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October 22, 2001 Headlines--- Anthrax Scare at UAEL Emeryville, California Office 1084 Attendance for ELA 40th Annual Leasing Conference Travis Foxx Warns about a New Virus Santa Barbara Bank & Trust Earnings Up More About our New F.A.Q. Section eMarket Capital Signs Harris Waste Management Special Report: Practical Ethics---If Crime is Not punished, Does it Cease to be a Crime? Written by Kit Menkin and Charlie Lester ### denotes press release Anthrax Scare at UAEL Emeryville, California Office Executive Director of the United Association of Equipment Leasing said her office was just packing up, getting reading for the San Antonio, Texas Conference when the police came in letting her know they may have to evacuate the building The first thing she thought of was to make computer back-ups of all the material in case they had to leave everything behind. She could leave the material behind, and re-create it. On the first floor of their small building complex in Emeryville,California, the NBC affiliate KRON-TV News East Bay office reported to have received an envelope by mail with white powder in it. The office and the office next door were immediately sealed and everyone taken to be tested. There was a common ventilation system between both offices. On the other side of Joan Dalton’s office wall on the second floor is ABC TV News KGO East Bay. Luckily they accept no mail here only Federal Express and UPS as all mail goes to their main office in San Francisco. It was reportedly tense for several hours. The authorities decided there was no chance of exposure for the second floor and testing in three days would determine if the white powder was Anthrax or a hoax. “ We were all pretty shaken by this, “ she said. “The first thing we did was remove all the conference material, as we were given the green light to do this by all the authorities. If it had been my next door neighbor, the staff and I and the materials would probably have missed the conference, especially if it turns up to be anthrax.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Practical Ethics---If Crime is Not punished, Does it Cease to be a Crime? Special Report Written by Kit Menkin and Charlie Lester If a tree falls on a desert island, does it make a sound when it falls? This is an old college question, and many of us had fun trying to justify our answer. Does fraud exist, if it never is prosecuted? If crime is never punished, does it cease to be a crime? When do we hear the sound of a tree, if we are not there? On September 4, 2001, Leasing News began publishing question and answer articles with Charlie Lester, President of LPI Financial, Atlanta, Georgia, formerly President of Lease Pro, who sold his company to Sierra Cities in 1997. Charlie is also the senior member of the Leasing News Advisory Board. The three day interviews concerned private label recourse programs, the procedures, the process, the pros and cons, and is available on-line at: http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/September01/9-04-01.htm http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/September01/9-05-01.htm http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/September01/9-06-01.htm On September 7, 2001, we asked: Open Question for American Express Business Finance "Based on extremely reliable insider information, Leasing News has been told that a former First Sierra employee would be agreeable to "give up" Depping in return for a lawsuit settlement with American Express. “The question is, ‘Does American Express have reason to want Thomas Depping to “answer” for actions he may or may not have taken?’" In the same issue, an executive interviewed by Leasing News via telephone, who asked not to be named, says he was employed by Sierra Cities at one time. He said he came into Houston for a meeting, and at a Chinese Restaurant with Fred Van Etten, Greg McIntosh, and perhaps two other people, which for legal reasons Leasing News is not going to name, when the conversation of RW Professional Leasing came up. (Later on, two of the four people at that that restaurant confirmed to Leasing News that the meeting did take place).
He told the gathering he knew the company as Professional Leasing, who did a lot of dental business when he was at the Vanguard Division of Old Kent Bank for eleven years. He said this company ripped them off for between
$6 million to $10 million. He asked, “Why should Sierra
Cities do business with them?”
He was told Sierra Cities had the corporate and personal
guarantees---and it was recourse, so Sierra Cities was supposedly
protected. Now, the situation with American Express Business Finance centers on “what happened to the recourse agreement and
the personal guarantee?” and was
stock involved in any “arrangement?” What does Greg McIntosh know? Will Fred Van Etten talk? Will Thomas Depping
finally come forward and give his side to the story or is
he content to be known as a business failure and possible
stock price manipulator? Will Sandy Ho tell about her role?
Will Mark McQuitty talk about his on-going issues
with American Express? Will Jim Raeder speak publicly on why he was let go by Sierra Cities? P.S.: It wasn’t about Republic Leasing Group.
