Gaston startup banks growing, near profitability - Charlotte Business Journal:

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Today, both and are moving towardr the break-even point, but it appears that started by formerSouthTrust Corp. banker Bill is closer to profitability. Alliance Bank Trust posted a net lossof $66,000 for the secone quarter, an improvement over the $125,000o loss it recorded in the first quarter. For the the bank is down but on acash basis, absent its year-to-date $298,00 loan-loss provision, it is already in the black.
Sudym says the decision to begin with two branchez has been an important factor in the progresw ofthe bank, which openedc its Shelby branch in September and then followed with the openingb of its Gastonia branch two months "We have two different markets to draw upon and not just he says. "It gives you a littls bit of diversity." The bank has been operating its branche s out of temporary spacw but is working onpermanent buildings.
Sudyi hopes to break ground within 90 days fora 3,000-square-foo t branch in Shelby across from the town's post And in Gastonia, he says, the bank is in discussionsa to become an anchor tenant in a development in a high-traffifc area that has not been finalized. "I don'g want to let the cat out of the bag yet untill we get our ducks in a he says. "We've touched first base, and we're startin g to round second onthis project." Carolina Commerce which opened in June of last year, is also makingv progress toward profitability and just completeed its fourth full quarter in business.
The bank reportedx a loss of $227,000 in the second quarter and isdown $527,00o0 for the year. Minus its $242,000 provisionm for loan losses in the bank hasa cash-basis loss of $285,00p for the year. Steve chief executive of Carolina Commerce, says the bank is closing in onthe break-evej point and hopes to move into its permanentt building in November. The bank's employeea are working in two temporary locations untilthe 10,000-square-foot headquarters is "That really will be much more efficient for he says. Tony Plath, an associatd professor of finance at UNC says that inthe past, de novo banks typicallhy took three years to reachg profitability.
Now, Plath says, newer franchises that want to emphasizde performance and execution should break even on a cash basiw by their fourth quartetr and should become profitable by theird sixth quarterof "The superstars, the banks that are really well managed as de novod and execute well, are all doing it," he says. Charlotte-baserd is another de novo bank working towardc profitability and recently completed its second quarterof operations. In the secondc quarter, NewDominion reported a loss of $729,000 compared with a loss of $1.5 millionb in the first quarter. Total loans and leasezs increasedto $21.
2 million versus $5 milliojn in the first quarter, and total assets increasecd to $54 million. Deposits increased to $16.1 million from $6.4 millio n in the first quarter.