Raleigh, N.C. - Paragon Commercial Bank recently reported record earnings of $899,831 for the first quarter of 2005. This represented a 30% growth over first quarter of 2004 when the company reported $626,040 in earnings. Total assets ended the quarter at $402.5 million, which represented an increase of 26% increase over the same period in 2004.
Paragon, which opened in May of 1999, continues to be one of the top performing banks in the nation that began operations in the last six years. Paragon recently announced its intentions to expand the very successful Paragon business model into Richmond, Virginia.
“Our tremendous growth is a reflection of our unique business plan, an excellent staff, board of directors and dynamic market in which we operate,” President & CEO, Robert C. Hatley stated. “We have some very high expectations and we attribute our continued success to these key attributes.”
Paragon’s return on assets and return on equity were .95% and 10.65% respectively for the quarter. These two measures indicate how well a bank is generating a return on its assets and a return for its shareholders. Paragon continued to be one of the leading banks in the nation in overhead to average assets with a ratio of 2.10. This is a key measure of how efficient the bank is in controlling its expenses and utilizing its assets.
“We have a dedicated staff willing to go the extra mile for our clients,” Hatley stated in explaining these key ratios. “We are committed to giving our clients an exceptional level of service that they would otherwise not receive banking elsewhere.”
Paragon’s loan portfolio has grown by $84 million since first quarter 2004. This represents a 26% growth rate. Paragon’s Net Interest Margin was 3.74% for the first quarter. This was higher than the same period in 2004 when the bank reported a Net Interest Margin of 3.60%. Net Interest Margin is a reflection of how well the bank is generating yield on its earning assets while at the same time controlling the cost of deposits.
Hatley noted that loan quality continued to be strong and this was a reflection of the talented Client Development Officers working at Paragon. Paragon has had no net charge-offs since inception and currently have no nonperforming loans.
“We are very fortunate to have some very talented Client Development Officers who not only have excellent business development skills but also have excellent credit quality skills,” Hatley added. “We understand that credit quality is critical to any bank’s continued success.”
In 2004, Paragon, led by Bob Parrish, opened mortgage origination offices in Raleigh, Greensboro, Wilmington and Sanford, NC. Paragon also established a Corporate Finance division in 2004 led by Preston Edmondson. Edmondson, who graduated from the Carson-Newman College in Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1980, is responsible for providing merger and acquisition advisory services to middle market companies from Virginia to Florida. In 1997, he founded and served as principal of Capital Holdings Group, Inc. of Raleigh. He also served as senior audit manager for Deloitte & Touche from 1984 to 1992.
Paragon Commercial Bank provides banking products and services tailored to meet the needs of small to medium-size companies with revenues from $5 million to $50 million including commercial real estate companies, residential construction firms and professional service firms, particularly attorneys, non-profits, property management firms and accountants.
Paragon Commercial Bank is headquartered in Glenwood Plaza, 3605 Glenwood Ave., Suite 100, Raleigh, NC 27612. Paragon Commercial Bank can be found on the web at www.paragoncommercial.com.