The spin-doctors may have put it out that way, but Fred Van Etten
and Jim Raeder were let go for
the same reason. What did Oren Hall know and will he step
up to the task as a past President of UAEL and a senior
mentor for the industry? Will Charlie Lester write the entire story for Leasing News, naming
names, places, and dates?
Did it center on the Private Label Recourse Program
and RW Professional Leasing? Is that why Leasing News spent three days defining private label recourse and non-recourse?
Does the leasing community have the right to know so they
can protect themselves in the future?
Perhaps from a legal standpoint, do American Express
stockholders have the right to know the truth if American
Express paid too much for Sierra Cities due to hidden problems”.
Did American Express fail in their job of due diligence before acquiring Sierra Cities
and did they cost their stockholders millions? Is fraud
involved? Is this a crime? How did Professional Leasing allegedly get away with it with Vanguard?
Is Professional Leasing the same company as RW Professional
Leasing? We have been asking these questions.
Leasing News also asked this question to all Funders who read Leasing News: “Broker calls up funding source and says, "How did you like the way I screwed you over for $10,000,000. Was it as good for you as it was for me? Well, I thought it was fun and now you have a decision to make---do you put me in jail and get nothing or will you settle for $3,000,000 and give me a clean bill of health so I can go back to business as usual?" To all the funding sources, what would your answer be? If your company policy is to prosecute, how many fraudulent brokers, vendors or lessees have you brought criminal charges against in the past five years?” Not one funding source replied. We asked the question again. No response. Then the events at September 11th happened, affecting all of us, especially American Express, who has offices in the area (not the American Express Business Finance Operation). We did not think it was appropriate at that time to pursue the story on-line so we waited until now. On September 7, 2001, Leasing News then queried over twenty funding sources, several well-known to us, and not one wanted even to say, “ no comment.” On October 1, 2001, we started back on the story, actually calling several funding sources by telephone. What would they do? None wanted to “get involved.” In fact, the unanimous request was, “ Please leave us out of this, Kit?” Why? Let’s guess. They know if they are in a similar circumstance, the question of “ethics” and “protecting the leasing industry” goes out the window. Cash counts. Money means everything, so take it and look the other way. If a “deal is made, “ take it and close your eyes. We asked the questions as part of our story on the acquisition of Sierra Cities by American Express. Was history repeating itself? Were deals being made “to look the other way?” Did Thomas Depping specifically “remove” the personal guarantee portion from the portfolio of Barry Drayer at RW Professional Leasing or did one ever exist? We recently talked to Greg McIntosh, now at Snider Leasing, Sacramento, California. (I personally have known him and done business with him for fifteen years or more. He is honest, a very good credit man, hard worker; a straight shooter. editor ). He says American Express was moving his position to New Jersey, so he exercised his termination agreement in place before the acquisition took place. He said American Express had done their due diligence and was looking into all matters. He would not comment on the record and expressed his desire to “stay out of the entire matter.” During this time, Old Kent Financial closed their doors. Several of the executives felt any deals made to keep quiet were now gone, as the company was no longer in business. We then received several e-mails, and the person requested that we use their name. They even spoke to an attorney (I believe the Old Kent attorney, but cannot confirm this as I did not keep notes on this). “I hope this is not the same Professional Leasing on the east coast that took Old Kent Leasing for a ride on many fraudulent transactions with dental practices. If it is, I can tell everyone how it was done and what to look for since I had to charge-off the money and we ended up settling with Professional Leasing as well. If anyone wants some insight I would be happy to provide it.” Leasing news called, spoke to the person, and then confirmed the person’s position, and also received similar information from our source that it was true: “A fictitious vendor supplied an application for a dental practice installing "NEW" medical equipment. All credit checks were completed on the customer etc. Only if the lessee defaulted would you ever know that there was in fact no new equipment. The equipment description on the vendor invoice was either for existing equipment that was in some cases over 20 years old or it never existed. These were in fact loans. We had a couple of lessee's so afraid of being sued and going to jail for fraud that they signed statements and admitted just how much cash they received. Needless to say the cash the lessee received was a lot less than the amount funded to Professional Leasing. The lessees claimed this vendor solicited them to supply additional cash for the business and all they would have to do is ‘sign on the dotted line’.”