After failing twice to meet federal regulatory deadlines for raising capital, officials at a Connecticut bank appear to be considering one of their last options - a sale.
Ansonia-based Great Country Bank is discussing a "written proposal" from one of several "parties" that have contacted the institution, according to a press release issued last week. Bank officials declined to comment further and wouldn't say what form of proposal they had received.
The bank is also working with its financial adviser, First Albany Corp., to explore all possibilities for raising capital. Bank executives wouldn't elaborate, but president and chief executive Patrick W. Wisman noted that a sale is only one possible means of raising capital for the $347 million- asset bank.
Great Country has missed July 1993 and December 1994 deadlines to bring its leverage capital ratio up to 6%. The ratio currently is 4.7%.
The bank has until July 15 to submit a new capital plan to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The institution is operating under a 1992 cease- and-desist order from the FDIC.
Bank officials issued their statement in response to a flurry of rumors after a surge in the price and trading volume of the stock last week. The stock closed Friday at $4 a share, up from just under $3 June 1. The stock was trading at $3.875 early Tuesday afternoon, up 25 cents from Monday's close.
Mr. Wisman, a banker with 25 years of experience, was hired in December to turn around Great Country. He has been brought in to turn around several banks, from California to Connecticut, including a subsidiary of Equimark Corp. in Pennsylvania.
"This institution has been the object of speculation and repeated examination by a lot of would-be suitors for four or five years," said John Carusone, president of Hartford's Bank Analysis Center.
Likely buyers of Great Country, all in Connecticut, would include Derby Savings Bank, Waterbury-based Webster Financial Corp., and Centerbank, also of Waterbury, observers said.
Great Country lost $1.9 million from June to December 1994. But it reported a first-quarter 1995 profit of $135,678.
The 1994 losses stemmed from expenses related to the bank's foreclosed real estate, which had dropped to $4.6 million at Dec. 31 from $8.9 million at May 31, 1994.
The bank had $18 million of nonperforming assets, or 5.3% of all assets, at March 31. That was down from $28 million, or 8% of all assets, at March 31, 1994.
