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): October 7, 2011
First Citizens Banc
Corp
(Exact name of registrant as
specified in its charter)
Ohio | 0-25980 | 34-1558688 | ||
(State or other Jurisdiction of Incorporation) | (Commission File Number) | (IRS Employer Identification No.) |
100 East Water Street, P.O.
Box 5016, Sandusky, Ohio |
44870 | |
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) | (Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (419) 625-4121
N/A |
(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:
o Written
communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR
230.425)
o Soliciting material pursuant
to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule
14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule
13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
Item 2.02 Results of Operations and Financial Condition
First Citizens Banc Corp is sending a letter to its shareholders regarding the payment of a fourth quarter dividend of $.03 per share. Also announced were third quarter 2011 preliminary earnings of $.15 per share. The letter also discusses a number of issues that have had an impact on, and are expected to continue to impact, the Corporation. A copy of the letter is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits
(a) Exhibit 99 Letter to Shareholders dated October 7, 2011
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
First Citizens
Banc Corp
(Registrant)
Date: October 11, 2011
James O. Miller,
President & CEO
Exhibit 99
October 7, 2011
Dear Shareholder:
In light of an improvement in our earnings and a positive trend in loan loss provisions, the board of First Citizens Banc Corp. has authorized the payment of a dividend of $.03 per share on November 1, 2011, to shareholders of record on October 18, 2011.
Our preliminary estimate of our earnings for the third quarter 2011 is $1,193,000 or $.15 per share. This compares to a loss of ($1,393,000) or ($.18) per share for the third quarter of 2010. Our earnings of $2,469,000 for the year-to-date 2011 compare to a loss of ($1,616,000) for the same period last year.
The improvement in net income is largely the result of a decrease in the need for loan loss provisions. During the year-to-date 2011, we have placed $7,700,000 from earnings into the reserve. For the same time period last year, we placed $14,400,000 into the reserve.
As we evaluate our loan portfolio today, we are not seeing same level of the significant deterioration in our customer’s circumstances that we have seen in the recent past. However, it will be a long road to recovery for the customers who have had problems, have survived, and are working to rebuild. A significant portion of our reserves are allocated to loans of customers who are trying to work through their problems but have seen serious deterioration in the value of their collateral – which requires a reserve. Our philosophy is still to work with our customers who are willing to work with us. It may be a longer path, but we believe it will lead to less long-term loss for both the customer and the bank.
We remain pleased with the core earnings of the bank. Our interest margin at the bank through June, as reported in the Federal Reserve’s Uniform Bank Performance Reporting, was 4.14% compared to the margin of 3.79% for banks our size throughout the country. Our margin is slightly less than 2010 year-to-date June margin of 4.23%. A reason for the decrease is that our customers continue to save money and reduce their debt, so it is a challenge for us to put our cash to work. This is a challenge for the entire banking industry.
Our lenders and business development staff have done a nice job in attracting new opportunities to put this cash to work. You may recall comments from our July letter that total loans at the end of June were less than the year-end 2010 balances of $767,323,000. At the end of September, loans totaled $778,251,000. We are pleased with this increase considering the fact that we receive, each month, approximately $14,000,000 in payments which reduces total loans.
I am sure you have seen the recent stories about the big banks and their plans for service charges. This is a reaction to new regulations that limit service charges and fees. At Citizens, we have seen a slight decrease in year-to-date service charge income from $935,000 in 2010 to $911,000 in 2011. We have also experienced a slight decrease in year-to-date overdraft income from $2,475,000 in 2010 to $2,440,000 in 2011. We believe we should be compensated for the value of the products we provide our customers, and we look for ways to enhance our revenue. But we also maintain a long term perspective considering the value of our relationships with our customers. Many of our customers have multi-generation relationships with us. We have maintained this by providing good service at a fair price. It is not our style to overreact to market changes and implement excessive fees that will alienate our customer base and destroy valuable long term relationships. Short sighted reactions today will impact long term deposit, loan, and trust opportunities later. We are working to take advantage of the actions of the big banks.
You see and read many of the same news and economic reports we do. It is certainly a roller coaster of information. One day is up and the next is down with the occasional crises thrown in. However, we believe that it is time to provide a dividend to our shareholders after quite a period of economic challenges. We are cautiously hopeful that the trend in reserve needs will continue and cautiously optimistic that our communities are economically stable. Let’s hope that everyone working together can find positive solutions to help improve the economy and that the European issues, so much in the news today, don’t create additional problems for our economy.
Very truly yours,
James O. Miller
President & C.E.O.
Cautionary Statement
Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Comments made in this
letter include “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties.
Although management believes that the expectations reflected in the
forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results or future events
could differ, possibly materially, from those anticipated in these
forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the
date of this letter, and First Citizens Banc Corp assumes no duty to update any
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of
this letter, except to the extent required by law.