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An investor with a history of forming and selling banks has bought a large stake in Liberty Bell, a Philadelphia-area bank.
February 15
Liberty Bell Bank (LBBB) in Marlton, N.J., said it received a capital infusion from several directors in December, ending a year in which the bank lost $3.4 million.
The $174 million-asset bank lost $1 million in the fourth quarter, representing a large increase from its $164,000 loss a year earlier. Its loan-loss provision more than doubled in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, to $270,000.
Liberty Bell said in a press release Thursday that unnamed directors paid $702,000 on Dec. 31 to buy newly issued shares of common stock. The bank said it remained well capitalized; its total risk-based capital ratio was 10% on Dec. 31.
Foreclosed properties were weighed against the bank's results. Liberty Bell's lost $685,000 in the fourth quarter from selling foreclosed properties, or 45% of the $1.5 million its lost for the year.
Earlier this year, Virginia investor Ken Lehman notified regulators that he had
