Staff Report
Published Oct. 26, 2012

SCBT Financial, parent of Columbia-based South Carolina Bank & Trust, reported that it’s seeing growth in the loan business.

In the third quarter financial report, Robert Hill Jr., president and CEO, said the company experienced solid legacy loan growth of $36.1 million for an annual rate of 5.8%.

“This loan growth came primarily in the commercial owner-occupied and commercial and industrial categories as we continue to develop quality banking relationships across our footprint,” Hill said.

During a conference call with analysts, bank officials said most of the loans were made along the Interstate 85 corridor in South Carolina and Georgia where the bank has expanded operations through a number of acquisitions since 2010.

There also has been some commercial and industrial loan growth in the Columbia area, officials added.

For the quarter, the company reported net income of $9.1 million compared with $10.3 million for the same period in 2011. The third quarter of 2011, though, included a $6.8 million gain from the FDIC-assisted acquisition of Columbia-based BankMeridian, a spokeswoman said.

Compared with $8 million for the second quarter of 2012, income rose 13.8%.

The bottom line improved through gains in fee income, expanded net interest margin and holding down expenses, Hill said.

The past quarter also included the systems integration of Easley-based Peoples Bancorp., which merged with SCBT, and the whole-bank acquisition of Savannah Bancorp Inc.

“While we are continuing to experience improvement in operations and profitability, I remain encouraged by the significant momentum and potential we have to improve performance further and to take advantage of many opportunities to grow our customer base, performance and earnings,” Hill said.

SCBT operates 75 locations in South Carolina counties, Georgia and North Carolina.

SCBT’s assets total $4.3 billion, making it the largest publicly traded bank holding company in South Carolina.