-3-
Business
City Holding Company (the “Company”) is a bank holding company headquartered in Charleston, West Virginia. The Company conducts its principal activities through its wholly-owned subsidiary, City National Bank of West Virginia (“City National”). Through its network of 68 banking offices in West Virginia (57 offices), Kentucky (8 offices), and Ohio (3 offices), City National provides credit, deposit, trust and investment management, and insurance products and services to its customers. In addition to its branch network, City National’s delivery channels include ATMs, check cards, interactive voice response systems, and internet technology. City National has approximately 7% of the deposit market share in West Virginia and the Company is the third largest bank holding company headquartered in West Virginia based on deposit share. The Company’s business activities are currently limited to one reportable business segment, which is community banking.
No portion of City National’s deposits are derived from a single person or persons, the loss of which could have a material adverse effect on liquidity, capital, or other elements of financial performance. Although no portion of City National’s loan portfolio is concentrated within a single industry or group of related industries, it historically has held residential mortgage loans as a significant portion of its loan portfolio. At December 31, 2011, approximately 54% of the Company’s loan portfolio was categorized as residential mortgage and home equity loans. However, due to the fractionated nature of residential mortgage lending, there is no concentration of credits that would be considered materially detrimental to the Company’s financial position or operating results.
The Company’s business is not seasonal and has no foreign sources or applications of funds. There are no anticipated material capital expenditures, or any expected material effects on earnings or the Company’s competitive position as a result of compliance with federal, state and local provisions enacted or adopted relating to environmental protection.
The Company’s loan portfolio is comprised of commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, residential real estate, home equity, consumer loans, DDA overdrafts and previously securitized loans.
The commercial and industrial loan portfolio consists of loans to corporate borrowers primarily in small to mid-size industrial and commercial companies, as well as automobile dealers, service, retail and wholesale merchants. Collateral securing these loans includes equipment, machinery, inventory, receivables and vehicles. Commercial and industrial loans are considered to contain a higher level of risk than other loan types although care is taken to minimize these risks. Numerous risk factors impact this portfolio including industry specific risks such as economy, new technology, labor rates and cyclicality, as well as customer specific factors, such as cash flow, financial structure, operating controls and asset quality. As of December 31, 2011, the Company reported $130.9 million of loans classified as “Commercial and Industrial.”
Commercial real estate loans consist of commercial mortgages, which generally are secured by nonresidential and multi-family residential properties, including hotel/motel and apartment lending. Commercial real estate loans are to many of the same customers and carry similar industry risks as the commercial and industrial loans. As of December 31, 2011, the Company reported $732.1 million of loans classified as “Commercial Real Estate.”
The Company diversifies risk within the commercial and industrial and commercial real estate portfolios by closely monitoring industry concentrations and portfolios to ensure that it does not exceed established lending guidelines. Diversification is intended to limit the risk of loss from any single unexpected economic event or trend. Underwriting standards require a comprehensive credit analysis and independent evaluation of virtually all larger balance commercial loans by the loan committee prior to approval.
Residential mortgage loans represent loans to consumers for the purchase or refinance of a residence. These loans are generally financed over a 15- to 30- year term, and in most cases, are extended to borrowers to finance their primary residence. In some cases, government agencies or private mortgage insurers guarantee the loan. The Company sells a majority of our fixed-rate originations in the secondary market. As of December 31, 2011, the Company reported $638.6 million of loans classified as “Residential Real Estate.”
-4-
Home equity lending includes both home equity loans and lines-of-credit. This type of lending, which is secured by a first- or second- mortgage on the borrower’s residence, allows customers to borrow against the equity in their home. Real estate market values as of the time the loan or line is granted directly affect the amount of credit extended. As of December 31, 2011, the Company reported $433.0 million of loans classified as “Home Equity.”
Consumer loans are secured by automobiles, boats, recreational vehicles, and other personal property. The Company monitors the risk associated with these types of loans by monitoring such factors as portfolio growth, lending policies and economic conditions. Underwriting standards are continually evaluated and modified based upon these factors. As of December 31, 2011, the Company reported $35.8 million of loans classified as “Consumer.”
DDA overdraft balances reflect demand deposit accounts that have been overdrawn by deposit customers and have been reclassified as loans. As of December 31, 2011, the Company reported $2.6 million of loans classified as “DDA Overdrafts.”
