Community Bankers Trust Corporation Conditionally Approves But
Defers Dividend on TARP Preferred Stock
GLEN ALLEN, Va., Nov. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Community
Bankers Trust Corporation, the holding company for Essex Bank (the
"Company") (NYSE Amex: BTC), announced today that its Board of
Directors has conditionally approved the November 2012 payment of its regular quarterly
cash dividend with respect to its Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual
Preferred Stock, Series A, which the Company issued to the United
States Department of the Treasury in connection with the Company's
participation in the Treasury's TARP Capital Purchase Program in
December 2008. The Company's payment of the dividend is
conditioned upon the approval of the Company's federal and state
regulators, as set forth in the formal written agreement that has
been in place since April 2011.
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Rex L. Smith, III, the Company's
President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "As we have
experienced two of the three past quarters, regulatory approval of
the November TARP payment was not able to be timed to the deadline
for the payment. We submitted our request for payment in the
period required by the written agreement, but we have been advised
that our federal regulators have not yet completed the approval
process. As we have previously reported, our financial
condition and earnings continue to improve each quarter, and we
believe that our earnings for the third quarter of 2012 support our
ability to make this payment. We also believe that we have
addressed the supervisory issues regarding our safety and
soundness, and thus are unaware of an outstanding operational or
similar issue that creates an impediment to our making this TARP
payment."
Because the Company has not yet received regulatory approval,
the Company has notified the Treasury that it will defer the
payment that is due November 15,
2012, and that it intends to make the payment if and when it
receives regulatory approval. The Company does not have any
other outstanding dividend payments with respect to the Preferred
Stock.
Under the terms of the Preferred Stock, the Company is required
to pay dividends on a quarterly basis at a rate of 5% per year
until its February 2014 payment,
after which the dividend rate automatically increases to
9% per year. The principal amount of each dividend
payment is $221,000. The
Company may defer dividend payments, but the dividend is a
cumulative dividend that accrues for payment in the future.
About Community Bankers Trust Corporation
The Company is the holding company for Essex Bank, a Virginia state bank with 24 full-service
offices, 13 of which are in Virginia, seven of which are in Maryland and four of which are in
Georgia. The Company also operates one loan production
office. Additional information is available on the Company's
website at www.cbtrustcorp.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements, within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
that are subject to risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking
statements include, without limitation, statements with respect to
the Company's operations and goals. Actual results may differ
materially from those included in the forward-looking statements
due to a number of factors, including, without limitation, the
effects of and changes in the following: the quality or composition
of the Company's loan or investment portfolios, including
collateral values and the repayment abilities of borrowers and
issuers; assumptions that underlie the Company's allowance for loan
losses; general economic and market conditions, either nationally
or in the Company's market areas; the ability of the Company
to comply with regulatory actions, and the costs associated with
doing so; the interest rate environment; competitive pressures
among banks and financial institutions or from companies outside
the banking industry; real estate values; the demand for deposit,
loan, and investment products and other financial services; the
demand, development and acceptance of new products and services;
the Company's compliance with, and the timing of future
reimbursements from the FDIC to the Company under, shared loss
agreements with the FDIC; assumptions and estimates that underlie
the accounting for loan pools under the shared loss agreements;
consumer profiles and spending and savings habits; the securities
and credit markets; costs associated with the integration of
banking and other internal operations; management's evaluation of
goodwill and other assets on a periodic basis, and any resulting
impairment charges, under applicable accounting standards; the
soundness of other financial institutions with which the Company
does business; inflation; technology; and legislative and
regulatory requirements. Many of these factors and additional risks
and uncertainties are described in the Company's Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 and other
reports filed from time to time by the Company with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. This press release speaks only as of its
date, and the Company disclaims any duty to update the information
in it.
SOURCE Community Bankers Trust Corporation