A small South Carolina banking company is moving its headquarters from a rural setting to a more urban one to raise its profile with investors.
The $388 million-asset Provident Community Bancshares Inc., which for the past 73 years has been based in Union, announced this month that it plans to move its headquarters to a Rock Hill branch 60 miles away.
Rock Hill sits near the North Carolina border and is considered a Charlotte suburb.
"We've just finished our third year of double-digit profitability increases, and we still feel like our stock is undervalued, said Dwight V. Neese, Provident's president and chief executive. "This is the way to get more on the radar screen."
Last week Provident said its full-year earnings rose 14%, to $2.8 million. However, the results did little to generate interest in its stock. No Provident shares have been traded in eight of the last nine days, and on average fewer than 500 shares change hands daily.
The stock was trading at $19.40 a share late Wednesday.
Provident has two branches in Rock Hill, and Mr. Neese said that moving its headquarters there should demonstrate to investors that it is committed to growing in the more vibrant communities on the outskirts of Charlotte.
"We don't think we'll ever go to downtown Charlotte — they don't need any more banks — but being on the periphery is where the action is, as far as we're concerned, and that's where we can make our mark," he said.
Over the past five years Provident has slowly expanded into the faster-growing markets in upstate South Carolina, such as Rock Hill and Greenville County. The company has the No. 1 deposit share in Union County, with more than 42%, but "it's really hard to create the kind of shareholder returns that stockholders want in a very slow-growing market," Mr. Neese said.
He said that even though investment bankers have encouraged him to make the move for some time, it does not signal Provident's intent to find a buyer.
"Being our size, we're an acquirer or a seller," Mr. Neese said. "But right now we've got a great business plan that's working for us. … We've had record growth and earnings for three years running, and we're just excited about what we're doing."
