Shares of CCF Holding Co. in Jonesboro, Ga., soared Monday after it reported strong second-quarter earnings.
Last week the $409 million-asset CCF said strong growth in construction and commercial real estate lending and improved credit quality pushed net income up 63% from a year earlier, to $1.3 million. Earnings per share rose 57%, to 35 cents.
The parent company of Heritage Bank, which has seven branches in Atlanta's southern suburbs, said its total loans rose about 15%, to $320 million at the end of the quarter. As a result, its net interest margin rose 81 basis points from a year earlier, to 5.06%. However, the margin fell 3 basis points from the end of the first quarter, because borrowing funds from its Federal Home Loan Bank to meet loan demand raised funding costs.
On Monday its shares rose 9.3% in heavy trading to hit a 52-week high of $24.49.
