TheGreenComma
13 years ago
Hello, hello, hello is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me...
http://businessjournaldaily.com/banking-finance/cease-and-desist-order-lifted-ucfc-2012-4-4
Cease-and-Desist Order Lifted at UCFC
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
By Dennis LaRue
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Federal and state regulators have lifted the cease-and-desist orders United Community Financial Corp. has worked under since August 2008, UCFC announced after the markets closed Tuesday.
UCFC is the holding company of the Home Savings and Loan Co. It had operated more than 3½ years under the cease-and-desist orders imposed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Ohio Division of Financial Institutions.
However, the Board of Directors of Home Savings entered into a consent order with the regulators of the bank, “which lays the foundation for a stronger bank,” the UCFC announcement said.
The cease-and-desist order contained 22 provisions, the consent order has 13, the UCFC announcement said. “Those 13 provisions contain few new requirements,” the announcement reported. “One new requirement is the submission of a formal capital plan to Home Savings’ regulators. It is important to note that for the past two years, United Community filed a capital plan with its regulators as part of the strategic planning process," the company said.
Another aspect of the consent order has the company agreeing to raise more capital. The order requires Home Savings to attain a 9.00% Tier 1 leverage ratio, up from 8.00% in the terminated C&D orders, and a 12% total risk-based capital. That remains unchanged.
No figure was provided on the amount of capital UCFC will seek to raise. Nor did UCFC identify the route it intends to pursue in raising more capital. It said only, “United Community’s capital plan considers several possible ways in which to raise capital both internally and externally.”
The announcement adds, “The board and management agree that Home Savings’ capital ratios should be increased given [its] risk profile.”
The majority of any capital UCFC raises will be contributed to Home Savings, its sole subsidiary, the release said, with the remainder used for “general corporate purposes.” Home Savings would then use that capital to speed up the write-down, charge-off or sale of its nonperforming loans, those 90 and more days past due, and repossessed real estate so it would meet the capital requirements in the new consent order.
In a prepared statement, the president and CEO of UCFC, Patrick W. Bevack, said, “We are very pleased that Home Savings’ regulators have acknowledged the progress and significant efforts we’ve made. The dedicated directors and employees of Home Savings have worked, and continue to work, tirelessly to strengthen Home Savings and restore United Community back to profitability. In fact, we believe the consent order confirms the positive changes in management made by the board by providing that Home Savings ‘shall continue to retain qualified management,’ However, we know there is more work to be done, and w have plans in place to achieve our goals.”
When UCFC achieves its capital plan, Bevack said, “the consent order allows Home Savings to petition the regulators to ease the capital requirements [set forth] to match the level of risk at Home Savings.”
During 2011, Home Savings enjoyed considerable success in reducing its portfolios of loans past due and repossessed real estate. It reported a profit for the year of $230,000, or a penny a share, and fourth-quarter net income of $7.93 million, or a quarter a share.
The stock market seems to like what it sees as well with the price of UCFC shares rising more than $1 in the last 30 days. UCFC closed at $2.50 Tuesday on a volume of 55,153, about double the daily average.
The 52-week range is 87 cents to $2.54.
TheGreenComma
13 years ago
WHY I'm HERE...
A Revival in Youngstown Posted by ThePlus - 02.14.2012
What city comes to mind when someone says “hotbed of capital investment and job creation?” Austin? San Francisco? Seattle? How about Youngstown? Despite having a reputation as a Rust Belt city, Youngstown is making waves across the nation. From the innovative software companies coming out of the Youngstown Business Incubator (YBI), to recent developments in the shale and natural gas industry, and the ongoing growth in the manufacturing sector, the Mahoning Valley is in the midst of an economic transformation, which is positively impacting all of Northeast Ohio.
Recently, the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber released some fascinating figures that point to just how much the Mahoning Valley has grown throughout the last several years. Since 2008, the area has attracted $1.5 billion in investments, created 5,098 jobs and retained another 7,840 positions.
Given this surge in activity, it’s important to look at the many factors at play. A major factor underlining Youngstown’s dynamic progress is the work taking place at the YBI. The organization helps accelerate emerging businesses by providing an array of services to aid startup operations. One of the most successful companies to spin out of YBI is Turning Technologies, which has grown to become a $50 million software enterprise. While not quite Silicon Valley, YBI is proving that Youngstown is a legitimate force in the software arena.
Another sector propelling Youngtown forward is the recent boom in shale gas drilling. The Utica Shale is a rock formation that extends underneath the Marcellus Shale in the northeastern U.S., which includes the eastern part of Ohio. Until recently, the Utica Shale’s vast resources were untapped, not having the proper technology to expel its rich assets. With the advent of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, scientists and geologists have been able to access the Utica Shale’s vast natural resources, thereby significantly impacting Youngstown and the state.
