Sun Bank Buys Back Stock from Treasury

VINELAND — A bank with seven branches in Cape May County recently bought back its troubled assets purchased by the U.S. Treasury last year.
In follow up to its press announcements on March 11 and April 1, 2009, Sun Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNBC), the parent company of Sun National Bank, announced April 8 that it has completed the repurchase of all 89,310 shares of its Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A, with a liquidation value of $1,000 per share (Preferred Stock), sold to the Treasury Department on January 9, 2009, in connection with the Capital Purchase Program (CPP) of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). The repurchase price was $89,310,000, plus accrued interest of approximately $657,000.
Sun Bancorp was approved to repurchase its preferred stock by the Treasury Department following consultation and approval from the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
“Over the past several weeks our regulatory authorities have worked diligently with us to expedite the fulfillment of various approval requirements necessary to complete the repayment of the Treasury’s investment in our Company,” Thomas X. Geisel, president and chief executive officer of Sun Bancorp, said in an April 1 release.
“We appreciate their efforts and are pleased to be one of the first recipients of TARP funds to fully repay the proceeds, along with accrued dividends. Sun Bancorp was well capitalized by regulatory standards before accepting the CPP investment and will continue to be well capitalized under the same standards after the repurchase.”
“When the Capital Purchase Program became available to well capitalized and healthy financial institutions like Sun, it was a positive partnership between the government and business to stimulate the economy through additional lending and community support,” said Geisel on March 11.
“The partnership then became politicized, the rules and regulations changed, and the dynamics of the partnership substantially shifted. These changes significantly restricted the way we support our customers and communities, as well as the way we run our business.”
“During 2008, we continued our highly successful lending programs and even embarked on new ones to support both existing and new customers,” said Geisel. “As a result, we increased our year over year loans for 2008 by $229.9 million, or 9.2%. We believe our Bank is well positioned to continue these lending trends throughout 2009.”
Sun Bancorp, Inc. is a $3.6 billion asset bank holding company headquartered in Vineland, New Jersey. Its primary subsidiary is Sun National Bank, serving customers through 70 locations in New Jersey. The Bank is an Equal Housing Lender and its deposits are insured up to the legal maximum by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). For more information about Sun National Bank and Sun Bancorp, Inc., visit www.sunnb.com
Cape May County is home to seven Sun National Bank branches:
• Court House, 103 N. Main St.
• Rio Grande, 3195 Route 9 South
• Wildwood Crest, 5611 New Jersey Ave.
• North Wildwood, 1900 New Jersey Ave.
• Cape May, 941 Columbia Ave.
• Tuckahoe, 2201 Route 50
• Marmora, 108 Roosevelt Blvd.