. Our original source who was involved, said that a settlement was made for a much smaller amount on the condition that Old Kent would not go public about the losses on Professional Leasing’s role in these deals. This was reported in Leasing News earlier as being discussed at a Chinese Restaurant in Houston. It was reported to Leasing News by one of the 40 or more former vice-presidents of Sierra Cities, and confirmed by three other highly reliable sources that RW Professional Leasing was allegedly double dipping or even triple dipping deals (same deal to ATT and First Sierra and banks doing business with RW) and when RW received a payoff from a recourse client, they allegedly did not always payoff the deal at the original funding source. In addition, reliable sources have told Leasing News that Tom Depping refunded most of the reserves RW had with Sierra Cities in return for a promise of more volume. Now American Express has the portfolio and small in-house reserves from RW to cover repurchases. American Express has reportedly audited the books, interviewed Greg McIntosh, among others, and found the loss potential, but they are allegedly not sure how to proceed since there is no personal guarantee from Barry Drayer. Leasing News has not been able to confirm or deny this. These were among the questions we wanted to ask, including the rumor of a bankruptcy as a means to avoid repayments to American Express. Was RW double or triple dipping deals and when RW received a payoff from a recourse client, did they always payoff the funding source? These sources say the statement is accurate, but what does Mr. Drayer say? In addition, we are told, Tom Depping refunded most of the reserves RW had with First Sierra in return for a promise of more volume. Is this true? Will the Securities Exchange Commission or a Court of Law be the arbitrator? Has American Express decided to sweep this under the carpet, just as Vanguard and Old Kent reportedly did? Now American Express has the portfolio and small in-house reserves from RW to cover repurchases. American Express has reportedly audited the books and found the loss potential, but they are not sure how to proceed since there is no personal guarantee from Barry Drayer. Reportedly there was such an arrangement before the acquisition. Was a deal made? Leasing News believes papers have been signed, but cannot get confirmation or denial. It appears from public records that RW Professional Leasing Services is incorporated in Nassau County, NY. Address is 4584 Austin Blvd., Island Park, NY 11558. Mailing address is P.O. Box 296, Island Park, NY 11558. Principals are Rochelle Besser, President (sister of Barry Drayer) and Wallace Besser, Vice-President (I guess we know where RW comes from now). The corporation is also registered in Florida as a Foreign Profit corporation. New stationery shows all the same addresses and phone numbers, but the name on the letterhead is now Professional Leasing Services. At the bottom of the page, it says a Division of RW Professional Leasing Services Corp. We have sought comments directly from RW Professional on two occasions, and on three occasions with the attorney for RW Professional, Salvatore D. Ferlazzo Girvin & Firlazzo, Albany, NY who told us his client “ Barry Drayer “ did not want to issue a statement or respond to questions and wants to proceed with a lawsuit as we have not satisfactorily answered the “ demands” of Mr. Drayer. We have attempted to reach Mr. Ferlazzo two times since then by his voice mail and via emails, including sending him comments regarding our source who wants to be named and worked at Old Kent. Leasing News tries to be accurate and fair. We are comfortable with the sources of our information to print this story. We will have more, including the inside of the MidAm Portfolio story. _____________________________________________________________ Equipment Leasing Association Outstanding 40th Annual Conference Attendance We closed registration yesterday for the ELA 40th Annual Conference, Oct. 28-30 in Boca Raton, FL with 1084 registrants. It is going to be a great conference! Best wishes, Amy J. Miller Vice President, Communications Equipment Leasing Association www.leaseassistant.org; www.elaonline.com __________________________________________________________________ New Virus ( Hit a Leasing Company Server . At this time, the company perfers us not to mention their name as they are helping authorities to track the sender. editor ) from: Travis
