Offices in Florida fall behind on loan goals

The loan market in Florida has softened, while competition has increased.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- First National Bank of Pennsylvania's loan production in Florida has dropped way off last year's torrid pace.
The bank's five loan production offices in Florida originated only 32 million in loans in the first quarter. The bank had set a goal of 350 million in loans for the offices for this year, which would be 87.5 million a quarter.
It's unlikely the first-quarter deficit will be made up, said Steve Gurgovits, president of F.N.B., the Hermitage-based holding company for the bank. He spoke with analysts Friday on a conference call.
Gurgovits said the loan production levels for the rest of the year should be closer to the bank's goals.
The Florida offices produced 300 million in loans last year. That caused the bank to raise its 2007 goal to 350 million, up from 200 million last year.
Gurgovits said loan production dropped in the first quarter because the market slowed and competition increased. First National wanted to be cautious, so it didn't go after riskier loans to make up for the shortfall, he said.
Background
First National opened its fifth Florida office last year after having success with others that were opened in 2005. The bank has moved into Florida because the economy is expanding faster than its traditional region of western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.
Loan offices outside Florida hit their first-quarter goals, Gurgovits said. Pittsburgh, for example, has a 125 million annual goal, while Harrisburg, Pa., has a 75 million goal.
As for earnings, Gurgovits told analysts that he remains comfortable with an earlier earnings estimate of between 1.17 a share and 1.21 a share for 2007, although he expects the result to be in the lower half of that range.
F.N.B. said Thursday that it earned 17.4 million, or 29 cents a share, in the first quarter, compared with 15.8 million, or 27 cents a share, in the same quarter last year.
shilling@vindy.com