The Company’s loan underwriting guidelines and standards are updated periodically and are presented for approval by the Board of Directors. The purpose of the standards and guidelines is to grant loans on a sound and collectible basis; to invest available funds in a safe, profitable manner; to serve the legitimate credit needs of the communities in our primary market area; and to ensure that all loan applicants receive fair and equal treatment in the lending process. It is the intent of the underwriting guidelines and standards to: minimize loan losses by carefully investigating the credit history of each applicant, verify the source of repayment and the ability of the applicant to repay, collateralize those loans in which collateral is deemed to be required, exercise care in the documentation of the application, review, approval, and origination process, and administer a comprehensive loan collection program. The above guidelines are adhered to and subject to the experience, background and personal judgment of the loan officer assigned to the loan application.
The Company categorizes commercial loans by industry according to the Standard Industry Classification System (SIC) to monitor the portfolio for possible concentrations in one or more industries. As of December 31, 2011, the Company has no industry classifications that exceeded 10% of total loans.
Market Area
As of December 2011, West Virginia’s unemployment rate was 7.7% as compared to the national average of 8.5% according to the Workforce West Virginia. West Virginia’s unemployment rate for December of 7.7% decreased from December 2010’s rate of 9.4%. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2011 estimates, West Virginia’s population was approximately 1.9 million and has increased 2.5% over the past 10 years. The median home price in the Charleston, WV metropolitan area was $130,000 for 2011 and $129,000 for 2010, while the number of home sales in West Virginia increased 9.7% for the quarter ended September 30, 2011 as compared to the quarter ended September 30, 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Competition
As noted previously, the Company’s principal markets are located in West Virginia. The majority of the Company’s banking offices are located in the areas of Charleston, Huntington, Beckley, Lewisburg and Martinsburg where there is a significant presence of other financial service providers. In its markets, the Company competes with national, regional, and local community banks for deposit, credit, trust and investment management, and insurance customers. In addition to traditional banking organizations, the Company competes with credit unions, finance companies, insurance companies and other financial service providers who are able to provide specialty financial services to targeted customer groups. As further discussed below, changes in laws and regulations enacted in recent years have increased the competitive environment the Company faces to retain and attract customers.
Regulation and Supervision
Overview: The Company, as a registered financial holding company, and City National, as an insured depository institution, operate in a highly regulated environment and are regularly examined by federal and state regulators. The following description briefly discusses certain provisions of federal and state laws and regulations and the potential impact of such provisions to which the Company and City National are subject. These federal and state laws and regulations are designed to reduce potential loss exposure to the depositors of such depository institutions and to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s insurance fund and are not intended to protect the Company’s security holders. Proposals to change the laws and regulations governing the banking industry are frequently raised in Congress, in state legislatures, and before the various bank regulatory agencies. The likelihood and timing of any changes and the impact such changes might have on the Company are impossible to determine with any certainty. A change in applicable laws or regulations, or a change in the way such laws or regulations are interpreted by regulatory agencies or courts, may have a material impact on the business, operations and earnings of the Company. To the extent that the following information describes statutory or regulatory provisions, it is qualified entirely by reference to the particular statutory or regulatory provision.
-5-
As a financial holding company, the Company is regulated under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (the “BHCA”), and is subject to inspection, examination and supervision by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board. The BHCA provides generally for “umbrella” regulation of bank holding companies such as the Company by the Federal Reserve Board, and for functional regulation of banking activities by bank regulators, securities activities by securities regulators, and insurance activities by insurance regulators. The Company is also under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and is subject to the disclosure and regulatory requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as administered by the SEC. The Company is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. (NASDAQ) under the trading symbol “CHCO,” and is subject to the rules of the NASDAQ for listed companies.
City National is organized as a national banking association under the National Bank Act. It is subject to regulation and examination by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”).
In general, the BHCA limits the business of bank holding companies to banking, managing or controlling banks and other activities that the Federal Reserve Board has determined to be so closely related to banking as to be a proper incident thereto. Under the BHCA, bank holding companies that qualify and elect to be financial holding companies may engage in any activity, or acquire and retain the shares of a company engaged in any activity, that is either (i) financial in nature or incidental to such financial activity (as determined by the Federal Reserve Board in consultation with the OCC) or (ii) complementary to a financial activity and does not pose a substantial risk to the safety and soundness of depository institutions or the financial system generally (as solely determined by the Federal Reserve Board). Activities that are financial in nature include securities underwriting and dealing, insurance underwriting and making merchant banking investments.