LAKEVILLE, Conn., Aug. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Salisbury Bancorp,
Inc. ("Salisbury"), NYSE Amex
Equities: "SAL," the holding company for Salisbury Bank and Trust
Company (the "Bank"), today announced that it has sold to the U.S.
Secretary of the Treasury $16,000,000
of its Series B Preferred Stock under the Small Business Lending
Fund (the "SBLF") program. The SBLF program is a $30 billion fund established under the Small
Business Jobs Act of 2010 to encourage lending to small businesses
by providing Tier 1 capital to qualified community banks with
assets of less than $10 billion.
Simultaneously with the receipt of the SBLF capital,
Salisbury repurchased for
$8,816,000 all of its Series A
Preferred Stock sold to the Treasury in 2009 under the Capital
Purchase Program, a part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program of
the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, and made a
payment for accrued dividends. The transaction resulted in
net capital proceeds to Salisbury
of $7,184,000, of which Salisbury invested $6,465,600, or 90%, in the Bank as Tier 1
Capital.
In addition to the full repayment of the CPP investment, during
the period the investment was outstanding Salisbury paid $1,079,960 in preferred stock dividends to the
Treasury. Also, the Treasury continues to hold a warrant to
purchase 57,671 shares of Salisbury's common stock at a price of
$22.93. Salisbury is currently
preparing a proposal to the Treasury to initiate the process for
its potential repurchase of the warrant.
Richard J. Cantele, Jr.,
President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "Salisbury has been selected among healthy
financial institutions to participate in this important program.
We are pleased to have completed the SBLF capital infusion in
support of our small business lending operations and to have repaid
the CPP investment. We believe our participation in the SBLF
program is a great opportunity for Salisbury. It strengthens our already
strong balance sheet and capital levels, which enhances our ability
to meet the credit needs of the small business community in our
various markets and promote economic growth."
The Series B Preferred Stock pays noncumulative dividends.
The dividend rate on the Series B Preferred Stock for the
initial quarterly dividend period ending September 30, 2011 and each of the next nine
quarterly dividend periods the Series B Preferred Stock is
outstanding is determined each quarter based on the increase in the
Bank's Qualified Small Business Lending. The Bank has already
increased its Qualified Small Business Lending such that the
dividend rate in the initial quarterly dividend period ending
September 30, 2011 is 2.45100% and in
the quarterly dividend period ending December 31, 2011 will be 1.55925%. For the
tenth quarterly dividend period through four and one-half years
after its issuance, the dividend rate on the Series B Preferred
Stock will be fixed at the rate in effect at the end of the ninth
quarterly dividend period and after four and one-half years from
its issuance the dividend rate will be fixed at 9 percent per
annum. The Series B Preferred Stock is non-voting, other than
voting rights on matters that could adversely affect the Series B
Preferred Stock. The Series B Preferred Stock is redeemable
at any time at one hundred percent of the issue price plus any
accrued and unpaid dividends.
The terms and conditions of the transaction conform to those
established by the Treasury and further details may be found at the
Treasury's website at http://treas.gov/sblf.
More details regarding the transactions described above may be
found in Salisbury's Current
Report on Form 8-K filed on August 25,
2011 with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission at www.sec.gov or www.salisburybank.com under
Shareholder Relations.
Salisbury Bancorp, Inc. is the parent company of Salisbury Bank
and Trust Company; a Connecticut
chartered commercial bank serving the communities of northwestern
Connecticut and proximate
communities in New York and
Massachusetts, since 1848, through
full service branches in Canaan,
Lakeville, Salisbury and Sharon, Connecticut, South Egremont and Sheffield, Massachusetts and Dover Plains and Millerton, New York. The Bank offers a
full complement of consumer and business banking products and
services as well as trust and wealth advisory services.
Statements contained in this news release contain
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements
are based on the beliefs and expectations of management as well as
the assumptions made using information currently available to
management. Because these statements reflect the views of
management concerning future events, these statements involve
risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including among others:
changes in market interest rates and general and regional economic
conditions; changes in government regulations; changes in
accounting principles; and the quality or composition of the loan
and investment portfolios and other factors that may be described
in Salisbury's quarterly reports
on Form 10-Q and its annual report on Form 10-K, each filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at the
Securities and Exchange Commission's internet website
(www.sec.gov) and to which reference is hereby made.
Therefore, actual future results may differ significantly
from results discussed in the forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Salisbury Bancorp, Inc.