ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Overview
We are a bank holding company within the meaning of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 and are headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Through our wholly-owned subsidiary bank, we operate ten full-service banking offices located in Jefferson, Shelby, Madison, Montgomery and Houston Counties of Alabama and in Escambia County Florida in the metropolitan statistical areas (“MSAs”) of Birmingham-Hoover, Huntsville, Montgomery and Dothan, Alabama, and Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, Florida. As of December 31, 2011, we had total assets of approximately $2.46 billion, total loans of approximately $1.83 billion, total deposits of approximately $2.14 billion and total stockholders’ equity of approximately $196.3 million.
We were originally incorporated as a Delaware corporation in August 2007 for the purpose of acquiring all of the common stock of ServisFirst Bank, an Alabama banking corporation (separately referred to herein as the “Bank”), which was formed on April 28, 2005 and commenced operations on May 2, 2005. On November 29, 2007, we became the sole shareholder of the Bank by virtue of a plan of reorganization and agreement of merger pursuant to which (i) a wholly-owned subsidiary formed for the purpose of the reorganization was merged with and into the Bank, with the Bank surviving, and (ii) each shareholder of the Bank exchanged their shares of the Bank’s common stock for an equal number of shares of our common stock.
We were organized to facilitate the Bank’s ability to serve its customers’ requirements for financial services. The holding company structure provides flexibility for expansion of our banking business through the possible acquisition of other financial institutions, the provision of additional banking-related services which the traditional commercial bank may not provide under current law, and additional financing alternatives such as the issuance of trust preferred securities. We have no current plans to acquire any operating subsidiaries in addition to the Bank, but we may make acquisitions in the future if we deem them to be in the best interest of our stockholders. Any such acquisitions would be subject to applicable regulatory approvals and requirements.
Our principal business is to accept deposits from the public and to make loans and other investments. Our principal sources of funds for loans and investments are demand, time, savings and other deposits (including negotiable orders of withdrawal, or NOW accounts) and the amortization and prepayment of loans and borrowings. Our principal sources of income are interest and fees collected on loans, interest and dividends collected on other investments, and service charges. Our principal expenses are interest paid on savings and other deposits (including NOW accounts), interest paid on our other borrowings, employee compensation, office expenses and other overhead expenses.
We are headquartered at 850 Shades Creek Parkway, Suite 200, Birmingham, Alabama 35209 (Jefferson County). In addition to the Jefferson County headquarters, the Bank currently operates through three offices in the Birmingham-Hoover, Alabama MSA (two offices in Jefferson County and one office in north Shelby County), two offices in the Huntsville, Alabama MSA (Madison County), two offices in the Montgomery, Alabama MSA (Montgomery County), two offices in the Dothan, Alabama MSA (Houston County) and one office in the Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, Florida MSA (Escambia County). These MSAs constitute our primary service areas, and we also serve certain areas adjacent to our primary service areas.
Markets
Service Areas
Birmingham is located in central Alabama approximately 90 miles northwest of Montgomery, Alabama, 146 miles west of Atlanta, Georgia, and 148 miles southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Birmingham is intersected by U.S. Interstates 20, 59 and 65. Jefferson County includes the major business area of downtown Birmingham. North Shelby County also encompasses a growing business community and affluent residential areas. With two offices in Jefferson County and one in north Shelby County, we believe we are well positioned to access the most affluent areas of the Birmingham-Hoover MSA.
We also operate in the Huntsville, Alabama MSA, the Montgomery, Alabama MSA and the Dothan, Alabama MSA. We believe the Huntsville market offers substantial growth as one of the strongest technology economies in the nation, with over 300 companies performing sophisticated government, commercial and university research. Huntsville has one of the highest concentrations of engineers in the United States, as well as one of the highest concentrations of Ph.D.s. Huntsville is located in North Alabama off U.S. Interstate 65 between Birmingham and Nashville, Tennessee. Montgomery is the capital and one of the largest cities in Alabama and home to the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing plant, which began production in May 2005. Montgomery is located in central Alabama between Birmingham and Mobile, Alabama and is intersected by U.S. Interstates 65 (connecting Birmingham and Mobile) and 85 (connecting Montgomery to Atlanta, Georgia). Dothan is located in the southeastern corner of Alabama near the Georgia and Florida state lines and is 35 miles from U.S. Interstate 10 which runs through the panhandle of Florida and connects Mobile, Alabama to Tallahassee and Jacksonville, Florida. Dothan is also intersected by U.S. Highways 231, 431 and 84, which are common trucking lanes, and has local access to rail transportation and the Chattahoochee River. With two offices in each of Madison, Montgomery and Houston Counties, we believe that we have a base of banking resources to serve such counties.
