8-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of report (Date of earliest event reported): July 27, 2010

Ameris Bancorp

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

Georgia	001-13901	58-1456434
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation)	(Commission File Number)	(IRS Employer Identification No.)

310 First Street, S.E., Moultrie, Georgia	31768
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)	(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (229) 890-1111

(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

¨ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

¨ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Item 7.01. Regulation FD Disclosure.

On July 27, 2010, Edwin W. Hortman, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of Ameris Bancorp (the “Company”), and Dennis J. Zember Jr., Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Company, gave a presentation to attendees at the Keefe, Bruyette & Woods 2010 Community Bank Investor Conference at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, New York. A copy of the investor presentation materials is being furnished as an exhibit to this report and is incorporated by reference into this Item 7.01.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits.

99.1 Investor Presentation Materials

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the Company has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

AMERIS BANCORP
By:	/s/ Dennis J. Zember Jr.
	Dennis J. Zember Jr.
	Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Dated: July 29, 2010

EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit No.	Exhibit
99.1	Investor Presentation Materials

EX-99.1

KBW Community Bank Conference

July 2010

EXHIBIT 99.1

Cautionary Statements

Cautionary Statements

2

This presentation contains certain performance measures determined by methods other than in accordance with accounting principles

generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). Management of Ameris Bancorp (the “Company”) uses these non-GAAP

measures in its analysis of the Company’s performance. These measures are useful when evaluating the underlying performance and

efficiency of the Company’s operations and balance sheet. The Company’s management believes that these non-GAAP measures

provide a greater understanding of ongoing operations, enhance comparability of results with prior periods and demonstrate the

effects of significant gains and charges in the current period. The Company’s management believes that investors may use these non-

GAAP financial measures to evaluate the Company’s financial performance without the impact of unusual items that may obscure

trends in the Company’s underlying performance. These disclosures should not be viewed as a substitute for financial measures

determined in accordance with GAAP, nor are they necessarily comparable to non-GAAP performance measures that may be presented

by other companies. Tangible common equity and Tier 1 capital ratios are non-GAAP measures. The Company calculates the Tier 1

capital using current call report instructions. The Company’s management uses these measures to assess the quality of capital and

believes that investors may find them useful in their evaluation of the Company. These capital measures may, or may not be necessarily

comparable to similar capital measures that may be presented by other companies.

This presentation may contain statements that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the

Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The words “believe”,

“estimate”, “expect”, “intend”, “anticipate” and similar expressions and variations thereof identify certain of such forward-looking

statements, which speak only as of the dates which they were made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or

revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Readers are cautioned that

any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties and that actual

results may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Readers are

cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and are referred to the Company’s periodic filings with the

Securities and Exchange Commission for a summary of certain factors that may impact the Company’s results of operations and

financial condition. 

Corporate Profile

Corporate Profile

3

•

Headquartered in Moultrie, Georgia

•

Founded in 1971 as the American Banking

Company

•

Historically grown through acquisitions of smaller

banks in areas close to existing operations

•

Recent growth through de novo expansion

strategy and 3 FDIC-assisted transactions

•

Four state footprint with 53 offices

•

Approximately 581

FTEs managing 150,000 core

customer accounts

•

Assets –

$2.4 billion

Loans –

$1.7 billion

Deposits –

$2.1 billion

Alabama

Alabama

Huntsville

Birmingham

Mobile

Columbus

Georgia

Georgia

Tallahassee

Moultrie

Moultrie

Macon

Atlanta

Augusta

Jacksonville

Orlando

Tampa

Ft. Myers

Miami

Savannah

Charleston

Columbia

Spartanburg

Montgomery

Greenville

South Carolina

South Carolina

Florida

Florida

Experienced Management Team

Experienced Management Team

4

NAME / POSITION

EXPERIENCE

(Banking / Ameris)

PREVIOUS

EXPERIENCE

Edwin W. Hortman

Jr.

President & Chief Executive Officer

30/12

Colony Bankcorp, Inc.

Dennis J. Zember

Jr.

