SMITHTOWN, N.Y., June 10, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Bank of Smithtown has opened its new branch in Nesconset. It is the bank's 17th branch on Long Island.
John Romano, the Bank's Executive Vice President in charge of all branches and retail banking, said: "Our most recent branches have been very well received by the communities that we have entered. The Greenvale branch that we opened in April is already an enormous success. We think that consumers and small businesses in Nesconset will also like our brand of banking."
Several years ago, Bank of Smithtown began opening branches with a new, innovative design. The branches feature no teller lines, no teller counters, plasma screen TVs, a customer accessible internet computer, free gourmet coffee bar, free self-service coin-counting machine, and other customer-friendly features. The Bank has now opened 10 of these branches and will open approximately 10 more within the next 18 months. As a result, the Bank's deposits have been growing at a rapid pace of approximately 20% per year in recent years.
Bank of Smithtown also announced that it has acquired a new branch location in Garden City. The Bank expects the new Garden City branch to open during the third quarter. This new office will be the Bank's third branch in Nassau County. In addition to its Port Washington Branch, the Bank opened a branch in Greenvale during April of this year.
The Bank presently expects to open 5 or 6 new branches during 2008. In addition to Greenvale and Nesconset (which has already opened), it is likely that at least the Garden City, Manhattan and Huntington offices will also open during the second half of this year.
The Bank also presently expects to open 5 or 6 new branches during 2009. These branches will include Port Jefferson, Deer Park, Brentwood, East Setauket and St. James.
The Bank's Chairman, President & CEO, Brad Rock, commented: "These new branches will help us fund the exceptionally strong loan growth that we have experienced in recent months and which is continuing. As a result of sub-prime mortgage problems and other difficulties, some of our competitors have had to curtail lending due to capital constraints or liquidity constraints. Because we have been able to avoid those problems, the current economic environment has created opportunities for us to do even more permanent commercial mortgage lending than we have in the past." Over the past 10 years, Bank of Smithtown has averaged loan growth of 26% per year. This year, during the first quarter alone, the Bank's loan portfolio grew by more than 14%.
Smithtown Bancorp (Nasdaq:SMTB) is the publicly-held parent company of Bank of Smithtown. The Company's stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol "SMTB". For many years, the Bank has consistently been rated among the top 10 banks in the United States, including having been ranked the #1 bank on several occasions. There are approximately 8,300 banks in the United States.
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