Foxx <travisfoxx@merchantcapital.net> 'Redesi' worm reformats hard drives <http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/> By Matt Loney ZDNet (UK) <http://www.zdnet.co.uk> A worm disguising itself as a security patch for Microsoft products will in fact reformat the victim's C: drive. The Redesi worm spreads by e-mail under a number of guises, and is set to trigger on November 11, 2001. But not all PCs are vulnerable to the worst of its effects, and there is an easy way to stop the damage. Redesi has so far been seen in two variants; either as a Microsoft patch or as what will appear to most people more like junk e-mail. In the first case, the e-mail worm comes with a header randomly selected from a list that includes "FW: Microsoft security update," and "FW: Security Update by Microsoft." The body of the e-mail purports to be sending on an e-mail from Microsoft's support desk, with the comment: "Just recieved this in my e-mail I have contacted Microsoft and they say it's real!" After a fake Microsoft header containing the subject "Security Update", is the following message: "Due to the recent spate of e-mail spread computer viruses Microsoft Corp. has released a security patch. Please apply the attached file to your Windows computer to stop any further spread or these malicious programs. Regards Microsoft Support" The second variant arrives with headers such as: "Scientists have found traces of the HIV virus in cows milk...here is the proof -- Will", "Yay. I caught a fish -- Six", and "I want to live in a wooden house -- Arwel". This variant contains the text: "heh. I tell ya this is nuts ! You gotta check it out !", and names the offending attachment from the following list: Si.exe ReDe.exe Disk.exe Common.exe UserConf.exe Both versions are equally dangerous, said Denis Zenkin of antivirus company Kaspersky Labs, but only PCs running older versions of Windows that use the autoexec.bat file are vulnerable to having their hard disks formatted on 11 November. Aside from sending e-mail copies of itself to every address in Outlook, Redesi writes a comment into the autoexec.bat file of PCs. This comment attempts to format the C: drive if the machine is booted up on 11 November. PCs that run Windows 2000 and Windows XP are immune from this formatting, since these versions of Microsoft's operating system do not use autoexec.bat. But any machine running Outlook will still be susceptible to the part of the virus that e-mails itself on to others in the contacts book. Protecting a PC from the formatting effects of the virus is relatively simple, said Zenkin. The Redesi virus checks the system date and if it is 11/11/01, attempts the format. This means that PCs using both the European and US shortform dates are vulnerable. The solution, according to Zenkin, is to set the date to the long format, using four digits for the year. "If they don't match then the payload will never be activated," said Zenkin. Many older PCs will have their date set to the long format already to make them immune from the Y2K bug, which results from confusion over which century a date falls in when the short date format is used. Zenkin said Kaspersky Labs had received no reports of the worm in the wild yet. Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment at the time of posting. Redesi.a selects an e-mail subject from the following list: FW: Microsoft security update FW: Security Update by Microsoft FW: IT departments on state of HIGH ALERT FW: Important news from Microsoft FW: Stop terrorists computer viruses reign FW: Terrorists release computer virus FW: Emergency response from Microsoft Corp. FW: Terrorist Emergency. U.S.Bancorp Manifest Now in New “Digs” Congratulations on the successful move with the latest equipment and software and completely new facilities. ___________________________________________________________________ Santa Barbara Bank & Trust Earnings Up Compared to Previous Quarter The leasing assets are aggregated in loans, however we are a very profitable segment with a gross receivable balance of around $150MM. As long as we cn maintain our credit quality, we will be a player in the indirect funding side of leasing. The Banking Industry is very wary of doing business with brokers/lessors due to the failures of this model in the recent past. We are committed to making the model work because we believe in it. It just requires discipline on all parties. ************************************************* Paul J. Menzel, CLP Senior Vice President / General Manager Leasing Division SANTA BARBARA BANK & TRUST P.O. Box 1199 Santa Barbara, CA 93102-1199 1 South Los Carneros Road Goleta, CA 93117 (805)560-1650 PaulM@sbbt.com ### ########################### ########################### PACIFIC CAPITAL BANCORP REPORTS THIRD QUARTER
FINANCIAL RESULTS
Company Provides Revised Guidance for Fiscal 2001 Santa Barbara, Calif.,
/
-- Pacific Capital Bancorp (Nasdaq:SABB), a multi-community
bank holding company with $3.75 billion in assets, today announced
financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2001,
and revised its earnings guidance for the year
. For the third quarter
of 2001, the Company reported earnings of $11.3 million, or
$0.41 per diluted share. This compares with $6.7 million,
or $0.25 per diluted share, reported for the third quarter
of 2000. Reported earnings for the first nine months of 2001
were $45.8 million, or $1.68 per diluted share, compared to
$39.1 million, or $1.47 per diluted share, reported for the
first nine months of 2000.
Third quarter 2001 reported earnings compare
to third quarter 2000 core earnings (reported earnings exclusive
of merger-related expenses) of $11.3 million, or $0.43 per
diluted share. The decrease in year-over-year earnings per
share is due to an increase in the average number of shares.
Core earnings for the first nine months of 2000 were $44.5
million, representing $1.67 per diluted share.
