Florida regulators close 60th bank since start of financial crisis
01/31/2012
On Friday, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation closed First
Guaranty Bank & Trust of Jacksonville. With eight branches and $377.9 million
in assets as of September 30 (the most recent data available), the institution
was first identified as "Weak" by Weiss in March 2008. It was rated E- ("Very Weak")
at the time of failure due to below-FDIC-mandated Tier 1 (5%) and risk-based
capital (6%) ratios of 1.64% and 3.42%, respectively and nonperforming loans that
made up 31.5% of its total loan portfolio.
CenterState Bank of Florida, NA, Winter Haven, Florida, with assets of $1.9
billion and a Weiss Financial Strength Rating of D+ ("Weak"), assumed the deposits
of First Guaranty and entered into a loss-share agreement on $292.9 million of the
failed bank's assets. CenterState has a high Tier 1 capital ratio of 8.01% and a
moderate risk-based capital ratio of 15.46%. Its nonperforming loans make up 3.76% of
its total loan portfolio, and it earned $819,000 for the first nine months of 2011 for
an ROA of 0.06%, well below the industry average of 0.94%.