In April 2011 we opened our first office outside of Alabama in Pensacola, Florida. We hired an experienced team of veteran Pensacola bankers to help us establish this office. Pensacola is located in the Florida panhandle approximately 50 miles east of Mobile, Alabama, and 40 miles west of Fort Walton, Florida, with easy access to U.S. Interstate 10 just minutes away. Pensacola is a regional hub for healthcare and retail, with an important manufacturing sector, military presence, a strong tourism presence and a broadly diversified economy.
We conduct a general consumer and commercial banking business, emphasizing personal banking services to commercial firms, professionals and affluent consumers located in our service areas. We believe the current market for financial services, as well as the prospects for the future, present opportunity for a locally owned and operated financial institution. Specifically, we believe that our primary service areas will be in need of local institutions to respond to customer and deposit attrition resulting from the acquisitions during the last few years of Alabama-headquartered banks, including the acquisitions of SouthTrust Corporation by Wachovia Corporation (which has now been acquired by Wells Fargo & Company), AmSouth Bancorporation by Regions Financial Corporation, Compass Bancshares, Inc. by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and Alabama National Bancorporation (operating as First American Bank) by RBC Centura Banks (which is being acquired by PNC Financial Services Group). We believe that a community-based bank such as the Bank can better identify and serve local relationship banking needs than can an office or subsidiary of such larger banking institutions.
Local Economy of Service Areas
Birmingham. Jefferson and Shelby Counties are the primary counties for the seven-county Birmingham-Hoover MSA, which had a 2011 population of 1,134,536. With a 2011 population of 656,717, Jefferson County includes Alabama’s largest city – Birmingham and is Alabama’s most populated county. Shelby County has a population of 200,582 and is among the fastest growing counties in the U.S. Between 2000 and 2011, Shelby County’s population increased 40%.
Jefferson and Shelby Counties have the highest population density in the Birmingham-Hoover MSA and accounts for 76% of the population in the entire seven-county region. In 2011, the combined population of Jefferson and Shelby Counties was 857,299 with 335,614 households. Between 2000 and 2011, the counties’ combined population increased 51,959. The projected growth rate for the two counties between 2011 and 2016 is 4% or an additional 33,304 residents, which will bring the total population of the two counties to 890,603.
Serving as the core of the Birmingham-Hoover MSA, Jefferson and Shelby Counties have an employment base of 469,025 – more than 88% of the Birmingham-Hoover MSA’s total employment. The counties combined 2011 average household income is $72,705 and experienced a 40% increase since 2000. The counties’ 2000 to 2011 average household income growth rate is considerably higher than the U.S. average household income growth rate of 28%.
The economic composition of the Birmingham-Hoover MSA is a diverse mixture of traditional and emerging employment sectors. Metals manufacturing is an important historical sector; finance and insurance, healthcare services and distribution are the region’s core economic sectors; and biological; and medical technology; entertainment and diverse manufacturing have been identified as the regions emerging economic sectors.
Finance and insurance is a core economic sector and is among the most specialized economic sectors in the Birmingham-Hoover MSA. Several banks and insurance companies have corporate or regional headquarters in the region, including: Regions Financial Corporation, BBVA Compass, Protective Life, Infinity Insurance and State Farm.
Other major corporations headquartered or with a major presence in the Birmingham-Hoover MSA include: HealthSouth Corporation, Vulcan Materials and AT&T. Moreover, Birmingham serves as the headquarters to six of the country’s top-performing private companies on the elite Forbes 500 list, including O’Neal Steel and Drummond Company.
Healthcare services are also a core economic sector of Metropolitan Birmingham and are highly regarded. The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is Alabama’s largest employer with more than 19,000 employees and is among the elite healthcare centers in the U.S. UAB’s annual economic impact is estimated at more than $4.6 billion; in 2009, UAB received $489 million in outside research funding. Additionally, Birmingham is home to the largest nonprofit independent research laboratory in the Southeast – Southern Research Institute. These two institutions provide the basis of the region’s growing biotechnology sector.