Based on reported earnings,
the Company’s return on average equity and return on average
assets for the third quarter of 2001 were 13.66% and1.18%,
respectively, compared to 9.35% and 0.75%, respectively, for
the third quarter of 2000. Year-to-date return on average
equity and return on average assets were 19.24% and 1.58%
for the first nine months of 2001, compared to 18.44% and
1.42% for the first nine months of 2000.
Using core earnings for
the third quarter of 2000, return on average equity and return
on average assets were 15.84% and 1.26%, respectively. Based
on core earnings for year-to-date 2000, return on average
equity and return on average assets were 20.95% and 1.62%,
respectively.
“During
the quarter, the Federal Reserve Bank lowered interest rates
an additional 75 basis points on top of the 275 basis points
in rate cuts in the first six months of the year,” said William
S. Thomas, Jr., President & Chief Executive Officer. “Due
to the nature of our community bank business model, in which
the majority of our funding comes from very low-cost deposits
and many of the loans in our portfolio have variable rates,
a rapidly declining interest rate environment puts significant
pressure on our net interest margin. “The
Central Coast economy is seeing some isolated slowing, although
our markets continue to weather the economy better than other
parts of the nation,” said Thomas. “The areas of our loan
portfolio that we have previously indicated were most vulnerable
in a slower economy had some migration during the third quarter
into less favorable credit categories. Specifically, these
included the loan portfolios of our two recent acquisitions.
Additionally during the third quarter, several of our larger
customers that conduct portions of their business in regions
adjacent to our markets were impacted by worsening economic
conditions in those areas, and those loans also migrated into
less favorable credit categories. “Despite
these factors, we still posted a solidly profitable third
quarter as we manage through these challenging times with
the same basic strategies that have served us well in difficult
economic environments in the past,” said Thomas. “We are focused
on prudently growing and diversifying our loan portfolio,
maximizing the non-interest income contributions from our
niche businesses, and taking steps to minimize the pressure
on our net interest margin as we position the Company for
better economic conditions,” said Thomas. During
the third quarter of 2001, total interest income was $66.7
million, compared with $69.8 million in the same period last
year. This decrease occurred as the lower rates earned on
loans offset the positive impact of higher loan balances. Total
interest expense for third quarter 2001 was $23.1 million,
compared with $27.7 million for the third quarter of 2000,
as rates on deposits also decreased. Net
interest margin for the third quarter 2001 was 5.13%, compared
with 5.34% in the same quarter of 2000, and 5.08% in the second
quarter of 2001. During
the third quarter, the Company took several steps to mitigate
the impact of rate cuts on net interest margin, including
increasing holdings of securities with longer maturities and
moving overnight funds into higher yielding investments. The
Company anticipates taking similar measures in future quarters
if interest rates continue to fall. Despite
a slower economy in its Central Coast markets, loan demand
continued throughout the Company’s network of community banks.
Total loans increased $76.3 million or 2.9% during the third
quarter, to $2.72 billion at September 30, 2001. This compares
to $2.64 billion at the end of the prior quarter. The increase
is primarily the result of greater demand for residential
and commercial real estate loans. The Company’s deposit totals
held steady during the third quarter of 2001. “All
of our community banks are continuing to generate quality
new business, even within a more challenging business environment,”
said Thomas. “Our management teams are experienced community
bankers and have successfully managed through many difficult
economic cycles. We have proven that we can profitably run
our businesses in good and bad economies, by staying close
to our customers and by providing the local contact and decision
making that becomes even more critical during times like these.” Non-interest
income for the third quarter 2001 increased $1.7 million,
or 15.0%, to $13.0 million, compared with $11.3 million in
the third quarter of 2000. Service charges on deposit accounts increased
for the third quarter to $3.2 million, up 8.6% over the third
quarter of last year. Income from other service charges, commissions
and fees for the quarter ended September 30, 2001, increased
$0.3 million, or 7.6%, over the same quarter of 2000.
During
the third quarter of 2001, other operating income was approximately
$2.0 million. This included two major nonrecurring items:
the gain on sale of one of the Company’s merchant bankcard
portfolios, and the loss on disposal of hedge instruments.
