Having recently announced a fourth consecutive profitable quarter, Vancouver-based Riverview Bank is gearing up for growth.
Earlier this month, the company reported a fourth quarter net income of $854,000 for the period ended March 31, 2011 – that’s a quarter-million dollar increase over its third fiscal quarter.
In addition, the bank cited lending growth on the rise, with net loans increasing $12.5 million during the quarter. Riverview’s deposits also grew, up more than $28 million since March 2010.
“We’re really happy with where we are now and very excited about moving forward,” said Kevin Lycklama, Riverview’s chief financial officer.
One of the most important components to take from the company’s recent report, according to Riverview Executive Vice President Kim Capeloto, is its continued improvement in credit quality.
“We’re just not seeing new troubled assets coming in (like they used to),” he said, and the numbers agree; the bank reported non-performing loans made up just 1.79 percent of total loans at the end of the quarter – Riverview’s lowest level since March 2008.
Capeloto said it’s not just the numbers during this stretch of profitable quarters that he’s proud of, but the fact that the company did it without government TARP funds or auxiliary sources of income.
“We never took any money from anyone that isn’t an owner in this company and the single largest group of owners at Riverview are its employees,” explained Capeloto. “We did go out and do a capital raise last year… but that allowed us to position ourselves for additional growth in the future and allowed for us to be able to get where we need to be without having to utilize any of the bailout funds.”
Lycklama said one of the reasons Riverview engaged in a capital raise was to take advantage of new opportunities, such as building or acquiring new branches.
“We think there’s a lot of potential in the Vancouver area for growth but we also see a lot of opportunity in Portland,” said Lycklama. “That being said, we don’t see ourselves being in downtown Portland. We see ourselves more in the outlining communities, similar to what we do in Clark County. We are definitely looking to grow”
“We want to grow, we’re ready to grow and we have the funds to grow,” echoed Capeloto. “We now need to be able to find the clients to grow so that we can help them grow.”
Riverview currently owns and operates 17 branches in eight different markets throughout Washington and Oregon. Capeloto said future expansion would likely occur between those existing areas.
“Right now we’re looking at growth in the Gresham area, but we’re also looking for additional opportunities here in Southwest Washington that would augment and complement the footprint we have here,” said Capeloto. “I don’t think there’s anything off the table with regard to expanding our existing base.”