EVP & Chief Financial Officer

14/5

Flag Financial Corporation

Jon S. Edwards

EVP & Director of Credit Administration

26/11

NationsBank, Federal Reserve

Andrew B. Cheney

EVP & Banking Group President

35/1

Barnett Bank, Mercantile Bank

Marc J. Bogan

EVP & Chief Operating Officer

19/2

South Carolina Bank and Trust

Cindi

H. Lewis

EVP, Chief Administrative Officer &

Corporate Secretary

31/31

Officer at Ameris

Bank since 1987

Management and Board Ownership of Approximately 15%

Current Focus

Current Focus

5

Remain Well-Positioned to Capitalize on Opportunities

One of only a handful of southeastern banks able to participate in FDIC transactions

Significant opportunities in and around our footprint

Aggressively Deal with Credit Issues

Continue to be aggressive in recognizing and charging off problem credits

Aggressively value problem loans and OREO

Improve Core Earnings & Build Deposit Reserves

Continue to tweak funding costs and operating expense burden

Amassing large base of low cost deposit reserves for future investment

Maintain

core

earnings

at

a

level

that

covers

anticipated

credit

costs

•

Diversified loan portfolio across five regions

–

Inland

Georgia

–

42%

–

Coastal Georgia –

12%

–

Alabama –

14%

•

In-house lending limit of $5 million versus $75 million legal limit

–

2 loans above $5 million

•

Loan participations less than 1.00% of total loans

•

Low average loan size ($86k)

•

Aggressive management of concentrations of credit

Loan Portfolio Detail

Loan Portfolio Detail

6

Loan

Portfolio

Detail

–

6/30/10

–

South Carolina –

18%

–

Florida –

14%

Loan Type

Average Loan

Size

Average

Rate

Commercial R/E

$    367,433

5.84 %

C&D

143,912

5.11

Residential

66,501

6.16

C&I

53,046

5.45

Consumer

7,347

7.40

Agriculture

118,697

6.09

Total

$      86,620

6.06 %

C&D and CRE Detail

C&D and CRE Detail

(in millions)

(in millions)

7

C&D Portfolio

C&D Portfolio

CRE Portfolio (Non Owner-Occupied)

CRE Portfolio (Non Owner-Occupied)

-

45% of our CRE portfolio

is owner-occupied

-

Average CRE loan is $367k

Data as of 6/30/10; excludes covered loans

-

Reduced outstandings

31% in last

12 months

-

Average LTV is 72%

-

Average appraisal age is 7 months

-

44% of all YTD NCO’s

Managing Asset Quality

Managing Asset Quality

8

Nonperforming Loans vs. OREO ($MM)

Nonperforming Loans vs. OREO ($MM)

All

Classified

Assets

–

Peaked

in

11/09

A

C&D as a Percentage of Capital

Data as of 6/30/10; excludes covered loans

A-

includes the effect of the note sale affected after quarter end.

Credit Cycle

Credit Cycle

9

•

Only $32.5 million of accruing substandard

loans.  Down 56% from the peak in June

2009.

•

Non-Accrual loans held at 49.8% of original

appraisal.

•

OREO held at 47.1% of original appraisal

(82.5% of current appraisal)

•

Values are appropriate for sale to end users. 

Investor sales require more discounts.

Cumulative losses in Current Economic Cycle

(1)

Conservative

Carrying

Values

of

Classified

Assets

(2)

•

Analysis

shows

that

Ameris

Bank

is

65% -

70% through the current cycle with no

dilution to TBV or capital levels.

•

Forecasted cumulative losses for remainder

of cycle is $66 million.

•

Forecasted pre-tax, pre-credit earnings for

remainder of cycle is  $71.9 million.

•

ABCB

forecasts

10%

-

11%

cumulative

charge-offs

    (1)  Cumulative losses defined as provision for loan losses plus  (gains)/losses on the sale of OREO  

   (2)  Net Book balance of classified loans and non-accruing loans is net of LLR totaling $5.2 million and $14.9 million, respectively

Second Quarter Update

Second Quarter Update

10

(1) Excludes covered assets, where applicable

dollars in millions, except per share data

Q2 '09

Q3 '09

Q4 '09

Q1 '10

Q2 '10

BALANCE SHEET

Assets

$     2,285

$     2,207

$     2,424

$     2,352

$     2,422

Loans, net

1,632

1,611

1,686

1,627

1,651

Tangible Common Equity / Assets

5.65%

5.84%

5.86%

5.97%

9.17%

Tangible book value

$        9.00

$        9.00

$     10.13

$        9.94

$        9.43

PERFORMANCE

Pre-tax, pre-credit earnings

$     7,324

$     9,441

$     9,588

$   10,513

$   11,876

Diluted earnings per share

(0.25)

(0.06)

(2.84)

(0.17)

(0.20)

Net interest margin (TE)

3.59 %

3.65 %

3.66 %

3.92 %

4.43 %

Efficiency ratio

76.63

65.83

85.10

66.93

63.35

CREDIT QUALITY

(1)

