The Bank Slate

INSIGHTS INTO THE BANKING INDUSTRY

First Bancshares in Miss. sells securities, repays Fed borrowings

First Bancshares in Hattiesburg, Miss., joined the growing list of banks repositioning securities during the fourth quarter.

The $7.9 billion-asset company said in a press release that it sold $123 million of available-for-sale securities at a pretax loss of $9.7 million. It reinvested $93 million of the proceeds in higher-yielding securities and repaid $30 million of borrowings from the Federal Reserve’s Bank Term Funding Program.

The moves are expected to increase the net interest margin by 8 basis points and net interest income by $4.7 million annually. It should take about two years to earn back the costs tied to the restructuring.

The sales represent less than 7% of the company’s securities and less than 4% of unrealized losses reported for Sept. 30, according to Janney Montgomery Scott.

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