Diverse manufacturing is an emerging economic sector and is spearheaded by the presence of two major automotive manufacturing facilities – Mercedes Benz U.S. International and Honda Manufacturing of Alabama. These automotive manufacturing facilities together employ more than 7,000 and serve as the basis for the region’s growth in transportation equipment manufacturing.
Unless otherwise stated, the foregoing and other pertinent data can be found on the websites of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”).
Huntsville. Huntsville, Madison County, is the life-center for North Alabama and has seen steady growth since the 1960’s. Today there are nearly one million people within a 50-mile radius of Huntsville. The metropolitan population is diverse and rich in culture, with many residents moving into the area as a technology destination from all 50 states and numerous countries, including Japan, Switzerland, Korea, Germany and the U.K. In 2010, the Huntsville, Alabama MSA (which includes Madison and Limestone Counties) was the second largest metropolitan area in the state with a population of 417,593 people, up 21.5% from the 2000 U.S. Census. Madison County’s population was 334,811, up 20.5% from the 2000 Census. The Huntsville MSA population grew at over twice the rate of the rest of Alabama and the U.S. as a whole. According to a 2009 estimate, the average household income was $73,316 for the Huntsville MSA, $75,911 for Madison County, $71,775 for the City of Huntsville, and $96,219 for the City of Madison.
Huntsville offers substantial growth as one of the strongest technology economies in the nation with one of the highest concentrations of engineers and Ph.D’s in the United States. Huntsville has a number of major government programs, including NASA programs such as the Space Station and Space Shuttle Propulsion and U.S. Army programs such as the National Space and Missile Defense Command, Army Aviation and Foreign Military Sales. Cummings Research Park in Huntsville is now the second largest research park in the United States and the fourth largest research park in the world. Huntsville was ranked number one in the state for announced new and expanding jobs from 2004 to 2008 as well as for 2010, according to the Alabama Development Office. Huntsville was named as Forbes magazine’s “Best Place to Live to Weather the Economy” in November 2008. Further, Forbes named Huntsville one of its “Leading Cities for Business” six years in a row, including 2008, as well as one of the “10 Smartest Cities in the World” in 2009. Fortune Small Business Magazine named Huntsville as the country’s “Top Mid-sized City to Launch and Grow a Business” and Kiplinger Magazine named Huntsville as the nation’s “Best City” in 2009. Huntsville has one of the highest concentrations of Inc. 5000 Companies in the United States and also has a number of offices of Fortune 500 companies. Major employers in Huntsville include the U.S. Army/Redstone Arsenal, the Boeing Company, NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, Intergraph Corporation, ADTRAN, Inc., Northrop Grumman, Cinram, SAIC, DirecTV, Lockheed Martin, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Alabama. Job growth in the Huntsville metro area has been strong, with 23,300 net new jobs since 2000 compared to a net loss of jobs during that same period of time for Alabama and the United States. Professional and business service employment in the Huntsville metro area grew by 45.9% from 2000-2010, adding a total of 15,300 workers primarily in professional, scientific and technical fields. This accounts for approximately 70% of the total U.S. professional & business service growth this decade.
In total, new and expanding industry in Huntsville/Madison County in 2010 amounted to 61 projects, 2,901 jobs, and almost $153 million in capital investment. Major projects include new government contracts in missile defense with Lockheed Martin’s Integrated Test Center, Raytheon’s Standard Missile Production facility and new growth at APT Research and Northrop Grumman. Dynetics broke ground on the company’s new prototype engineering center in Cummings Research Park, in which it has invested $52 million and created 350 new jobs. Integration Innovation Inc. also expanded in the park. New government operations included the continued implementation of BRAC as well as the arrival of the U.S. Army Contracting Command and the Defense Acquisition University. Additionally, leaders with Redstone Arsenal and the city of Huntsville presented the designs for Redstone Gateway, a 468-acre development that will help with growth on Redstone Arsenal and from new contractors coming because of BRAC 2005. The office park will be located just outside of gate 9 at Redstone Arsenal, and will ultimately contain hotels, restaurants and 4.4 million square feet of office space.
The foregoing and other pertinent data are available on the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce’s and the FDIC’s websites.
