Hancock Holding Corp. of Gulfport, Miss., and Whitney Holding Corp. of New Orleans gave updates Monday on their recovery from Hurricane Katrina
"In the five months following the storm our growth in deposits was equal to the first 95 years of our bank's existence," said George A. Schloegel, Hancock's chief executive, during a presentation at the Gulf South Bank Conference in Atlanta." We feel like the best is still ahead of us," he added, referring to continued insurance payments and government support for consumers who had no flood insurance and for business reconstruction.
When the company reported first-quarter earnings last month, it said that deposits had jumped 40% between Aug. 29, the day the hurricane made landfall, and March 31, to $5.3 billion
The federal government has pledged $15 billion to help reconstruction in Mississippi and Louisiana, which Mr. Schloegel said should support the Hancock's robust commercial loan growth.
Meanwhile, Carl J. Chaney, Hancock's chief financial officer, told investors that it is "definitely in the market" to make acquisitions, possibly buying banking companies that fared less well in the hurricane.
Whitney's CFO, Thomas L. Callicutt Jr., said his company is also looking to buy, particularly in Florida. On April 13 it bought First National Bancshares Inc. of Bradenton, Fla.
However, Mr. Marks was not as bullish as Mr. Schloegel about the economic consequences of the hurricane. "There was and is a significant level of uncertainty" regarding economic growth and the impact on population trends, he said. Large companies are likely to increase their spending to rebuild, but the impact on smaller companies may well be mixed, he said.
Shares of Hancock rose 1.6%, and Whitney's stock fell 0.5%.
