TEMECULA, Calif.--(BUSINESS
WIRE)--Mission Oaks Bancorp (OTCBB:MOKB - News), whose principal subsidiary
is Mission Oaks National Bank, said it earned a record $2.5 million,
or 61 cents a share, in 2006, up from the $2 million, or 52 cents a
share, posted a year earlier.
"Overall it was an exceptional
year for the bank," said Gary Votapka, Mission Oaks Bancorp president
and chief executive. "We posted record earnings, strong loan and
asset growth and it was the third year running that our return on average
assets exceeded 1.50 percent."
For the year ended Dec. 31,
2006, Mission Oaks earnings rose 22 percent, loans outstanding increased
43 percent to $133.2 million and assets reached $184.7 million, a 22.1
percent increase over the same period a year earlier.
For the third consecutive
year, the bank's annualized return on average assets (ROA), a ratio
of profit to assets, surpassed 1.50 percent, a benchmark typically exceeded
only by the best performing banks.
At year end Mission Oaks
ROA stood at 1.54 percent.
More than 743 similarly sized
U.S. banks reported an average ROA of 1.14 percent, according to a Federal
Deposit Insurance Corp. survey as of September 30, 2006.
Mission Oaks National Bank
was ranked among the best performing new banks in California over the
past six years, according to The Findley Reports Inc., an Anaheim -based
banking industry analyst and consulting firm.
The Temecula-based bank outperformed
70 other California banks when it came to return on average assets,
a key measure of a bank's financial performance.
Annualized return on average
assets at Mission Oaks was better than the other five banks that opened
their doors in 2000 and better than every other new bank in California
in the past six years except one that matched Mission Oak's performance.
In the fourth quarter of
2006, Mission Oaks Bancorp earned $661,000, or 16 cents a share, compared
with earnings of $637,000, or 16 cents a share, reported in the same
period a year ago. Per share amounts reflected 136,000 more shares in
2006 than a year earlier.
Mission Oaks National Bank
is a federally chartered community bank that is committed to serving
consumers and businesses in Southern California. The bank offers personalized
services and products through three full-service branch offices in Temecula
and Ontario and loan production offices in San Diego and Phoenix.
Mission Oaks Bancorp common
stock is traded over the counter under the stock symbol MOKB.OB.
Safe Harbor
Certain statements in this
press release, including statements regarding the anticipated development
and expansion of the Bank's business, and the intent, belief or current
expectations of the Bank, its directors or its officers, are "forward-looking"
statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995). Because such statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed
or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to, risks related to the local and national
economy, the Bank's performance, regulatory matters and those discussed
in filings by the Bank with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