Montgomery. Montgomery is Alabama’s second largest city and is the capital of Alabama. We have identified Montgomery as a high-growth market for us, second in the state of Alabama only to Huntsville in the growth of new jobs from 2000-2007. A recent competitive assessment conducted by Market Street Services on behalf of the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce shows Montgomery outpacing the State of Alabama as a whole, as well as the benchmark cities of Richmond, Virginia, Little Rock, Arkansas, and Shreveport, Louisiana, with an 11.1% increase in net new jobs during the same period. It is also noteworthy that, according to Market Street, Montgomery had more jobs in March 2010 than it did in March 2000, unlike Richmond, the State of Alabama, and the United States.
The Montgomery MSA comprises 367,475 residents, and is the fourth most populous MSA in Alabama. Over the past 15 years 16,500 jobs have been created in the metro area, an increase of 11%. The area’s wealth has more than doubled since 1990, with a total personal income of $13.2 billion for the Montgomery MSA in 2008. The average median family income grew 25% from 1990 to 2008, from $45,182 to $56,400. The area’s per capita income grew from $18,500 in 1990 to $35,973 in 2009, an increase of 94%.
Recent developments in Montgomery include the more than $1 billion that has been spent on the revitalization of downtown Montgomery and the Riverfront District, including over $200 million on a downtown four-star hotel, performing arts theatre, and convention center complex. Downtown Montgomery also opened a new minor league baseball stadium in 2004, and the Montgomery Regional Airport completed a $40 million renovation and expansion project in 2006.
As its capital city, the State of Alabama employs approximately 9,500 persons in Montgomery, as well as numerous service providers. Montgomery is also home to Maxwell Gunter Air Force Base, which employs more than 12,000 persons, including Air University, the worldwide center for U.S. Air Force leadership and education, in addition to global information technology support systems. In 2010 a new Network Operations Squadron for Air Force Cyber Command and worldwide Air Force Enterprise Call Center created 370 new high-paying civilian and military jobs while strengthening the overall mission of Maxwell/Gunter.
In May of 2005, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA) opened its Montgomery manufacturing plant, which was built with a capital investment of over $1.4 billion. That plant, which now employs over 3,500 people and produces two Hyundai models, has been further expanded with the addition of a new engine plant. That engine plant will also serve the new Kia manufacturing facility in West Point, Georgia. The area has also benefited from the nearly 30 top-tier Hyundai suppliers who have invested over $550 million in new plant facilities, producing almost 8,000 additional jobs. In 2010, HMMA announced an additional $50 million capital investment in order to prepare for the addition of the 2011 Elantra production line.
In 2010, Montgomery led the state in announced new and expanding industries. Hyundai Power Transformers USA will create 1,000 new jobs and invest more than $125 million in Montgomery, the largest project in the State of Alabama for 2010 and the company’s first American manufacturing facility. In addition, approximately 400 new jobs and more than $150 million in capital investment were announced in 2010 as a result of existing industry expansions. Two additional corporate headquarters announced their locations in Montgomery in 2010, Hausted Patient Handling Services and Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.
The foregoing and other pertinent data can be found on the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce’s and the FDIC’s websites and recent publications of the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce, particularly the Montgomery Business Journal (complete archived editions available at montgomerychamber.com).
Dothan, Dothan, in Houston County, is located in the southeastern corner of Alabama and is conveniently placed near the Florida panhandle and Georgia state line. We believe that this market continues to have great potential due to its central hub, its accessibility to large distribution centers, its home to several major corporations, and its current low level of personalized banking services. According to the FDIC, Dothan’s deposit base has grown 28% during the past five years. Furthermore, Dothan’s two largest deposit holders are Regions Bank and Wells Fargo Bank (formerly SouthTrust Bank and more recently Wachovia Bank), each of which has undergone substantial changes in recent years. These changes continue to provide an opportunity for service oriented banks such as ServisFirst. We believe the citizens of Dothan demand the personal service provided by the Bank, making it a more viable option for the current residents than local branches of larger regional competitors. The Bank’s two offices are strategically located in the southeastern and western areas of Dothan, which are growing areas of business activity and development.
In 2009, the Dothan, Alabama MSA had a population of 142,000 people, a 9.8% increase from 2000. Houston County had a population of 99,000, an 11.5% increase from 2000, while the city of Dothan has experienced a 16.8% increase in population since 2000.
