TYLER, Texas, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southside Bancshares, Inc.
(Nasdaq: SBSI), a Texas based banking institution, today announced that it
will not apply for federal funds available through the Capital Purchase
Program (CPP), which is part of the federal government's Troubled Assets
Relief Program (TARP).
'After carefully considering all of the facts, we have made a business
decision that Southside will not apply for federal CPP funds,' said B.G.
Hartley, Chairman and CEO of Southside Bancshares, Inc.
'Southside is well capitalized, now and for the foreseeable future, with
sufficient capital to continue executing its business plan. At September 30,
2008, our Tier 1 Capital to risk weighted assets ratio was 15.60% and our
Total Capital to risk weighted assets ratio was 17.33%. Our strong commitment
to traditional banking remains unwavering. We anticipate that by executing our
business plan, designed to positively impact earnings, we will, as in the
past, produce the capital necessary for Southside to continue to grow. Last
month we reported net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2008,
increased $8.5 million, or 71.5% to a record $20.3 million from $11.9 million,
for the same period in 2007.'
'As a Texas based bank, operating exclusively in Texas, we are fortunate
that despite a slowing national economy, our market areas continue to appear
stable. As we stated in the third quarter earnings release, at Southside, as
we evaluate the financial landscape, our posture is best described as both
cautious and constructive.'
Hartley further stated, 'Southside supports the CPP and believes it is an
important part of the government's efforts to cure the upheaval in the
nation's housing and credit markets. We applaud the Administration and
Congress for taking these aggressive and well thought out actions to stabilize
our nation's financial markets. We firmly believe in the long-term financial
success of our great nation.'
To learn more about Southside Bancshares, Inc., please visit our investor
relations website at http://www.southside.com/investor. Our investor relations
site provides a detailed overview of our activities, financial information and
historical stock price data. To receive e-mail notification of company news,
events and stock activity, please register on the E-mail Notification portion
of the website.
