Jacksonville may lose one major banking headquarters if EverBank Financial Corp. accepts a buyout offer, but it does seem to be gaining another in Ameris Bancorp.
Ameris still officially lists its headquarters address as Moultrie, Ga., but it recently moved its executive offices to the Riverplace Tower on the Southbank and expanded its banking operations in Northeast Florida with the acquisition of Jacksonville Bancorp Inc.
During the company’s conference call to discuss second-quarter earnings, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Dennis Zember said he needed to brag about how well Ameris is doing in Jacksonville.
“Just altogether, the success in Jacksonville between the executive team moving here in our new, sort of, executive headquarters (and) the Jax Bank deal has paid dividends,” he said.
Zember said the integration of Jacksonville Bancorp’s operations and customer relationships into Ameris has been “outstanding.”
“The Jax Bank team hit the ground running and we’re ahead of where we thought we would be on loan growth, ahead of where we thought we would be on retaining the deposits. We’ve achieved all the targets that we hit on operating expense,” he said.
Ameris reported earnings of 57 cents a share in the quarter, up from 38 cents in the second quarter of 2015 and 4 cents higher than the average forecast of analysts, according to Thomson Financial.
“We had an outstanding quarter where everything came together from the growth, revenue and expense perspective,” CEO Edwin Hortman said in the conference call.
“We still see strong momentum. Loan growth is expected to be in the top of the range that we’ve provided, resulting in outstanding revenue growth going forward. Expenses are expected to remain muted resulting in continued incremental improvement in our efficiency level,” he said.
Ameris’ stock rose from $30.31 before the July 22 earnings report to as much as $33.74 last week.
EverBank last week confirmed it is in advanced negotiations with an unnamed potential buyer. It is not known what that would mean to its Jacksonville headquarters operations.
But for Ameris, Jacksonville is looking more and more like home.
Atlantic Coast Financial earnings rise
Another banking company that definitely is headquartered in Jacksonville, Atlantic Coast Financial Corp., reported a strong second quarter with earnings of 9 cents a share, up from adjusted earnings of 2 cents in the second quarter of 2015.
The company in June said it is transforming its Atlantic Coast Bank from a savings bank charter to a commercial bank charter, and it is already positioning its operations for the change.
“Continued efforts to manage our balance sheet, with an increased focus on commercial lending, have resulted in greater diversification of our loan portfolio and reduced exposure to 30-year fixed-rate loans,” Chief Financial Officer Tracy Keegan said in a news release.
Traditionally, savings banks focus more on long-term mortgage loans than on commercial loans.
The one analyst who follows Atlantic Coast Financial, Bob Ramsey of FBR & Co., agrees with that strategy.
“We like that ACFC continues to make its balance sheet more commercial in nature, especially the evidence that it is able to generate good net growth at the same time it shifts its mix,” Ramsey said in a research note after the earnings report.
Ramsey reiterated his “outperform” rating on the stock.
“We continue to favor ACFC’s strong growth in attractive markets and scarcity value as one of the few community banks remaining in northern Florida,” he said.
Of course, that scarcity could make Atlantic Coast Financial an acquisition target but for now, it is one of the few remaining Jacksonville-headquartered banks.
FIS sees no Brexit impact
As a company that generates nearly a quarter of its revenue overseas, Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) may be the Jacksonville-based company facing the biggest impact from the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union.
However, during FIS’ quarterly conference call last week, CEO Gary Norcross offered an optimistic take on Brexit.
“Brexit is obviously creating some uncertainty in the market. At this time, we have not seen any impact to our current relationships. While this will continue to unfold over the next several years, change typically creates opportunity for FIS,” Norcross said.
FIS, which provides technology services for banks, reported adjusted earnings of 90 cents a share in the second quarter, up from 74 cents last year and 3 cents higher than the average analysts’ forecast, according to Thomson.
