AmericasBank Corp. of Towson, Md., plans to go private and close its mortgage lending unit to cut expenses and increase profitability.
The $161 million-asset AmericasBank said last week that going private after five years as a public company is a "cost savings step that will reduce expenses associated with compliance efforts."
The company said it is closing its mortgage unit, including its three loan production offices, and will focus instead on increase loans within branches of its AmericasBank.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said that it based its decision "primarily on recent market conditions," and that it wants to stop originating mortgages through a commissioned sales staff and "focus on the traditional business of a community bank."
AmericasBank Corp. estimated that closing the unit would generate roughly $250,000 of second- and third-quarter pretax charges, including $200,000 of noncash charges related the writeoff of goodwill and $50,000 for severance payments.
