Seacoast Takes Slow, Steady Path To Success

In its first full year of operation, Seacoast Commerce Bank won’t be breaking any growth records, but then, it’s seldom a good thing in banking to grow too fast.

The one-office commercial bank in Chula Vista reported total assets of $25.3 million at the end of June and a loan portfolio of $15.6 million, which sounds respectable.

“We’re about where we projected the bank for our first year,” said Seacoast President and Chief Executive Officer Larry Benthien. “We’re satisfied with our net operating loss. We’ve been able to control our expenses so our loss is shrinking every month.”

For the first six months, Seacoast’s net loss was $565,000, but that goes with the territory of opening any new bank.

“It takes awhile to build sufficient loan volume to offset operating expenses,” Benthien said.

He wasn’t sure when the bank would break into profitability but is confident it would happen next year.

As to growth, Seacoast is typical of most bank startups, capturing customers from other local community Banks that were acquired by larger institutions.



Seacoast has five former employees from Pacific Commerce Bank, which was acquired by Scripps Bank in 1998, and picked up a good number of Pacific’s customers, said Benthien, who was that bank’s first chief credit officer and a director.

Compared with the size of some other new Banks, Seacoast Commerce’s numbers fall a bit short. California Commerce Bank, which opened a few months after Seacoast in Escondido, stood at $38.7 million in assets as of June. San Diego Trust Bank, which opened in October 2003 in Downtown, was at $40.4 million as of June.

Howard Levenson, the chairman of Western financial Corp., a San Diego investment-banking firm, said the churn of customers through their old bankers is an old story.

“I see that same situation (bankers leaving to form a bank and taking customers) happening over and over again, and that’s why we have so many new community banks,” he said.



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Cuyamaca Bank’s Price: Investors of Santee-based Cuyamaca Bank gained about 9 percent on their shares since the sale of their bank to Escondido-based Community National Bank was announced June 28.

At the time the deal was announced, the expected cash price for each Cuyamaca share was estimated at $24.50. But the actual price for Community National shares following the close of the set 20-day period was $25.58.



Because the acquisition calls for each Cuyamaca share to receive 1.0439 of Community National stock, the cash consideration was $26.68, or $2.18 more than the original estimate.

Because of the deal’s structure , 70 percent stock and 30 percent cash , the formula means Cuyamaca was sold for about $17.8 million in stock and $7.4 million in cash for an aggregate price of about $25.3 million.

The biggest beneficiaries in the deal were the Cuyamaca investors who bought into the bank in 2000, when it raised about $3 million in new capital. Shares in that offering were going at $10, meaning they nearly tripled their holdings in less than four years.

With the acquisition, Community National will be worth about $650 million in total assets, making it the sixth largest among locally based banks. It will retain Cuyamaca’s four offices to bring its total to 10.

Community National Bank CEO Mike Perdue said the quick acquisition , it took about three months , is testimony to how well the two banking teams worked together.



The acquisition provides Community National, with offices in North County and southern Riverside County, with an important foothold into East County, where Cuyamaca has done business since 1983.

Besides all the bank’s offices, Community National is retaining most of Cuyamaca’s staff. However, Cuyamaca CEO Bruce Ives will only stay on for a few months as a consultant.

Also joining the board of Community Bancorp are Cuyamaca Directors Tom Page and Faye Wilson.



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New Leader In Point Loma: Tony Calabrese was named president of Point Loma Community Bank last month.

Calabrese replaces Dave Hall, who resigned from the position for health reasons and was the point person spearheading Point Loma Community’s creation and charter approval this year.

Calabrese is a former CEO of Combined Health Agencies, a San Diego-based nonprofit that is the fund-raising arm for local and national health agencies. Calabrese previously was employed by Peninsula Bank of San Diego and San Diego Trust