The merchant bankcard portfolio of Santa Barbara Bank &
Trust, the Company’s principal subsidiary, was sold to First
Data Corporation, which operates First Data Merchant Services,
in August. In November 2001, First Data Corporation is expected
to acquire the merchant bankcard portfolio of Pacific Capital
Bancorp’s other bank subsidiary, First National Bank of Central
California, and the portfolio of the former Los Robles Bank,
recently integrated into Santa Barbara Bank & Trust. The
hedge instruments were fixed-for-variable swaps on which the
Company was losing money as interest rates fell.
The loss recognized was $718,000. “The
sale of our merchant bankcard portfolios contain shared revenue
agreements through 2011,” said Thomas. “First Data will provide
a dedicated sales force within our Central Coast markets,
and they will market merchant bankcard services under the
names of our community banks. This arrangement enables an
experienced sales force to continue growing the business,
and provides our Company with a meaningful share of the future
revenues from these portfolios without incurring any of the
expense,” said Thomas. The
Company’s diverse business mix, one of its core strategies,
continued to be an important source of income during the third
quarter of 2001. Pre-tax income generated in the third quarter
of 2001 by the Trust & Investment Services divisions of
Santa Barbara Bank & Trust and First National Bank of
Central California was up approximately 11% over the second
quarter of the year, despite the impact of continued stock
and debt market volatility on customer portfolios. For year-to-date
2001, the number of new accounts under management increased
by approximately 16% over the same nine-month period in 2000. The Company’s operating efficiency ratio for the third quarter
2001 was 62.2% compared with 58.5% for the same period of
last year (based on core earnings), and was negatively impacted
by continued margin compression. “There
are prudent ways to cut costs during more difficult economic
times without impacting the customer service levels that are
the cornerstone of community banks like ours,” said Thomas.
“We have taken a number of steps to reduce overhead in areas
that will not negatively impact our service levels, and we
expect these steps to improve our operating efficiency ratio
in the fourth quarter of this year, without affecting the
customer relationships that drive our business.” During
the third quarter, the Company increased its allowance for
credit losses, exclusive of RALs, by recording provisions
for credit losses of $6.0 million. For the quarter ended September
30, 2001, the allowance for credit losses increased to $43.9
million, or 1.61% of total loans, compared to $41.2 million,
or 1.56% of total loans at June 30, 2001. Total nonperforming
loans decreased $3.3 million in the third quarter to $20.6
million at September 30, 2001, representing 0.55% of total
assets and 0.76% of total loans. This is below the industry
average of 0.86% of total loans for the Company’s peer group,
based on data provided as of June 30, 2001. This results in
a coverage ratio (allowance for non-RAL credit losses) of
nonperforming loans of 213%. Net
charge-offs (exclusive of RALs) for the three months ended
September 30, 2001, were $2.9 million, compared with $1.0
million for the comparable quarter in 2000. Third quarter
2001 net charge-offs represent an annualized rate of 0.44%
of average loans exclusive of RALs.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2001, annualized
net charge-offs to total average loans (both exclusive of
RALs) were 0.28%, compared to 0.38% for the first nine months
of 2000. This compares favorably to the Company’s peer group
average of 0.34%, based on data provided as of June 30, 2001. The
Company’s capital ratios and those of its subsidiary banks
continue to be above the well-capitalized guidelines established
by bank regulatory agencies. On
June 25, 2001, Pacific Capital Bancorp announced that its
board of directors had authorized the repurchase of up to
$20 million of its common stock, in recognition of the Company’s
continued growth and future earnings potential.
