SPRINGFIELD, Mo., Sept. 26, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Guaranty Federal Bancshares, Inc. (Nasdaq:GFED), the holding company for Guaranty Bank, announces the opening of loan production offices in West Plains and Mt. Grove, Missouri.
The expansion of Guaranty's mortgage banking group is part of the bank's long-term strategy to grow its footprint outside of the Springfield area. "Expanding into the vibrant south central Missouri area is a natural step in the ongoing growth strategy of our mortgage banking group," remarked Guaranty Bank's President and CEO, Shaun Burke. "Guaranty Bank has a 93-year history of providing construction, development and mortgage lending products and through our relationship-driven approach we have the know-how and an unparalleled product mix to be competitive in all markets. Our bankers will be very active, very aggressive, and very much focused on growing market share." In addition to the LPO's, the bank has constructed three new full-service facilities since 2004.
Jeana Hall has been hired to head the two offices. She has over six years' experience in providing mortgage lending products to the residents of Howell, Wright, Texas and Douglas counties. "As a resident of the area for over seven years, I'm very familiar with the area and understand the unique banking needs of local businesses and residents." Active in the community, Jeana is a member of the West Plains Board of Realtors and West Plains Chamber of Commerce.
Guaranty Federal Bancshares, Inc. has a subsidiary corporation offering full banking services. The principal subsidiary, Guaranty Bank, is located in Springfield, Missouri, and has eight branches and 20 ATM locations located in Greene and Christian Counties. In addition, Guaranty Bank is a member of the TransFund ATM network which provides its customers surcharge free access to over 80 area ATM's and over 700 ATM's nationwide.
The discussion set forth above may contain forward-looking comments. Such comments are based upon the information currently available to management of the Company and management's perception thereof as of the date of this release. Actual results of the Company's operations could materially differ from those forward-looking comments. The differences could be caused by a number of factors or combination of factors including, but not limited to: changes in demand for banking services; changes in portfolio composition; changes in management strategy; increased competition from both bank and non-bank companies; changes in the general level of interest rates; the effect of regulatory or government legislative changes; technology changes; and fluctuation in inflation.