Shore Community Bank Announces First Quarter 2014 Results

TOMS RIVER, N.J., April 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Shore Community Bank (OTCQB: SHRC) today reported net income for the three months ended March 31, 2014 of $151,568, or 7 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of $152,838, or 7 cents per diluted share, reported for the first quarter of 2013. Earnings per share for all reported periods have been adjusted for the 10% stock dividend declared in March 2014.

Commenting on the results, Robert T. English, President and Chief Executive Officer stated, "Earnings were flat in the first quarter of 2014 compared to the same period last year however, we are pleased to the extent that reported earnings marginally exceeded our first quarter expectations."  Mr. English further stated, "We finished the quarter with a flurry of loan closings which lifted our loan portfolio to $114.9 million. Additionally, our commercial loan pipeline stands at approximately $25.4 million of which aggregate commitments issued to clients approximate $14.5 million. The much anticipated loan growth will benefit future periods as we move forward into 2014."

Total assets at March 31, 2014 were $231.2 million compared to $230.2 million at December 31, 2013. Total loans increased $5.1 million and stood at $114.9 million compared to $109.8 million at December 31, 2013 while total deposits increased slightly to $199.2 million at March 31, 2014 compared to $198.2 million at December 31, 2013.

The provision for loan losses totaled $70,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2014, as compared to $75,000 in the first quarter of 2013. Net charge-offs in the first quarter 2014 totaled $14,472 compared to net charge-offs of $25,088 recorded in the first quarter of 2013.

Non-performing assets, which includes other real estate owned, stood at $5.5 million at March 31, 2014 compared to $5.4 million at December 31, 2013. The allowance for loan losses, as a percentage of period end loans, was 2.00 percent at March 31, 2014 compared to 2.04 percent at December 31, 2013.

Shore Community Bank is traded on the OTCQB under the symbol "SHRC". 

Shore Community Bank operates five banking offices located in Toms River, Jackson and Manahawkin, New Jersey.  The Bank was founded in 1997 by a group of local business leaders with the objective of returning community-based banking to the Toms River, Ocean County, New Jersey area.

Information in this release relating to Shore Community Bank's future prospects which are forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including, but not limited to, the following: (1) operating, legal and regulatory risks, such as continued levels of loan quality and origination volume, continued relationships with major customers and technological changes; (2) economic, political and competitive forces affecting our banking business, such as changes in economic conditions, especially in our market area, interest rate fluctuations, competitive product and pricing pressures within our market, personal and corporate bankruptcies, monetary policy and inflation; (3) our ability to grow internally or through acquisitions; and (4) the risk that management's analyses of these risks and forces could be incorrect and/or that the strategies developed to address them could be unsuccessful. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "expects," "believe," "will," "intends," "will be" or "would." Shore Community Bank assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking information in this announcement, except as required under applicable law. 

SOURCE Shore Community Bank