In fact, Ohio's state geologist estimates that recovering just five percent of the reserves in the 100-mile-wide Utica Shale formation in eastern and central Ohio could produce 5.5 billion barrels of oil and 15.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This output would make the Utica Shale a significant contributor to the national fuel supply while creating thousands of jobs in Ohio.
Companies are already taking notice of Youngstown’s growing importance in the oil and natural gas industry as more and more begin to establish operations in Northeast Ohio. For example, V&M Star, a French-German company, is building a $650 million facility that will be used to make steel pipe for drilling into the shale rock. V&M Star plans to hire 350 workers.
TMK-IPSCO, Wheatland Tube, Dearing Compressor & Pump and DE CAL are more examples of the many operations that have expanded their corporate footprint to the Mahoning Valley in order to take advantage of the area’s proximity to the Utica Shale. If recent developments are any indication of what’s to come, Youngstown is on pace to become a major hub for America’s oil and natural gas industry.
As the Mahoning Valley taps into its natural gas reserves, another industry with a deep history of success in Northeast Ohio makes a resurgence – manufacturing. As a state, Ohio added 18,300 manufacturing jobs in 2011, while Youngstown was praised for having the fifth highest manufacturing job growth in the country by Forbes Magazine.
Led by General Motors and the 4,500-employee Lordstown plant, Youngstown has experienced a significant uptick in manufacturing jobs with the production of the Chevrolet Cruze. In Warren, RG Steel’s 1,000-worker facility is also running strong and proving lucrative for area manufacturers.
While there is still the need for continued progress, Youngstown is quickly proving that it is indeed a hotbed of capital investment and job creation. Through the work of area economic development organizations, civic leaders and regional institutions, Youngstown is on track to become an American boom town once again.
http://www.theplus.us/Know/2012/February/A-Revival-in-Youngstown.aspx
TheGreenComma
13 years ago
A few resaons to get back into this one below. You might have to connect a few dots but if you look at the location of UCFC branches and the Utica & Marcellus shale formations it's intriguing to say the least. I've heard some consider this area the future "little Houston"
http://frazierheiby.com/ohio-oil-gas-energy-education-program-releases-economic-impact-study-with-utica-shale-development-projections#7
Buckeye Oil Billions Will Unleash an Ohio Manufacturing Tech Boom
Mark P. Mills, Contributor
Forbes.com
A prediction. The Ohio Valley is on track to become a hotbed of innovation. And one which will almost certainly focus on 21st century manufacturing. The catalyst for this seemingly counter-intuitive claim? Money. Black gold. Ohio is about to be awash in both.
Early evidence of this bright future is already blossoming on the shores of the Mahoning River in Youngstown, Ohio, where global steelmaker Vallourec & Mannesmann is building a steel mill. Yes, in America. In Ohio. Some 400 jobs are in play building the ten-story building, and almost as many will be permanently employed. The $650 million project is injecting real jobs, real opportunity, and real hope – and a window on the future.
Oh, yes. The plant will build steel tubes for the energy market. The oil and gas market. The revenue gusher is unleashed by the constellation of advanced technologies that are collectively known as “fracking.” Youngstown, in fact most of Ohio, sits above the massive geophysical Marcellus and Utica shale structures which are richly endowed with billions of barrels of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons.
Fracking makes possible practical access to all that black gold. But then, by now, a lot of people have heard about the ostensible “evils” of fracking – by any industrial standards, a safe process. What this technology permits in immediate and long-term social terms is epitomized in Ohio. The implications are much broader and deeper than just one steel mill in Youngstown – as exciting as that is in these days of shutdowns.
Earlier this month a portentous study was released by the Ohio Oil & Gas Energy Education Program containing an analysis of the near-term economic impact of the development of oil and gas from Ohio’s share of the Utica Shale formation – located several thousand feet below the surface. Let’s start with the conclusions as to what this will mean for just the state of Ohio by 2015:
200,000 jobs
$12 billion growth in overall wages
$22 billion increase in state economic output
On top of that, many farmers, businesses, landowners, and even some communities are sitting on land that will yield to each of them tens of millions of dollars in annual royalty payments.
How did this happen? In a word: technology. The quantity of oil you can find in the first place, and then extract, is entirely a function of technology. Most of the punditocracy has been preoccupied with how technology enables new energy alternatives to oil. But they’ve missed how new technology has also unleashed the ‘old’ alternative of unconventional oil. The underlying technology trends are essentially the same in both domains.
