Banking Woes Seen By La. Company As Opportunity

ALAN SAYRE

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana banking company sees the worst rash of bank failures in two decades as fertile ground to expand well beyond the state line.

Two Florida banks recently acquired by Iberiabank Corp. may be only the start for the Lafayette-based company. Analysts say the takeovers — which doubled Iberiabank's asset base — will likely be emulated by other companies as smaller banks fail and megabanks reduce their loan exposure in states with real estate problems.

So far this year, there have been 123 U.S. bank closures.

"What you're going to have is a void of decent size banks that can loan," said Michael Rose, industry analyst for Raymond James.

On Nov. 13, after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. shuttered Naples, Fla.-based Orion Bank and Sarasota, Fla.-based Century Bank, Iberiabank assumed $3.1 billion in assets, $2.5 billion in loans and $2.5 billion in deposits, along with 34 banking offices in six Florida metropolitan areas. Loss-share agreement with the FDIC put the company's maximum exposure at $252 million. Overnight, the company with the Louisiana name became Florida's 20th-largest bank in deposits.

During a conference call with analysts after the takeover, Iberiabank chief executive Daryl Byrd said the "right time, price and risk structure" paved the way for his company to step into Florida.