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Local Voices

Annual meeting: Most profitable year yet

At its annual meeting April 17, shareholders of Private Bancshares, the parent company of Private Bank of Buckhead, heard from President, CEO and Chairman Charlie Crawford, who began by noting that the bank continues its steady, planned growth, saying it maintains one of the highest net interest margins in its peer group, while also maintaining good asset quality.

“Our strategic objectives are consistent,” Crawford says, “and that balanced approach has seen us through our most profitable year yet. Notably, that milestone comes in step with another, which is passing our seventh anniversary (in December), meaning we are no longer consider de novo (new) and thus have increased flexibility.”

Overall for the year ending December 31, 2013, the bank’s net income was $2.4 million with a $0.31/share dividend, he says. Loans grew by 4 percent and the organization achieved return-on-equity (ROE) of 12.87 percent, placing it in the top quartile of its peer group. 

Crawford sang the praises of the Private Bank of Buckhead team, which has grown across all units – Private Bank of Buckhead and its two divisions, Private Bank of Decatur and PrivatePlus Mortgage. The latter is a relaunch of the bank’s previous mortgage division; as part of the relaunch, PrivatePlus also has grown significantly, from four team members to 25. Revenues of the division were ahead of plan for Q1 2014 and are expected to jump by over 600 percent in the first year.

“Of course, as we grow, it is imperative that we continue to uphold the high-touch service we’ve given clients from the beginning,” Crawford says. “I am proud that, in our most recent client service survey, which concluded at year-end, 98 percent of those surveyed say we made it easy to become a client, and 92 percent say they feel the bank knows them and their special banking needs and preferences. Too, as in years past, they continue to rank service, safety/soundness and technology as important parts of their banking partnership with us. We’ll continue to ask how we are doing, evolving to ensure we continue to bring clients first-class service.”

The annual meeting also saw the re-election of four board members – Joel S. Arogeti, Marvin R. Banks, Jr., Ron Beerman and John Lewis, Jr. – to new three-year terms. Arogeti is President/CEO of Kitchens Kelly Gaynes, PC; Banks is Chief Operating Officer of Storage Post Self Storage; Beerman is Founder of Profitmaster Displays, Inc., and Lewis is Global Chief Diversity Officer of The Coca-Cola Company.

Other members of the board are Adolph Casal, Medical Director of Psychiatry at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta; Crawford; M. Bryan Freeman, Founder and President of Habersham Funding, LLC; Jim Givan, retired President and CEO of Design Build Concepts; Rick Huddleston, a retired financial services executive; Donny Jackson, a retired executive with InterCept, Inc.; Jill Jinks, President & CEO of Insurance House; and Jeff Lemming, Managing Partner, The Caldwell Partners.

Private Bank of Buckhead brings a private banking approach to all clients across all functions of the bank. It is designated a Preferred Lender by the U.S. Small Business Administration, and includes the dedicated mortgage solutions unit, PrivatePlus Mortgage, as well as a Decatur location, known as Private Bank of Decatur. Private Bank of Buckhead, including its mortgage unit, is located in Piedmont Center (Building Three). The mortgage unit also is represented at Private Bank of Decatur.

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