First, engineers can now make vastly better materials using superior processes and capabilities. So today we make both better silicon for solar cells, and better steel for oil exploration. Second, engineers have access to profoundly better information, sensors and controls – “information technology,” or as it is now simply contracted, IT. IT enables, for example, the dynamic integration of dispersed and episodic solar panels, allowing for more efficient extraction of the sun’s abundant energy. IT also enables the discovery, mapping and extraction of abundant but dispersed oil fields.
The technological magic in fracking resides in the maturation of directional and steerable drilling. Today, you don’t just punch a vertical hole in the ground with a dumb mechanical drill – petroleum engineers now have rotary-steerable drilling technology that permits precision snaking through the meandering underground seams. The technology is a kissin’ cousin to what doctors use, on a much smaller scale, for things like laparoscopic surgery.
Precision steerable drilling hugely benefits from yet more technology — real-time data from a technique called logging-while-drilling using technologies like gamma ray and neutron sensors that continuously analyze and report what precisely is in the ground at that point. And then this is all enabled in particular by a new class of IT-centric real-time imaging called microseismic monitoring. Again, in medical terms, think of the latter as the equivalent of continuous x-ray imaging – but done without the x-ray machine.
One of the early pioneers and major suppliers of microseismic technology today is Canada’s ESG in Kingston, Ontario. ESG is a 1993 spin-out from Queen’s University (where I count myself a proud alumnus). Microseismic technology provides real-time, instead of passive or historic images, and with very high resolution, compared with the original standard seismic gross ‘snapshots’. This technology reveals a picture of the subterranean environment using exquisitely sensitive sensors. These sensors pick up natural seismic energy in the earth which allows precise mapping and extraction of the widely dispersed and meandering shale seams of rich hydrocarbons. The field is heating up. Geoscience company IHS [NYSE: IHS] recently announced a $500 million acquisition of Houston’s Seismic Micro-Technology.
If you don’t live in Ohio, or own the land over the Utica shale, you can still make a bet on the coming hydrocarbon boom via the companies that are making their own bets in developing the oil and gas fields there. Some key players in the Utica Shale include Chesapeake Energy [NYSE: CHK], as well as EV Energy Partners [NASDAQ: EVEP] which has a joint venture with Chesapeake. There is also CONSOL Energy [NYSE: CNX], Pennsylvania’s Rex Energy [NASDAQ: REXX], and Oklahoma-based Gulfport [NASDAQ: GPOR] (the latter where, full disclosure, our fund has an interest).
Back to Ohio’s budding black gold millionaires. I know Ohioans. Here’s the bet. As money flows, and both unemployment and state deficits shrink, in parallel a whole new class of Ohio millionaires will emerge from their land’s oil and gas royalty bounty. What will they do with their money? A lot of things to be sure. But a safe bet is that many will invest in the state they know and love, in local businesses, entrepreneurs and universities.
Ohio is a manufacturing-centric state – the third largest manufacturing economy amongst all the states. A lot of Ohioans will invest in and build the kind of local businesses they know, in the manufacturing sector. A lot will shower their alma maters with donations, where Ohio universities have deep roots in manufacturing-centric education. Overall, expect a fresh flow of capital into a manufacturing-technology-centric region. Nothing unleashes innovation like capital.
Innovation is the engine of economic growth, and thus future prosperity; something I amongst many others have written about often. (See for example Want more jobs? Unleash small businesses, venture capital and technology, and Searching For A Free Lunch, Finding Technology.) But the innovation engine needs fuel. Capital is that fuel. America is gushing with innovation, but starved for capital.
From Pennsylvania and New York, to Texas and the North Dakota, there are plenty of other states across this vast land sitting on shale oil and gas unleashed, or unleashable by the hydrocarbon technology boon. To note only one of the many shale formations, the East Coast’s Marcellus contains so much natural gas it is the world’s – not America’s – second largest known reserve, exceeded only by the gas field below Iran and Qatar. We should note that New York State (yet to embrace this boon) sits over the Marcellus. Imagine what this might do for depressed Binghamton, New York, strategically located atop that abundance? It has already fueled a downtown construction boom in Pittsburgh.
Never mind the national security benefit of domestic oil. And, thinking beyond the compelling near-term potential for a gusher of jobs, consider the long term. The new private capital is what will fuel the essential “animal spirits” in our economy, bringing confidence back. And in due course, new technologies and new businesses too.
