Shore Community Bank Announces Increased First Quarter Earnings

TOMS RIVER, N.J., April 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Shore Community Bank (OTCBB:SHRC) today announced net income for the three months ended March 31, 2012 of $214,162, or 12 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of $116,696, or 6 cents per diluted share, reported for the first quarter of 2011, an increase of $97,466, or 83.5 percent. Earnings per share for all reported periods have been adjusted for the 5% stock dividend declared in March 2012.

The improvement in first quarter 2012 net income was primarily attributable to an increase in net interest income resulting from lower funding costs and a lower provision for loan losses, which was partially offset by an increase in operating expenses.

"We are pleased with first quarter earnings as a number of factors came together which resulted in the strong performance" commented Robert T. English, President and Chief Executive Officer.  English added, "We are poised to expand our lending activity in 2012 as local economic conditions improve and to that end, we have recently added an experienced SBA/Commercial lender to our staff."

Total assets at March 31, 2012 totaled $204.6 million, an increase of $1.5 million, compared to $203.1 million at December 31, 2011. Total loans declined $2.1 million and stood at $113.2 million compared to $115.3 million at December 31, 2011 while total deposits increased $1.3 million to $166.0 million at March 31, 2012 compared to $164.7 million at December 31, 2011.

The provision for loan losses totaled $150,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2012, as compared to $225,000 for the same time period in 2011. Net charge-offs in the first quarter 2012 totaled $145,505, compared to net charge-offs of $227,217 recorded in the first quarter of 2011.

Non-performing assets which includes other real estate owned stood at $9.1 million at March 31, 2012 compared to $8.3 million at December 31, 2011. The allowance for loan losses as a percentage of period end loans was 1.77 percent at March 31, 2012 compared to 1.73 percent at December 31, 2011.

Shore Community Bank is traded on the OTCBB (Over the Counter Bulletin Board) under the symbol SHRC. 

Shore Community Bank operates six banking offices located in Toms River, Ortley Beach, 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