-
PL Capital has taken a $7 million stake in MutualFirst Financial (MFSF) in Muncie, Ind.
April 4 -
Small-business loans resulting from a government program jumped by 20% during the fourth quarter, with the Treasury estimating it has helped more than 38,000 total loans since it began nearly two years ago.
April 3
MutualFirst Financial (MFSF) in Muncie, Ind., has reduced its involvement in the Treasury Department's small-business lending fund.
The $1.4 billion-asset company has paid $7.2 million to redeem one-quarter of the preferred shares it issued to the Treasury through the program, it said Monday. The partial redemption will decrease the annual dividend it pays by $362,000, or 5 cents per share, it said.
The Treasury Department still holds approximately $21.7 million worth of MutualFirst's preferred shares through the program. MutualFirst pays a 5% dividend on the shares, and the rate may rise to 7% in 2014, the company said. The dividend rate a bank pays through the program depends on its level of small-business lending.
"Our participation in the [small-business lending fund] was advantageous to the company, particularly as we emerged from the recession with improved earnings and asset quality in 2012," said President and Chief Executive David Heeter. "Our board of directors will review the company's capital levels annually to consider when additional SBLF redemptions are warranted."
Twelve of the more than 330 institutions that took part in the program have fully redeemed their shares, while nine have partially redeemed them, the Treasury Department said last week in a
Activist investor group PL Capital
