CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Dec. 5, 2006 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- First Security Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:FSGI) announced that its board of directors has approved a share repurchase program to repurchase up to 500,000 shares, or approximately 2.8 percent, of First Security's outstanding common stock, with repurchases at the discretion of management and reflecting changes in market conditions. Currently, First Security has approximately 17.6 million shares outstanding.
Approval of the plan took into account current economic and market conditions and the strong capital position of First Security and its banking subsidiary, FSGBank, National Association. CEO Holley commented, "We believe this decision is in the best interest of our shareholders. The program reflects the high confidence of our board of directors in the future of First Security."
First Security will purchase shares from time to time on the open market, as well as through privately negotiated transactions. The repurchase program has no expiration date; all repurchased shares will be retired and available to reissue for general corporate purposes.
About First Security Group, Inc.
First Security Group, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Chattanooga, TN with $1.1 billion in assets. Founded in 1999, First Security's community bank subsidiary, FSGBank, N.A. has 37 full-service banking offices along the interstate corridors of middle and eastern Tennessee and northern Georgia. In Dalton, GA, FSGBank operates six full-service banking offices under the name of Dalton Whitfield Bank and two offices under the name Primer Banco Seguro (PBS); PBS serves the region's rapidly growing Latino population. FSGBank also operates under the name of Jackson Bank & Trust along the I-40 corridor. FSGBank provides retail and commercial banking services, trust and investment management, mortgage banking, asset-based lending, financial planning, Internet banking (www.FSGBank.com) and equipment leasing through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Kenesaw Leasing, Inc. and J & S Leasing, Inc.
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Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains comments or information that constitute forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) that are based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results expressed in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include changes in interest rates and interest rate relationships; demand for products and services; the degree of competition by traditional and non-traditional competitors; changes in banking regulation; changes in tax laws; changes in prices, levies, and assessments; the impact of technological advances; governmental and regulatory policy changes; the outcomes of contingencies; trends in customer behavior as well as their ability to repay loans; changes in the national and local economy; and other factors, including risk factors, referred to from time to time in filings made by First Security with the Securities and Exchange Commission. First Security undertakes no obligation to update or clarify forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.