IMCB report notes financial gains

SANDPOINT - Intermountain Community Bancorp, the holding company for Panhandle State Bank, saw its net income, total equity and total assets increase for 2007.

The company's yearly assets and earning report, released Monday, showed financial gains across the board.

Net income for the year was $9.4 million, an increase of 2.6 percent from 2006; net total assets increased by 14 percent, topping the $1 billion mark; loan balances increased by 13 percent; deposit balances increased by 9.3 percent; total equity increased 15.4 percent to $90.1 million; and fully diluted earnings per share increased by 2.8 percent to $1.10 per share.

Chief Executive Officer Curt Hecker said he is pleased with the bank's production in what he called a very difficult macro-environment, although he said growth in 2007 was not as great as has been in previous years.

Hecker counts growth in the area of core deposits as one of the most positive trends for the year and the decline of federal interest rates as a key negative.

Although the 2007 financial numbers are not the most robust in the company's history, PSB outperformed many segments of the banking industry.

Hecker believes the bank has largely been spared from the national economic slowdown because of growth in the local agriculture and manufacturing industries, as well as a steady increase in new customers to the area.

“Manufacturing has done better here than in other areas, and we have done better as a result,” Hecker said.

Intermountain operates four separate divisions with 20 banking locations in three states, including branches in Sandpoint, Ponderay, Bonners Ferry, Priest River and Coeur d'Alene.

The company's $14 million, 94,000-square-foot Sandpoint Center is slated for occupancy in early 2008.