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Demand for bank stocks is up this year, but Wall Street is showing reluctance to fund a certain kind of lender: Community banks with dim prospects for making acquisitions. MetroCorp Bancshares of Houston, First Community of Lexington, S.C., and Northeast Bancorp of Lewiston, Maine all find themselves in this situation.
May 16
First Community (FCCO) in Lexington, S.C., said it could use the $15 million it raised through a common stock offering to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
The $602 million-asset company said Monday that it could also use the proceeds to fund future growth. First Community sold almost 1.9 million shares, including an over-allotment, at $8 each. The original target for the capital raise was $12.5 million.
The company may use the funds to repurchase preferred shares and warrants it issued to the Treasury Department under Tarp. First Community received $11 million in November 2008.
The company could also use funds to "take advantage of certain growth opportunities in the marketplace," Mike Crapps, First Community's president and chief executive, said in a press release.
