First Green Bank Reports Healthy Growth in Assets, Loan Volume in 2012

MOUNT DORA, Fla. – First Green Bank, the Mount Dora based community bank with locations in Clermont and Ormond Beach and downtown Orlando, reported its assets grew by more than 20 percent in 2012. First Green Bank Chairman Kenneth M. LaRoe said he projects the bank will finish the year with $203 million in total assets, up from $163 million at the start of the year. Asset growth at First Green Bank means more lending to local businesses and consumers, LaRoe said: First Green Bank’s loan volume grew more than 25 percent in 2012 and will end the year with a projected balance of $148 million. In its Asset Quality Review of independent banks in Florida earlier this year, the Carson Medlin Company ranked First Green Bank Number One in Central Florida and fifth in Florida. First Green was one of only seven Florida banks to earn a coveted “zero” on the famed Texas Ratio---a widely regarded measure of sound banking practices developed by Texas banker Gerard Cassidy and RBC Capital Markets more than 30 years ago. First Green Bank posted zero past due loans, zero nonaccrual assets, zero REOs (real estate that the bank has taken back to cover debts) and only $288,000 in restructured loans, when the region-wide average is almost $5.5 million per bank. “We have taken an aggressive approach to lending for projects that improve the economic vitality and quality of life in Central Florida,” LaRoe said. “The community bank business model requires a broader scope of vision than many institutions are able to provide. Our experience---affirmed by Carson Medlin’s Asset Quality Review---is that these are the best loans to make,” LaRoe said. “In our business, character counts.” No less authority than American Banker magazine ranks First Green Bank as one of America’s “greenest” banks. Earlier this year First Green Bank was named the U.S. Green Building Council’s 2011 Business of the Year in Central Florida. LaRoe said First Green Bank is presently looking for a site in Winter Park.