We believe Dothan to be a growing market with increased banking needs considering the wide array of industries being serviced. The Dothan area, while being known as the peanut capital, is also home to facilities of several major corporations, including Michelin, Pemco World Aviation, International Paper, Globe Motors, AAA Cooper-Headquarters, and many more. Also, the strong presence of trucking and its strategic positioning in the Southeast market attracts distribution-related projects to the Dothan MSA. For example, the development of the Houston County Distribution Park has allowed companies to take advantage of the 352-acre tract to serve consumers in the Southeast region of the United States. Being only minutes from the Florida state line, the large lots can serve distribution-related projects up to 1.2 million square feet in size.
Dothan is a hub of healthcare for southeast Alabama, southwest Georgia and northwest Florida areas, with two regional hospitals, Southeast Alabama Medical Center employing over 2,000 medical professionals and support staff, and Flowers Hospital employing 1,400 medical professionals and support staff. In January 2012, construction began on the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, a four-year medical college partnering with and located near; the Southeast Alabama Medical Center. The initial construction budget is $60 million, employment will be 80-100 and the first class will begin in the fall of 2013.
The area also has a strong history in the expansion of aviation jobs in Alabama through Enterprise-Ozark Community College (avionics and aviation mechanic training) and Fort Rucker, the Army Aviation Center of the United States. The highly specialized Dothan Airport Industrial Park offers the land and infrastructure to house aviation related projects with runway access to facilities.
Lastly, the agriculture and agribusiness industries are thriving, and the area is home to many of the successful farmers and related businesses. In addition, the agricultural communities in northwest Florida and southwest Georgia are nearby and, in many cases, use Dothan as their hub.
The existence of these industries and the continuing growth in the area allows an opportunity for the Bank to increase its presence and penetration in this market.
The foregoing and other pertinent data can be found on the Dothan Chamber of Commerce’s and the FDIC’s websites.
Pensacola. The Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent MSA (Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties) has a population of more than 450,000, up from 412,000 in 2000. Population in the Pensacola city limits totals 53,752, down from 56,255 in 2000. Pensacola is served by the Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport, which transports over 1.5 million passengers per year, representing more traffic than the airports in Mobile and Fort Walton combined.
The Pensacola and Northwest Florida economies are driven by tourism, military, health services, and medical technologies industries. Five major military bases are located in northwest Florida: Eglin Air Force Base, Hurlburt Field, Pensacola Whiting Field, Pensacola Naval Air Station and Corry Station. Pensacola, the cradle of naval aviation, is home to the U.S. Navy’s precision flight team, the Blue Angels, and has trained naval aviators for decades. Defense spending by these bases totals nearly $5 billion annually. Other major employers in the area include Sacred Heart Health System, Baptist Healthcare, West Florida Regional Hospital, Gulf Power Company (Southern Company), the University of West Florida, International Paper, Ascend Performance Materials (Solutia), GE Wind Energy, Armstrong World Industries, and Wayne Dalton Corporation. The Pensacola Bay area is also home to the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, a world-leading surgical and research center for human performance enhancement. A vibrant small business sector operates in all areas of the economy.
According to the FDIC, Pensacola MSA Market deposits as of June 30, 2011 totaled approximately $5.1 billion (not including credit union deposits) among 24 banks. Currently, only large regional or national banks dominate Pensacola’s market share. Top market share performers include Regions Bank (22.2%), Wells Fargo Bank (15.2%), Synovus Bank (11.8%), Whitney/Hancock Bank (9.3%), Bank of America (8.4%) and Suntrust Bank (6.4%). We believe this creates the opportunity for a service-oriented community bank such as ServisFirst to not only establish itself but to flourish.
The foregoing and other pertinent data can be found on the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce’s and the FDIC’s websites.
Deposit Growth in Our Markets
The markets in which we operate have enjoyed steady expansion in their deposit base until being negatively affected by the current recession and credit crisis. We believe that each of our markets will continue to grow and believe that many local affluent professionals and small business customers will do their banking with local, autonomous institutions that offer a higher level of personalized service. According to FDIC reports, total deposits in each of our market areas have expanded from 2001 to 2011 (deposit data reflects totals as reported by financial institutions as of June 30th of each year) as follows:
Competition
The Bank is subject to intense competition from various financial institutions and other financial service providers. The Bank competes for deposits with other commercial banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions and issuers of commercial paper and other securities, such as money-market and mutual funds. In making loans, the Bank competes with other commercial banks, savings and loan associations, consumer finance companies, credit unions, leasing companies and other lenders.
The following table illustrates our market share, by insured deposits, in our primary service areas at June 30, 2011, as reported by the FDIC: