HARRISBURG, Pa., June 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today Legacy Bank (Legacy) was publicly congratulated for its selection last April as the recipient of the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 2006 National Small 7(a) U.S. SBA Lender of the Year. Among the proudest people in attendance at the celebration, held at the Bank's Commerce Drive branch in Harrisburg, were representatives of First National Bank of Pennsylvania which, on May 26th, 2006, completed its merger with Legacy. First National Bank is the largest subsidiary of Hermitage, PA-based F.N.B. Corporation .
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"Legacy's incredible record of achievement in commercial lending is one of the attributes that we found the most appealing when we first considered this merger," noted Gary Roberts, President and Chief Executive Officer of First National Bank. "We congratulate Tom Lennox and his outstanding Legacy team for this well deserved honor. They are a valuable addition to the First National Bank family, and an important component of our future success."
The SBA's 7(a) Loan Guaranty Program is the agency's primary financial assistance instrument. It provides loan guaranties on business loans to help qualified entrepreneurs secure financing on reasonable terms. The program operates through private-sector lenders who provide loans which are, in turn, guaranteed by the SBA. A maximum loan amount of $2 million has been established for 7(a) loans.
Banks in the Small Bank category have loan portfolios of $100 million or below. Nationally, Legacy was judged the best in the areas of community involvement, customer service, and loan growth. Between 2004 and 2005 Legacy's SBA loans increased 425%.
Thomas Lennox, Capital Region Commercial Lending President and Chief Executive Officer, hosted today's celebration, which featured greetings from Stephanie Watkins, SBA Regional Administrator, Region III, the award presentation by David Dickson, SBA Philadelphia District Director, and a Pennsylvania Senate Proclamation presented by Senator Jeffrey Piccola, of the 15th Senate District.
"We are proud to have earned this honor as validation of the dedication and hard work of our team of lenders," said Lennox. "Now, as a result of the merger with First National Bank, our lenders will have the additional products, services, and resources they need to provide even greater assistance to businesses in the Capital Region."
As part of the merger agreement, First National Bank established a sixth banking market, the Capital Region. The region encompasses eight Legacy Bank offices in Dauphin, Cumberland, Lycoming, Luzerne, and Schuylkill counties throughout central and eastern Pennsylvania.
About F.N.B. Corporation:
F.N.B. Corporation, headquartered in Hermitage, PA, has total assets of $5.8 billion since the completion of its merger with Legacy. F.N.B. is a leading provider of banking, wealth management, insurance, merchant banking and consumer finance services in Pennsylvania and Ohio, where it owns and operates First National Bank of Pennsylvania, First National Trust Company, First National Investment Services Company, LLC, F.N.B. Investment Advisors, Inc., First National Insurance Agency, LLC, F.N.B. Capital Corporation, LLC, and Regency Finance Company. It also operates consumer finance offices in Tennessee and loan production offices in Florida.
Mergent Inc., a leading provider of business and financial information about publicly traded companies, has recognized F.N.B. Corporation as a Dividend Achiever. This annual recognition is based on the Corporation's outstanding record of increased dividend performance. The Corporation has consistently increased dividend payments for 33 consecutive years.
The common stock of F.N.B. Corporation trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol FNB. Investor information is available on F.N.B.'s website at http://www.fnbcorporation.com/.
This press release of F.N.B. Corporation and the reports F.N.B. Corporation files with the Securities and Exchange Commission often contain "forward-looking statements" relating to present or future trends or factors affecting the banking industry and, specifically, the financial operations, markets and products of F.N.B. Corporation. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties. There are a number of important factors that could cause F.N.B. Corporation's future results to differ materially from historical performance or projected performance. These factors include, but are not limited to: (1) a significant increase in competitive pressures among depository institutions; (2) changes in the interest rate environment that may reduce interest margins; (3) changes in prepayment speeds, loan sale volumes, charge-offs and loan loss provisions; (4) less favorable than expected general economic conditions; (5) legislative or regulatory changes that may adversely affect the businesses in which F.N.B. Corporation is engaged; (6) changes in the securities markets; or (7) risk factors mentioned in the reports and registration statements F.N.B. Corporation files with the Securities and Exchange Commission. F.N.B. Corporation undertakes no obligation to release revisions to these forward- looking statements or to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.
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