These kinds of vast hydrocarbon shale fields are found around the world too, from Italy and the UK, to China. As we wrote in our book, The Bottomless Well, energy resources are primarily a function of technology, not of geophysics. What we didn’t write about is the virtuous circle … that technology unleashes resources, resource wealth creates capital, the capital is re-invested in new technology, that in turn unleashes resources. And on it goes. Or it can if we unleash it.
Ohio is leading the way.
http://www.mcdonaldhopkins.com/news.aspx?id=DjE8E0bGLkKUrSfQ-Bt3Jw
How recent oil and gas discoveries will impact Ohio businesses and landowners
Jeff Huntsberger interviewed by Smart Business Magazine
It was announced recently that the Utica Shale formation in Ohio is not only a source of natural gas, but oil as well. New technological advancements — especially in horizontal drilling techniques and the hydraulic fracturing of the shale (“fracking”) — along with the fact that the oil appears to be of high quality, is bringing drilling to Ohio a lot faster than originally thought.
“Drilling has been taking place in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and West Virginia for a while now,” says Jeffrey R. Huntsberger, a member of the Business Department and the Real Estate Practice Group at McDonald Hopkins LLC. “Geologists knew there was natural gas in Ohio’s Marcellus formations, but figured Ohio wouldn’t be as rich a source as Pennsylvania. All of that has changed now with the discoveries in the deeper Utica Shale formation. For example, the CEO of Chesapeake Energy Corp. recently said that his company expects to invest $10 billion per year in Ohio for the next couple of decades.”
Smart Business asked Huntsberger what Utica Shale drilling means for Ohio.
Why does the Utica Shale hold so much promise for Ohio?
The Utica Shale formation appears to hold significant amounts of ‘wet’ gas and oil. The wet gas has elements in it that are sought after by gas companies, including propane, ethane, butane, and other large molecule hydrocarbons and, in addition, there’s oil, which appears to be of high quality. Companies like Chesapeake Energy and others are excited about the wet gas and oil in Ohio.
How will drilling impact Ohio businesses?
Drilling in the Utica Shale is a game changing industrial event taking place right in our own back yard. Drilling is already taking place in southeastern and mideastern Ohio counties and promises to spread northward through the entire eastern part of Ohio. Manufacturers of tubular steel, pumps, valves, and fittings are already seeing substantial demand for their products as a result of drilling. If everything works out, we’ll have a cheap source of energy on our doorstep, which will give us an advantage in manufacturing. In addition, the byproducts of oil can be used for hundreds of industrial applications, and having a source of those byproducts right here in Ohio will be beneficial for a variety of industries. In the long-term, the drilling should stir growth.
TheGreenComma
13 years ago
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/united-community-financial-corp-announces-232800193.html
United Community Financial Corp. (Company) (Nasdaq: UCFC - News), holding company of The Home Savings and Loan Company of Youngstown, Ohio (Home Savings), today reported consolidated net income of $7.9 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, for the three months ended December 31, 2011. This compares to a net loss of $17.3 million, or $(0.56) per diluted share, for the three months ended December 31, 2010. Current earnings have been positively impacted by the successful completion of the sale of four branches and gains recognized on the sale of securities. Fourth quarter earnings also benefited from the need for only $2.4 million in loan loss provision expense, down from $22.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. The Company also reported net income of $230,000, or $0.01 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2011, as compared to a net loss of $37.3 million, or $(1.22) per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2010.
Selected fourth quarter results:
•Delinquent loans declined $4.0 million from the prior quarter to $126.9 million
•Nonperforming loans declined $11.0 million from the prior quarter to $123.1 million
•Nonperforming assets declined $15.8 million from the prior quarter to $156.6 million
•Home Savings’ Tier 1 leverage ratio of 8.61% and the total risk based capital ratio of 14.57% both reflected increases from the prior quarter
•Tangible book value per share at December 31, 2011 was $5.78
Patrick W. Bevack, President and Chief Executive Officer of UCFC and Home Savings, commented that, “The year 2011 was a year of progress. During the year, not only did UCFC return to profitability, but more significantly, Home Savings has positioned itself for the future with very positive improvement in asset quality measures. Delinquent loans, nonperforming loans and nonperforming assets are all headed in the right direction.” Bevack further commented, “I was also pleased that the Company was successful in attracting additional capital from an investor in the fourth quarter.”
Asset Quality
Delinquent loans declined to $126.9 million at December 31, 2011, down $68.3 million, or 35.0%, from their high point of $195.2 million at March 31, 2010. Nonperforming loans at December 31, 2011 fell to $123.1 million, down $32.0 million, or 20.7%, from their high point of $155.1 million at June 30, 2010. Nonperforming assets dropped to $156.6 million at December 31, 2011, down $40.6 million, or 20.6%, from their high point of $197.2 million at June 30, 2010.
