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Deals in Texas were pricey and plentiful in the first five months of the year, new data show. The state set the pace for rapid bank consolidation once before, and it could do so again.
June 19 -
First Financial in Cincinnati instituted a full pay-out of earnings in August. Although investors were happy with the move, the company has been swarmed with questions over how long it plans to keep the payout. Last week, the company committed to it until the end of 2013.
April 30
Unable to find an acquisition or other expansion opportunity that it likes, Trinity Bank in Fort Worth, Texas, will pay a special onetime dividend to shareholders.
The $168 million-asset company will pay $1 per share in addition to its second cash dividend of 20 cents per share in November, Trinity said Wednesday. The company has been accumulating capital through retained earnings at a greater rate than necessary to fund internal growth, Jeffrey M. Harp, Trinity's president, said in a news release.
Trinity's core capital (leverage) ratio was 11.69%, and its total risk-based capital ratio was 18.56%, at June 30, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Its board regularly reviews how to spend capital and looks at internal growth, acquisitions, geographic expansion through branch openings and returning a portion of earnings to shareholders through a stock repurchase or dividends, Harp said.
"We haven't found an acquisition or geographical expansion that makes sense. We haven't been able to purchase a significant amount of stock under plans approved by the shareholders and our primary regulator," Harp said. "Therefore, we are declaring both a second cash dividend and a special one-time cash dividend."
The dividend tax rate is likely to rise in 2013 so it was looking to "provide some tangible return now to our shareholders in the most tax-advantageous manner possible," Harp also said.
The dividends will not limit Trinity's ability to consider other investment opportunities and the company's board will continue to review its dividend policy on a semiannual basis, Harp said.
Other banks, including
Texas has been a hotbed of M&A activity this year. Through the first half of the year, the Lone Star State led the nation with the most deals at 14. California and