NPAs

/ Loans + OREO

5.19%

6.32%

6.71%

7.15%

7.75%

NCOs / Avg

loans

1.63

2.75

5.67

3.42

4.21

Reserves / Loans

2.68

2.54

2.26

2.18

2.24

Reserves / NPLs

65.35

49.99

37.20

37.44

36.37

Local Deposit Customers drive Profitability

Local Deposit Customers drive Profitability

11

•

Strategy produces 20% more funding from local deposits than our peer group

•

Much less rate sensitive, produces lower COF and higher margins

•

Sales

culture

focuses

solely

on

driving

more

retail

and

business

transaction

accounts

Retail Funding as a % of total Funding

Retail Funding as a % of total Funding

Deposit Composition –

6/30/10

Strong Core Operating Performance

Strong Core Operating Performance

12

“Project 2010”

•

A comprehensive plan covering numerous cost saving initiatives

•

Expect to improve pre-tax, pre-credit income by approximately $9.6

million in 2010

–

Increase net interest income by $2.6 million

–

Improve non-interest income by $0.9 million

–

Reduce operating expense by $6.1 million

Pre-Tax,

Pre-Credit

Earnings

(1)

($000s)

Net

Interest

Margin

(2)

(%)

            Source: SNL Financial 

     (1) Credit expenses include provision, OREO losses, problem loan expense and interest reversals on non-accrual loans

           Excludes non-recurring charges for goodwill impairment of $54.8 million

     (2) ABCB net interest margin on a fully taxable-equivalent basis

       *  Peer group includes BTFG, CCBG, CSFL, FBNC, FCBC, FFCH, GRNB, LION, RNST, SCBT and UCBI

Recent Successes

Recent Successes

FDIC-Assisted

Acquisitions

•

Announced purchase and assumption agreements with FDIC loss sharing to acquire

–

American

United

Bank

(10/23/09)

-

$125

million

in

assets,

$12.1

million

gain

–

United

Security

Bank

(11/6/09)

-

$150

million

in

assets,

$26.5

million

gain

–

Satilla Community Bank (5/14/10) $105 million in assets, $8.2 million gain

•

Consolidating 2 of the 4 branches acquired

–

2010 contribution to pre-tax, pre-credit earnings of approx $8.6 million

–

Keeping only profitable, core deposit relationships

•

Significant  capacity to continue acquiring

–

Current capital and operating resources allow

for significant

participation in FDIC transactions

–

Covered assets are only 11.6% of total assets

–

Experienced 20 person Special Assets Division

13

Protected Tangible Book Value

Protected Tangible Book Value

14

(1)

Tangible book value per share adjusted for stock dividends

-No dilution during

economic downturn

-

Capital raise completed

at 99% of pro-forma TBV

-

Core earnings stream

covers anticipated credit

costs and protects TCE

going forward

Potential FDIC-Assisted Opportunities

Potential FDIC-Assisted Opportunities

Potential

Opportunities

Headquartered

Within

75

Miles

of

an

ABCB

Branch

(1)

Potential

Opportunity

Asset

Size

Distribution

(1)

Number of

Number of

Deposits

State

Institutions

Branches

($MM)

Alabama

2

6

151

$        

Florida

14

71

3,082

Georgia

67

268

16,091

South Carolina

9

70

2,887

Total

92

415

22,211

$   

21

4

63

2

2

0

20

40

60

80

< $250

$250 - $500

$500 - $750

$750 - $1,000

> $1,000

Asset Range ($MM)

Source: SNL Financial

Data as of 3/31/10

(1)

Potential

Opportunities

include

banks

and

thrifts

with

Texas

Ratios

greater

than

100%,

headquartered

within

75

miles

of

an

ABCB

branch

15

Opportunity Universe

Opportunity Universe

Unassisted Opportunities

(1)

Banks with Texas Ratios > 100% in AL, FL, GA and SC

Ameris

is well-positioned to take

advantage of significant unassisted and

FDIC-assisted opportunities

Source: SNL Financial

Data as of 3/31/10

(1)

Unassisted Opportunities include banks and thrifts with Texas Ratios less than 75%, tangible common equity / tangible assets less than 7% and assets less than $2.0 billion

Number of

Number of

Deposits

State

Institutions

Branches

($MM)

Alabama

4

8

394

$        

Florida

6

40

2,753

Georgia

5

17

812

South Carolina

5

32

1,583

Total

20

97

5,542

$     

16

$4

$54

$70

$104

$85

$96

$78

172

11

72

101

133

159

180

$0

$30

$60

$90

$120

2007

2008

Q1 '09

Q2 '09

Q3 '09

Q4 '09

Q1 '10

0

50

100

150

200

Assets ($B)

Number of Banks

KBW Community Bank Conference

July 2010