Item 8.01 Other Events.
On July 12, 2013, Great Southern Bank (“Great Southern”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Great Southern Bancorp Inc. (the “Company”), announced plans to consolidate operations of 11 banking centers into other nearby Great Southern banking center locations. As part of an ongoing performance review of its entire banking center network, Great Southern evaluated each location for a number of criteria, including access and availability of services to affected customers, the proximity of other Great Southern banking centers, profitability and transaction volumes, and market dynamics. This review culminated in the approval of the consolidation of these banking centers by the Great Southern Board of Directors. The closing of these facilities, which will result in the transfer of deposits and other banking center operations, is expected to occur early in the fourth quarter of 2013.
The 11 banking centers to be consolidated are all in Missouri and were acquired in 2011, as part of the FDIC-assisted acquisition of the former 27-branch Sun Security Bank. Six of the 11 banking centers are located in southeastern Missouri: Annapolis, Arcadia, Centerville, Lesterville, Marquand and Piedmont. The remaining banking centers are located in central Missouri: Fair Play, Holts Summit, Humansville, Gravois Mills and Weaubleau. Great Southern ATMs will remain operational at each of the affected banking center sites.
The Company expects a positive pre-tax income statement impact of approximately $1.2 million to $1.5 million on an annual basis due to the anticipated reduction in non-interest expenses. In addition, the Company anticipates recording one-time expenses totaling approximately $300,000 to $600,000 during the third and fourth quarters of 2013 in connection with severance costs for affected employees and shortened useful lives of certain furniture and equipment. The affected premises, which have a total carrying value of approximately $1.5 million, will be marketed for sale. No significant impairment of the value of these premises is expected, as they were purchased near the end of 2011 from the FDIC at fair value as determined by current appraisals at that time.
Great Southern Bank currently operates 107 banking centers in Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota and Nebraska.
Forward-Looking Statements
When used in this Current Report on Form 8-K and in other filings by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), in the Company's press releases or other public or stockholder communications, and in oral statements made with the approval of an authorized executive officer, the words or phrases “expects,” “anticipates,” “will be,” "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimate," "project," "intends" or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, (i) non-interest expense reductions from the planned Great Southern banking center consolidation might be less than anticipated and the costs of the consolidation and impairment of the value of the affected premises might be greater than expected; (ii) expected cost savings, synergies and other benefits from the Company’s merger and acquisition activities, might not be realized within the anticipated time frames or at all, and costs or difficulties relating to integration matters, including but not limited to customer and employee retention, might be greater than expected; (iii) changes in economic conditions, either nationally or in the Company’s market areas; (iv) fluctuations in interest rates; (v) the risks of lending and investing activities, including changes in the level and direction of loan delinquencies and write-offs and changes in estimates of the adequacy of the allowance for loan losses; (vi) the possibility of other-than-temporary impairments of securities held in the Company’s securities portfolio; (vii) the Company’s ability to access cost-effective funding; (viii) fluctuations in real estate values and both residential and commercial real estate market conditions; (ix) demand for loans and deposits in the Company’s market areas; (x) legislative or regulatory changes that adversely affect the Company’s business, including, without limitation, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and its implementing regulations, and the overdraft protection regulations and customers’ responses thereto; (xi) monetary and fiscal policies of the Federal Reserve Board and the U.S. Government and other governmental initiatives affecting the financial services industry; (xii) results of examinations of the Company and Great Southern by their regulators, including the possibility that the regulators may, among other things, require the Company to increase its allowance for loan losses or to write-down assets; (xiii) the uncertainties arising from the Company’s participation in the Small Business Lending Fund program, including uncertainties concerning the potential future redemption by us of the U.S. Treasury’s preferred stock investment under the program, including the timing of, regulatory approvals for, and conditions placed upon, any such redemption; (xiv) costs and effects of litigation, including settlements and judgments; and (xv) competition. The Company wishes to advise readers that the factors listed above and other risks described from time to time in the Company’s other filings with the SEC could affect the Company's financial performance and could cause the Company's actual results for future periods to differ materially from any opinions or statements expressed with respect to future periods in any current statements.
The Company does not undertake-and specifically declines any obligation-to publicly release the result of any revisions which may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.