“These results build on the positive momentum established in Q1 and characterized the first half of the year with strong, profitable growth delivering outstanding shareholder returns. Our outlook for the remainder of the year remains positive,” Norcross said.
FIS increased its earnings forecast for the full year from a range of $3.70 to $3.80 to a range of $3.75 to $3.85 a share.
Norcross also said FIS remains ahead of schedule with the integration of SunGard Data Services Inc., which it acquired in December.
“FIS has a proven track record of meeting or exceeding our synergy targets and based on our progress to date and proven integration processes, this trend will continue,” he said.
Patriot earnings up despite challenges
Patriot Transportation Holding Inc. last week reported earnings of 42 cents a share for its third quarter ended June 30, up from 31 cents a share the previous year.
Revenue rose slightly to $31.3 million but excluding revenue from fuel surcharges, revenue was up 5.5 percent.
Lower fuel prices have reduced surcharges passed on to customers by the Jacksonville-based trucking company.
Patriot’s earnings were also affected by higher compensation and benefit costs as it deals with challenges of hiring and training drivers.
“While we’re pleased to see our results from this year’s third quarter improve, we still have significant work to do to get our operating margins to what we consider an acceptable level,” CEO Tom Baker said in Patriot’s conference call.
Baker said Patriot’s debt-free balance sheet allows the company to look at potential acquisition opportunities to grow the business.
“While the market remains very competitive, we feel we’re in a good position to grow and prosper,” he said.
Patriot also said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that Charles Hyman, president and founder of investment firm Charles D. Hyman & Co., was added to its board of directors.
Hyman fills a vacancy created by the death of Robert Paul.
Hyman is the third independent director on Patriot’s five-member board.
The company needed to add an independent director to comply with Nasdaq rules requiring listed companies to have a majority of independent directors on the board.
Tegna sees political, Olympic gains
As we all dread the onslaught of political ads on television in the coming months, Tegna Inc. is looking at it with dollar signs in its eyes.
Tegna is the media company, formerly known as Gannett, which operates 46 television stations, including WTLV TV-12 and WJXX TV-25 in Jacksonville. It expects to profit from the upcoming political season.
“We’re in states that matter most, including Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado and Michigan. And given the close polling, we know Hillary (Clinton) will have a growing war chest coming out of this week’s convention,” Tegna Media President David Lougee said during the company’s quarterly conference call last week.
Lougee said the “so-called Trump factor” will also help Tegna’s stations, as Republican donors who may be reluctant to fund Donald Trump put their money into Congressional races.
“We have contested Senate races in Ohio, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina and Arizona, and the Trump factor may widen the playing field further and open up other races,” he said.
“The bottom-line, spending for all races is now beginning and accelerating fast, as expected.”
Tegna is also anticipating a revenue bump for its NBC affiliates, including WTLV, from the upcoming Summer Olympics.
The company projects third-quarter revenue in its television station division to rise by 20 percent to 25 percent, after a 10 percent rise in the second quarter.
Tegna reported adjusted second-quarter earnings of 50 cents a share, up from 30 cents in the second quarter of 2015.
Deutsche Bank considers more cuts
Continuing an ongoing trend over the last couple of years as Deutsche Bank expands its Jacksonville operations, the company’s top officials in Germany last week talked about more possible job cuts.
The global banking company reported second-quarter earnings of just 20 million euros (about $22 million), down from 818 million euros last year.
The sharp decline was due in part to restructuring and severance costs as the company cut 3,000 positions in Germany.
The company last fall said it was considering a plan to eventually cut 29,000 of its 100,000 worldwide work force.
CEO John Cryan said last week the company may have to do more.
“We have continued to de-risk our balance sheet, to invest in our processes and to modernize our infrastructure. However, if the current weak economic environment persists, we will need to be yet more ambitious in the timing and intensity of our restructuring,” Cryan said in the company’s earnings news release.
Deutsche Bank opened its Jacksonville operations center in 2008 where it employs about 1,800 people, with plans to add 350 jobs in the next year.