Amcore Financial Continues Volume Surge

ROCKFORD, Ill. (TheStreet) -- Amcore Financial (AMFI) shares continued to climb Monday on roughly four times their average volume, extending a rally that began after the bank holding company amended a credit facility with a lender.

Amcore Financial said Friday it agreed with JPMorgan Chase (JPM) to amend a covenant on its $12.5 million credit facility, and it also established a cash interest reserve account of $1.1 million with JPMorgan as part of the agreement. The amendment requires Amcore Financial to pay all accrued interest through the date of the amendment, and make monthly interest payments thereafter.

Amcore also said it is current with all its payments due under the facility. "We would expect that the bank will no longer be deemed significantly undercapitalized for regulatory purposes," Chairman and CEO William McManaman said in Friday's statement.

Last Monday, Amcore Financial completed a $135 million sale of non-strategic, non-relationship loans as part of the company's efforts to raise capital and improve liquidity.

Shares of Amcore Financial were jumping by 38 cents, or 37.3%, to $1.40. The stock is now up more than 160% over the last week. More than 1.26 million shares changed hands by 11 a.m. EST Monday, compared to the stock's 50-day average daily volume of 341,000, according to the Nasdaq.

Amcore Financial has a 22.7 million-share float with a short interest float of 13.4% as of Nov. 30, according to Yahoo! Finance. Insiders hold only 0.9% of the company's shares, with another 26.2% owned by institutions.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in Boston.

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