsidiaries operating 45 offices: Premier Bank in metro Atlanta and
St. Simons Island; Central and Southern Bank in Milledgeville and Greensboro,
Georgia; and Premier Lending Corporation, a provider of residential mortgage
loans and asset-based commercial finance loans to the metro Atlanta area, and
other cities throughout the Southeast.
Both the common stock of Premier Bancshares, Inc. and the preferred
securities of Premier Capital Trust I are traded on the American Stock
Exchange under the symbols PMB and PMB.PR, respectively. Additional financial
information regarding Premier Bancshares, Inc. is available from Michael E.
Ricketson, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Premier
Bancshares, Inc. at 770-476-3209.
SOURCE Premier Bancshares, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.premierbancshares.com
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com or
fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 283325
CONTACT:
Darrell D. Pittard, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer, Premier Bancshares, Inc., 404-814-3090
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