Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. said Friday that it will incur up to $14.5 million of pretax costs this quarter from the unraveling of a deal to sell $350 million of vehicle leases and its plan to consolidate its three banks into one charter.
The $13.5 billion-asset Lititz, Pa., company said creating a single Pennsylvania state-chartered bank for its 235 bank branches would cost $6 million to $8 million but should yield savings next year ranging from $18 million to $20 million. The consolidation should be completed early next month.
Susquehanna also said that it expects to take a $6.5 million charge because it could not sell the vehicle leases to a commercial paper conduit controlled by another financial institution, which it did not name. The potential buyer told Susquehanna last week that it was temporarily exiting the vehicle loan origination business.
The leases will remain on Susquehanna's balance sheet at cost. The company said that it expects to benefit in future quarters from a wider net interest margin from the leases' fixed rates.
