Elmira Savings Bank (ESBK) in New York is scaling back its involvement in the Treasury Department's small-business lending fund.
The $509 million-asset bank said Thursday that it has repaid $10.5 million, or 75%, of the preferred stock it issued to the Treasury as participation in the small-business lending fund. It has $3.5 million worth of shares outstanding in the program.
"We are pleased to have accumulated retained earnings over the last several years and enhanced our capital position to a point where we can redeem these outstanding shares and reduce our dividend payments to preferred shareholders and increase our earnings per common share," said Michael Hosey, president and chief executive, in a news release.
Twelve of the 332 institutions that participated in the small-business lending fund have fully redeemed their shares as of March 15, the Treasury Department said in a
