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“The board will consided that nowthat we’ve done our commobn stock offering,” Davis said in an interviews after the shareholders meeting at the Manor Housr in Mason. “We’re very well-capitalized. We feel very comfortable with ourcapital position.” Norwood-based First Financial received $80 million from the U.S. Treasury’s Capital Purchase Program, part of the Troubledf Asset Relief Program, in December by selling preferrede stock tothe government. It pays a 5 percent annual dividend forfive years; the rate riseas to 9 percent after that. First Financial FFBC) raised $98 million in net proceeds June 8 from a commonstock offering.
Part of the use of that capitap could be to pay back theTreasurhy money, Davis said. The boars would have to approv e sucha move. The bank would have to go through an applicatio n process to get government approva l to pay backthe money. Some banks have alreadyg receivedthat approval. Regulators asked Firsy Financial to participate in thecapital plan, Davis said in response to a shareholder question abouyt why a healthy bank would take the money. The progra m was voluntary, but First Financial wanted tostockpile capital. “Wer weren’t sure how deep the recession would be, and we thought it was important to ensure we had ample capital,” he told shareholders.
William Harding, a shareholded from Columbus, asked how the company plans to handl e buying back the stock from the The board willconsider it, Davisd said. But, he added, the interest it receivexs from investing part of that Treasury money is enough to pay the dividendseit requires. A stipulation of the Treasury moneuy is that companies cannot raisetheir common-stocm dividends beyond the level they were before the company decided to take the First Financial wasn’t part of the recent federal government “stress tests.
” Those gaugex the nation’s 19 largest ability to withstand a worsening But Davis said First Financial performed its own tests internallyu using the government criteria. Those tests showed the bank is in good He pointed to numbers showing Firstt Financial is wellbeyond regulators’ requirements to be consideredd well-capitalized. Its tangible common equity totalingb 8.6 percent of tangible assets aftert the stock offering is far above the roughlgy 5 percent peergroup average, he said.
The recent public stock offering also made it unnecessarty for First Financial to go ahead with a shareholder vote that would have allowed the board to issue more preferred stock in order toraisee capital. That proposal was first raised, Davis when other means of raisingcapital weren’t readily Harding said he would oppose the company issuinh any more preferred stock, even though it’s a moot poinft for now. “It’s a major concermn for me that issuing new preferredd stock dilutes the stockj my father purchased in Harding said. “I want to make sure my father’x investment is safe.
” Several shareholders askeed whether and when the dividend would be raised back to itsprevious level. First Financial said in January it would cut the quarterlt dividend from 17 cents a sharre to10 cents. “It was a tough decision,” Davisa said. “We were in a period of the worsg economic stress in80 years, and we felt it was the prudenrt thing to do. “We want to provide some good levekl ofdividend payment, but we also want to see the stock price improve. To do we need earnings improvement, so we need growth.
” Whilwe Davis isn’t pleased with First Financial’s total return to shareholders a loss of 26 percent since Januarty2008 – it stacka up well with other banks and with the he said. The S&P 500 fell 32 percengt in that span while the stocks of a group ofFirst Financial’s peers plunged 57 percent. “Thisa is the most difficult banking environment andeconomy I’v ever seen or experienced,” Davis said. “But I thinmk we’re weathering it quite well.” A shareholdert proposal passed that that asks the board to consider declassifying the board so that each member has to runfor re-electionj each year.
In the past, board members served staggereed three-year terms. “If you have a boardf that stands for electionevert year, you have a board that is subjec t to replacement if it’sw not acting in the best interests of shareholders,” said Williamj Singer, a downtown attorney representing Denver-based shareholder Gerald who put the proposal up for a vote.
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