5/20/2009 - SALEM COUNTY, NEW JERSEY, May 20, 2009 - Harvest Community Bank (OTCBB:HCBP) today reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009. The Bank's first quarter net income was $201,231, or $0.18 per share, compared to net income of $200,369, or $0.17 per share, for the corresponding first quarter 2008 period.
Most areas of the Bank's performance showed continued growth during the first quarter of 2009. Total assets increased to $193,417,558 at March 31, 2009, a 4.2% increase over the year ended December 31, 2008. Gross loans declined by $1,736,356, to $140,417,736 as of March 31, 2009, a decrease of 1.2% compared to December 31, 2008. The Bank's total deposits were $177,590,771 at March 31, 2009, which was an increase of $8,641,203, or 5.1%, over December 31, 2008.
Regarding these fiscal 2009 results, President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis H. Engle stated, "Given the current state of our economy and the financial services industry in particular, Harvest is pleased with our first quarter earnings. While we expect the economy to struggle throughout the remainder of this year, we remain cautiously optimistic. Our team will continue to focus on growing our assets, showing profitability and investing in the future of our organization, as well as the communities we serve."
Harvest Community Bank is a community bank headquartered in Pennsville, New Jersey. The Bank has additional branches in Woodstown, Elmer and Salem, New Jersey and an LPO (Loan Production Office) in Millville, New Jersey. The Bank began operations in January 2000 with the purpose of serving small businesses, professionals, and retail customers in Salem, Cumberland and Gloucester Counties, New Jersey. The Bank's deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation up to a maximum of $250,000 per depositor.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Information in this release relating to Harvest Community Bank's future prospects which are forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including, but not limited to, the following: (1) operating, legal and regulatory risks, such as continued levels of loan quality and origination volumes, continued relationships with major customers and technological changes; (2) economic, political and competitive forces affecting our banking business, such as changes in economic conditions, especially in our market area, interest rate fluctuations, competitive product and pricing pressures within our market, personal and corporate bankruptcies, monetary policy and inflation; (3) our ability to grow internally; and (4) the risk that management's analyses of these risks and forces could be incorrect and/or that the strategies developed to address them could be unsuccessful. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "expects," "subject," "believe," "will," "intends," "will be," or "would." More information about factors that potentially could affect Harvest Community Bank's financial results is included in Harvest Community Bank's filings with the FDIC, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008. Harvest Community Bank assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking information in this announcement.