The Company entered the market August 6, 2001, and
through September 30, 2001, had purchased 356,300 shares of
its common stock at an average per share price of $29.69,
for a total price of $10.6 million. Pacific
Capital Bancorp also provided revised earnings per share expectations
for 2001 in the range of $2.03 to $2.08. The current estimate
is driven by two prevailing factors. Management anticipates
that additional loans will migrate into less favorable credit
categories by year-end, including a few larger loans in the
hospitality and tourism sectors, which have been negatively
impacted by the September 11 terrorist acts. The Company’s
revised forecast for the year also takes into consideration
the additional 50 basis point interest rate cuts on September
17 and October 2 and the anticipation of an additional 25
basis point cut by the Federal Reserve in December, which
will further compress the Company’s net interest margin. In
addition to providing its outlook for the remainder of 2001,
the Company commented on its expectations for its Refund Anticipation
Loan (RAL) and Refund Transfer (RT) businesses in 2002. “We
consider our RAL and RT programs to be virtually recession
proof,” said Thomas, “and anticipate continued growth in volume
next year from this niche business. Each year, the demand
and pricing considerations for these products behave just
a little differently, so it is difficult to predict where
growth will come and at what levels. However, overall volume
during the 2002 RAL/RT season is expected to increase by as
much as 30%. There remains uncertainty about the product mix
between RALs and RTs, and the Company is expecting competitive
pricing pressure in the 2002 season. Therefore, increased
volume does not necessarily equate to a corresponding percentage
increase in profitability. “We
are one of only three national providers of this unique electronic
income tax refund/loan service, “ said Thomas. “Our markets
continue to expand, and we anticipate that will be the case
in 2002, as the volume of electronic filings of tax returns
increases. We remain aggressive in our marketing of this product,
defensive of our market share, and very optimistic that this
business will produce continued strong returns for our Company
in the years ahead.” Management
stressed that its target earnings per share estimate for 2001
is based upon current economic conditions and contingent upon
a number of factors
not within its control, including but not limited to any deterioration
in general economic conditions that would adversely affect
the Company’s markets, customers or businesses; additional
events such as those of September 11 which might significantly
impact the nation’s banking system; the actual occurrence
of a significant energy shortage in California; and further
unanticipated changes in the interest rate environment. Pacific Capital Bancorp is the parent company of Santa Barbara
Bank & Trust, First National Bank of Central California
and its affiliates South Valley National Bank and San Benito
Bank. Pacific Capital Bancorp is a 41-branch community bank
network serving customers in six Central Coast counties from
Morgan Hill in the north to Westlake Village/Thousand Oaks
in the south. In addition to traditional services, the Company’s
subsidiary banks offer a complete menu of trust and investment
management services from the largest full-service trust division
located between San Jose and Los Angeles. ############ ############### ############################ F. A. Q. Our New Feature On Line
Here is a section ( please note these are edited and have been changed to protect information, but you can get the basic idea of what is asked: ) Do you know where I can find a funder who will do a Lessee is located in Bedford, Georgia. Has been in business since 1996 The company does truck detailing and also offers transportation services primarily in the SE region of the U.S. * Wants to purchase 150k worth of trailers (about 30 units total) Trailers range age from 2-11 years. * Owner has a 688 credit score. No derogatory. Only problem is he has only been in the bureau since 7/99. He's an immigrant from Yugoslavia.. * Has about $75k cash to use however needed, and other trucks if needed. * Looking for a 2 year term (maybe even 1 if possible) His ultimate goal is to selleach of the trailers individually but keep a dozen to help expand the business. Customer understands that he can't sell of the trailers without checking with the lease company first, and/or using his other trucks as collateral until the lease i spaid off. That's why he wants the shorter terms. *
Anyone know of a source that will do auto dealers? · Need a “hold harmless clause,” what is that? · Anyone know of Ash Capital Services, Mr. Andy Hatami, 311 N Robertson Blvd, Suite 628, Beverly Hills, California 90211 * Does anyone have an idea who will do a Corp Only deal for a 20 year old Closely Held company. The deal is only $4,995.00 and the company carries a $100,000.00 average balance in bank account. Please let me know if you have nay ideas. * I have a Cardiovascular Center in Pennsylvania that needs $170,000 for an Ultrasound. The corporation had 2.8 million in sales last year, has clean trades and carries over $100,000 in the bank. They have been incorporated since 1991. The 4 principals have been physicians 33,28,25 years and 22 years. One has a 870 Fair Isaac and the other range from 800, 723, to 651.. Here's the catch, the 651 has Fed Tax Liens from '94-'98 totaling 500k. He went through nasty ivorce and his wife turned records over to the IRS. He is making payments on the liens per his annual installment agreement with the IRS. Please let me know who might have an interest in this transaction. $11 M per year and his beacon score is only 600 due to limited credit. The lease can be written for 2-3 years and the Dr. put $25M down. * We have a request for $32 to lease a Metal Building to a 82 year old business( carnival). D&B confirms start date 1919 and 89 Paydex - no suits, liens or judgments. PG's Fair Isaac is 76 79% available revolving - 15 inquiries with 7 within the past six months - small tax lien in 1995 with proof of payment same year. Bank dates to 1965 with MED 6 balance. Loans dating to 1941 with high credits of $121k, $142k |