Sandy Spring Bank Sees Strong Loan Demand in 2016 on Growing Economy

There's no let-up in the demand for business and consumer loans at Sandy Spring Bancorp (SASR) - Get Report , a regional bank holding company that operates in Maryland and Virginia. 'As we entered into 2016 the market in the greater Washington region continues to be strong,' explained Daniel Schrider, CEO of Sandy Spring Bank. 'It's been driving double-digit loan growth for Sandy Spring over the last several quarters and we would look to see comparable type of performance going forward.' Schrider said he expects strong growth ahead for all of Sandy Spring's business lines, which include products for smaller and mid-sized businesses as well as mortgage loans. About 60% of Sandy Spring's total loan portfolio is commercial. Schrider does not expect any reduced loan demand if there are more interest rate increases from the Federal Reserve, which should benefit Sandy Spring's bottom line. 'We think our margin will hold up well, and potentially even expand in a rising rate environment. We model those changes or those shocks to our balance sheet routinely and very conservatively, so we think we're well positioned for a rising rate environment,' he said.  Earlier this year, Sandy Spring recently opened its first community office in Washington D.C. Schrider said more branch openings would depend on customer demand. At the same time, the bank sees continued growth in mobile banking. Currently 22% of Sandy Spring's transactions are currently conducted on mobile devices. Schrider also said he would actively consider making acquisitions of smaller community banks in the region. Schrider and the company's CFO, Philip Mantua,  kicked off the trading day at the Nasdaq in celebration of Sandy Spring's 20th anniversary as a listed company. Since its listing on the Nasdaq, Sandy Spring has growth total assets from $978 million to over $4.7 billion.