New Century Bank and New Century Bank South to Merge
16 November 2007 - 12:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
Merger to Take Place in Early 2008 DUNN, N.C., Nov. 15
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Board of Directors of New Century
Bancorp (Nasdaq: NCBC - the "Company"), as well as the boards of
directors of New Century Bank and New Century Bank South, have
voted to merge the two banks in early 2008, announced William L.
Hedgepeth II, president and chief executive officer of the Company
and of both banks. Pending regulatory approval, the merged bank
will be called New Century Bank and the headquarters and operations
center of the merged bank will be in Dunn, NC. A 15-member holding
company board, which will also serve as the board of directors of
the bank, will include current directors from both banks. "Our
management team brought the proposal to take this action to the
boards because we overwhelmingly believe this merger to be in the
best interest of the Company," said Hedgepeth. "We appreciate the
support of our directors and their vision in voting for this
merger. When all is said and done, we operate as one bank now. We
offer the same products and services and the same level of service;
we have just served different markets. The merger means a name
change from New Century Bank South to New Century Bank and that
following the merger, our management team will be better able to
focus on managing one bank -- a bank that we believe is going to be
stronger and better than ever through greater efficiency and
greater profitability." New Century Bancorp, the holding company
for New Century Bank and New Century Bank South, reported total
assets of $592.3 million as of September 30, 2007. New Century Bank
is headquartered in Dunn and has offices in Clinton, Goldsboro, and
Lillington. New Century Bank South is headquartered in Fayetteville
with offices in Fayetteville, Lumberton, Pembroke, and Raeford. The
information as of and for the quarter ended September 30, 2007, as
presented is unaudited. This news release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, (i) statements
regarding certain of our goals and expectations with respect to
earnings, earnings per share, revenue, expenses and the growth rate
in such items, as well as other measures of economic performance,
including statements relating to estimates of credit quality
trends, and (ii) statements preceded by, followed by or that
include the words "may," "could," "should," "would," "believe,"
"anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "projects,"
"outlook" or similar expressions. The actual results might differ
materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements
for various reasons, including, but not limited to, our ability to
manage growth, our limited operating history, substantial changes
in financial markets, regulatory changes, changes in interest
rates, loss of deposits and loan demand to other savings and
financial institutions, and changes in real estate values and the
real estate market. Additional information concerning factors that
could cause actual results to materially differ from those in the
forward-looking statements is contained in the Company's SEC
filings, including its periodic reports under the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, copies of which are available
upon request from the Company. DATASOURCE: New Century Bancorp
CONTACT: Lisa Campbell, Executive Vice President and Chief
Operating Officer of New Century Bancorp, +1-910-892-7080, Web
site: http://www.newcenturybanknc.com/
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