The provision for loan losses was $2.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2011, as compared to $22.6 million for the same quarter in 2010. For the year ending December 31, 2011, the provision for loan losses was $24.7 million, as compared to $62.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. The overall improvement in provision expense is the result of a reduced level of outstanding loans as well as a lower level of charge-offs in the fourth quarter and all of 2011.
Net Interest Income and Margin
The average net interest margin was 3.04% for the fourth quarter of 2011 compared with 3.17% for the fourth quarter of 2010. The average net interest margin was 3.28% for the year ended 2011 compared with 3.30% for 2010.
Net interest income for the three months ended December 31, 2011 was $14.8 million compared to $16.9 million for the three months ended December 31, 2010. Total interest income decreased $3.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to the fourth quarter of 2010. The decrease is the result of Home Savings recognizing $3.3 million less in interest on net loans due to a $280.0 million decline in the average balance of outstanding loans.
Total interest expense decreased $997,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2011, as compared to the same quarter last year. The change was primarily attributable to a reduction of $851,000 in interest paid on deposits, which is a result of a shift in deposit balances from certificates of deposit to relatively lower cost non-time deposits.
Net interest income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2011, was $65.2 million, compared to $71.4 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2010. Total interest income decreased $14.4 million in 2011 compared to 2010. The decrease is a result of Home Savings recognizing $13.2 million less in interest on net loans because of a $244.6 million reduction in the average balance of outstanding loans. Home Savings also experienced a decrease in interest income on net loans of $2.0 million due to lower rates.
Total interest expense decreased $8.2 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2011, as compared to the same period last year. This change was due primarily to reductions of $7.7 million in interest paid on deposits.
Noninterest Income
Noninterest income increased in the fourth quarter of 2011 to $12.0 million, as compared to $6.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. The largest impact on the comparison was the sale of four northwest branches (as previously disclosed), which closed in the fourth quarter of 2011. Home Savings recognized a $4.2 million gain on that sale. Additionally, Home Savings also sold available for sale securities in the fourth quarter of 2011, producing a gain of $5.1 million. The gains recognized were offset partially by lower service fees and by a valuation allowance established on Home Savings’ mortgage servicing rights, both in the fourth quarter of 2011. A similar valuation allowance was not required in 2010.
Noninterest income increased in 2011 to $23.2 million, as compared to $21.9 million in 2010. Two large transactions affect the comparison of noninterest income year over year. First, the branch sale mentioned above generated a net gain of $4.2 million. Secondly, Home Savings sold $70.4 million in mortgage loans in the second quarter of 2011. This transaction produced a gain of $2.7 million for the Bank. Both of these transactions were partially offset by lower service fees and other charges recognized in 2011.
Noninterest Expense
Noninterest expense was $16.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to $18.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. The change was driven by lower expenses associated with the maintenance of real estate owned and other repossessed assets during the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to the same quarter last year. Also positively affecting the comparison, Home Savings recognized fewer expenses associated with deposit insurance premiums. Regulatory changes revised the method for calculating deposit insurance premiums and caused those expenses to decline.
Noninterest expense was $63.5 million in 2011, compared to $68.3 million in 2010. The decline was caused primarily by the recognition of lower expenses associated with real estate owned and other repossessed assets acquired in the settlement of loans. Lower salaries and benefits paid to employees along with lower deposit insurance premiums also contributed to the change.
Capital and Book Value
Home Savings’ Tier 1 leverage ratio was 8.61% as of December 31, 2011, compared to 8.13% at September 30, 2011. The Bank’s total risk-based capital ratio was 14.57% at December 31, 2011, as compared to 13.25% at September 30, 2011. Tangible book value per share at December 31, 2011 was $5.78, down from $5.88 at September 30, 2011.
Home Savings is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company and operates 34 full-service banking offices and eight loan production offices located throughout Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Additional information on the Company and Home Savings may be found on the Company’s web site: www.ucfconline.com.
When used in this press release, the words or phrases “believes,” “will likely result,” “are expected to,” “will continue,” “is anticipated,” “estimate,” “project” or similar expressions are intended to identify “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including changes in economic conditions in the Company’s market area, changes in policies by regulatory agencies, fluctuations in interest rates, demand for loans in the Company’s market area, and competition that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical earnings and those presently anticipated or projected. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company advises readers that the factors listed above could affect the Company’s financial performance and could cause the Company’s actual results for future periods to differ materially from any opinions or statements expressed with respect to future periods in any current statements.
The Company does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to release publicly the result of any revisions that may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.
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